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Saturday, March 28, 2015

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Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

March 28, 2015

Election Exodus

Abuja residents stranded at motor parks

…As Jonathan, others jet out of FCT Panic shopping in malls, markets Marcus Fatunmole Abuja

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head of today’s Presidential and National Assembly election, many residents of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, were stranded at motor parks yesterday.

Residents swarmed the parks and there were no vehicles to convey most of them to their destinations.

National Mirror saw a large number of people along the Zuba-Gwagwalada-Lokoja highway, stranded.

Many of them were with their belongings and family members. It is believed they left the city for supposed safety in their home towns, or simply prefer to perform their civil responsibility in their hometowns.

Our correspondent saw many of the residents being conveyed by trucks belonging to major manufacturing outfits in the country.

Drivers of the trucks, who had over a 100 passengers in each of their vehicles, charged between N1, 000 and N1, 500 from Abuja to Lokoja.

Asked why she opted for the “goods only” truck,

a mother who strapped her baby to her back said: “I have been to three parks today. There were no buses any longer to convey passengers. Then, I came to Giri here whether I could get a car or bus, none was forthcoming. I have been here for over one hour. I am going to Auchi. I hope I would get a car to Auchi at Lokoja this evening,” she said.

Many residents of the nation’s capital have been moving out of the city in droves since Monday. National Mirror observed that some of the residents who had moved out of the city before the poll was shifted in February are yet to return.

At the time this story was being filed around 4pm yesterday, most of streets and highways in the FCT recorded low human and vehicular movements. Civil servants left their offices before 3pm, including staff of private organizations to allow them prepare for the exercise. There was also panic shopping in most of the shopping malls and village markets, including the Gosa market along the Airport Road yesterday.

Meanwhile, virtually all politicians and their families have travelled out of the city for the poll. President Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy was seen travelling out

of the FCT around 11am yesterday.

The President will be in his home town, Otuoke, to cast his vote. He is hopeful to defeat his major rival and candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, General Mohammed Buhari.

Lagos airport records high passenger traffic …as airlines overbook, reschedule travelers

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he Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos and its domestic wing have been recording high volume of passenger movement.

Many Nigerians, who are either travelling out of Lagos State or out of the country because of today’s presidential elections have turned the airport into a beehive of activities. This is as virtually all the operating airlines; local and international, have continually overbooked their fights or rescheduled passengers for other flights.

Saturday Mirror observed that the lull, which has been experienced in the country’s aviation industry since January as a result of the devaluation of the Naira against the Dollar, has given way to high passenger volume since Monday this week.

As a result of high movement of people, airlines like British Airways, Emirates, South African Airways, Kenya Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and a few others have overbooked their flights, while some of their passengers were rescheduled for other dates. This is as Arik Air could not airlift some of its passengers out of the country and out of Lagos on Thursday because of the high passenger traffic. Some of its New York bound passengers were rescheduled for Friday and Saturday, while its domestic passengers were also rescheduled for the same days.

While most of the international passengers were leaving the country in droves for fear of possible breakout of law and order during and after the elections, local passengers were travelling out of the state to their villages to either cast their votes or avoid the widely anticipated post-election crisis.

Security was also beefed up at the international wing of the airport as security personnel of different organisations including the Aviation Security of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, were seen in strategic locations watching events as they unfolded.

Although some of the passengers denied that they were travelling out of the country because of possible

My family is in South Africa, but I registered to vote in Ogun State.

However, the recent spate of destruction, killing and maiming of people by political thugs, despite the signing of peace accord by the political parties, has broken my resolve to perform my civic responsibility, especially in the presidential poll crisis after the election, others declared that they decided to leave the shores of the country due to the tension the campaigns had generated in recent weeks.

Another passenger with South African Airways, who simply identified herself as Helen, said she was travelling out of the country to the Southern African country because of a possible crisis after the election.

She said, “My family is in South Africa, but I registered to vote in Ogun State. However, the recent spate of destruction, killing and maiming of people by political thugs, despite the signing of peace accord by the political parties, has broken my resolve to perform my civic responsibility, especially in the presidential poll. On second thoughts, I decided to leave the country temporarily and reunite with my family. If I don’t vote this time around, I can still cast my vote in the subsequent elections. After all, it is the one that is alive that will vote in elections.

“It’s unfortunate that we still see elections as do or die in this part of the world. It’s not so in other countries. But ours is different, with the beating of war drums by politicians and their gullible supporters. It’s really unfortunate that we are not there yet as far as true democracy is con-

cerned.”

A usually reliable source at British Airways confided in our correspondent that the recent increase in passenger traffic out of the country was as a result of the general elections.

The airline source explained that most of the airlines, especially British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have overbooked their capacities in the past one week, a situation which led to some of the passengers being rescheduled by the airlines.

The source said that since it was certain that the presidential and gubernatorial elections would be held on the stipulated dates, some of the country’s citizens and foreigners are apprehensive that the election may lead to upheaval in the country.

The airline source was emphatic that most of the travellers don’t want to be caught in the web of election crisis, saying that politicians in recent times have caused the unnecessary tension in the air.

Confirming the upsurge in air travel, the country manager, British Airways Regional Commercial Manager, West Africa, Mr. Kola Olayinka, told our correspondent that passenger volume had surprisingly increased in the past few days despite the lull the airline recorded in January and February due to the devaluation of Naira against the Dollar.

He said, “The upsurge in passenger movement in the past three days too surprised us. Even when I spoke to some of my colleagues in other airlines, they confirmed the same. But ironically, traffic was down in January and February, but in the past three days, we have experienced increase.

“I don’t want to believe that the increase is a result of the forthcoming election. Remember that most schools are now on holidays and the Easter season is fast approaching. When we witnessed lull in the system, people attributed it to Naira devaluation, because travellers pay in Dollars. But, surprisingly every airline is now fully booked and some are even over-booked.”

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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March 28, 2015

2015 elections:

Those who will not vote today The massive clamour for PVCs and the hype attending the political campaigns notwithstanding, there are clear indications that many may not vote today for various reasons, writes NICK UWERU

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lutching tightly at his luggage that Thursday morning at the departure hall of the Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, Sam Akaeze searched the milling crowd in the hall for three of his other friends with whom he had come into the country from South Africa to vote on Saturday. Johnson Adeolu and Kenneth Edoghame, the other two with Akaeze, decided earlier in the week that it was better to be out of the country when voting commences on Saturday after getting wind that federal government

may shut down the entry and exit points of the country. “We decided that it was better to observe the whole exercise from outside rather than be participants ourselves,” stated Akaeze, a medical doctor based in Durban, South Africa.

This would be the fourth time they will be in the country this year. They came to register to vote. They obtained their permanent voters cards, PVCs. But at the last minute, the trio appear to have chickened out. Going by the crowd at the international wing of

the country’s premier airport, Akaeze, Adeolu and Edoghame may not be the only ones who may have disenfranchised themselves before the Presidential polls of Saturday March 28. A sizeable number of travellers at the airport that Thursday morning may be eligible voters who may prefer being outside the country when the election begins.

Indeed like the travellers to South Africa feared, federal government did close down the sea ports, land borders and airports for the election. But that wouldn’t CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

‘IDPs may not be able to vote too’ be new since similar measures were taken in 2011.

The bigger cause for worry, for most observers of this trend appears to be the perceived balance of two of the biggest contending parties and their standard bearers. For the first time since 1999, Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, is squaring up with an equally mammoth opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. The campaigns have have been gruelling and energy sapping for both parties. President Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent and General Mohammadu Buhari, APC presidential candidate have had to be called to duty severally to defend their party manifestoes.

There have been anxious moments, too numerous to count where there had been violence, sabre rattling by political zealots. What with the air of insecurity in the country, too, there have been fears for many on what the outcome of the polls might bring. The fears may have forced many eligible voters to take a hasty leave of the country until after the polls.

Those who would not be in the vicinity of their pol-

len unit to vote on Saturday are not restricted to eligible voters moving out of the country alone. Others, in fact, 20 million of them, on the estimate are already disenfranchised by virtue of not being in the country.

These are Nigerians in Diaspora. In other countries like Algeria, nationals in other countries of the world go to the Algerian embassy to exercise their suffrage.

But with Nigeria, the reality is that this huge number of people would be disenfranchised reduced to mare observers from afar through no fault of theirs. They are statute barred from voting when not in the country (see Polls 2015: Diaspora Nigeria, out of it!).

Like Akaeze, Adeolu and Edoghame, a lot of Nigerians have decidedly moved away from the vicinity of the pollen units to the comfort of their hometown within the country over fear of violence. Ibrahim Maradun, a well digger in Eiyenkorin, an outskirt settlement of Ilorin Kwara State, suddenly woke up one morning earlier in the week and bolted to Gusau,

Jega

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

20 million Nigerians abroad won’t vote!

As much as Nigerians living abroad would have loved to be part of March 28 elections and subsequent ones to follow, the reality is that they would be part of the disenfranchised population, reduced to mare observers from afar through no fault of theirs

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ndeed Diaspora voting has been a major policy talking point in the country since 2013. President Goodluck Jonathan, that year had made plans that Nigerians abroad where ever they live should vote this year for a candidate of their choice. To demonstrate his seriousness on the matter, Jonathan directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to look at the possibilities in which Nigerians in Diaspora are able to vote in the presidential and gubernatorial elections as a starting point.

Even the Senate President, David Mark, had expressed optimism that it could happen by 2015 and was ready to give his backing to the idea. At the time, it looked like Diaspora Nigerian voting would materialize. In presenting a bill to enhance this process at the House of Representative, Abike Dabiri Erewa, chairman, House Committee on Diaspora matters, stated that democracy is actually evolving in Nigeria and people are just scared about a lot of things.

“We have presented the issue of the Diaspora Voting Rights. We have actually presented the Bill to amend the Electoral Act to provide room for Nigerians living abroad to have voting rights but the response we got was not very good so we decided to withdraw it for now and then start from the beginning and the beginning really is to actually work on the agency that will take care of Nigerians who are in Diaspora in the first place.

“It is clear that the Nigerians in Diaspora are not well taken care of under the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government where the issues of the Diaspora are being handled. When we have a functioning agency that will be seeing to the affairs of Nigerians in Diaspora, we can then be having accurate information about our people abroad.

“Maybe we will start from having a

database of Nigerians living in Diaspora.

If we start from the beginning, that idea will give Nigerians more confidence but the challenge we are having right now is that most people believe that elections may be rigged in favor of the government in power if we have Diaspora voting rights in the country,” Dabiri Erewa said at the time.

The move elicited a lot of excitement at the time. But the hope was short lived as the House of Representatives skewered the proposal, insisting that the project was way too expensive and cannot be afforded. Till date, that decision by the House has continued to draw flaks. “It is quite ridiculous if not pathetic that an assembly of virtually redundant men who sit mostly deliberating on nothing but award 150billion naira to themselves yearly can give such porous excuse of lack of fund to a germane issue like this,” explained Adekoya Boladale, a political analyst in the country. He further added: “Most of the problems we have in this country rally round the greed of our lawmakers who always fail to put national issues above their parochial interest. Are they telling us, for instance that 50billion naira out of their bogus allowances can’t organise an oversea voting? I don’t buy that. I strongly believe members of the House of Representatives have other reasons, (maybe political) on why they feel they shouldn’t endorse Diaspora voting but giving the excuse of lack of fund is to say the least, absurd”.

The analyst may well have a point. This is because other lesser countries have since incorporated their country into their voting population. Upon a closer look of the claims by the House of Reps members, It appeared ridiculous that Nigeria is still deliberating on Diaspora voting when African countries like Algeria, Angola and even Cape Verde have moved a step further

Dabiri-Erewa by creating legislative seats for collective representations for their citizens abroad.

“I remember the president promising to ensure he overseas voting will be possible by 2015, it is however unfortunate that our men and women of the National Assembly killed that proposal when it was presented for deliberation. It is like taking us back to the primordial era. We keep trying to do things differently, move a step forward and yet some people just want to remain static,” explained Boladale.

To show the importance of Diaspora population in the political scheme of things in the continent, one of the decisions passed to the African Union during one of its recent African Diaspora Summit in Johannesburg was to make Diaspora the 6th region in Africa so that the people in Diaspora can be more involved in the decision making in the AU. Diaspora voting, if it had been okayed by Nigeria would have put the country in the league of nations deepening its democracy.

“Nigeria is our country and we want to be part of it, however, we cannot continue to contribute to the development of the country while being denied the participation that every citizen enjoys in other countries even though they live outside the country,” stated Steven Gbolahan Isreal, movie producer

and publisher of ‘Makin’ a magazine exclusively devoted to Nollywood but circulated mainly in the US. There are facts backing the need to have Nigerians abroad vote. Apart from the sheer number of Nigerians which is estimated at 20 million, Nigerians in the Diaspora send home over $20 billion every year. These figures are quite significant. $20 billion is almost 70 percent of Nigeria’s total budget. If the money were devoted to building power plants by dedicated Nigerian leaders, the money is enough to build 21,000 megawatts of electricity. It is enough to equip every Nigerian school and University with state of the art technology to give Nigerian youths the best educational system in the world. This money is enough to reconstruct every mile of road in Nigeria to remove the death traps that our roads have been famous for.

Diaspora Nigerians have shown, besides this financial contribution that they have the burning desire to help in any way to contribute to the development of their country of origin. They want to help shape the present and the future of their country by electing good leaders who can secure the future for the Nigerian children and grand children.

A lot of Nigerian professionals and business people abroad want to contribute to the economy but they do not know where to go and how to link up with the system.

Speaking on this, Jenny Okafor, Jenny Okafor, President of Nigerian Women in Diaspora Leadership Forum said, “We are talking about Nigerians in Diaspora who remit about $20 billion annually to Nigeria; we are talking of some of the brightest brains in the world and they are not asking for anything other than seeking ways to contribute to the development of our country. Among them we have the medical doctors bringing in hospital equipment; we have professors wanting to come over to do their sabbatical in our universities and they are all looking for a platform to connect with the system”.

– Culled from Starter, Saturday Mirror March 7, 2015.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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March 28, 2015

‘12 million PVCs yet to be collected’

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 Zamfara. Like him, other well diggers in the area, mainly from the North of the country have relocated, promising to be back to continue their trade as soon as the election is over.

In states like Kano and Kaduna, places with history of political and religious riot, it has been a mass exodus of Southerners back to their homes, regardless of the fact that they may not be able to vote during the election even if they have their PVCs. Ibe Augustine, a transporter, told Saturday Mirror that there has been increase rate of travellers back to the south. “Nobody is talking about voting. It is safety first,” said Augustine. This trend may not be unconnected with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s recent claim that over 12 million PVCs have so far not been claimed by their owners.

On insecurity alone, no less than three million Nigerians are already displaced by ongoing insurgency wars in

People are travelling back home in large

numbers.

Nobody is talking about voting. It is

– Augustine Ibe, Transporter safety first

Unclaimed PVCs

cy, SEMA, with the support of NEMA and other international partners. At the North of the country. Currently, the least four of these have opened in the country ranks as third in global rank- last few weeks to accommodate the ining of country with internally displaced flux of IDPs. Those that arrive at the camps are persons, IDPs. Officially, there are now registered and given access to necessi12 official IDP camps in Borno State and ties such as food, water, health care and six in Adamawa, which are operated by shelter.

The majority of IDPs, however, the State Emergency Management Agen-

never make it into a formal camp. Some are turned away because the camps are overcrowded. Others are too afraid to enter the camps, and hide out in remote villages. Many people end up sleeping under trees, in abandoned churches and school buildings, or in empty fields.

International organisations believe CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

‘Voters’ apathy not just a Nigerian thing’

Adekoya Boladale, a political scientist and scholar on good governance, and Convener, Advocacy for Better Leadership, Nigeria, says voters apathy for whatever reason is not peculiar to the country alone.

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ith impressive turnout for collections of PVC, some experts still project that there will voters’ apathy. Should this be an expected permanent feature in an election or is just peculiar to our clime alone?

Firstly, let me state that the willingness of any voter to participate in an election depends largely on the confidence such individual reposes on the electoral system. Most voters feel is it merely a waste of precious time to cast a vote at the polling unit and at the end of it, the result does not represent the desire of majority. That is, rigged result. Secondly, security is a germane factor for everyone, when the lives and safety of voters cannot be guaranted, it becomes a setback for such individual.

Another factor is the procedure the electoral body is adopting. Not everyone has the patience to stand in the sun or rain for hours just to vote especially when their is minimal expectation that the primary beneficiary of such sacrifice will return such goodwill in good measure. Most Nigerians have lost interest not just in the democratic process but in the politicians as well, hence, there is no motivating factor to continuously vote for them. Lastly, some people just can’t be bothered. They are not interested in politics, government or the way it is run, so they see the election day as a public holiday to relax, eat and have fun. This isn’t just a Nigerian thing, neither is it peculiar to us but these factors are most common in the African political space where there is a mistrust between the electorate, the political class and the electoral body. If these factors can be

minimized or worked on then we will see positive turnout in the numbers of voters during election.

Some say that registration and obtaining of PVC for majority of Nigerians may just stem from acquiring the document for security reasons.

To what extent would you agree with this?

I quite agree. I have friends who have gotten their PVCs with the sole intention of using it as a means of official identification. Most people with such intention are people who see themselves as apolitical. They prefer to hear the result of the poll on the television or read it in the papers. Either due to security issues at the polling unit, frustration or lack of trust in the system, they have made up their mind to disenfranchise themselves.

The last few weeks or so have witnessed exodus of people moving back to their place of origin for fear of post election violence. What does this say of our voting culture?

I think the fear of the people is in order. It is not something I will encourage, however, due to the experience of the last election, it is important. Nigerians, especially those living in the far North and are from the South should as a matter of urgency head back home. Trusting the government to protect their lives is a risk too high to take. Post or Pre election violence shows the shallowness of our political maturity and tolerance, it also lends credence to the fact that we are deeply divided along ethno-religious line and as such not worthy of the appel-

Boladele lation ‘Nation’. It shows that instead of getting matured politically we are retrogressing. The exodus of potential voters to a sort of safe haven is as a result of fear of the unknown and I think this fear was concretized by the after-event of 2011. It calls for urgent attention as every Nigerian deserves to live in any part of the country without fear.

Is there any reason why some voters may choose to register for vote only in their state of origin, return later to the place to vote for a candidate of his choice?

I strongly believe it all still boil down to fear and insecurity. The presumed outbreak of violence by disgruntled individuals who may not be favoured with the election result. Unfortunately for Nigeria the citizens believe they stand a better chance at staying alive in their state of origin than where they reside. It is not about some sudden affection for local politics but largely due to the move for survival.

What of the internally displaced persons, IDPs, do you think that there is likelihood that this group of Nigerians may not vote?

The ability or inability of having an election in the recently liberated communities formerly under Boko Haram rule rest largely on the electoral body and the security forces. Yes, they are Nigerians and as such reserve the right to vote and be voted for, however, the free and fairness in that process coupled with security should be clinically evaluated. The registered IDPs in official centres I am informed have been mapped into the process. I think the major searchlight should be on the unregistered ones and those who couldn’t get accommodation at the IDP centers.

Even if they can’t participate in the presidential election at least, they deserve to vote in the subsequent ones.

Considering that all the above factors may reduce voters turnout, what would you advocate that we do for future elections to make for more inclusive voting and less of voters apathy?

A lot need to go into political education. The electorate must understand that the period of election isn’t about a supporter versus another or an ethnic group against another. Electorates must know it is between we, the masses and them, the politicians. The electoral body must also place severe punishment on hate campaign during election. Politicians spend lots of time and resources trying to outdo each other in despicable utterances. The signing of the peace accord is a good step but it is one that doesn’t hold enough water. I had advocated in one of my recommendations to the electoral body on keeping the peace during election and one of the recommendations is having such peace accord at ‘The Hague’. Let the International Criminal Court be actively involved.

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March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘Fear of violence may keep many indoors’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

that only a minority are going into formal IDP camps and the majority are moving into host communities and so it may be difficult to know how many they are and to register them in order to provide assistance.

Last month, an assessment team from government and some relief organisation practically stumbled on a new town founded by IDPs. As gathered, the refugees had escaped from Gwoza, another town under attack by Boko Haram. But Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, who insists that its members are the principal targets of the Islamist terrorist group, estimates that there are over 3.3 million IDPs in the North. CAN expanded its scope of the displaced persons to include areas away from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the principal areas where war is ravaging currently. By the Christian group’s calculation, IDPs involved other vulnerable victims in Jos, Kaduna, Zamfara and other areas like Benue and Taraba, where communal clashes between residents of a settlement and migrating herdsmen result in displacing people.

Ayo Oritsajafor, National President,

CAN believe that the condition of the IDPs across the north is critical and that there is urgent need to alleviate the suffering. For instance, CAN proclaimed a special offering in churches across the country for victims of terrorism and other forms of violence for tomorrow.

The money raised is meant to alleviate suffering of members in the North.

“We appeal to all churches in the country to adhere to the clarion call to be our brothers keeper because the situation is already creating a serious humanitarian crisis across the several the several IDP camps scattered across the country,” stated Oritsajafor.

NEMA’s figure is a conservative es-

timate of the number of IDPs in the country. More or less, findings from international organisations tended to support Oritsajafor’s view. For instance, in a report, ‘Global Overview 2014, put together by, Internal Displaced Monitoring Centre IDMC and the Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, Nigeria is ranked as having the third highest number of IDPs after Syria and Columbia.

“Violence, abuses, and forced evictions all add to the conflict-mix in many of these situations, while in places such as Nigeria we see how challenging life becomes for those already displaced by conflict when they are struck down

Some accuse INEC of bungling the PVC collection process. For them, INEC is the body responsible for disenfranchising them.

again by severe floods and storms,” said Alfredo Zamudio, director, IDMC. According to the report, there are 3.3 million IDPs in Nigeria and 470,500 individuals were displaced in 2013 alone.

On a global scale, Nigeria is only ranked behind Syria with 6.5 million IDPs and Colombia with 5.7 million IDPs. The report explains the unprecedented rise in IDPs in Nigeria last year by the increased number of Boko Haram attacks, heavy-handed counter insurgency operations, and ongoing inter-communal violence. After Boko Haram insurgents were pushed out of major towns in the north-east following the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states in May 2013, they focused their attacks with increased brutality on towns and villages close to Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

INEC says that it has made provisions for the IDPs to vote. But with recent onslaught by military against Boko Haram resulting clearing over 40 towns of the insurgents, people are now leaving the IDPs for their homes, raising fresh worries as to how they will get to vote.

Some accuse INEC of bungling the PVC collection process. For them, INEC CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

‘Why we will not vote’ ‘I am afraid of violence’ – Ogochukwu Ude, Onitsha-based businessman Although I am supporting President Goodluck Jonathan and also have permanent voter’s card but I am not going to vote on that day.I wouldn’t want to go at the polling unit because I’m afraid there would be violence on that day. I don’t want to experience stray bullet and machete.

The reason why I tried to get permanent voter’s card was in case they may request for it anywhere not that was my aim of obtaining it.

‘March 28 is rest day for me’ ---Felicia Umeh, based in Onitsha I’m not going to vote. The reason is that I don’t want anything that will disturb my life. For me that day is a holiday; a day of rest. I even have permanent voter’s card.

‘Depends on what I feel on that day’--Ikwuagwu Saga, based in Lagos

I don’t think I’m going to be voting although I live that to my instinct to decide on Friday night. The reason I’m having double mind is that I registered in Victoria Island but I have now relocated to Ajah. You know there would not be commercial buses on that day.

‘PDP, APC, none of them cares about me’

– Iyabo Adeyemo

Why will you not come out to vote?

I decided a long time ago that I won’t vote for anybody because these politicians don’t care about common people like me?

Why would you say that?

I have lost so much in this country with help coming from none of them whether APC or PDP. My house got burnt down

and all my properties.

Nobody came to my rescue. Is that how a caring government should behave.

But you can go and vote them out.

Vote PDP out so that APC can come in? Sorry, I live in Lagos and I lost everything in Lagos.

APC did nothing about here. Both of them are birds of a feather.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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March 28, 2015

‘Why we will not vote’

‘INEC has not released my PVC’

Oluwole Kalejaiye, chief security officer of a leading national newspaper, says that the hiccups in obtaining the permanent voters card, PVC, would deny him of voting today.

Why will you not vote today?

I can’t vote because I could not get my PVC from INEC. I would have gone out to exercise my civic duty but I cannot do that now.

How is this possible? People say that PVCs are now ready for collection.

In my case it is not true. I registered at Ogudu Orioke, Ojota area of Lagos. When we heard that the PVCs were available, we rushed over to collect the document but I found to my disappointment that mine was not there. We were told that distribution of the PVCs were in five different centres. I went to each of this but could not find my PVC.

‘I was told that what I had was the old ID card’ Amobi Nwabuike, a Lagos-based driver, says he would have loved to vote but got the wrong information on how to register and get a PVC How did you end up not having a PVC? I travelled to Enugu, where I hoped to vote with my family and presented my card at the Abapanike, Enugu registration centre but I was told that what I had was the old temporary voter’s card. I learnt that I was supposed to have registered and afresh to get a new card. But my wife was able to get hers because she registered.

Would you have voted if you had your PVC? Yes. I would have travelled to Enugu to vote.

Do you live in Enugu?

No, I leave and work in Lagos. But I would have travelled to Enugu to vote.

‘There were hitches attending PVC collection’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

profession said: “I have been coming here since INEC postponed the collection date is the body responsible for disenfranbut I have never met any INEC official chising them. Such Nigerians could be here. I came yesterday, the gate man told easily seen and interacted with in parts me they (INEC officials) will come by of the country, especially in Ajuwon 12.00pm but they didn’t, I left this place area of Ogun State, where many resiby 4.00pm yesterday, they didn’t come. ” dents are yet to be given their PVC. Mrs Adewale Olusegun who said she Some aggrieved residents were resides in Baale/Akunwonjo area of seen gathered en mass around 8.am Akute, Ogun State, said: “I am a civil on Thursday at Ogudu, Ojota area of servant, I know what I had to go through Lagos, the slated venue for the disbefore coming here this morning and tribution of PVCs, waiting endlessly these people are not here. I came yesterfor INEC to distribute their PVCs but day, the gate man told me they will come unfortunately, INEC officials never by 12.pm, my brother I left here around showed up. Even when they show, many claim that their cards were not found.

One of them, Oluwole Kalejaiye, a chief security officer of a leading news paper says that as at Friday, yesterday, he is yet to locate his card.

“I can’t vote because I could not get my PVC from INEC. I would have loved to go out to exercise my civic duty but I cannot do that now,” he lamented.

Narrating how he got into the mess, Kalejaiye said that he duly registered at Ogudu Orioke, Ojota area of Lagos.

“When we heard that the PVCs were available, we rushed over to collect the document but I found to my disappointment that mine was not there. We were told that distribution of the PVCs were in five different centres. I went to each of this but could not find my PVC,” he said.

Similar scenario played out in Ajuwon, Ogun State. Tunde Ayeni, a resi- IDPs in one of their camps dent of Ajuwon who is a teacher by

4.pm, I never saw them.”

However, one Mr Gbenga Oladipo revealed that he has met INEC official at the venue once but insisted they didn’t work up to 30 minutes before packing up to leave.

“I was returning from my children’s school after I had gone to pick them that afternoon, when I saw them (INEC officials). I quickly came back but they told me they were packing up that they were done for the day, and the people that I met here were complaining that the INEC workers didn’t stay up to 30 minutes,” Oladepo said.

Another victim of the endless wait, Kingsley Offor, a business man revealed that he came from Egbeda area of the neighbouring Lagos State to collect his PVC but was disappointed by the attitude of the state INEC. Offor explained that he did his voters registration in 2011, when he was still residing in Akute before he moved permanently to Lagos in 2013.

“I spent a thousand naira plus coming here this morning and these people have not showed up till now, this is 2.30pm, when will they now come? This is bad. Some of the people are even saying they have been coming here since Monday and up till now nothing,” he said.

Some of the aggrieved residents who spoke on condition of anonymity said many people have been coming to the supposed venue for the past two weeks with no sign of INEC officials.

A resident, who didn’t want his name in print said a politician in the area was alleged to have gone and collected the PVCs on behalf of registered residents.

However, when the potential voters got tired of waiting for INEC officials whom they knew were not going to show up following the information given to the man that called someone in INEC’s office, they (residents) decided to donate money to mobilise some of them to Ifo to get the PVCs. This did not produce the needed PVCs. For this group of people, there may be no voting on Election Day.

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NATIONAL NEWS

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

GENERAL ELECTION 2015

Jonathan vs Buhari: Nigerians decide today Lekan Adejuwon

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igerians from all walks of life, will today, go to the polls to elect a new leader who will steer the ship of Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, for the next four years.

The crucial election is believed to be the defining moment in the country’s chequered political history being the fourth successive general election to be held since the birth of the present democratic experiment in 1999, an indication that civilian democracy has taken a firm root in Nigeria against all odds.

Many have applauded this remarkable achievement of 16 years of unbroken civilian rule without a military interregnum since the country attained independence in 1960.

But ironically, not a few believe that today’s poll, unlike the previous ones, has posed perhaps the greatest threat to the corporate existence of the country as many Nigerians have become apprehensive that the poll or its outcome may be marred by violence.

Although about 14 political parties are fielding candidates (including the first woman) for today’s presidential election, the

overbearing posture of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, and the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, has taken the shine off the other contestants whom many believe are in the race to fulfill all righteousness.

Precisely, today’s contest is a straight battle between President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, an Ijaw from the minority Niger Delta, running on the platform of the PDP and General Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner and APC presidential candidate.

President Jonathan is seeking a fresh four year mandate from Nigerians to consolidate on his 2011 victory.

Ironically his opponent, Buhari was his major contender in 2011 under a barely six month old Congress of Progressive Change CPC. The retired army general will be making a record fourth attempt at governing the country.

But the emergence in 2013 of APC, comprising largely of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria ACN, the All Nigerians Peoples Party ANPP, a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA and CPP seems to have altered the political equation and posed the greatest chal-

…Don’t take results from social media, NBC warns Dennis Agbo Enugu

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he National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has warned the electronics media against obtaining results of the elections through the social media.

The commission stressed that it is only the mandate of the Independent National Electoral Commission, to declare results of the elections, and urged the media to obtain results of the polls only through INEC. The Director General of NBC, Mr. Emeka Mbah, handed the warning on

Thursday when he briefed the media in Enugu.

Mba said: “A broadcaster shall broadcast election results or declaration of the winner only as announced by the authorised electoral officer for the election.

“Broadcasters are reminded that the social media is not an official source for release of election results.

“Stations are therefore directed to adhere strictly to the law and the provisions of the code and stop all political campaigns and advertisements on their stations by midnight March 26 2015 and announce results only released by INEC.”

lenge to PDP 16 years of unchallenged dominance of political power at the centre.

This was the situation until the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, flagged -off campaigns by political parties mid November 2014 in line with the constitutional provision of 90 days to the general elections.

However, fears of violence have risen in the runup to today’s elections with leaders of both parties using inflammatory rhetorics

thus exacerbating the already tense political atmosphere.

It is on record that that the campaigns run by the two major political parties have been characterised by mudslinging, hate speeches, abuse and character assassination unparalleled in the history of Nigeria’s electioneering such that some have envisaged that the election might not hold after all.

This is not unconnected with the call by the ruling party for the removal of the

chairman of electoral commission Professor Attahiru Jega barely a week to the election.

The agitation for Jega’s sack was aggravated by protests by PDP supporters who alleged that the electoral umpire may have been compromised by the opposition who supported the use of card reader and Permanent Voters card PVC for the 2015 election.

The PDP had criticized the rate of distribution of PVCs and card reader while APC, on the other hand, al-

leged that there is a plot to revert to the old paper system under which ballot rigging could be easier.

It took the timely intervention of President Jonathan to douse the tension over Jega’s future as the INEC chairman.

But despite Jega’s assurances that his commission would do ‘everything humanly possible’ to organise a free, fair and credible election, it was apparent that the electoral body was under intense pressure to shift the election.

L-R: Wife of Bayelsa State Governor, Mrs. Rachael Dickson; President Goodluck Jonathan; Miss. Karinate Oweifawari and Governor Seriake Dickson, during the arrival of President Jonathan for this weekend’s presidential election in Yenagoa, yesterday.

Jonathan warns trouble makers against violence Says outcome of elections should be graciously accepted

Rotimi Fadeyi Abuja

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has warned those who may have the intentions of causing violence during the elections in order to advance their political ambitions, saying that government would not hesitate to deal decisively with them by making them face the full wrath of the law.

Jonathan, in a nationwide broadcast, yesterday stated that security agencies are fully prepared and ready to deal with any group or persons who attempt to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the elec-

tions or cause any form of public disorder.

He noted that democracy allows dissent and encourages differences and even fervent disagreements, stressing that elections must never be mistaken for war or an opportunity to set fellow citizens against each other and tear the country apart.

Jonathan restated his belief that no political ambition could justify violence or the shedding of blood of the people.

He gave the assurance that he would ensure fair play during the elections and deploy the resources and institutions of state

only in the manner prescribed by laws.

“I reaffirm once again, my personal preparedness to ensure fair play during the elections and to deploy the resources and institutions of state only in the manner prescribed by our laws.

“Let me warn, however, that as President, Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, I am under oath to protect the lives of all Nigerians and the security of our country at all times. I will never abdicate my responsibilities in that regard.

“Democracy allows dissent. It encourages differences and even fervent dis-

agreements. But elections must never be mistaken for war or an opportunity to set fellow citizens against each other and tear our beloved nation apart.

“Those who may harbour any intention of testing our will by unleashing violence during the elections in order to advance their political ambitions should think again as all necessary measures have been put in place to ensure that any persons who breach the peace or cause public disorder during or after the elections are speedily apprehended and summarily dealt with according to our laws.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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he presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammdu Buhari, has raised the alarm over alleged violent attacks on his party and members, particularly, key personalities, by some suspected members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and security agencies.

Expressing sadness, he said the development negated the essence of the Abuja Peace Accord signed by the presidential candidates of the two major parties – himself and President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a statement titled “The Abuja Peace Accords Must Be worth Their Wordings, signed by Buhari and made available to Saturday Mirror, he said hardly had they finished signing the accord than events that run contrary to its content and spirit had began to happen.

The statement reads in part: “I take these accords very seriously, and this has reflected in the issues-based campaign which I ran all through the period of electioneering campaign, despite the provocative and sleazy campaign directed at my person and my party.

“But recent developments across the country, ahead of Saturday’s elections, run against the contents and spirit of the peace

NATIONAL NEWS

March 28, 2015

GENERAL ELECTION 2015

Buhari raises the alarm over alleged violent attacks Urges Jonathan to call security agents to order

accords.

“For example, the ink with which we signed the new peace accord had barely dried when we started hearing reports of violence directed against members of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as well as glaring acts of harassment and intimidation being carried out against the opposition by security agents across the country.

“Shots were fired at the convoy of the Director General of my Campaign Organisation, His Excellency Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, in Rumuolumeni, Obio Akpor area of Port Harcourt, a few hours after the second peace accord was signed, leaving two persons injured.

“I do hope this is not a confirmation of the information reaching my party that some notorious security agents have been deployed to Port Harcourt to restrict the movement of Gov. Amaechi.

“In Ondo State, a serving

APC member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Eniolorunda Omosule, was arrested and detained by the police for no reason other than to keep him away until after elections, while we have heard reports of an alleged meeting in Ibadan between the Commission-

cians and electorate to avoid violence in today’s presidential election.

This is as the organisation condemned the O’odua’s Peoples Congress, OPC, for destroying posters and other proper-

ties of Lagos State in its recent rally in the state.

Speaking at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Two, MMA2, Lagos yesterday, the National Coordinator, RMG, Comrade Olufemi Aduwo, said that

ers of Police in the Southwest and PDP officials.

“In Imo, we have read of how more than 30 armed mobile policemen were unleashed on some APC youths at Mbutu in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area, with the policemen firing indis-

criminately, smashing doors and windows and arresting some of the youths, while there are alleged plans to deploy troops clothed in DSS uniforms to the South-West to help the PDP to rig the elections.

“These are worrisome

developments, more so because they involve security agencies, which are supposed to be neutral and professional in carrying out their constitutional duties of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians, irrespective of their party affiliations.

L-R; APC National Chairman Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Chairman of the Peace Accord Committee and former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, PDP Presidential Candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, APC Presidential Candidate General Muhammadu Buhari, Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar 111 and PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu when two leading political parties signed a renewal of election peace accord at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in ABUJA. MAR 26 2015.

Group urges politicians, electorate to avoid violence Olusgeun Koiki

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Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, the Rights Monitoring Group, RMG, has appealed to politi-

it was important for the voting public to shun violence in today’s poll in order for the election to be credible and accepted by the international observers.

He also admonished the

Nigerians should embrace peace —Archbishop Martins

Odinaka Uruakpa

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head of today’s Presidential and National Assembly elections, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins, has enjoined all Nigerians to embrace peace and shun all forms of violence and thuggery that may disrupt the peaceful conduct of the exercise.

In a release signed by the Director of Social

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Communications, Msgr.

Gabriel Osu, Archbishop Martins, while calling on all eligible voters to come out en-mass and exercise their franchise, appealed to the contending parties and their supporters to cooperate with and allow INEC officials to conduct free and fair elections so as not to jeopardise the future wellbeing of the country.

According to him, no single human life can be equated with the political ambition of all the contestants, hence, every effort

must be put in place by the law enforcement agencies to forestall violence by ensuring that the wishes of the electorates prevail at the end of the day.

Martins also appealed to security agencies to be impartial in carrying out their duties adding that if after all the discussions concerning the deployment of soldiers have been concluded, they should ensure that they do not justify the fears citizens have been habouring concerning intimidation of

voters and other conducts that would jeopardise the integrity of elections.

“The whole world is watching and waiting to see how we carry out our electioneering exercise.

These elections are very important and significant for the future of our nation. We must go out and vote for the right candidates. Vote for candidates with integrity, persons who have the fear of God and the requisite competence to lead us a right”, he appealed.

electorate not to be used by politicians to disrupt the outcome of the election, stressing that as one of the election observers accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the body would carry out its monitoring process without bias or favouritism.

“Pre-election violence is bad and I reject it totally. The desperation is high for political parties in the South West. This is a determining factor for all the parties. We are talking about nine million votes from the South West alone.

“However, the sordid situation in the country is what is leading to pre and post-election violence. We need to reduce the issue of unemployment and create enabling environment for all the citizens of the country in order to eschew violence in the election.”

Aduwo also charged all political parties in the country to allow entrenchment of internal democra-

cy in their parties in the future, maintaining that this would prevent current upheaval in the country and discourage cross-carpeting among politicians.

He said, “I think the major issue there is that the parties must embrace internal democracy in their activities. First, how did the candidates emerge?

Candidates emerged through inducement; monetisation and imposition of candidates.

“This is the first time in recent years that we are having two major parties that are very close to each other unlike in the past when the gap was very wide. Today, it looks like 49 to 51 per cent and then, a lot of insinuations and hard statements from the parties.”

He however said that controversies could not be abdicated from politics, but warned that such should not lead to destruction of lives and properties.

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NATIONAL NEWS

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Military intensifies air, ground surveillance in Abuja

Ubong Ukpong Abuja

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head of the elections today, the Nigerian military is intensifying its air and ground operations in Abuja, the nation’s capital city and its environs to forestall security breach by

miscreants.

Our correspondent in Abuja reports that military aircrafts were sighted flying repeatedly in surveillance to and from the adjoining Nasarawa, Niger, Kogi and Kaduna states.

Troops of the Nigerian Army were also sighted at intervals within the city and suburbs as well as on the

major highways conducting intensive ground patrol and surveillance.

It was observed that military checkpoints have been increased within the city and environs as soldiers kept vigilant eyes on all commuters.

Troops of the Nigerian Army’s Guards Brigade and Army Headquarters, AHQ

Garison, were also seen in companies moving into the hinterlands in and around Abuja, to forestall violence which is often suspected to erupt from the hinterlands and escalate into the towns.

Troops in a very high spirit were seen in five Hilux moving into Ruga Madaki, Ruga Jule and other parts of Karu in Abuja and

Nasarawa State, which were prone to crisis.

The troops had since on Thursday, engaged in show of force and road walk along the Abuja-Keffi Road and others, to test their fitness and warn miscreants to stay away from troubles.

Only on Wednesday, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah,

had warned that those who would provoke or invoke violence before, during and after this election would meet with an organised violence.

Ahead of the election, some residents have moved their families away from Abuja believing that it would boil, but the present high level of security seems to be giving hope.

Ali Modu-Sheriff calls for peace Inusa Ndahi Maiduguri

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ormer governor of Borno State, Senator (Dr.) Ali Modu Sheriff, has called on politicians in the state to respect the views and wishes of the people and to restrain themselves from causing trouble during and after the general elections.

Senator Sheriff, who was speaking to newsmen on Friday, also thanked God for making it possible for peace to return to Maiduguri.

He equally thanked the federal government for ensuring that Borno is liberated from the hands of the Boko Haram insurgents,

who are bent on making life unbearable for the people.

“By the grace of God, I was made to understand that Gwoza is liberated.

This is a good news and so, I want to thank particularly, Mr. President for making sure Borno is returned to its former glorious name of the ‘Home of Peace’ through the gallant efforts of our security forces.”

The former governor also used the opportunity to call on the people of Borno State to go out and perform their civic responsibility without the fear of intimidation from any quota as it is their rights to choose the candidates of their choice in an election.

Jang calls for collective vigilance James Abraham Jos

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s the 2015 general election begins today, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State has called for collective vigilance towards ensuring that the enemies of the nation’s democracy are stopped.

Jang who made the call yesterday during a broadcast to the people of the state also warned trouble makers to steer clear as any attempt to breach the peace would be met with the full weight of the law.

His words: “I wish to call for collective vigilance towards ensuring that the

enemy of democracy is stopped. We cannot afford to allow any threat to this democratic journey to succeed.

“As a government that upholds the tenets of democracy, we remain committed to creating a level ground for all political parties. However, any attempt to breach the peace will be met with the full weight of the law.”

Jang added:”Let me assure the citizens of Plateau State that all our security agencies have been fully deployed for the safety of our people. All electorates and politicians are advised to conduct themselves as responsible and law abiding citizens.

L-R: Commissioner of Police, FCT, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu; Comptroller of Customs, FCT Command, Mr. Abubakar Bashir, and Controller of Prisons, FCT Command, Mr. Suraj Olarinde, briefing a joint security personnel deployed on election duty in Abuja, yesterday.

Security agents to screen voters for explosives As INEC is set to announce election results in 48hrs Card Reader Code not breached, says INEC chairman

Omeiza Ajayi

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s part of measures to ensure the safety of lives and property today, security agencies in some parts of the country have resolved to use metal detectors in screening prospective voters at the polling

units.

The move is also intended to forestall the possible use of explosives by terrorist groups in some parts of the country.

Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who disclosed this yesterday also announced that INEC would ensure na-

tional election results are announced within a space of 48 hours.

Jega spoke yesterday in Abuja at a joint briefing with the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brig. Gen. Johnson Olawumi.

According to Jega, such security screening is however dependent on the nature

Hausas exit Ilorin in droves to vote in states of origin Wole Adedeji Ilorin

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ehicular and human traffic in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, drastically thinned down on Friday as the Presidential and National Assembly elections loomed.

Saturday Mirror observed that the Hausa men who do menial jobs and those who sell fruits and

spices from carts started moving to the northern parts of the country in droves on Thursday. The left mostly in trucks and commercial vehicles.

Also, many government establishments witnessed low attendance of workers and offices closed as early as mid-day on Friday.

Workers were said to be travelling homewards into the hinterland to beat the movement restriction order of Election Day.

Meanwhile, in a statewide radio and television broadcast, the governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed appealed to the people of the State to shun all forms of violence before, during and after the elections.

He said, “My good people of Kwara State, in a few hours, it will be time to vote in the general elections.

These elections are crucial because they will define our future as individuals and as a country.

of the area.

“Two Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, have told me that in their states, the Commissioners of Police are considering using metal detectors to scan prospective voters”, he said.

On the announcement of election results, the INEC boss recalled that in 2011, the announcement of “national results” of the election was done within 48 hours.

“Since then, we have done a lot to hasten the process. Our hope is that we should be able to declare results nationally within 48 hours or earlier than that.

Ofcourse, some results from states will even come in within 24 hours”, he said.

Jega spoke on the allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party PDP that the encryption code of the INEC Smart Card Readers have been compromised while its only Master-Key duplicate is alleged to be with a sympathiser of the oppositionAll Progressives Congress, APC.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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March 28, 2015

Boko Haram: Troops reclaim Gwoza Kill scores of insuregents, capture arms, destroy terrorists’ administrative hqtrs

Ubong Ukpong ABUJA

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roops of the Nigerian military, in a concerted and well-coordinated land and air operations yesterday morning, liberated Gwoza, the headquarters of the Boko Haram’s phantom Islamic Caliphate Republic, in Borno State, which they renamed “Darul Hikima”.

A statement by the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, through its Director of Defence Information, DDI, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, in Abuja, which confirmed the victory, said that Boko Haram’s administrative headquarters in Gwoza was also destroyed as troops killed scores of the insurgents, captured some as well as a large cache of arms and other logistics.

Gwoza was captured by Boko Haram around August 2014, establishing its rule after a fierce encounter which led to the sack of Nigerian troops from the town.

Since the capture of Gwoza by the terrorists, Nigerian soldiers had made efforts at least twice, to retake Gwoza, but they were unsuccessful.

Some units of the Nigerian Army 213 Battalion,

Operation Task Force Mike and 234 Battalion, which attempted to retake Gwoza township from the insurgents beat a hasty retreat on that night as the insurgents showed superior firepower.

The soldiers were reported to have been led into the battle by Lieutenant BMG Martins and Lt. Colonel Agu of the 234 Battalion, formerly Special Operations Battalion (SOB), but they were given the surprise of their lives when they ran into stiff resistance from the militants as they advanced on Gwoza from the Madagali axis.

The soldiers were said to have retreated but the militants set off in hot pursuit, chased them and snatched one of their tanks as well as the driver of the tank.

They then called the soldier’s wife and informed her that her husband was in captivity.

The defeat of Nigerian soldiers in Gwoza put the strategic town firmly in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents three days after they first invaded the town, killing over 100 civilians and several soldiers.

The town was one of the three Local Government Areas, LGAs, in Borno State, that was left to be reclaimed by troops before the general elections on March 28, after the other

Pornography: Parent petitions minister over alleged expulsion We never expelled students –School Wale Igbintade

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he crisis rocking International Community School (ICS), in Abuja over alleged prevalence of pornographic materials in the school has taken a new dimension as one of the parents, Mrs. Natasha Hadiza Akpoti, petitioned the Minister of Education, over expulsion of her three children by the school management.

In the petition entitled ‘’Petition of Expulsion, Defamation and Acts of Negligent Conduct involving Pornographic Exposure’’ dated February 18, 2015, the petitioner, through her lawyer, Dafe Akpedeye, SAN, stated that her children (Daniel Ak-

poti, Zein Zakaria and Nadia Zakaria) were students of ICS, Abuja, until January 2015 when they were expelled, due to what she called ‘’ICS’s acts of victimisation and vendetta’’.

Change of Name

NNADI:-formerly known and addressed as miss Nnadi Anthonia Chinyere,now wish to be known and addressed as mrs ELEBEONU Anthonia Chinyere,All former documents remain valid. Ngor okpala L.G.A and Local Govt service commission owerri,General public take note.

Change of Name Formerly known and addressed as BELLO TAFARKI now wish to be known and addressed as TUKUR ALHAJI BELLO. All former Decuments remain valid. W.U.F.P Birnin Kebbi and General Public should take note.

Change of Name

Formerly known and addressed as Mr Olugu Kalu Kalu now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Olugu Kalu King. All former documents remain valid general public should take note.

two were earlier retaken.

With the reclaim of Gwoza, Borno State is set to join Adamawa and Yobe states amongst others, which had since been declared free from Boko Haram by the DHQ. The DHQ said in its statement that, “Sequel to the violent and heinous crimes perpetrated by terrorists in North Eastern Nigeria, the Armed Forces of Nigeria was tasked to halt the carnage and restore sanity in that region. This resulted in the deployment of land and air forces.

“The deployment denied the terrorists the freedom of action they had

hitherto enjoyed and they resorted to diversionary tactics known with terrorist groups around the world by carrying out isolated attacks and bombings.

“The series of deployment and operational effectiveness of the military were however challenged by the porosity of the borders, which gave the terrorists leverage to operate in Nigeria and retreat into safe havens in neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

“The recent reinvigoration of a partnership between Nigeria and these neighbouring countries under the auspices of Multi-

National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) provided the desired response to the challenge, as these border areas that hitherto served as hideouts for the terrorists have been actively dominated by troops in the MNJTF. “This development decimated the fighting capabilities of the terrorists, as the Nigerian military carries out a final onslaught on the nation’s enemy within the country.

“These successful operations have culminated in the dislodgment of terrorists from towns and communities in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states.

“Just this morning, the

gallant troops of the Nigerian military in a concerted and well-coordinated land and air operations have liberated Gwoza, the headquarters of their so called caliphate which they renamed ‘darul hikima’.

This was preceded by successive sack of terrorists from towns and villages leading to Gwoza, the main objective.

“Several of the terrorists have died and many of them captured in the process.

“A lot of arms and ammunition have been recovered and the administrative Headquarters completely destroyed.

L-R; APC National Chairman Chief John Odigie Oyegun, a guest, Chairman of the Peace Accord Committee and former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Bishop Matthew Kukah and PDP National Chairman Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu after the leading political parties signed a renewal of election peace accord at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Abuja, recently.

Supreme Court upholds Akpabio’s election Ise-Oluwa Ige

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he Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal filed by Engr. Frank Okon, challenging the emergence of Godswill Akpabio as the validly elected governor of Akwa Ibom State.

Engr. Okon, in his appeal, had prayed the apex court to nullify the election of Governor Akpabio on the grounds that the January 15, 2011 gubernatorial primary of the Peoples Democratic Party by which he emerged (Akpabio) was fraudulent and not held in compliance

with provisions of the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution as amended.

In a lead judgment on the two appeals; the main one filed by Okon and a cross appeal instituted

by Akpabio, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal that said Okon had the locus standi to challenge the mandate of Akpabio.

The 7-man panel of the apex court led by Justice John Fabiyi held that the appellant was not straightforward in his pleadings.

“The court found out that the pleadings of the appellant in the main appeal contained irreconcil-

able facts and disjointed.

In one breath, the appellant said he participated in the governorship primary election; in another breath, he said he only took part in the cancelled primary, the panel stated.

Justice Rhodes-Vivour said under Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act, the appellant had lost the right to challenge the election of Akpabio.

“Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act is only applicable to people who participated in an election. How can the appellant complain about discrepancies and non compliance in a governorship re-run primary he did not take part

in?”, the court asked.

The court in a unanimous decision, held that, “Based on the provision of Section 87(9), you must have physically participated in a primary election before you complain about its outcome. Okon in his affidavit has said he did not participate and the court so hold”.

In view of this, “the main appeal filed by the appellant is hereby dismissed; cross appeal allowed. Decision of the appellate court is accordingly reversed as the appellant has no locus standi to file the appeal, having not participated in the rerun primary election. “

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NEWS

March 28 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

GENERAL ELECTION 2015

6,000 security personnel mobilised for Ekiti Abiodun Nejo Ado Ekiti

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s part of efforts to ensure a hitch-free Presidential and National Assembly elections in Ekiti State today, a total of 6,000 security personnel have been mobilised for the polls in the state.

The Police Commissioner for Ekiti State, Mr Taiwo Lakanu, said the figure comprised regular police, Special Forces, Rapid Response Squad, Counter Terrorism Unit, Anti Bomb, Joint Patrol Team (police, DSS, Army, Immigration, Prisons and NSCDC) and Police Mobile Force.

Lakanu, at a press conference in Ado Ekiti yesterday, said that four different types of tags would be used by the security personnel deployed for the election to prevent fake security personnel from operating.

He said the police had taken many proactive

steps to ensure free, fair and credible elections in the state including synergy between the law enforcement agents and other security agencies.

Others, he said, included interactive sections with relevant stakeholders, extraction of commitments from politicians and identification of flashpoints and security measures to ward off identified threats.

Lakanu, who affirmed restriction of movement between 6am and 6pm, said no politician or political office holder would be allowed to monitor the election.

The police boss advised Ekiti electorate to come out and exercise their civic responsibilities without fear. They are equally advised to conduct themselves peacefully throughout the elections.

“Political parties and their candidates are hereby warned to eschew violence and embrace peace as a level-playing ground is guaranteed by the po-

lice. Also, movement/ distribution of money or inducement in whatever form from one polling booth to the other is forbidden,” he said.

Meanwhile, majority of civil servants in the state stayed away from their offices yesterday even as the government did not declare a work free day.

In a related development, virtually all ATM points in the state capital witnessed long queues of customers in last minutes cash withdrawal.

While others wanted to

ensure they had enough cash at home in case of uncertainties with the election, public servants in the state were cashing their March salaries.

Traffic gridlock due to queue for petrol at filling stations on Herbert Macaulay way in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

CP deploys 4,000 officers to monitor elections in Ebonyi Aliuna Godwin Abakaliki

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he commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State command, Mr Margari Dikko has declared that the command deployed over 4000 policemen to monitor elections, maintain peace and order especially at the flash points in the state.

Margari made this known during a press conference at his office in Abakaliki.

He said there will be 2 security officers to monitor election in one polling unit but revealed the preparedness of the command to ensure that there is no electoral fraud or breakdown of law and order According to the Police Chief, some will be deployed to Ebonyi South, Ebonyi North and Ebonyi Central while the remaining will be on patrol adding that necessary arrangement have been put in place for them to operate.

He warned the people to shun violence and re-

frain from any acts capable of causing disorder and crisis in their domain adding that his men will arrest anyone involve in such act.

Dikko further urged

voters to cast their vote and go home or stay 300 meters away from the polling booths if they wish to stay.

He maintained that to

avoid complication, those that will be on South will wear blue tag, those in North will wear green while those in the Central will wear yellow tags

stressing that any policeman that is not wearing the authorised tag is fake policeman and such person should be reported.

“We met with all the political parties and has

intimated them to caution their supporters to behave orderly and avowed that his men will discharge their duties without fear or favour” he added.

Police ban OPC, other vigilante groups from monitoring in Osun Boladale Bamigbola Osogbo.

O

sun state police command yesterday said the command would not allow members of Oodua Peoples’ Congress OPC, and other vigilance groups from monitoring today’s election.

Disclosing this in a statement issued in Osogbo on Friday, State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abubakar Marafa, also warned rumour mongers and anyone plotting to perpetrate violence during and after the election to desist from carrying out the plan, adding that anyone caught would be dealt with.

He told people of the state to troop out en-mass

to exercise their civic duties without any fear, with the assurance that the command has deployed officers and men to all the polling units and collation centres across the 30 Local Government Areas and Modakeke Area Office.

He added that men of the command have also been deployed to strategic locations to ensure hitch free elections in the state.

Marafa also advised parents and guardians to warn their wards against being used to cause crisis

during the poll.

According to him, officers and men of the command have been properly trained and sensitized on their roles as stipulated by the electoral Act, stressing that adequate security and logistics have been put in place across the

state.

Marafa said: “we will not hesitate to deal decisively and within the ambit of law, with anyone, group of persons who attempted to foment trouble and in the process disrupt the smooth conduct of the elections”.

Kaduna police seek El- Rufai, APC chieftains arrest in Kaduna K za Msue A aduna

T

he All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship Campaign Council yesterday, said police authority plans to arrest its Kaduna state leaders in today elections.

APC explained that po-

lice on Friday asked its governorship candidate, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and two other APC bigwigs to report in their offices.

They would be summoned to appear along with El-Rufai are Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi and Lawal Samaila Yakawada. APC alleged.

Other politicians slated for arrest apart from the former FCT Minister, include; Hunkuyi, the party senatorial candidate for Kaduna North and chairman of the APC Kaduna State Campaign Council, Yakawada who was the Secretary to the State Government under the late Patrick Yakowa’s govern-

ment.

The party said all the three were invited by the deputy commissioner of police in charge of the CID. In a statement by Samuel Aruwan, spokesman of the APC CCO, disclosed that the police followed up the written invitation with phone calls.

Politics

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

March 28, 2015

13

Polls: Discordant tunes over deployment of troops Lekan Adejuwon

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or young Nigerians who are 18 years and below, the outgoing week was particularly scary not only because the nation is organising an election which had already been characterised by enough apprehension and tension, but climaxed by massive deployment of the military in the major city centres across the country’s 774 local government areas ahead of today’s crucial election.

It is no longer news that previous elections in Nigeria had witnessed one form of bloody violence or the other leading to wanton destruction of lives and property, particularly, the 2011 general election believed to have recorded, the worst case scenario.

The federal government had therefore made spirited moves at curbing similar cases as it introduced the deployment of soldiers in staggered elections held in at least four states in the last 3 years of Jonathan’s presidency.

However, the relative success recorded in Edo and Anambra governorship elections appears to have suffered a major setback in Ekiti and Osun states during the June 21 and August 9 governorship elections in the two South-West states.

This is borne out of proven allegations that almost every nook and cranny of the states were bombarded by heavily armed police and military personnel particularly at every entry and exit point.

It has been argued that no state in Nigeria had witnessed such a large military presence during an election as Ekiti last August and one of the fall outs of the development is the alleged rigging plot by politicians of a particular political party in tandem with some top military chiefs resulting in the ongoing “Ekiti election scandal”.

The alleged monumental scandal has, in no measure, put to question the impartiality of the military in the supervision of elections in the subsequent exercise even as media reports alleged that soldiers had conspired to intimidate opposition leaders during the elections.

According to former Lagos State Police Commissioner, Abubakar Tsav, “The involvement of military in politics is condemnable.”

He warned that if the deployment of soldiers to monitor the elections is to help the ruling party rig elections as they did in Ekiti State, it would be unacceptable.

The development did not go down well with some opposition elements who in turn, have challenged the constitutionality of troop deployment for election purposes in court.

A Federal High Court, last Monday, ruled against the use of military for the 2015 general election which commences today saying such cannot hold without the approval of the National Assembly.

Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos, held that “It is unconstitutional for the federal government to deploy military for the supervision of election purposes without the approval of the National Assembly.”

He noted that the practice of deploying troops from the Nigerian Armed Forces in the conduct of elections when there is no conflict is “anti democratic” and unconstitutional.

According to him, “The armed forces have no role in election. The time has come for us to establish the culture of democratic rule in the country and to start to do the right thing particularly, when it has to do with dealing with the electoral process which is one of the pillars of democracy.

“In spite of the behaviour of the political class, we should by all means try to keep armed personnel and military from being a part and parcel of the electoral process.”

The House of Representatives Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, had filed the suit challenging the legality of soldiers during the general election.

In a related development, a court in Abuja had earlier ruled against the use of soldiers in the conduct of elections noting that it was a violation of Section217 (21c) of the constitution and Section1 of the Armed Forces Act. Buba who aligned himself with the appellate court decision, hinted that a careful research into all the Nigerian laws as interpreted by the appellate court would reveal that there was nowhere it was stated that the president could

Major-General Minimah

deploy military for elections.

While some political observers argued that the militarisation was indeed necessary considering the Nigerian peculiar situation, others held the view that it was a tactic by the ruling government to intimidate the opposition.

Constitutional lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje, in an interview with Saturday Mirror condemned the use of military in strong terms, saying: “It is constitutionally wrong, it is democratically unacceptable and therefore, it is a violation of electoral right of Nigerians.”

According to him, “Not even when two courts in respect of Ekiti and Osun - one an appellate court - ruled against military deployment and that if you had to deploy, it must be to the concurrence of the National Assembly. Therefore any resort to the use of military in the election could amount to an impeachable offence.

“Any attempt by the president to resort to strong headedness and to act in conflict with the judgement of the court will amount to presidential rascality and the breach of the rule of law.”

On the violent nature of political gladiators which has been adduced as the major threat to free and fair elections in the country, Agbaje dismissed the claim: “No matter how threatening the political gladiators appear to be, the rule of law is always there to catch up with them.”

He said: “The military, by their traditional and constitutional responsibilities, are meant to check external aggression. Where there are internal disorders, the police are there to quell such an insurgency in line with constitutional democracy.

“Any attempt to drag the military outside their constitutional role into the realm of politics will spell doom for the nation because no one can guarantee that the military can come out of the muddy waters of politics and remain the same.”

But for the Executive Director of Civil Liberties Organisation, C.L.O., Ibuchukwu Ezike, who welcomed troop deployment with mixed feelings, his approval of the move was quite obvious.

He blamed the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for what he described as ‘”ross disobedience to the rule of law” if the government goes ahead to deploy military without recourse to the National Assembly. ”The implications are for me, two. One, if the PDP-led federal government uses soldiers in elections without first vacating the order through appeal process, it obviously amounts to gross disobedience to the rule of law and executive impunity.

“Two, if elections are held without deploying the soldiers

Goodluck

in view of both the current security challenges or terrorist insurgency and barbaric killings and destruction that have characterised party primaries and pre-election campaigns, there will be a grave security implication, more dangerous than the first.”

Speaking further, the human rights activist doubted if the judge who gave the ruling has the nation’s interest at heart.

His words: “You will recall that the National Human Rights Commission recently released a report in which it held that 58 citizens were killed in 22 states and since the release of that report, more killings and destruction of property have occurred.

“I do not think that the judge who made the order did it in national interest as we all know that the primary duty of any government is the security of lives and property of its citizens.”

The C.L.O. leader who expressed a personal view, however, backed the government action on humanitarian grounds.

“Therefore, if I were in the shoes of the Federal Government of Nigeria, I will choose to use the soldiers with strict and specific instructions to protect lives and property of the citizens and not at all, interfere with the electoral process. This is basic.

“I am very sure that beyond grammatical masturbation, neither the judge nor the plaintiff will be seen anywhere on March 28 and April 11 without armed security.

“So, the judgement is absolutely unpopular and self serving; we can’t, in the face of obvious security crisis, pretend that all is well and sacrifice the lives of Nigerians and other nationals in the country on the altar of cheap popularity.”

Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, former F.C.T. minister and governorship candidate of the A.P.C. in Kaduna State had, in a related development, kicked against the use of military for this year election insisting that the military had no reason to be at the poling centres during elections, adding that only the police is constitutionally empowered to monitor elections in the country.

The former minister pointed out that a Federal High Court in Sokoto had earlier delivered a judgment restricting military personnel from taking part in elections.

He therefore urged the military authorities to abide by the court judgment and dedicate their energy to flush out Boko Haram in the North East.

As the nation takes another giant stride today to perform the basic democratic ritual of electing a new leader, the onus lies on how the military is able to justify the presence of its men in the exercise in the unlikely event of the opposition using it as a reason for future litigation.

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POLITICS

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Allegation that Muazu is a mole in PDP is baseless –Agada Professor Jerry Agada, a former Minister of State for Education is the Special Assistant on Special Duties to the People’s Democratic Party chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu. In this interview with PATIENCE OGBO, the former president of Association of Nigerian Authors clears the air on a number of issues including the alleged use of money by President Jonathan to bribe Nigerians and the alleged dubious role of his principal, Muazu among others. Excerpts:

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here are allegations that the president is doling out cash to some traditional rulers in the South West during his campaign.

What is your response?

I thank God that you said it was an allegation and if it is an allegation, then it is not a final statement or the truth. The opposition can say anything just to show that they are not supporting a government even if that government is doing the right things. Opposition means going against, no matter what is being done; their role is to find fault, criticise and condemn as well as not seeing anything good in what the government of the day is doing.

Without opposition, then there cannot be any push or voice to put the government on their toes but opposing views should be constructive and not destructive. They should not, in the name of politics, and playing the opposition role, condemn government’s good intention for the people. They should oppose with a view to bringing positive changes and not to bring down the government so that they can take over. The government of the day is doing a lot to transform the country and we should commend this administration.

Going back to the question you asked, I cannot give you an answer because I was not on the train during his visits to the South Western part of the country. The relevant agencies are there to investigate the allegation, so the opposition can approach them if they are aggrieved.

Allegation of corruption is leveled against the present administration by the opposition but the president has always insisted corruption is a perception?

“I know that right from the time we started out as a country that got its independence, there have been mentioning of corruption in government.

The reason for the coups we experienced in this country is because some people feel the government of the day was corrupt so we should remove them from office. So, the circle continues and the government that will take over would justify what they did with accusation that the former government was corrupt. You can see that they talk of corruption, just because they want to take over government but as soon as they come in, another group who also wants to taste power will accuse those in power of corruption. Corruption is being fought by this government and what the government needs is the support

of all Nigerians.

There are obvious signs that the present administration is confronted with insecurity and the economy is at its lowest ebb. What would you say?

Whatever challenge the country is facing are not limited to Nigeria alone.

There is global insecurity with which Nigeria is also confronted. ISIS is a major threat to the Western world and they are struggling to curtail the threats this group poses. Nigeria has Boko- Haram but you can see that the government is not folding hands and allowing them to unleash terror as they will. This government is responsive and is putting all its forces to fight insecurity and this is yielding positive results. Yes I agree that at the beginning, government did not see Boko Haram as a big security challenge. The government probably felt that these are Nigerians that are aggrieved and should be talked to but as events turned out, the group became fierce and government responded appropriately. Our military and other security forces had to study the group and come out with a method to confront them. You will agree with me that some years back, nobody in Nigeria will ever imagine that somebody will tie a bomb and go and commit suicide.

It was unheard of, so, when it started happening, it was strange and we were not used to it. However, with time, our security forces had to sit back and they said this is serious, we had to confront it and that is exactly what this government is doing. They have liberated many towns and the insurgents are fleeing.

Look at the railway system that had been abandoned. This government has taken bold steps in addressing it and soon we will be using speed trains, issues in the agriculture sector have been tackled.

The fall in oil price is global and affected Nigeria but the government is working hard to address this and other issues and Nigerians should cooperate with the government so that they can do more.

There are allegations that the PDP chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, is a mole of the APC and actually working to bring down the PDP? People can say whatever they like just to tarnish another person’s reputation.

They sit down and cook up stories all in the name of playing politics but wise people know their antics and will not fall for them. I want Nigerians to know

Agada

that elections will come and go and the country will continue to exist. The beauty of democracy is that people are free to talk but this does not mean that we should talk and destroy others. Our criticism should be constructive.

You were a Minister of State for Education.

What can be done to address the poor reading culture in Nigeria?

Reading should not be seen as duty but it should be a habit everybody should develop. We should not read only when there is examination. During my time, we promoted reading all over the country and ensured that the campaigns went to schools and everywhere. These days, people would rather spend time on their phones browsing but quality time spent reading will add to the individual. The responsibility lies in getting our priorities right. Readers are leaders and so there should be more campaigns promoting the reading culture. Individuals can donate books while great Nigerians should be immortalised by setting up libraries in their names. Nigerians can also set up private libraries in their homes and immortalised people they love as a way of keeping their memories alive.

The Opposition APC has been a big threat to the ruling PDP. What in your opinion is responsible for this?

The point is that in any reasonable democracy, there has to be a viable opposition. PDP has been in power for sixteen years and the oppositions have come together under one party now called APC and they are contending against the PDP. This merger of all the opposition parties is a formidable force to challenge the PDP; such a fight is not expected to be an easy one. It is like sweeping with one stick of broom before but what we have with the APC is a collection of brooms and that is why they seem to be a big threat. That has been the reason for their waxing strong.

What is your view on the deployment of soldiers during elections?

I do not see anything wrong in using the military to provide security for Nigerians during the elections as far as they do not go near the ballot boxes or intimidate voters. The military were on ground during the elections in Osun, Ekiti and other states before this general election and they performed well. The allegations that they were used to terrorise residents and the opposition to win the election in Ekiti state is coming from the opposition and they said because of that, they lost Ekiti State but these same military personnel were used in Osun State where the opposition won. So, why did they not complain?

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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March 28, 2015

Talking

Politics

‘Would-be riggers are the ones crying foul’

— Professor Attahiru Jega, Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission dispels attacks against the use of card readers.

‘I’m ready for arrest’ “I —National Leader of the All Progressives Congress Asiwaju Bola Tinubu discloses at a press conference.

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here are all kinds of threats and reports that they are ready to arrest APC leaders; they are busy making sinister plans instead of leading the nation; this nation is not for sale, it is for change; positive change that we can believe.

“For me, personally, I have packed a small bag. They may arrest me and others, but they cannot arrest an idea whose time has come. The time for a commonsense revolution has come. So, Nigeria, in calling for a common-sense revolution, I do not advocate violence; I abhor it.

“What we seek is a revolution to use our votes to throw out ineffective leaders and we shall do it. It is a demand for a true electoral democracy and the responsive leadership associated with it. The revolution is not a violent one to tear things down. It is a positive one with our fingers to repair and restructure a nation when we vote.”

“The revolution is to reposition the nation’s institutions in ways that will enhance further collective prosperity of Nigeria.

“They are the only ones who can inflict injuries on themselves. We will not.

We believe we will win these elections, so

there is no point (in saying) that violence will come from us.

“Through our faith and our efforts in moving around the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the leftover in Abuja, we will spread the common-sense revolution to speak to the fact that we need to elect patriotic leaders that can give hope to our best aspirations as a nation and people.”

t is only those that hitherto nurtured plans to fraudulently manipulate the outcome of the elections, that have been crying foul over the introduction of the technology which he said would only add credibility to the electoral process in the country.

“INEC had perfected all its strategies and put every apparatus in place with a view to ensuring a hitch free poll that will reflect the summative choice of Nigerians.

“Let me use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that we believe that we have done everything possible to ensure that the 2015 general election is successful. We are adequately prepared in terms of both logistics and manpower. Likewise, all the security agencies, especially the police which have a lead role to play in terms of providing security during elections, have assured us that they are ready.”

‘Promoters of hate campaigns against former military leaders are intellectually delinquent’ — Former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida.

‘Ekiti people desire ‘I applied for pipeline change like majority contract since 2010’ — Dr Frederick Fasheun, founder of Nigerians’ of Oodua Peoples’ Congress — Hon Opeyemi Bamidele, Labour Party chieftain and the party’s governorship candidate during the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State.

“I

remain a member of the Labour Party, because I am not surrendering the structure of the LP that we worked so hard to build in Ekiti to be used to work for President Jonathan. The LP at the national level has adopted President (Goodluck) Jonathan as its presidential candidate because the party does not have a presidential candidate, but the LP in Ekiti should be counted out and I know that the LP in Edo State and a few other states have also said the same thing; that they are not working for President Jonathan.

“So, in the meantime, I remain a member of the Labour Party and we are unapologetically committed to the Buhari-Osinbajo project and at the end of the elections we will sit down to talk about what is next.

“I must submit that every politics is local. As a leader within a community, you shouldn’t take decisions that will isolate you from the generality of your people or move against the general tide of your people. The majority of the people in Ekiti State desire a change like majority of Nigerians do.

OPC, confirms the award of multi billion contract from the Federal Government.

“I

f I’m asked to watch over the life and property along a hundred kilometer worth of pipeline, would it be me, Dr Fasheun that would be physically present at the place to supervise that or would it be some other Nigerians? And if these other Nigerians are youths, don’t they qualify to accept contract from Nigerian government? And that contract was awarded about two weeks ago.

“That contract is supposed to have been awarded three to four years ago.

And as I am talking to you now, there are over three thousand youths along the pipeline. And for the first time, today is the third day they have worked there, there have been no sign of vandalisation since they started work as was in the past when NNPC was losing N7billion every month to vandalisation.

“We applied to be given that contract in October 26th, 2010 and politicians were making campaigns of calumny against it and I kept my cool. But NNPC must have realized that it is now becoming unbearable losing N7billion every month.”

“O

f particular reference is a one-hour documentary aired on Silverbird Television on Tuesday night; 24th March, 2015 that deliberately impugned the integrity of Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, my humble self; Ibrahim Babangida, late Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and T.Y Danjuma; all of whom have had the privilege of presiding over the affairs of this great country at various levels. It is either that those promoting the hate documentary are intellectually deliquent or they suffer memory loss; or a combination of both.

“I have my very strong reservations about the contents and thematic focus of the said documentary. Apart from promoting hate campaign which clearly undermines the modest contributions of these former presidents, the commentaries in the documentary

against the former presidents leave a sour taste in the mouth.

“Nobody is stopping anyone from campaigning for their preferred candidates contesting various positions in the elections, but to do that at the expense of the reputation, contributions, patriotism, loyalty and sacrifice of former presidents to the Nigerian state is, to say the least, immature.

“For record purposes, and without sounding immodest, the idea of a PDP that has now become the “largest party in Africa” started in my home, here in Minna. With the support of my fellow colleagues, we prepared the way for this democratic process that has now led us to where we are presently.

We built the democratic infrastructure.

“Those who are parading themselves as democrats today, all participated in military governments”.

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March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Living

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March 28, 2015

17

How are you preparing for later?

While some wealthy Nigerians spend millions of Naira to buy vaults where their remains will be interred after they are gone, others end up in public cemeteries and even temporary graves, writes JULIET UMEH

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any at times, terminally ill patients ask: “I wonder if I’m dying?” only to have a family member or a close friend quickly cut them off with: “Don’t talk like that.

You’re going to be just fine, nothing will happen to you.” But like the late Steve Jobs succinctly put it, “Death is the destination we all share.”

Still, the thought of our own death or

the death of a loved one unsettles us. Often times, we defend ourselves against the specter of death by denying its existence, trusting superstitiously that if we never speak its name, death will leave us alone.

However, that is not the case with some well heeled Nigerians. Recently, Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, told journalists during the inspection of a new cemetery in Ibeju-Lekki that he bought his own vault where his remains

would be interred four years ago. He noted that death is a necessary end that will come when it will come; he iterated that there is need for people to prepare for it. He said: “This sounds as something people don’t want to discuss. I have bought my vault. It surprises people. I paid for it four years ago.

As I always tell people, if you come here for life, you must plan to go. Those who don’t want to go should not come.”

Governor Fashola isn’t the only one who has taken this kind of bold step. Some other prominent men in the society are doing the same thing. Billionaire businessman, Mike

Adenuga, has reportedly paid a whopping N200 million to secure burial space at the Vaults and Garden, an ultra modern cemetery in Ikoyi, Lagos.

According to reports, the cemetery has a spot for the rich and another spot for the “super” rich. A space for the rich costs from N750, 000 and above, while that of the “super” rich costs from N40million and above. The question you are probably asking yourself at this point is: Does burial place have to be so expensive?

The General Manager of Vaults and Garden, who was unwilling to comment

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

– Steve Jobs, in his 2005 speech to the graduating class at Stanford University CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

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INTERNATIONAL LIVING

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Why do US-based Nigerians send kids back home for education?

Why do Nigerians who emigrated to the United States of America for a better life choose to send their children back to their homeland to get an education? MAWUNA R. KOUTONIN, a social activist, evaluates the trend.

I

n Africa, Nigerians are the “big boys”.

They copulate a lot. Nigeria is the most populous country.

They are the best entrepreneurs. Nigeria is now the first economy in Africa. Lagos alone has a GDP equivalent to that of 25 African countries combined.

They are also lucky: Nigeria is the first oil exporter of the continent.

You don’t become triple champion by accident.

Big at home, Nigerians are also the best abroad. They were the only Africans mentioned in the top-eight of best performing ethnic groups in the United States of America, in the best-seller book “The Triple Package” by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld.

According to Chua and Rubenfeld, Nigerians have three distinguishing characters in common with Jews, Indians and Chinese: a complex of superiority, a feeling of insecurity, and impulse control.

Nigerians feel superior. It’s the country with the highest number of self-proclaimed “Princes”, “Princesses”, “Queens”. All have a story relating them to an ancestral kingdom or a king. They feel entitled to a high social status.

Nigerians are very competitive. When you come from a crowded country, you feel insecure about your part of the pie. Parents plug a “fighter spirit” in their kids early on.

Now, when it comes to the third factor, “impulse control,” I have a hard time believing the authors. For me, the third factor stems from a unique practice by the Nigerian Diaspora: sending their kids back home to attend primary or secondary school.

This is very counterintuitive. Why would anyone living in the US send their kids back to Nigeria to study? The best schools are in the West, as a popular belief goes.

According to a Washington Post article,

“The decision made by families reflects a discomfort shared among immigrants from Africa. They don’t like … the lax public school system, the sense of entitlement that comes with living in a country so privileged.”

I asked a number of Nigerians why they have sent their kids back, and below is the list of reasons they gave me.

Reason 1: Kids getting in trouble Early Nigerian immigrants were ‘America-lovers.’ In Nigeria, they have dealt with whites who came to Africa as peace corps volunteers, missionaries, doctors or teachers. These whites acted as mentors or opportunity providers, therefore, most early immigrants have a positive opinion of them. These Nigerians trusted them, were eager to connect. That attitude exposed them to more opportunities.

However, their US-born kids usually have African-Americans friends with parents whose background makes them distrust the whites and believe their social and economic conditions are to do with the discrimination by whites.

Thus, sending kids back home is an attempt to help them prevent self-victimization, loss of self confidence, low expectations, and ‘getting in trouble’.

Reason 2: Damage inflicted by racism A lady residing in the US told me a story: “My six-year-old first grader was spit on (in her face) by a white child. The faculty failed to see the historical connotation and poorly addressed it!

“In second grade, my 7-year-old (the only black kid in class) was “taught” in class about a black kid who hates his dark skin.

Two issues here: this “lesson” opened up the possibility that didn’t exist for her: to hate her own skin, and it taught the white kids that black skin could be something to hate. They do not read about hating white skin, mind you. Drum roll… And the first

lesson about Africa, again in second grade, is about how we don’t have running water, drink from dirty ponds, live in huts, walk to classes and crap under trees. I’m so done with white-superiority-style teaching!

“I am so done,” she repeated, desperate.

“I can teach my kid academics. But it is hard to rebuild years of self-esteem after it has been crushed by your so-called teachers.”

Another worried Nigerian told me: “My son is five. Insanely brilliant and insanely hyperactive. I’ve been teaching him Math and other studies myself, and he can already do his multiplications, additions, subtractions, name all his planets, and so on. But PRE-K teachers are already complaining. I’m quite concerned about them ‘bending’ him.”

Structural racism, daily humiliation and denial of identity often break kids early in life. By sending their kids to Nigeria, US-based Nigerians are preventing them from being broken by a system they have no control over.

Reason 3: Schools in the US aren’t challenging the kids enough “My boy is good in Science, Math. He plays tennis. And it was a big struggle with the school. They were not challenging him enough. They blamed him for acting out, when bored. We sent him back.

That experience changed him,” said a Nigerian businessman.

Another Nigerian told me: “An Igbo couple in my old church was having real problems with their last one. They shipped him off to Nigeria. After two years, he came back. Grades went from 2.4 to 4.0 in high school. Except he’d do anything not to be sent back.”

Nigerians in the Diaspora continue to think that schools back home are still with the iron discipline of the old days, and the old-time competitive spirit among pupils

would yield better results.

Reason 4: Help kids connect with our culture “Many of these top schools produce great African professionals with bright professional prospects, but not great African citizens,” complained a Nigerian.

Another, shared his son’s experience: “Whilst in Lifeforte [international school in Ibadan that admits both Nigerian and foreign students], my son went on excursion to Egypt organized by the school.

Visited the pyramids, and the Valley of the Kings. The experience is invaluable. It has changed him. You can’t tell him Africa is barbaric. He is in a program for gifted children, now taking college level courses in Johns Hopkins.”

Few schools in Nigeria like Lifeforte, Vivian Fowler Memorial College, and Ibadan International School are now catering to the needs of the ‘homecoming’ Diaspora.

A Nigerian IT consultant summarized it all: “Nigerians are, by far, more likely to consider or to execute this plan of sending their children of a certain age home for their education. I have seen the coursework and curriculum for some of these schools. The standards are higher, and more demanding than some of the best public school districts in the United States. These kids who go back home get to experience a highly competitive culture, and an elite culture, where the mindset they have is that “nothing is really out of reach”. The kids expect to attend Oxford, Cambridge, MIT. Children and teens are far more influenced by peer cohort than any parent would like to admit.”

The trend of sending kids back to Africa will definitely continue, as more and more Africans become aware of this opportunity and success stories. (www.Naij. com)

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

INTERNATIONAL LIVING

March 28, 2015

19

To some Africans in U.S., children’s education is best left to the homeland Tomi Obaro

THE WASHINGTON POST

T

welve-year-old Oladimeji Elujoba kept getting into fights at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown (USA). Every time the teacher took attendance in the morning, she would stumble over his polysyllabic name and inadvertently elicit jeers and giggles from his classmates.

“I’m not the kind of person to watch people laugh at me,” Elujoba, now 17, says matter-of-factly.

And so he fought. He fought so much he got in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, after-school detentions. His parents, Ruth and Olalekan Elujoba, worried.

“One of the teachers in the middle school called me,” Olalekan Elujoba recalls. “They had suspended him and said that if I don’t take any action on this, I will spoil the boy’s future. I couldn’t sleep that night.”

Within a few weeks, Olalekan Elujoba had decided what to do. His two sons, Oladimeji and Kunle, later followed by his daughter, Comfort, would go to boarding school.

Doregos Private Academy, to be more specific. In Lagos, Nigeria — 5,424 miles away.

Counterintuitive? Certainly. After all, for families such as the Elujobas, the whole point of coming to America is to stay here.

Ask them why they came to the United States, and the Elujobas will simply stare at you, perplexed. The answer is self-evident: When you win the visa lottery as they did, you pack up your things and you go. So to book three tickets and send their children, ages 11, 12 and 13, back to the country they had not lived in since they were toddlers seems extraordinary.

But the decision made by the Elujobas and a small number of other families reflects a discomfort shared more broadly among immigrants from Africa. For all the material advantages this country offers — the jobs, the houses, the roads, the higher education — the Elujobas insist there are still pitfalls. They don’t like the expensive child care, the lax public school system, the sense of entitlement that comes with living in a country so privileged.

“Kids here, they do whatever they want,” Ruth Elujoba says. “There is no fear of parents in their minds.”

She tells an anecdote about the time she was washing her car and saw a group of 14- and 15-year-olds across the street smoking: “I called my husband and I said, ‘Look at these kids. What are they doing?’ All the information we kept hearing about kids carrying guns to school, joining gangs, we decided we will not wait until something like that happens to us.”

Sending children back to be educated in their parents’ country of origin “is not just happening among Nigerian immigrants in the United States,” John Arthur, the director of African and African American studies at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, says in an e-mail: “Despite the stereotypical media portrayal of Africa and

anything associated with Africa as underdeveloped, the region has some of the best educational systems in the world. These prep and public schools emphasize STEM courses,” or classes focusing on science, technology, engineering and math.

Arthur says the quality of Africa’s education system is seen in the number of Africans who pursue postgraduate degrees at esteemed universities around the world.

It is hard to establish firm numbers, but many of the elite private schools in Abuja and Lagos boast at least a few American-born Nigerians in their ranks. Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in Lagos has 21 U.S.-born Nigerians out of a total of 364 students. Ibadan International School, a smaller school in the southwestern part of the country, has had Ni¬ger¬ian Americans attend in the past.

What is easier to gauge, at least according to Edem Andy, a high school physics teacher in Prince George’s County who has taught in the United States and Nigeria, is the academic advantage that children who are sent back to Nigeria gain when they return to the United States.

During his 16-year stint as a teacher in the county, he has noticed that those children come back “better organized [and] basically more prepared. A child that has been to school in Nigeria knows how to study and take notes, which is lacking with American kids.”

He credits the Nigerian school system, which prizes mastery over self-esteem and ranks its students stringently. Nigerian students also attend school earlier, starting kindergarten as early as 3 or 4 years old. Because school is a luxury, Andy says, Nigerian students take their schoolwork more

seriously.

That rigor is something Vicky Akinola, a 24-year-old business analyst from Upper Marlboro, struggled with when she was sent back to Nigeria at the age of 12.

“We had to write notes verbatim from our teachers’ lectures, and I wasn’t used to that,” she says.

Then, of course, there were all the other forms of culture shock — the suffocating humidity, the foreign accents, the frequent use of corporal punishment, the food, the uniforms, the tacitly accepted bullying of younger students by older students.

“I think I cried for the first year and a half,” Akinola says.

Lara Showunmi, a 25-year-old Silver Spring native who works at a rehabilitation clinic, was sent to Nigeria for school three separate times on account of her selfdescribed insubordination.

“The second and third time it was really hard,” Showunmi says. “Like washing my clothes for myself, fetching water by myself — all of that was hard.”

Still both Showunmi and Akinola, who spent three years as a boarding student at Doregos Private Academy before returning to the United States to start college, say that, on the whole, it was a good experience.

“I would say it changed my whole perspective,” Akinola says. “You see people really struggle there because there’s no middle class — you’re either poor or rich. It really opened my eyes to what goes on outside of the U.S.” Her father, Bode Akinola, a real estate broker, agrees. He had to refinance his home to afford to send three of his four children back to Nigeria, but the results were worth it, he says.

there were all the other forms of

culture shock — the suffocating humidity, the foreign accents, the frequent use

of corporal punishment, the food, the

uniforms, the tacitly accepted bullying of younger students by older students

“My daughter, before she left to go to Nigeria, I couldn’t get her to do her homework,” he says. “She was getting failing grades. When she went there, believe me or not, it totally worked.”

But not all Ni¬ger¬ian Americans who are “sent back” think it was worth the trouble. Rasheed Adeokun, 22, of Lanham spent three years in Lagos attending King’s College, one of Nigeria’s few prestigious government-run schools.

“I guess my parents’ grand master plan was to send each of us back when we were 10,” he says.

After he got into a series of fights with his brother while there, his mother decided to send them back to the United States. “Experiment over,” Adeokun says.

But the transition back was difficult.

In Nigeria, Adeokun enjoyed his status as an American. Students assumed he had met Hollywood celebrities, and they got to sample the bags of Doritos he brought with him.

Returning to the United States, where Adeokun started ninth grade when he was 12, proved disorientating. Nigeria’s entrenched social conservatism made the comparatively liberal behavior at the American high school jarring.

“Seeing kids kiss openly in the hallways, not even boys and girls, but gay couples,” he says. “In Nigeria, you have teachers going nuts even if it was just boy and girl, so that I wasn’t used to.”

His newly acquired Nigerian accent and his youth didn’t help matters. The experience was so negative, Adeokun opted out of school altogether for a while, joining the Marines after his freshman year of college.

He is now a marketing junior at Bowie State.

Though Arthur expects the trend of Africans sending their American-born children back to Africa to continue, Andy and Bode Akinola are not so sure. The recession has made it harder for parents to afford the hefty school fees, which can reach up to $6,000 a year per child, excluding travel and living expenses. Growing civil unrest in Nigeria hasn’t made parents in the United States any more comfortable about sending their children back to their ancestral homeland, either.

The Elujobas, however, are convinced that all the extra hours Ruth, a nursing assistant, and Olalekan, a security officer, put in to pay for boarding school were worth it.

“They know when to go to school, when to study, even when we are not home, they know how to call us. I think they acquired more knowledge at home and they’ve grown more mature,” Ruth says.

Their youngest son, Kunle, is finishing up his last year of secondary school in Nigeria, and their other two children are in college, Oladimeji at Montgomery College and daughter Comfort at Towson University.

Oladimeji has no regrets about the experience.

“Now I know how to work,” he says, the remnants of a Nigerian accent still clinging to his speech. “I know practice makes perfect.”

‘Death is worth planning for’ 20

LIVING

March 28, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 on the amount of money shelled out for burial spots, said it is the private business of those who do so. “You cannot compare private vaults to public vaults. Without being told, you know that the difference is clear. It is not in our power to start telling you why and how much wealthy Nigerians buy their vaults. It is not only Governor Fashola and Chief Adenuga that have bought their vaults. Many other prominent Nigerians, including the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has his own here too. His mother was also buried here. So, the onus is on you to go and find out the attraction and why they have to spend such amounts to secure their burial spaces,” he said.

At the Ikoyi Cemetery, Alhaji Agba Kujore, one of the cemetery managers, confirmed that, “Many people have already bought their vaults here. Death is normal, we must all die. Buying your burial space ahead will not make you die. After all, we have someone that bought his over 80 years ago and he is still alive. He normally comes to pray there,” Kujore said.

Commenting on the exorbitant nature of some vaults, Kujore said, “You know we have private cemetery and government one. This one here is government cemetery and the one with exorbitant prices are for the rich people. Poor people are buried in Ikoyi Cemetery. But you know Ikoyi has categories. The private ones are owned by rich people like those who go for Vaults and Garden. They sell theirs like N50m up to N200m, depending on how rich you are.

The smallest you can get there is like N2.5 million or N3million.

“Here in Ikoyi cemetery, we can collect like N20, 000 from people. We have temporary and permanent burial. The permanent burial is the vaults with concrete blocks, whereas the temporary one is without blocks. The poor can go for temporary burial space, which is about N50, 000. But sometimes, we can collect N15, 000 or N20, 000 from those who can’t afford N50, 000.

The private vaults are expensive because they are used to make money. The one here was formally part of the public cemetery.

They just cut some part of the public cemetery and made it private. There is no difference, it is just decoration. If you don die, you don die nau,” Kujore reasoned.

Kujore also dismissed the insinuation that many people prefer private vaults because those buried in public cemeteries are at the mercy of those who traffic in body parts. “That does not happen in Ikoyi Cemetery because we have a very strong security. But we hear such stories from other cemeteries.”

Must Nigerians pay such whopping amounts to ensure their ‘well-being’ in the grave? Many argue that death is worth planning for. Says Gbenga Sokunbi, a 58 year old civil servant, “We normally turn to doctors and medical care in the hope that the right physician, medication, treatment, or surgical procedure will make death optional rather than inevitable. But death, of course, can’t be made optional, even with the finest medical care or the most resolute denial of its existence. And in the meantime, our discomfort with death causes us to spend little or no time getting ready emotionally, spiritually, or practically for that

Ikoyi Cemetery

inevitable day when our life will end. As a result, death too often catches us unprepared emotionally, spiritually and practically. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Rather than spending time and energy avoiding and denying death, it is prudent, practical, and, in my opinion, healthier to put time and energy into getting ready for death. Presently, I have no terminal illness, but I try as much as possible to make my ways right. If I also have enough money at hand, I will get a vault ready for my remains when the unavoidable time will come.”

For Chukwuma Okpara, a Lagos resident, “We will all die, whether expectedly or not. When we prepare for our own death in advance, we are able to relieve the decision-making burden on those whom we love and create the opportunity for a peace-filled end of life. But I cannot spend thousands of naira trying to buy a vault here in Lagos when I have plenty of land in my home town. Besides, my soul would not even rest in peace if my remains are not taken back home. That’s the more reason I can’t spend a fortune to buy a vault here in Lagos. It is not our tradition in the South East.”

Edwin Eyo, another Lagos resident who hails from Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State, said, “It is a good idea to prepare one’s home before hand. Preparing in advance will help relieve the burden on both yourself and the ones you are leaving behind. However,

in terms of buying a vault, burial spaces in my place are not for sale and as such, whenever someone from my place dies, if he wants to be buried on the family land, that will be done free of charge. But if not, he will be interred in the public cemetery where nothing will be paid.”

Pastor Walker Iheanyichukwu of Assemblies of God says, “Christians prepare for death anytime and any day. Based on that, a true Christian tries to live right, because death does not knock at anybody’s door when it wants to come. We don’t also fear death, because the moment a believer dies; s/he is transformed to start another life in heaven. Buying of vault or casket is unnecessary because no one knows where or how he will die. Perhaps, people who do so believe they will die on their beds or in the hospital so that their children will come and carry their corpse. What if the person dies in a plane crash, fire disaster or is kidnapped? So the best way to prepare for death is to live a life pleasing to Almighty God.” Nkoyo Attah, a pastor with The Redeemed Christian Church of God, also said death is not something we should be afraid of. “I see death as the beginning of a new home for a child of God. Therefore, I decry people that spend so much money in preparation for death. The important preparation is to put your house in other, not for burial ceremony. Come to think of it, when you are dead, your spirit is with

The private vaults are expensive because they are used to make money.

The one here was formally part of the public cemetery. They just cut some part of the public cemetery and made it private. There is no difference, it is just decoration. If you don die, you don die

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

your maker, so who is going to enjoy all that? The only thing I recommend concerning death is: Put your affairs in order for the sake of your children, so that they will not suffer.

“Perhaps you don’t want to give them too much stress after you are gone. Maybe you could have kept some things so that they don’t do a lot of running around. For a child of God, however, all of those are not necessary. The only thing that is necessary is to put your house in order, take care of your children and when you are gone, your children will do all that they need to do.”

Professor Lakin Akintola, an Islamic Studies lecturer at the Lagos State University, says, “Every soul shall die, according to The Koran in Chapter 3, Verses 55 and 185. The Koran confirms that there is no running away from death. No matter how hard one tries, you can never run away from death. Money cannot prevent death; neither can any other thing give man permanent stay on this earth. The Koran also says that it is only Allah, God Almighty, who has the power to take life. So man should have faith in Allah who is capable of creating or taking life. The Koran also says it is Allah who knows those who will be the first or last to die. In the record of Allah, he knows the next person to die.

Sometimes, we assume that those who are very ill will die very soon, but Allah sometimes proves us wrong and they will survive. But those who feel very healthy and agile may sleep and not wake up.

“So The Koran gives us this example and says man should have faith, we should not fear death. That everybody should be ready for death. He said if you are alive in the morning, do not expect to be alive till the evening. If you are alive in the evening and you go to bed, do not expect to wake up alive in the morning because death can catch up with us at any moment.

“Also according to the philosophy of death in Islam, we see death as the transition from one phase to another; transition from the life of this world to the life of the hereafter. And that transition starts with death. Immediately a dead man is buried, he starts rendering account for his life; all the good and evil things he has committed will be bought to him. Two angles will confront him in the grave, they will ask him who was your Lord when you were alive, who was your God, who was your prophet?

Which scripture did you believe in and so on? If he is able to answer appropriately, then he will be assured of his life in paradise.”

In response to how people are expected to prepare for death in Islamic religion, Professor Akintola said: “It depends on the individuals. If the person has no plot of land, he can’t assign a particular place for his burial. He will depend on public burial place. But those who are rich or who can afford it will indicate where they will be buried. However, everything depends on Allah, the creator because those who already have a place where they will be buried do not know where they will die. So everything depends on Allah.”

In the same vein, Yusuf Sakamo, an Islamic cleric advised that people should always prepare for death by doing good at all times. Sakamo described death as inevitable and said everyone would account for his or her deeds on the Day of Judgment.

Entervaganza

The Saturday Mirror Magazine

Funke

... back to Jenifa

Relationships Sex talk Are men who date older women gold diggers?

P.32

Seven smelly body parts that can ruin great sex!

P.32

Fashion

Tricks for romantic looks P.28

22

ENTERVAGANZA

March 28 , 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Marriage has made me Celebrity a better person –Darlene Benson Darlene Benson Cobham is one of the actresses who has been able to become successful and celebrated in Nollywood.

She however seems to be keeping a low profile nowadays and she told OSEYIZA OOGBODO why it seems so.

producers, but it only takes a phone call and I’m in Lagos if I was out of town. Still, I do 2-3 movies a year.

Why did you become an actress?

Well, I’ve always loved acting. As a child, I always pictured myself singing and acting, so I went ahead to study theatre arts and I obtained a diploma from the University of Calabar and my degree from the University of Lagos. I actually started out as a singer before I got into acting.

I had already done two demo tapes, various jingles and backup vocals in the studio in the 90s before I got my first acting job. Also, I was performing on stage in UniCal for various school shows back then. So it was easy for me to decide to take it as a profession as well.

What do you hate about Nollywood?

Hate? Hate is a strong word! I don’t love hating!

Is marriage encumbering your career?

No it’s not. My darling husband supports me 100% and loves it when I’m shooting or in the studios.

Do you think marriage aids a successful showbiz career?

From my experience, yes.

Can you compare your life as a spinster and as a wife?

Life is better as a married woman. I love being married. It has made me a better person.

What do you like then about Nollywood?

The constant strive to get better, the Nigerian spirit of working hard, and the drama in our movies.

Which movie shot you to limelight and which year was that?

That is Opa Williams’ Maama in 1998.

Zeb Ejiro’s soap, Candlelight, where I played Emem opposite Do Good played by Basorge also gave me the necessary visibility to go on and become more accepted in Nollywood till date.

Do you do anything else apart from music and acting?

Apart from them, I also write movie scripts, I MC events, and at other times, I just love being a wife and a mother.

Which would you say is harder between singing and acting?

I can’t say. I try to put in my best in the both of them so that whatever I do in them doesn’t appear mediocre.

Have you achieved the goals you set for yourself?

I’ve not oh, but I’m sure I will.

It’s just a matter of time and patience.

Who are your role models?

They are people like Oprah Winfrey, Barrack Obama and many others who against all the odds have surged through to make it in life.

Tell us your experience as a movie producer?

Producing is very tedious, especially when you combine it with acting, with the limited resources we have to work here, and not to talk of the fact that you don’t make so much money after all the hard work.

You don’t seem to act as often as before.

Why? I’m out of Lagos most of the time so I don’t seem to be visible enough for the

Darlene

Okay, are you a better singer or actress?

If you were asking which I love most, it would be an easier question. The answer is, I am more passionate about my music. It’s personal to me, it’s all I believe, it’s the message I bear, it’s my life!

Which has been your most challenging role?

To date, it is still my role in Maama which of course I won an award for. Reel Awards 1999, best new actress.

What is your advice to upcoming actresses?

Be focused. If you know for sure that this is what you want to do and you have the talent for it, give every role you play your best, constantly try to outdo your last performance, pray always.

Which of the many handsome Nollywood actors do you admire the most?

I don’t admire any actor because of his good looks. I’ve never been swayed by looks.

Character is a man, not looks. I never dated anybody because of looks.

How were your growing-up years?

Growing up was a beautiful experience. I grew up in Port Harcourt. I have fond memories of my father. He was a journalist with Daily Times. I’m sure he would have approved of my acting career, but he wanted me to be a lawyer though.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

23

March 28, 2015

Ali Baba blasts beautiful women, handsome men

Alibaba

N

igeria’s acclaimed king of comedy, Ali Baba, has come out blisteringly hot to let women know why they fail in their relationships with their men.

Posting a sumptuous picture of two women with great to-die-for bodies, he accompanied it with a message that Asa

didn’t mince words or spare his main target audience: beautiful but brainless women.

“I would have just left this picture to do the talking since they say a picture can tell, but in these days of photoshopping and half-processed thoughts, one needs to make it explic-

itly clear for the import of some messages to sink home.

“I have said it before, no matter how beautiful a car is on the outside, if the engine don ‘knock,’ it’s just a beautiful car. Not a functional car. Same way you will meet a girl with all the attributes, but her head no dey house, and

when wire touch, you go hear am. She may be a 38DD, but a DinDinrin in R-E-S-P-E-C-T department. A babe with a great figure may not be able to figure out how to manage money. She is only a gimme gimme gimme.

“Faithfulness is not a given. So, if a babe has all the curves in the right places, it doesn’t mean you can place her on a relationship curve. There are a lot it takes to keep a man.

“For some men, the 5B Basic rule suffices. Brains, behavior, beauty, body, business mind. All other things can follow. If you have the milk shake, curves and are well endowed, they SURELY will bring all the boys in da yard. But keeping them in the yard is another whole nine-yard.

“FINALLY! Let’s look at a scenario where you meet a lady with all that you see in this picture and finally, you REALIZE that she does not have what will make you want to run back home always after work. Go figure! Oh by the way, this is a two-way street.

“There are guys who look like Denzel Washington, but will beat you black and blue. Had to say that before some people use me to catch groove again about my always talking of women. But seeing that I am not into men, I will leave that to those so inclined!

“Very often we meet people who go ‘Ahhh now! How can he walk out on such a sweet sexy girl?’ Hey! Slow down! Try spend a week with that same girl, you will repent! Sexy DOESN’T make hot meals oh! Don’t think everything is as they seem OH. The duck in the pool may be gliding smoothly but under the water away from your eyes, the duck’s feet are extra busy just to keep it going.

“In conclusion, I will say, until you walk a few steps in some people’s shoes, don’t blame them for walking so slow or too fast or not having taken a step. LOBATAN!”

Woju Remix battles the odds

W

hen Woju singer, Kiss Daniel, announced late last year that he was going to drop Woju’s remix that would feature Tiwa Savage and Davido, the news was received with excitement by his fans.

The remix has since dropped and some of those same fans have expressed disappointment with it. Others have praised it to high heavens, though, and others are just neutral about it.

Since no previous remix of any extremely popular song in the country has gotten rave reviews before, it’s quite understandable that Woju Remix too is being crucified in several quarters. Previous remixes that are yet to really do well are Iyanya’s Kukere Remix and Oritsefemi’s Double Wahala Remix.

But despite the jinx against popular-songremixes, a jinx which has affected even Woju Remix to a certain extent, Woju Remix is refusing to buckle like Double Wahala and Kukere remixes which both feature D’Banj.

Woju and its remix were on the number one and number two spots of the MTV Official Naija Top 10 chart this week and it’s the first time a song and its remix would do that.

All the same, opinions are still divided on the remix, with some saying Savage didn’t do well on it and others saying it’s Davido who sold it short.

Savage

Daniel

Davido

24

March 28, 2015

CLASSICAL LYRICS

E-NEWS

D’Banj, Wande Coal gang up against Don Jazzy

T

he story of the entertainment industry cannot be told without mentioning Don Jazzy, D’Banj and Wande Coal.

Once upon a time, these three were as thick as thieves, running things together and since two heads are better than one, three are definitely even better, so the three of them planning together made massive headway to the extent that they became the top music crew in the country.

Then, they were the three main personalities of the defunct Mo’ Hits Records, its three most successful and most talented hands and it’s said far and wide that it was the creative input of the three of them that made Mo’ Hits able to record all the smash hit songs it did for all its artists.

As things stand right now, the three have gone their separate ways and now have their own labels. Jazzy’s Mavin Records is currently the most successful of the three, followed by D’Banj’s DB Records with Coal’s Black Diamond Entertainment the least successful for now.

However, Jazzy’s Mavin’s is not just the most successful of the three’s labels, it’s currently the most successful urban label in the country, like Kennis Music was some years ago.

In fact, Jazzy and his Mavin Records are so successful that their success is affecting D’Banj and Coal and their labels as whatever they do is compared to Jazzy’s and the conclusion is that what they are doing is not as good as Jazzy’s and it’s become a big problem for them.

D’Banj is feeling the negative effects of these comparisons more, with Coal faring slightly better for now.

Jazzy

Intro It’s Davido … Kiss Daniel G-Worldwide … Tiwa Sa-vage

D’Banj

Coal

Anyway, it seems things are now getting to a head as it’s being bandied about that D’Banj and Coal are being seen together nowadays is that they have resolved to come together again in order to be able to topple Jazzy from the lofty height he is presently.

According to industry sources, in the days of Mo’ Hits, D’Banj and Coal were more creative than Jazzy and they believe if they come together again, they will be a stronger creative force than Jazzy is right now and become more prominent than him.

W

Rapperch and Dialect

Rapperch upgrades with Original Bongo Dennis Agbo Enugu

O

D’Prince

Woju Remix Artist: Kiss Daniel featuring Tiwa Savage and Davido

D’Prince flaunts cash to get noticed hat is happening to D’Prince?

This is one question that has to be asked and answered on time because this promising artist seems to be getting it wrong nowadays.

When we got to know of him years ago, it was because of his music. He gave us the lovable hits, Omoba, Give It To Me, Goody Bag and Take Banana.

But now, in order to get noticed, he’s had to flaunt cash on social media. He posted a picture of himself with bundles of naira and it has received some attention.

Making good music is however the true test of a musician’s appeal and D’Prince should better go back to the drawing board to seek the formula that made his earlier songs hits while his latest songs are struggling and thereby affecting his popularity rating.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

binna Udenwatu, aka Rapperch, was spotted in Enugu last week recording a music video for his new single, Original Bongo featuring Janglover master, Dialect.

According to Rapperch, he hopes that featuring Dialect who has made more impact in the industry would give him and Original Bongo the appropriate leverage to make

the song into a smash hit.

“Original Bongo is a hippop number that will make people dance and forget their sorrow. Dialect, who I featured on it, is also the one who produced it, and I shot the video so that the song can become faster as people prefer to watch videos now to assess the audio,” he told E-News.

“The video will drop next month, and when it does, I’ll take over the industry,” he boasted.

Verse 1 (Kiss Daniel) No be youIi carry come, but na you I go carry go oh oh oh oh sisi agbarigo Eayaa yo wey No be you I dey check on o but na you I wanna know know know sisi Ferrari Eayaa yo wey Baby sweet [ahhhahh] baby nice eh Baby tudidudidu odikwa tight [odikwa tight] Sho mope o sexy, malo ro boya iro ni Oti mo pe ode wapa owa fe ma buga s’emi Chorus Woju o, eh lelelelelele Baby koya woju o eh lelelelelele Oya woju o, omode yi lelelele Baby koya woju oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Verse 2 (Tiwa Savage) Bobo boju oh, koma lo foju oh oh Cause the more wey you look at me, less you see [malo ro pe] Oh Rihanna, getting money like Rihanna Seeing the future, Ciara Nothing go stop me oh [never] If you go love me, boy love me oh jeje If you go hold me, please hold me oh jeje Am very sweet [ahhahh] am very nice [ahhahh] If you check my bank account odikwa life Chorus Oya woju o [woju o] lelelelelele Baby koya woju o [woju oh]eh lelelelele Oya woju o [woju o] omode yi lelelele [O.B.O Baddest] Baby koya woju oh oh oh oh oh Verse 3 (Davido) I say the love wey I get for you I no fit sing oh So tey your body dey bother me for my dream oh (see me see gobe) All my guys dey ask themselves Say na so e sweet oh Oya baby come show me something them no fit see oh Eh, very sweet oh, very nice She looki my neck and say ‘odikwa bright Gba gbe oshi (4x) Chorus Outro Your kiss eh Ye le ma ma ye le ma ma ye le So fun ko ya lo joko Ye le ma ma ye le ma ma ye le Omo baba olowo Ye le ma ma ye le ma ma ye le Oya omo dynasty Ye le ma ma ye le ma ma ye le Oya omo confirm me is Ye le ma ma ye le ma ma ye le So fun pe awa la l’Eko Ye le ma ma ye le ma ma ye le Kiss Daniel, Davido Ye le ma ma ye le ma ma ye le Emperor Geezy Na so

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E-NEWS

March 28, 2015

25

Entertainers struggling to maintain their relevance (3) A

s E-News’ spotlight returns this week to the entertainers who are struggling to maintain their relevance, Maga Don Pay singer Kelly Hansome, 4kasibe singer DJ Zeez, Originality singer Faze and Kukere singer Iyanya are the entertainers spotlighted.

Without a doubt, these four, who were once well celebrated, are no longer really relevant in the scheme of the entertainment game.

Of the four of them, Faze, a former member of the Plantashun Boiz alongside 2face and Blackface, was definitely the most successful. He became an household name as a Plantashun Boi, and after their infamous breakup, he became a recognized celebrity in his own right with his first single, Faze Alone.

An emotional song in which he declared that he intended to be successful as a solo artist, he walked his talk with the critical and commercial success of Faze Alone and its followup, Angel Gabriella, from his debut album.

He proved himself further still with a slew of hit songs, Tattoo Girls, Kpo Kpo Di Kpo Kpo, Kolomental and others from his second album and he became the singer you needed to make your show rock.

And when Originality from his third album became another smash hit, his star soared higher still. Then just like D’Banj, he tried to break into the international scene with his next single, I’m In Luv, and it was after then that his relevance began to wane.

Nowadays, he’s not really spoken of again, and even though he keeps dropping songs, they don’t really connect with the public again, the way his earlier songs that made people used to say he was a better singer than 2face.

Though Kelly Hansome didn’t achieve as much as Faze, he nevertheless was very hot when his song, Maga Don Pay, became the most popular song in Nigeria.

Maga Don Pay’s astronomical success came after years of Hansome trying to break through in music, years in which he released his debut album, Simply Kelly, which contained very good songs but didn’t make the expected impact.

And since he followed Maga Don Pay with other huge songs like Like Play Like Play, True Love and E No Easy, he was seen as the next really big thing. And for some time, it seemed it would be so.

But what mitigated against the success of his debut album, contractual issues with his record label, arose again to mitigate against his career as a whole.

When he released his debut album, he was signed on to Myke Records, and they fell apart shortly after the album’s release, so the album suffered. In the same vein, at the height of his rise with his sophomore album released by Kennis Music, he fell out with the label and his career suffered from all the negativity that ensued.

Currently, he’s trying his best to revive his career. He keeps releasing songs and they are noted, only because of the name he’s made before, but they don’t succeed like his former songs.

Like Kelly Hansome, 4kasibe singer DJ Zeez became known nationwide with his monster hit, 4kasibe. The song was so popular that its title became a slang especially because people could not understand if its meaning was abusive or complimentary or abusive and the continuous debates over which it was aided its popularity greatly.

Then, it was almost as if there was no other artist in town, that it was just DJ Zeez. For every show, he was first choice, and even for featuring, he was on high demand and his appearance on Skuki’s Banger contribut-

Hansome

Faze

Zeez

Iyanya

ed to the song’s immense success.

The sky was thought to be the limit for him, as he was also a producer, so faith in his musical talent and ability was not misplaced.

But he didn’t make the cut and is yet to do so. After 4kasibe eventually died down, he’s yet to release any noteworthy song. And he’s released so many songs that make it apparent that it’s not as if he’s bowed out of the game but he’s actually not able to make any real impact again.

Iyanya, the Kukere master, is definitely one artist that has to be on the list of entertainers struggling to maintain their relevance.

After he won the maiden edition of Project Fame West Africa in 2008, big things were expected of him.

But it took him five years to prove that he really had something to offer.

And he did so with Kukere which became a monster hit. And since its follow-ups, Ur Waist, Sexy Mama, Jombolo and Flavour also became major hits, Iyanya became the king of the pack.

But it would seem he made a huge mistake in turning his back thereafter on the producer, D’Tunes, that produced his songs which became successful. He stopped working with D’Tunes but he and all the other producers he went to do not seem to have the working chemistry he and D’Tunes did.

Anyway, his brand is no longer as valued as it was before and it keeps losing value by the day even s he keeps dropping new songs and videos. And one of the last reports about him was that he had swallowed his pride and returned to D’Tunes.

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March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Funke Akindele runs Battle for AGN’s soul rages on back to Jenifa to save S her career

Akindele

F

unke Akindele, the actress who became a genuine household name through the movie Jenifa, has disclosed that her latest move is to ensure that the Jenifa character which was the selling point of the Jenifa movie does not die.

According to news from her camp, she has concluded plans for the TV series of Jenifa which will star big names that include Alexxx Ekubo, Banky W, Wunmi Obe, Waje and Ali Nuhu.

While she claims that she came up with the TV series because people are still enamoured with the

Jenifa character, a sad reality is that since Jenifa, she has not been able to play any character that really added value to her brand and she’s therefore not as hot as she was with Jenifa.

But will Jenifa’s return, this time to TV, save her career?

That’s the big question, because inasmuch as she claims that people want more of jenifa, she should also know that many movie lovers were not satisfied with Jenifa’s movie sequels, with many of them saying that only the original Jenifa movie itself, was the one that made real sense.

ince the court ruling on Monday, March 16th, 2015 that the election through which Ibinabo Fiberesima emerged as President, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) is illegitimate, the battle for AGN’s soul has started again.

While AGN has always been a contentious body, it has had peace and progress under Fiberesima.

The court ruling has however created a situation akin to turmoil as contenders to the AGN presidency now believe they have a valid right to it.

As the situation prepares to degenerate even further, accusations and counteraccusations continue to fly at the speed of light.

A-list actor, Emeka Ike, is one personality whose name is being mentioned heavily in the current AGN crises. Some say he has declared himself AGN president. Others say he doesn’t have any right to it.

And to douse the situation somewhat, AGN’s Board of Trustees have spoken out on the issue.

According to the BoT’s chairman, Prince Ifeanyi Dike, “The truth is that Emeka Ike did not get any judgement or victory against members of the BoT of AGN. His case is suit number FHC/L/ CS/365/2011 and it is still pending before Honourable Justice Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

“It has been adjourned to Thursday, April 16, 2015 for hearing of the objection filed by Emeka Ike against the appearance of our new counsel in the matter. If the case is still pending in court, how can the same court declare him to be the President without deciding the matter finally? This is the central issue for resolution in that case.

“The truth also is that another case filed by St Maradona Mikevine Johnson V Board of Trustees of the Actors Guild of Nigeria suit number FHC/L/CS/734/2012 was decided by the court on March 16, 2015. In that case, the court ruled among other things that the term of office of the members of the BoT of AGN has expired. We have since appealed against that decision.

“One of the planks of our complaint is that the members of the BoT, whose tenure was declared to have expired, were not made parties to that action.

Despite this complaint, the court, in its infinite wisdom, found against us and we have appealed to the Court of Appeal against that decision.”

Speaking further, Dike said, “Apart from appealing, we have also filed motion for stay of execution. The implication of filing stay is that the court judgment has not become operative until the motion for stay is decided either in our favour or against us.”

Arinze

Fiberesima

Ike

Mima Ikyor drops Just Fine video

P

romising singer, Mima Ikyor, has dropped her latest music video, that of her song, Just Fine. Already, the video, which surfaced online this week, is spreading appreciably, and garnering the comments it can along the way.

Ikyor is not a greenhorn when it comes to music and she will definitely be hoping that the Just Fine video will finally help her achieve the heights her fellow female singers like Tiwa Savage and Omawunmi have attained.

Ikyor

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le StyGlam and

with Yemisi Adeniran

27

March 28, 2015

(08037801158) ydiran@yahoo.com

A

re boubou dresses otherwise called Senegal dresses meant for the big and curvy girls alone? Not any longer. That this type of outfit is characterised by its big size and ability to cover up for all those extra pounds of flesh does not mean it cannot be exploited by slim chics. Just look around you and you will see that slim girls are currently having a field day with boubou and believe me, they look very gorgeous in them.

What’s the trick? It is just about picking the right colour and ensuring that the fabric of the dress is light. With a chiffon, fine silk, lace, jersey, or rayon material, a very slim girl will go places with heads turning her side in the thickest crowd. And you can also make it into a design of your choice. Make it fitted at the waist, line it to the area you want and apply the embroidery as detailed as you wish.

You can also draw your inspirations from colours, glamour, vintage and retro styles from African arts and culture.

Just ensure that you add a touch of glamour and style to your stride and you will be glad you go the boubou way. These models from Didi label are out say more about this.

Boubou beauty from

Didi

28

STYLE & GLAM

for some not for to be made ppearing romantic is day to characterise each ed os pp su is it , ys da specific limited to a is is not also to be of a stylish lady. Th ould be th your lover, it sh wi te da ial ec sp a day you have ntic and still look perfectly roma To ir. fa af ay yd heat to an ever to do is to add some ve ha u yo all al, rm permissibly fo sing these ways: type your outing and dres ess, especially the dr s iou sc on -c dy bo First, get a thing you feel k. It must be some loo ly gir a u yo es ts just that giv silhouette complemen re fla d an fit –a th comfortable wi u taller about any figure. els not only make yo He . os tt ile St xy se Consider next

A

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Fashion

r o f s k c i Tr

They also k longer and leaner. loo s leg ur yo ke ma just but they e which is something ap sh r me fir a e ièr give your derr of stilettos r. Find a great pair fo ks loo n ma wo y er s all about ev heel or high heel; it’ low A t. tfi ou ur yo to wear with u feel good. ings, about what makes yo ther you’re an earr he W . ies or ss ce ac Next are your

Fashion

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

n frenzy

,

STYLE & GLAM

March 28, 2015

k o o l c i t n the roma

touch to any pe of girl; the final ty t ele ac br or e thing necklac jewellery. Pick some of ce pie t ou t gh ou th outfit is a well pe that will tfit but not the ty ou ur yo ts en lem mp l needs that co metal tones. Every gir or l ra ut ne ink Th clash with it. night out. But ting, be it a day or ou y er ev r fo g ba te. An a good dress with a bulky to ul tif au be ur yo wn don’t bring do

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g, but for any of your outin go ll wi g ba m diu me elegant but oosing a metallic about every look. Ch st ju th wi es go h tc a clu er your look. colour will pull togeth or a vibrant pop of good for him but t just about looking no s it’ at th er mb this out Reme e models here spell Th lf. se ur yo r fo looking good u say? clearly. What do yo

29

Fashion Guest

30

STYLE & GLAM

‘Wearing socks with ethnic outfits, not good for men’ Vivian Ephraim is a young woman who was, recently, part of the last African Teen Beauty Contest. In this interview with YEMISI ADENIRAN, she declares that Nigerians are leading other African countries where fashion is concerned. Her words: “Naturally, we share some traits, especially in the area of curves and flesh but when it comes to exposure and carriage, I think we are more stylish.”

March 28, 2015

Is what you are eating killing you?

Processed Meats You may love hot dogs, lunch meat, bacon and sausages, but these meats are among the worst of the worst for your health. When you eat processed meats, you’re almost assuredly consuming sodium nitrite (or sodium nitrate), which is added to processed and cured meats as a preservative, flavoring, color fixative and antimicrobial agent.

As a young model, what’s your view about the Nigerian fashion scene?

I think Nigerian women; even men are not doing badly. They are very conscious of every current tip in the fashion world. They can compete very well with their foreign counterparts.

As a young model, I have been grouped with other girls from other African countries and I can boldly say that we, Nigerian girls, are bolder than other girls. We know more than they do when it comes to fashion. Besides, our own natural physique stands us out all the time. In such competitions, we always have an upper hand.

Are you saying we are better moulded than other African ladies and women?

Naturally, we share some traits, especially in the area of curves and flesh but when it comes to exposure and carriage, I think we are more stylish and that comes naturally.

How would you describe style?

Style is a person’s unique way of doing things. It is peculiar to that

person and other people can attest to it. You know like Madam Kofo’s headgear, Mrs. Abba Folawiyo’s kind of eyebrow, even Papa Adeboye of Redeemed church’s way of dressing, his short-sleeves and way of preaching. A person’s style speaks louder and more of him or her. It tells people some innate features of that person that may likely not be seen with the ordinary eyes. It tells us if the person is simple, lousy, careless and dirty.

Where do you think Nigerian women need to do more where fashion is concerned?

Like I said, they are currently doing well but there is always the need to do more. They should try and be more modest and not too loud when making up. They should consider their colours before picking a particular colour to paint their lips and faces. As for men, they should stop wearing socks whenever they are in ethnic wears. It makes them look odd and unfashionable.

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Unfortunately, nitrites can be converted into cancer-causing nitrosamines in your body, which may explain why numerous studies have linked processed meat consumption to cancer. For instance: • People who eat a lot of processed meat may be 50 percent more likely to develop colorectal cancer than those who eat the least.

• Increased consumption of processed meat is associated with an increased risk of stomach cancer.

• Eating a lot of processed meat is linked to a 68 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer compared to eating only a small amount.

Red Meat While some red meat can safely be included in your diet (for instance, grass-fed beef), there is evidence that eating a lot of red meat can increase your cancer risk. One such study found that eating red meat daily for

10 years increased men’s risk of dying from cancer by 22 percent, and women’s by 20 percent. Separate research has also linked red meat consumption to an increased risk of breast, colon and prostate cancers.

Vegetable oil Hydrogenated oils, like vegetable oil, contain trans fats. It’s considered to be the worst type of fat there is. It’s known to cause cancer, heart disease, and immune system problems. In fact, there is no safe amount of trans fats in your diet. Even the FDA has made a preliminary determination to say trans fats are not generally regarded as safe, like previously thought. You can avoid hydrogenated oil. Instead choose coconut, palm, or olive oil.

French Fries/Potato Chips These fast food staples are fried in hydrogenated vegetable oil and then heavily salted. We’ve already discussed the dangers of hydrogenated oils, but the high salt content is also concerning. It increases the risk of high blood pressure as well as other health problems. In addition, foods heated above a certain temperature have high levels of acrylamide, a chemical that studies have shown increase the risk of cancer. Potatoes are also part of the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” meaning they have some of the most pesticide residue of all the fruits and vegetables.

CONCLUDED

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31

March 28, 2015

Male Essentials

08036961187

with Oseyiza Oogbodo kingseiza@gmail.com

24 ways to be more handsome (2) Continued from last week Wash your face correctly Yup, there is actually a wrong way to wash your face, and it can leave you looking less handsome than if you didn’t wash at all.

The culprit? Regular body soap which clogs up the smaller pores on your face and sucks up too much natural oil, leaving your mug looking like an old baseball mitt. So, learn this word and look for it on products: Noncomedogenic. It means the product is formulated specifically to deal with the skin on your face. Use a face wash once daily, except for shave day, when you should use a face scrub to exfoliate. And if you have a beard of significant length, don’t use any scrubs ever unless you want to spend the next couple of hours picking micro-beads out of your muff.

Beard responsibly According to science (and Jay Carney and Batman), we’ve reached peak beard in 2014, meaning those of the fairer sex may start to be more smitten with shaved faces than hairy ones. Though, if you ask the girls at Elle.com, they have their own, somewhat favorable opinions of our beards. Ah, boy, we live in confusing times. The take away?

Do whatever makes you feel more handsome, but if you are currently bearding, you

still have to be mindful to manicure that forest of follicles fastened to your face.

Shave like your grandaddy If you’re gonna be red and bloody in the

face, let it be because you performed some heroic act, not because you still can’t figure out the right way to shave. Dermatologists say that the five blades in your cartridge do

Sexual issues & solutions

Experimenting with new forms of sexual play II

I

n continuation from last week’s introduction into trying out new sexual play, we want to start by highlighting the category one after the other. If you think you want to try something new, we recommend the following activities, all of which are great for beginners and can be escalated into more serious play as your comfort level grows.

1 ) Oral Sex - While some people might guffaw at seeing oral sex as an item of alternative sexual practices, stop and think about it for a moment. Some people are very conservative in their sexual play, only enjoying intercourse and kissing. If you fall into this latter category, please, don’t feel uncomfortable! You aren’t alone. First things first: If you’re not with a monogamous partner, be safe and use a condom. Granted, oral sex is easier to give and enjoy without the condom, but you absolutely have to put your own health first. Don’t like the taste? Not a problem. Experiment with some of the flavored condoms and some oral desensitizing spray and some good flavored edible lubricants for oral sex on the market -- that’s what they’re there for!

And applying water-based lube to the penis before you put on the condom will greatly increase his pleasure.

Hi, I’m a 55 year old man with diabetis and very weak erection, but one of my friend got me the Ganoderma tea with Vimax and I can confidently say that I now have very strong erection that carries me for more than one round if I want and my blood sugar is now reducing and stabilising very well, can I have more of the tea?Biola Hello sir, The Ganoderma tea is very good in stabilising the blood sugar, upgrade sleep quality and strenghtens the vitality of the white blood cell to kill cancer cells and protect the liver. Vimax is an amazing herbal supplement that gives very hard erection on demand, corrects weak erection and also handles premature ejaculation and you are welcome any time to get the Ganoderma tea.

I got to know about your products from the dailies and I have been following your article for a while now, and I must commend your efforts. I need about three different product of yours that can give me erection

of demand, I want to buy the three ,so I can choose; cos im suffering from very weak erection and I have tried so many supplements all to no avail; I want to give your products a trial – Obi Hello sir, I’ll advise you take any of the following; Vimax, Powerzengold, Xzen 1200, or Stiffnite. Any of the above-named supplement will give strong erection on demand with no side effect as they herbal supplements.

Im a man in my mid-forties, I have a very big pot-belly with serious erection problems. My wife is always complaining that I don’t satisfy her due to my big tummy. Please kindly assist me in all ways you can cos im suffering in silence –Chuks Chuks, you have nothing to worry about.

I know it can really be annoying that you cant satisfy your wife, but you should even be lucky she’s saying it out unlike most women.

I’d advise you work on your big tummy with the Ganoderma tea that helps eliminitaes fat especially in the abdominal region and it effectively helos to loose weight. You need to take the Ganoderma tea with either Vimax, rhino 7 or Xzen 1200 to get an effective result, im sure if you loose some fat in that region, you can automatically perform better,cos fat at times hinder a good sexual performance from men.

These are all we can take for this week.

Adults who needs these aphrodisiacs can call 08034666358, 07059294782 or place your order at www.viewden.com. For further enquiries,send an email to us at: vieweden@ yahoo.com, viewden@ymail.com.

Kemi Fawole (MD, Viewden)

a swell job of slashing the strands off your chin, but they also swipe the oils your skin needs to avoid nicks, burns and un-handsome irritation. Therefore: Single blade safety razor, like your granddaddy.

Take care of your hands and feet Hands: Your first physical contact with another human being will (usually) be with your hands, so how your mitts look and feel matters. Wash them with soap and water, clean the gunk from under and around your nails with nail brush, clip your nails, and use a moisturizer every so often so you don’t feel or look like a snake.

Feet: If you like sandals, the beach, and sex (or all three), keep your situation clipped, rub a pumice stone over the ugliest parts and it’s okay to slap some cream on them every so often. We don’t have to tell you that nasty toenails and discolored, flakey feet aren’t helping your cause.

Did we just endure the Mani/Pedi for men? Meh, it’s up to you if you want to sit in a salon and let some lady clip and clean your nails and then rub your hands and feet. But if you do, ask that they don’t buff your nails or it will look very obvious that they did.

Continues next week

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March 28, 2015

Relatio

Angle

Male

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Jide animashaun 08034710902 jidemashaun@yahoo.com

Are men who date olde Not really

T

his is an age old question that many people have been asking. Dating cougars as older women are now called is not a new phenomenon when talking about relationships, especially as many young men in the past had taken that plunge even if it wasn’t really socially acceptable then. Now on the other hand, the phenomenon has gently crept into our consciousness and people do not see anything wrong in seeing older women in the arms of far younger men who may even be young enough to be their sons at public functions without raising eyebrows. The history of relationships has gone a full circle and what used to be the forth of older men dating young ladies as a sign of prestige has become something that both genders can flaunt without feeling any sign of unease.

It has now become a classic case of what is good enough for the goose is definitely good enough for the gander in every area of human existence when it comes to relationships.

Relatively speaking, a gold digger is someone who latches on to a person who can provide money, gifts or generally provide financial security for a relationship without feeling any iota of love or deep emotional attachment to that person. In exchange, the gold digger will often pretend to be interested in you.

Most gold diggers have an attitude that they have to be taken care of especially when it comes to daily expenses and other special needs that may crop up from time to time. A gold digger will only date someone who he or she can gain something out of. To a gold digger, nothing goes for free. You just have to know that the motive for gold diggers is never altruistic. Their time spent with you has to be paid for either in cash or something else. Gold diggers often use sex as a reward for a great gift or an expensive night out. Some gold diggers are in search for fame.

And in this present time and clime I can assure you that gold diggers can be both men and women. Many young people proactively seek older financially independent persons to date so as to have an easy access to money and power. It is a common fact these days that a lot of rich people attract ‘friends’ who wants to have a sort of relationship while in

actual fact are just looking for freebies. Most gold diggers have certain similar behavioural patterns. They are selfish and will only “sacrifice” or do things when they know they’re getting something in return as I’d already pointed out.

I want to say here that not all young men are gold diggers or after money in a relationship with an older woman. They could be ambitious and actively seek out a woman who can help them achieve what they want. They may have big plans for life and what they want from a relationship may be beyond just love.

Gold diggers on the other hand are manipulative and will always get what they want. They will most certainly lack empathy when you’re in trouble or hurting. But truth be told, not all older women are rich and not all young men are poor. Love can and does grow in funny places.

One of the biggest allures for a lot of younger men dating older women granted may indeed be the fact that older women tend to be more established. This is definitely something important because it removes the pressures on them of trying to financially live up to expectations in the relationship. Since most cougars are successful women, they are often wealthy which puts the pressure off men to be the one to foot the bill most of the time. In fact, it is the other way around. In most cases, it is usually the older woman who makes sure that her beau is well taken care of. Also, dating an older woman for a lot of young men removes all the unnecessary drama a lot of younger women will put up in the course of dating. Older women are also known for being blunt about their feelings and are adept with flirting that men find a turn on since they’ve spent more years in the game of dating. And contrary to popular belief, we do have a lot of upwardly mobile young men these days in almost all facets of life who have fallen in love and are still falling in love with older women on a daily basis and are very proud to flaunt their relationship based on the love they have for these women.

We most certainly also have a lot of young men who do not fit into the mode of men who cannot pull up their own bootstraps. Dating an older woman definitely does not connote gold digging.

SEX TALK

This column is x-rated

Seven smelly body parts that can ruin great sex!

Nothing will make your partner flee from you faster than really bad body odour. Which parts should you be paying more attention to in the shower and why?

Your partner is seriously giving you the eye.

But having just arrived from work, you didn’t have time to freshen up. You think you can just get right to action without much ado. You slide into the bed and move towards him/her. But when you move close enough, you start smelling something awfully bad. You try to ignore it, yes, focus on feeling aroused. But your olfactory sense keeps insisting on leading you toward that awful smell. What a deal breaker!

What part of your body has just killed the mood? There are several parts of your body that can release an awful smell, and it can ruin sex, potentially great sex. Here are seven parts of the body that can be smelly, if you haven’t been paying attention to your hygiene.

Your hair - You might not be aware of it, but some individuals are very picky when it comes to hair smells. There are people who have an intense aversion to smelly hair, especially those who do not like the smell of cigarettes, smoke or just about any other scent that easily clings to hair. There is also the matter of expensive ladies’ hairdo. How long has that style been sitting on your head? Are you a man who wears braids, cornrows, dreads, sporting waves and the like? Even if your hair is natural, how of-

ten do you wash it? What do you rub into it?

Are you reeking of hair pomade? Hair smells, you know! It’s best to know the preferences of your partner and take note of any aversion to these smells!

Your ears - Your partner may like to lick your ears. You may also like how this feels, and how this makes you really aroused. But as your partner starts to maneuver the tongue across your earlobe, you notice that your partner stops and says, “Your ear smells funny.”

You would not want this to be happening, would you? Although physicians and healthcare professionals have recommended that the ears be cleaned with Q-tips just a couple of times in a month, as the wax that it produces is very important in protecting the inside from foreign bodies, it does not mean we shouldn’t touch them at all. We can use a clean, damp cloth to clean the outside of the ears and inside the earlobes as well, without having to go deep inside to remove the wax. Remember that the ears’ physical attribute is that of a receptacle, for it to catch sound waves, but it can also catch dirt, a lot of dirt.

Your mouth - It is said to be the dirtiest part of the body, yet it houses one of the most sensual organs we use to pleasure our partners. Not only is this area in dire need of brushing, as it is the dirtiest part of the body already, but also because it plays a huge part in foreplay, oral sex, and kissing. Imagine not

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RELATIONSHIPS

March 28, 2015

onships

Female

33

Angle

JACQUI IWU 08165049669 email: amiicaregroup@aol.com

er women gold diggers?

100% YES..!!!!

I

am going to blow it pretty hard on this topic today. Why? Looking at the African struture and the way African men see their women, any boy you see dating a woman older than him is not there for love but for something else. If you have such people around you, take time to study them, you will discover that the woman is always ahead in the society in terms of career, wealth etc.

This column is x-rated having to do any of those three, just because you forgot to brush and gargle. No person in their right mind will kiss you or even want to receive oral sex from you if your oral cavity smells like the trash bin.

Your neck - The short area in between your head and your shoulders is one area where your partner will not hesitate to kiss you and lick you when they are absolutely aroused. But as they lick your neck, it suddenly reminds them of stagnant air and unwashed bodies. Do you know how a towel smells when it has not been dried out properly?

The neck may often be a neglected body part. It accumulates a lot of sweat too.

And do note that putting on perfume on a sweaty and dirty neck will make it smell even worse! So the only way out is a thorough wash with sponge, soap and plenty of water. Read sound personal hygiene!

Your armpits - It can grow hair, and it has the potential to emit a really nasty scent. There should never come a time when your armpits will smell, ever. It does not even matter if you are going to have sex or not! How do you even get undressed if the person you’ve been eyeing all day long can smell your stink ten feet away? There is no excuse for smelly armpits. Simply washing and swiping on some deodorant should be enough to help you out here.

Your feet - You use it to travel every day. Sometimes to even pick up the remote control off the floor. Since they’re so far away from your nose, you may not be able to smell the odour they emit. But when your partner, who may want to turn you on by caressing and/or sucking on your toes, suddenly goes down there, is he or she

This column is x-rated more likely to swoon or faint?

Having stinky feet is normal, especially if you’ve been doing some physical activity. But when you have a hunch that your feet might be more likely to stink than usual, opt for some foot spray or powder to prevent the stench. And if you’re caught off guard by an impatient partner, have the courtesy to warn them and wash up before you do the deed.

Your special weapon -There will definitely be no sexual intercourse, in spite of the best necking and petting and breast licking and sucking you have ever experienced. How can this continue when the moment the underwear goes off, the stinky aroma fills the room? Not only is this a huge mood destroyer, it will definitely make your partner run the opposite direction.

It can be a pretty normal thing, especially after a long sweaty day at work.

With the inevitable toilet trips and all that walking, that part down there must really have brewed its own aroma. But after washing it, the smell should disappear. However, caution should be applied if the smell does not go away in spite of cleaning and washing. It might be a sign of a health problem. So see a doctor fast before your partner flees faster!

These are just a few examples of how your body, which should be giving you pleasure, can also give you pain by making itself unpleasant to smell. Nobody would want to ruin great sex because of this. So the next time you hit the shower, don’t neglect these parts!

The African men is so particular about age of their women and hardly warm up to women older than them for a real lasting relationship so i cannot believe that a young man is dating an old woman for the sake of love.

Dating should be all about love which might eventually lead to both people getting married if things work out for them. The African man is so sensitive of the age of the woman he wants to date and marry and once he discovers you are older than him, his love runs out of the window as fast as it enters.

Ordinarily when you claim you love someone truthfully, money, age must not count...nothing counts except loving that person till the end of time. What we have today is something else where people get into relationship for all kinds of stupid/ugly reasons and love coming last. I cannot get tired of saying this!!!

Boyyyyy..if you come across our African men who are dating older men, and you listen to what the say about such women, you will feel like slapping the hell out of such men. They put such women down in a very dirty manner before their fellow men. Making a jest of the women and reeking of how they are planning strategecally on how to rip such women off. I always wonder myself why a woman of 60years should date a hippie or quitty-quitty boy of 25-30? This is stupidity so most times, i do not pity such women but feel bad the way such boys ridicule womanhood. Again, there are actually some women in our society who go out of their way to seek such boys out ...crazy...simply...crazy...

Check some of the newspapers, you read about jobless boys who

feel they are hip shamelessly asking for a rich married woman to date. Pretty shameful that your own vision to be a man is to look for a woman as old as your mother to date!!! Do you think you are sane? I think you should seek help for having such a desire. If you are lazy to work as a man, then i wonder what you are here for. Rather than looking for meaningful way to earn a decent living, your own job is to be looking for old women to date. You are just a pathethic hippie!! Get a life please and stop destroying your future.

For the old women who are abusing their marriage vows and disgracing their husbands by keeping other boys as lovers, i do not even know what to tell you. I only pity your husband because the innocent man could be boasting of his wife outside not know you are just a trash....selling your self to pimps and ruining his image. Any man that has such a woman as a wife should never think twice before kicking her out. This is the highest insult any woman that calls her self a wife could give to her husband. If you are tired of your husband, either work it out or get a divorce rather than disgracing the man’s image and making him a laughing stock outside.

Sadly there are men who will pass by and people will be laughing at them due to the way their wives sleeps around with small boys.

Such a shameful thing!!

Som time last year one of such stupid relationships turned into very ugly when the man went to the bank with the woman where the woman took huge cash to travel with. They went back to the woman’s house, the man strangled the woman and made away with all the money and other valuable items in the house. This happened late last year. The bloody man was discovered cruising around in Ghana. So where was the love?

Worst gold digger ever!!! He must get an award for this!!!

Finally, you the pimp who sleeps with older women, get a life and be useful to yourself because such women are very dangerous and can ruin your life for ever!!!

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March 28, 2015

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Woman My recipe for agelessness – Funmi Ajila Ladiipo

Mrs. Funmi Ajila Ladiip o is the president of Fa shion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN). A hardworking and pretty wom an to behold, she shar es her view on the danger of too much of love for money plus her fond m emories of childhood with YEMISI ADENIRAN. Ex cerpts: Which part of Nigeria are you from and how would you describe your parents?

I am from Ekiti State. Then, it was Ondo State. Although my mother was not from the same part of the country with my father, as she was a nomadic Fulani, the two of them spent a worthy and enviable lives together. They loved each other and extended the same to us, their children. We had a closely-knit family and we were brought up the Christian way. I enjoyed godly love and had good training because my father was also brought up by missionaries.

How would you compare life in those years with what we have right now?

It is very unfortunate that the two worlds are very far from each other. The gap is indeed too wide. In those years, everyone respects those who were older and knowledgeable than them. A person’s kid is the kid of several other people. It is not like what we have now. Today, everyone paddles his or her own canoe but the business of one then was that of the other. Talking about the churches, there was unity and genuine feelings among all. All children had access to the same quality of education unlike what we have today. It is very pathetic that equality is not in our dictionary, even in churches. It is very sad. A situation where only some people are able to enjoy the facilities provided by the church is really not impressive. If a church establishes a school at whatever level, it is only good and glorious for everyone in that congregation to be able to enjoy it. In those years, everyone, even those who were not Christians enjoyed the educational facilities provided by the missionaries. This is not so today. Only

those who are financially strong are able to pay the enormous bills of these institutions or have access to them. It is not good enough. In a way, the affected churches are trying to alienate the poor from their churches and this is wrong.

What do you suggest in order to stem the tide?

Very simple. The less-privileged in the

society, in the churches, should be catered for. They should do something for the poor people. Jesus came for the poor and the sick and he made himself available for them all. They should also make themselves available for the poor as much as they can. Today’s missionaries attach more meaning and importance to money and positions. They do not pay more attention to the people’s spiritual lives. It

is not good enough because if people acquire more wealth and affluence without growing very well spiritually, the end most times, have been shame, ridicule and destruction in few instances. We need to correct that notion, that belief and orientation. Money is not everything; it will shake one’s stand with God if one allows it to carry one away. Equality among brethrens, the way we treat and

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March 28, 2015

One of those things I observe religiously is exercise. I don’t just eat anything I feel like eating, I eat healthily. I don’t take carbonated drinks, I avoid all sugary drinks like a plague. I only take water and juice. I eat fruits and eat very light. I am not a heavy eater. relate with them is important, especially in the Christendom. The Bible says we should do good to those in the same faith and gathering with us first before looking elsewhere. Today’s missionaries are really not dong well enough in this wise and I hope they will change.

You are in your 50s, yet it is hard to believe. What is the secret behind this?

Like I always tell others who have cared to ask, God is the reason behind my agelessness. I am about to add one or two things that I do everyday and religiously but I must stress that it is God that has made it work or that is making it work.

When you have an exceptional nature, every other thing will take its place. God has been my helper. One of those things I observe religiously is exercise. I also don’t just eat anything I feel like eating, I eat healthily. I don’t take carbonated drinks, I avoid all sugary drinks like a plague. I only take water and juice. I eat fruits too and eat very light. I am not a heavy eater. I also avoid fast foods and take a lot of bitter things. I drink bitter leaf water, Aloe Vera and other bitter things. Instead of sugar, I take honey. I wash my face and my teeth twice daily and I have been able to avoid all kinds of skin and tooth problems by so doing. Besides, I don’t allow bitterness to stay long in my system because it can work one up and result in high blood pressure. I love God and make Him first in all that I do. I also have a new approach to life and really have not seen myself as being old.

One mistake that many women make is the consciousness of their age. And you know that age is in the mind. If you are 60 and your state of mind or approach to life is like that of a thirty or twenty years old, you will be looking that age. I love beautiful and youthful things and I have remained beautiful and youthful in mind.

At what point did you decide to go into fashion?

I owe whatever my exploits in the fashion world are to my mother. She discovered my ability in fashion and encouraged me to build on it. If not for her I would have gone to study Law after my A levels. There used to be a sewing machine in our house and it was owned by my mother. She was using it to sew clothes for us at festive seasons.

I picked interest in this and I grew in it.

My mother, all these while was watching and took note of it. My mother bought two sewing machines for me to take off. I started work in my house and was happy sewing my work, my design on people.

What lesson would you want parents to learn from this?

Mothers, especially, should devote

more time to their children. It is in doing this that they will get to discover the special gifting or talents of their children and help them to grow in them. Parents should not be selfish in their dealings with their children.

They must not lord or impose their desire on their children. Some parents always decide the careers they want their children to follow. It is wrong and it can mislead these children. Taking time out with children will allow them see through them and know where their strength are. Unfortunately, most parents, mothers particularly, are careerminded and have little or no time with their children. This must be stopped.

Are you saying this must be one of the resolutions of mothers?

Exactly yes. Mothers should decide to devote more time to their homes. It will not only rub positively well on the well-being of their homes, it will save and guide their children from crime and evil lurking around the corners.

The many rape cases and other havoc destroying homes today will be guided against if mothers will be found in their rightful positions at home and in the lives of their children.

What do you say to women who are breadwinners of their families?

It is wrong for women to be breadwinners in families. It is not godly. Men should go out and till the ground and feed their families according to the Bible. Women should be at home catering for the home. They should help but not be the main burden bearer. Men should strive to correct this. This will make God happy and make things to take proper shape in their families.

What words of advice do you have for Nigerian fashion designers?

They should be more creative and hardworking. They are doing very well and the whole world is noting this but they should nor rest on their oars. They should do more in the area of creativity, look round them, take note of little things around them and see how they can turn it into unique outfits that will move the Nigerian fashion world around.

What has made your marriage worked this far?

God is the bedrock of my marriage.

He has helped both of us to play our parts in the interest of our marriage.

Another factor that has also helped us is the fact that we are always ready to learn from each other. A teachable heart will be an advantage to any marriage.

A husband or wife that finds it easy to learn from his or her partner will keep his or her marriage intact and exciting.

Keeping ABREAST

How to avoid miscarriage

I

f you have had a miscarriage in the past or the doctor claims you are in a high risk pregnancy, you may be at risk of miscarrying this pregnancy. While no one, not even a doctor, can guarantee a safe pregnancy and a healthy outcome, there are steps you can take to increase your chances of a successful delivery. Ask your doctor before trying these: 1. Eat healthy. Follow a nutritious diet plan that limits fat intake and includes plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Your doctor may be able to recommend a plan that will help you eat the right number of calories and get enough fiber and other necessary nutrients.

2. Drink water. Replace sugary or caffeine beverages with several glasses of water each day. Occasional tea or coffee is acceptable with your doctor’s consent, but don’t overdo it. Avoid alcoholic beverages.

3. Take your medicine. Your doctor will most likely prescribe supplemental prenatal vitamins, possibly with minerals and/or iron. You may need to take other medications as well. Don’t stop taking these medications because you may compromise your child’s health.

4. Follow your doctor’s orders. Rest, avoid tobacco, and report unusual symptoms to your doctor. Get required blood work and other tests done. Ask questions and seek clarification if you don’t understand something that was said. Heeding medical advice can help you avoid possible complications.

5. Exercise in moderation. A comfortable walking routine of 30 to 40 minutes a day in safe conditions may be beneficial if your doctor approves. Twenty minutes of daily fresh air is good for you,

too, preferably in the morning or evening.

6. Don’t worry. Make social connections. Keep a diary of your feelings. Tell the doctor if you’re unduly depressed or stressed. A calm mental state can help to protect your pregnancy and allow you to enjoy this special phase of life.

7. Get educated. Learn all you can about pregnancy and about your body. Understand what is normal and abnormal for you. Take childbirth preparation and child care classes. Surf the Internet for information about pregnancy and your baby’s development, but be sure your sources are sound and not posted by amateurs.

8. Get adequate rest. Aim for eight hours of sleep each night, with maybe a short nap in the afternoon, especially during the first trimester when you will feel extra tired. Don’t push yourself beyond sensible limits. Avoid strain or heavy work. Ask your husband for help with housework.

9. Take it easy. Your body will naturally slow down as the baby grows inside.

Put your feet up when you can, reduce your busy schedule, and enjoy time with your husband as you plan for the baby. Avoid climbing on ladders and slippery spots.

You may want to put a non-skid mat in your bathtub or shower. Take a few extra precautions to make life easier and your pregnancy safer.

Maintain a proactive approach to managing your pregnancy. Keep scheduled doctor’s visits, and call the office to report anything that seems unusual. Ask your doctor if you are a candidate for one of the preventative measures that may help your pregnancy, such as a cerclage for an incompetent cervix. Working with your doctor and doing your part can optimize your chances for a healthy baby.

Parenting

36

March 28, 2015

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Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression

Caring for your circumcised baby

W

hen boys are born, they have a piece of skin that covers the end of the penis, called the foreskin. Circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin to expose the tip of the penis.

A newborn must be stable and healthy to be circumcised. If a parent decides to have her baby circumcised, the procedure is usually performed in the baby’s first few days of life (assuming the procedure will not be taking place during a religious ceremony). To perform the procedure, the doctor places the baby on a special table and cleans the baby’s penis and foreskin. A special clamp is attached to the penis, and the foreskin is removed. Finally, ointment and gauze or a plastic ring are placed over the cut to protect it from rubbing against the diaper.

The procedure is done quickly.

The baby may cry during the procedure and for a short while afterward. Local anesthesia can greatly reduce your baby’s discomfort.

If you decide to have your son circumcised, talk with your child’s doctor about anesthesia options.

Although it is not required by law or by hospital policy, scientific studies show some medical benefits of circumcision, but these benefits are not sufficient enough for those whose beliefs and practices generally do not tally with it.

If you are going to have your baby circumcised, it is better to do it early enough because circumcision could be riskier if done later in a boy’s life.

Benefits and drawbacks Boys who have been circumcised are at reduced risk for: •Foreskin infections •Urinary tract infections •Penile cancer •Sexually transmitted diseases •Phimosis, a condition in uncircumcised males that makes foreskin retraction impossible

Here are some of the reasons parents may decide not to have their baby circumcised: •Surgical risks: As with any surgery, circumcision has some risks.

Complications are rare and usually minor. The most common complications are bleeding and infection.

•Penile damage: Very rarely, the foreskin may be cut too short or too long. Equally unlikely is improper healing from the circumcision.

These complications may require another circumcision or - in extreme cases - penile reconstruction.

•Alteration of penile sensitivity: Some people claim that circumcision may lessen the sensitivity of the tip of the penis, decreasing sexual pleasure later in life. However, this hasn’t been proven to be true.

•Fear of pain: Some parents choose not to circumcise their sons because they are worried about the pain the baby may feel.

•Protection of the tip of the penis: When the foreskin is removed, the tip of the penis may become irritated, causing the urinary opening to become too small. This could lead to urination problems that may need to be surgically corrected.

Care of the circumcised newborn Keeping clean

ParentingUpdate R

esearch suggests that breast-fed babies who are exposed to one drink a day might have impaired motor development and that alcohol can cause changes in sleep patterns. Also, while folklore says that drinking alcohol improves milk production, studies show that alcohol actually decreases milk production and that the presence of alcohol in breast milk causes babies to drink about 20 per cent less.

If you choose to drink, avoid breast-feeding until alcohol has completely cleared your breast milk. This typically takes two to three hours for 12 ounces (355 milliliters) of 5 per cent beer, 5 ounces (148 mil-

liliters) of 11 per cent wine or 1.5 ounces (44 milliliters) of 40 per cent liquor, depending on your body weight. If you plan to drink alcohol, consider having a drink just after breastfeeding so that the alcohol begins to clear your breast milk during the natural interval between breast-feeding sessions.

Pumping and dumping breast milk doesn’t speed the elimination of alcohol from your body. However, if you’ll be missing a breast-feeding session, pumping and dumping will help you maintain your milk supply and avoid engorgement.

Breast-feeding is the optimal way to feed a newborn and is

The most important part of caring for your newly circumcised baby is to make sure the wound and penis are kept as clean as possible. Every time you change his diaper, thoroughly wipe away any stool or urine clinging to the penis. If there is stool in the diaper, it is recommended to gently wash the whole area with warm water and an unscented soap that has no harsh ingredients. (If there is just urine, simply change the diaper and gauze if you are using it).

Thoroughness and gentleness are the winning pair; avoid any overenthusiastic rubbing and scrubbing.

After the circumcision, the tip of the penis may seem raw or yellowish for seven to ten days. Keep the area as clean as possible by washing your baby’s penis with soap and water every day. Change his diapers often so that urine and stool do not cause infection.

If doctors have dressed the penis in gauze, apply a new bandage each time you change his diaper; coat the gauze with petroleum jelly to keep it from sticking.

Some doctors apply a plastic ring instead of a bandage. This will drop off by itself within five to eight days.

Complications from a circumcision are rare. However, every surgery carries some risk. The most frequent complications are minor bleeding and local infection, both of which can be easily treated by your child’s doctor.

Normal symptoms: -Tip of the penis is red, bruised, or slightly swollen during first few days -Small amounts of blood in dia-

per (drops should be quarter-sized or smaller) -Yellow oozing or scabbing (this means it’s healing!)

the penis that gets worse after 3 to 5 days •Fever

Call your paediatrician right away if: •Your baby does not urinate normally within 6 to 8 hours after the circumcision.

•There is persistent bleeding.

•There is redness around the tip of

•Crusty fluid-filled sores After the seven to 10 day healing process, your baby is just that– healed. His penis will no longer require any extra special attention, but of course you should continue to thoroughly clean all areas of his body with gentle care.

Tiny Feet

NAME: Oluwasemilore Treasure Odesanya BORN TO: Mr. and Mrs Odesanya AGE: 12 months BIRTH WEIGHT: 3.5 kg

Have you just had a baby? Send a picture of your bundle of joy to mirrorbabies@gmail.com

Alcoholic breast-feeding mothers expose babies to impaired motor development –Study recommended until a baby is at least age 1. If you choose to drink, plan carefully to avoid exposing your baby to alcohol. Breast-feeding and alcohol don’t mix well. There’s no level of alcohol in breast milk that’s considered safe for a baby to drink.

When you drink alcohol, it passes into your breast milk at concentrations similar to those found in your bloodstream. Although a breastfed baby is exposed to just a fraction of the alcohol his or her mother drinks, a newborn eliminates alcohol from his or her body at only half the rate of an adult.

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LIVING

March 28, 2015

37

NAFDAC’s unending war with drug counterfeiters In a bid to rid the country of fake drugs, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, ups its campaign against counterfeiters almost always at grave costs, writes DARE AKOGUN

F

or men of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, apprehending Kenneth Okereke, a suspected drug counterfeiter and distributor of fake drugs is a matter of utmost urgency if its current war on fakers must be sustained.

Okereke is owner of three warehouses located at 3, Ameze street in Shangisha area state, Okunowo Street in Ikosi-Ketu area directly behind a Nursey School and Bello street in Oluwalogbon area of Ketu respectively, all in Lagos.

Rather being houses for storing legitimate goods and merchandize, the storehouses are factories for mass producing fake drugs meant to be infiltrated into the country’s drug distribution networks.

In the warehouses were over 15 container loads of fake drugs, valued at N1 billion. According to the agency, some of the fake drugs found include Tarivid 200mg tablet, Augmetin tablet, Proviron, Novasc, Glucophage, GSK Hologram, Halfan, Ciprotab amongst others.

Also discovered as part of the tools of trade in the warehouse are date and batch coding machines used in the revalidation of expired medicines.

But Okereke could not be apprehended by the agency and a team of police officers who stormed his hide out to have arrested. As gathered, the faker opened fire, shooting at the police officer. The police, realizing that the place was a residential area held back from engaging the suspect.

Okereke, seizing on the lapse escaped in his vehicle, nearly running a police officer over. But Paul Orhii, director general, DG, NAFDAC believes that the discovery of the merchandize of death was a remarkable feat by his men. For

Orhii (left) with some officials of NAFDAC at one of the warehouses. (Inset Okereke.... On the run)

him, it demonstrates the agency’s final push towards achieving the presidential declaration of zero tolerance for fake drugs.

Okereke, is now on the wanted list of NAFDAC. ““The counterfeiter is on the run, but efforts are on to get him arrested. We hereby declare him wanted and implore members of the public with any useful information that may lead to his arrest to get in touch with the nearest NAFDAC formation, the police or other security outfits,” stated Orhii.

The NAFDAC DG stated that the actions of counterfeiters amount to declaring war on the country. This is because their actions lead to colossal loss of lives. But Okereke’s haul was not the only bust it made recently. NAFDAC recently intercepted a large package containing fake printed packaging materials of injection at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The bust led to the discovery of packaging materials E-MAL a-b Arteether injection 150mg/2ml, a brand registered by Fidson Healthcare Ltd, imported into the country by crime ring who specializes in the illicit business.

Orhii said that the labeled and packaging materials have fake Mobile Authentication System, MAS, code, date markings, batch numbers and NRN already inscribed on them.

He noted that preliminary investigation revealed that the materials were imported from India and may have been imported with intent to fake the original brand. The agency was spooked after the market authorization holder of the original brand, Fidson Healthcare Plc, denied any knowledge of such import.

The agency also intercepted and made seizure of a 4X40ft and 1X20ft containers filled with various unregistered and suspected fake drugs, in October 2014. According to the DG, the discovery of the containers at the APM Terminal in Lagos was possible as a result of the cooperation of Nigeria Custom Service, Apapa Area Terminal Command and the APM Terminal Operators.

He disclosed that the agency is working with the Department of State Security Service, who are training its officers on surveillance, saying that the training is already yielding results as they are making discoveries of different

In the warehouses were over 15 container loads of fake drugs, valued at N1 billion. According to the agency, some of the fake drugs found include Tarivid 200mg tablet, Augmetin tablet, Proviron, Novasc, Glucophage, GSK Hologram, Halfan, Ciprotab amongst others

tactics used by these criminals. Orhii advised drug manufacturers to be on the lookout for any of their products being faked and report it to the agency.

Fake drugs have serious health implications. When patients are denied access to quality medicines, there could be treatment failures and deaths; increased hospital admissions; drug resistance; increased cost of controlling diseases; increased expenses; human suffering; loss of confidence in the health care system and increased burden health management.

Drug counterfeiters target medicines that are used in high volume for managing diseases of public health, such as anti-malaria medications, anti-biotics, anti-hypertensives, anti-diabetic agents and lifestyle drugs.

NAFDAC seeks to improve on the law against drug faking. It has since championed the move to have stiffer penalty for drug counterfeiting. It has proposed a review of the law against it to provide for life sentence, confiscation of offenders’ assets and forfeiture of such assets.

The new law also seeks to compensate victims of fake drugs where the product is found to be the proximate cause of severe bodily injury, and to make counterfeiting a non-bailable offence. When passed, also, it will contain a whistle-blower clause.

The Federal Executive Council is said to have already reviewed the draft and will soon pass it as Executive Bill to the National Assembly for enactment.

“While such measure might not bring back lost lives, it is certainly going to be more effective than the existing laughable law of 15 years maximum jail term or N500, 000 option of fine which is merely a slap on the wrist of offenders,” Orhii said.

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March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘He gives me and two children N100 as daily allowance’ •

P ‘She came to fight me in our office and I’ve been suspended’ •

•

I had to go to his office because he did not send anything for the upkeep of our baby. My baby is anemic because I suffered a lot during the pregnancy and the baby also consumes a lot of infant formula –Wife You should manage whatever you husband gives you –Court

Stories By: Muda Oyeniran

M

r Idacahaba Monday Iyodo has approached the Agege Customary Court seeking the dissolution of his union with his wife, Jumai Iyodo(28), a cleaner at the local wing of the Muritala Muhammed Airport over the allegation that the latter is an ingrate who is never satisfied with whatever he provides for her and the children no matter how hard he tried Apart from this the petitioner also accused the respondent of being very abusive, saucy, stubborn and inconsiderate saying that he was fed up of the relationship which has produced two children, the last of which is a three-month old baby named Theresa.

According to the petitioner, he gave her N40, 000 in December alone and yet she kept complaining that he did not do enough.

“She is very abusive and does not show any form of gratitude for all my efforts on her and the children. She does not allow me to carry my children anytime we meet and she always makes life difficult for me. She used to insult my mum that is stupid and she once told me that I am cursed” According to him, the climax of her misdemeanor was when she came to report him at his office leading to his suspension.

“She came to our office to fight me; shouting on me and the following day, the company decided to suspend me pending the time that I will resolve my marital problems”, he said.

However in her submission, the respondent said she did all what she was accused of because their three-month old baby needed a lot of money for her upkeep.

According to her, the baby girl who was delivered at the Lagos

University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) was anemic at birth because of the pain she suffered during the pregnancy.

My baby consumes a lot of food and I need money to take her to the hospital for immunization and other things. “I had to go to his workplace because he did not send anything for the upkeep of the baby. Besides it was our matron that called his boss about the issue”, she said.

It’s due to the bad economic situation in the country –Husband

eople who were at the Agege Customary Court recently were shocked when Mrs. Ganiyu Fatimo of 35, Ahmed Tijani Street, Ahmadiyyah, Ojokoro told the court how her husband, Mr. Abdul-Semiu Ganiyu of 60, Tokura Street, Alagbado Moshalashi, Lagos suddenly began to give her and their two children between N100 and N200 daily for upkeep and maintenance.

The union has produced two children namely Abdulazim Ganiyu(4) and Mohammed Fouad(2) According to Fatimo who sought the dissolution of the union, her husband used to be a good husband and father until he suddenly stopped and started giving her and their two children N100 or N200 daily “It was then that I suspected he was having affairs with other women. Sometimes he would hide large sum of money under our sitting room carpet or under the mattress” She told the court that she had to leave her matrimonial home in November 2012 due to his deceitful behavior even though she was pregnant at the time.

The petitioner further told the court that the respondent did not show up after her delivery until

a day to the naming of the baby which was done in her own parent’s house instead of the respondent’s house In his submission, the respondent did not deny the petitioner’s allegations but explained that he was a marketing manager with a company but due to the bad economic situation in the country he was placed on commission which was far below the salary he was earning.

He told the court that that the petitioners knew he was doing his best when things were going smoothly between them adding that she decided to leave him because he had no job for now However the court President, Mr. P.O. Williams in his remarks said since all efforts to facilitate reconciliation amongst both parties proved abortive, it was obvious that the relationship between the petitioner and the respondent had broken down irretrievably saying that the court had no option other than to dissolve the union.

He thereafter ordered the respondent to pay the sum of N5000 monthly per child directly to the petitioner’s bank account or pay through the court Registrar’s office for the upkeep and maintenance of the children.

‘She brought her lover to live with us’ •

•

I am not adulterous. The men he sees me with are our church members. I don’t want dissolution because he will have no time for the children. His sister will use the children as servants and they will hawk sachet and bottled water instead of going to school –Wife We cannot and will not force two unwilling partners on each other –Court

M

r. Adisa Ogunbiyi who resides at ItaFaji Adiyan, Gasline, Lagos has told the Agege Customary court of how his wife Mrs. Blessing Ogunbiyi of 30, Oremeji Street, Ikotun used to bring different men to his house at odd hours presenting the men as her church members He told the court of a particular incident in which she brought her lover to live with them on the pretext that the man was her relative who just came from their village. “Many months after, the truth came out and the respondent ran away with the man to an unknown

destination”, he added But according to him, she came begin for forgiveness four months later. “She sent my family members to beg me for forgiveness and promised to stop her shameful behavior. I took her back because of the children”, he said He averred that the respondent did not stop flirting with different men presenting them as her Pastors or church members adding that he sometimes meet the men in his house at odd hours of the day.

Apart from this, the husband who is the petitioner in the case described his wife as an ingrate

who was never satisfied with whatever he gave her.

The petitioner concluded by saying that the respondent did not thank him when he gave her the sum of N100, 000 to start a small business However, the respondent debunked the petitioner’s claim that she was adulterous. She told the court that the men were her church members. She pleaded with the court not to grant the petitioner custody of the children noting that he if granted, the petitioner would have no time for them.

“So he will send them to his sister’s place to live and I am

sure that the sister will use the children as servants and hawk sachet and bottled water instead of going to school”, she added In ruling, the court President, Mr. P.O. Williams said it was obvious that the relationship between the petitioner and the respondent has broken down irretrievably adding the court cannot and will not force two unwilling partners on each other.

He thereafter dissolved the union and ordered the petitioner to pay the sum of N80, 000 directly to the respondent’s bank account to resettle her and their two under-aged boys.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

DIVORCE COURT

March 28, 2015

39

‘As my teacher, when he wooed me, I wasn’t comfortable with It’ •

She wasn’t my student. It was when we agreed to marry each other that I taught her Arabic.

A

31-year-old hair dresser, Omoronike Ishola, has taken Moruf Olayinka, before the Customary Court, Alakuko, a Lagos suburb, for avoiding his responsibilities as the father of their child.

Omoronike, who lives at 29, Ifalokun Owode Street in Lagos, said Olayinka, who was her arabic teacher raped her.

She told the court:”As my teacher, when he wooed me, I wasn’t comfortable with it so I stopped attending classes.

He asked one of his students to give me a letter saying his intentions didn’t stop me from coming. The day I eventually attended classes, I didn’t know what he did to me until I got home, I realised he deflowered me. I relocated to Lagos because I was no longer comfortable among my peers.It was later I discovered I was pregnant. I heard he was detained but later freed.

She also said after the birth of the child, Olayinka performed his rites at the child’s dedication.

“Even when I agreed to marry him, I met a pregnant woman in his house. Since then, I have been responsible for the child’s needs. He never gave her a kobo and she is now

10-years old. I once took her to live with him thinking he will consider catering for her needs but instead, she was maltreated and made to sleep in the passage of his house.I quit calling him because he wasn’t fulfilling his promises on our daughter’s education.”

She further said:”We were never married. Our child will soon be in high school. I just need financial support from him because it hasn’t been easy.”

The respondent, 33, who resides at 27, Idi-Obi Street, Ibadan in Oyo State, in his defence, said:”I met her in 2004 and she wasn’t my student. It was when we agreed to marry each other I taught her arabic.

Her family were aware of our relationship. It is true I deflowered her but it was on mutual agreement. It wasn’t rape.

“Four years ago, I still gave her N7000 to rent an apartment and that was also the last time I saw our daughter. Since then, she refused to let me see her.”

The Court President, Chief Awos Awosola, ordered Olayinka to give Omoronike the sum of N150,000 and to be detained till he pays the money.

The case was adjourned till April 26.

‘I have been under serious trauma which has affected my mental stability’ •

It is not true that I beat her or do not take care of her. She became ill about a year and half ago, I have taken steps to take care of her, but she will not take her medication –Husband

A

n Osogbo Grade II Customary Court on Tuesday dissolved the 12-year-old marriage between Adenike Ojo

‘I believe he married me with charm’ • After I agreed to marry him, he took me to one herbalist who placed a pot on my head, gave me sand from the graveyard and made incisions on my body.-Wife

A

n Osogbo Grade III Customary Court on Tuesday dissolved the 14-year-old marriage between Sherifat Akande and her husband, Rasheed, for lack of care.

The President of the court, Chief Nasiru Odelola, dissolved the marriage, saying there was no more love between the parties. ``It is evident in their statements that there is no more love between them. Since they have agreed to divorce, the marriage is hereby dissolved,’’ he noted.

According to him, the respondent already has custody of the children, the court agrees with the arrangement as the children are above the legal age of six. ``The court, therefore, grants the petitioner right of access to the children through the court,” he said.

Sherifat had told the court that the marriage was blessed with two children, adding that

her husband never cared for her and the children even when she was pregnant. ``I believe he married me with charm because the person I was supposed to marry travelled out and before he came back I had married him. ``I was a hawker and a woman who I respected so much was the one who introduced him and told me that he would be my husband. ``I tried to avoid them but somehow I did not succeed. ``After I agreed to marry him, he took me to one herbalist, who placed a pot on my head, gave me sand from the graveyard and made incisions on my body. ``He made me swear that I would never leave my husband,’’ she said.

Sherifat recalled that when things became hard for them, she stood by him and endured until it became unbearable to the extent that she worked at build-

ing sites to make ends meet. ``I was at one of the sites when I got an inspiration to start singing and I composed a song out of my situation. When I told him I wanted to sing, he refused,’’ she said.

The petitioner, who said she moved out of her matrimonial home about a year ago, urged the court to tell the respondent that no harm should befall her.

She further pleaded with the court to compel the respondent to allow access to see the children.

Akande, in his defence, said denied allegation of not caring for her, saying ``It is not true that I took her to any herbalist to swear. ``When she told me she wanted to sing, I told her that it was against our family tradition to sing or become a musician.

He told the court that she had left the house and the children were with him. (NAN)

and her husband Sunday over lack of rest of mind and threat to life.

The President of the court, Chief Bolarinwa Popoola, who dissolved the marriage, held that efforts to reconcile the couples proved abortive.

Popoola held that the mother of the petitioner, whom the court gave the assignment to reconcile the parties, reported that the parties were irreconcilable. ``The court has no choice but to agree with the petitioner, this marriage is hereby dissolved with immediate effect. ``The conduct of the respondent in court is such that it is doubtful whether he will be able to take care of the older girls if given custody,’’ he held.

He awarded custody of the children to the petitioner, and ordered the respondent to pay N2000 monthly upkeep on each child.

The court, however, granted the respondent an unrestricted access to his children at any time.

Adenike, who said the marriage was blessed with four children, said ``since we got married, we have been having quarrels and he beats me and does not take care of me. ``It happened that I defecated in the house because our toilet was not in good condition, I could not dispose it because there was a ceremony near our house. ``I could not carry it through the crowd. He got angry and that

was the last quarrel we had that made me decide that I have had enough. ``I have been under serious trauma which has affected my mental stability. I cannot continue to remain in this marriage, that is why I am seeking divorce,” Adenike said.

The respondent, in his defence, denied the allegations of his wife, adding that he did not wish to leave his wife. ``It is not true that I beat her or do not take care of her. She became ill about a year and half ago, I have taken steps to take care of her, but she will not take her medications. ``About two months ago, I came home and found her defecating in the house, I got angry and asked her why she did it even when we had toilet. ``I called her parents but before they arrived, I had left with the children. ``I returned to meet them in the house and later I went to buy food, but before I returned, they left with my wife and children. ``They refused to allow me see my children and I reported to her mother’s sister who settled the matter and I was allowed to see my children. ``The reason I do not want to divorce her is because she is a good woman and I want her to cooperate with me so we can take care of our children,” Ojo said. (NAN)

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EVENT

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

All Progressive Congress Street/Market Rally at Araromi Street , Oshodi, Lagos

Alhaji Shittu Saolabiu(left) and Engr. Ikujuni Abayomi Robert.

L-R : Iyaloja Ewenla, Alhaja Idayat Mustapha; Majeobaje Oloja Oshodi-Isolo Local Government, Alhaja Muhibatu Fola Azeez and Mrs. Idayat Dauda Onitolo.

Mrs. Otete Abiodun(left) and Woman Leader Oluotoko L-R : Assistant Public Secretary, Oshodi L.G.A(APC), L-R: Hajia Zainab Muazu; Assistant Secretary Ward Ward and Chairman Trade in Artisan Oshodi-Isolo Lo- Goke Owolabi; Deputy Chairman L.G.A, APC, Alhaji Ani- E1, Oshodi-Isolo, Mrs. Bolanle Henshaw and L.G.A. masaun and Secretary L.G.A, APC, Honorable Rapheal Woman Leader, Oshodi-Isolo, Mrs. Dupe Adebayo. cal Government, Alhaja Folake Kasali.

Oluwatosin.

L-R : High Chief, Doctor Rasak Sesan Ajanaku; Chairman Igbeyin Adun Ward, Alhaji Adewale Salamo and APC Chieftain, Honorable Kalejaye Banjoko.

L-R : High Chief Rasak Ajanaku; APC Chieftain, Hon. Kalejaye Banjoko and Seriki Hausa Oshodi, Alhaji Tukura Abdulahi.

L-R: Engr. Ikujuni Robert; Mr. Stephen Kayode Ogundipe; APC Chieftain OshodiIsolo, Honorable Kalejaye Banjoko and High Chief, Rasak Ajanaku. PHOTO: ABIOLA ABDULHAMMED

L-R: Adebayo Adenuga; Taoreed Adenuga and Hon. Olanrewaju Babs

L-R: Alhaja Asabi Akebaje; Alhaja Kabitiu Akinsanya Adenuga and Ajigbeda of Ewu land, Alhaja Iyabo Oluwo

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

41

March 28, 2015

Doctor Talabi has answers to your health questions

Write him today at prettyprevent@gmail.com or text 09099346165 (sms only pls)

Before the doctor arrives!

This is election time. We have been told to eschew violence and embrace peace.

Furthermore, we are advised that after voting, we should quietly leave for our various houses. This is to avoid arguments that may lead to fracas, which may in turn result in sorrow, tears and blood like Fela Anikulapo would say. If we all stick to these rules, we can expect that 2015 elections will be violence free.

Amen

S

till it is good to know that if push comes to shove and a relative of yours or any other innocent individual is inadvertently injured in such instance, you will know what to do before the ambulance arrives.

It brings to mind a picture sent to me.It must have been on Whatsapp .One of those circulating messages that sometimes could lighten your mood, but some other time could constitute a nuisance. It showed a drowning man or is it woman? I wasn’t sure, as all I saw was a hand waving frantically of someone whose rest of the body from head down is buried in water. Right beside the river where the fellow was drowning were three people who were busy snapping the picture of the flailing hand with smiles on their faces. On the one hand it was comical and you could simply laugh it off. On the other hand it is sad, because it only represents the abyss to which our humanity has sunk. We must have seen it before on the road; a small crowd of spectator, gathered around an injured person lying helplessly on the floor.no one to call emergency numbers, no one to move the victim immediately to the hospital and no one to even stop the bleeding. To think that the natural reaction of a human being to the agony of another is snapping pictures with a smiling face is unthinkable, especially when there are ways such situation could be helped.

In Nigeria,People avoid helping others because they fear they might be implicated by law enforcement agents, especially in situations where there were no witnesses.

Remember the saying? I dey dia na two years for kirikiri. As a result the individual will turn a blind eye and quickly leave the scene, until the biblical Good Samaritan comes along.

Other people avoid helping because the danger which constituted a calamity to the victim is still lurking around the corner and to avoid a similar fate, will naturally bolt.

This is of course acceptable. Selfpreservation is one of the primitive instincts and it is advised. But in few other cases the individual wanted to help but doesn’t know what else to do after calling and waiting for the victim to be moved to a health facility. It is this category of people that would benefit from the discourse of today. Governments have made it easier for people to contact healthcare personnel in times of emergency. For example in Lagos State if you have an emergency, you can call as I am aware 112 or 767 and your call is sure to be picked by a personnel, who though may not sound friendly, would at least get the ambulance to you.

Before the doctor arrives therefore,there are first aids that whoever is nearby can apply to keep the victim alive Definition: First Aid is broadly defined as an emergency care given to someone injured or very sick, in order to preserve life, before the arrival of medical services.It is rendered most times by a layman rather than a qualified medical personnel.

Aims: There are three major aims of first aids

To preserve life: The overall aim is to attempt to save life and remove the threat of death to the victim To prevent further harm: If what caused the injury is still ongoing, and you are not going to be harmed in the process, try to prevent further injury to the victim To promote recovery: If it is possible to perform some actions that would start the recovery process for the victim, you can also commence it.

What to do: As a novice with limited knowledge of medical procedures, here are specific steps you can take if someone has been injured and for example is bleeding from cuts, bruises or laceration -Look around and be sure you are save before approaching the victim -Call out to the person, and ask are you O.K.? It helps to know if he or she can hear you.

-Call for help, in case someone else is around who can assist you, then call emergency numbers to invite ambulance services -If the victim is unconscious try and open up the airway by opening the mouth and checking that there is nothing blocking the airway and choking the person. If there is, remove it.

-Is the person breathing? If not commence mouth to mouth respira-

tion, preferably with a face mask.

Where it is not available, you are left with direct mouth to mouth. Carefully avoid or minimize coming in contact with the person’s body fluid i.e. saliva, blood etc. Tilt the head up to open the airway, pinch the nostrils and cover the injured mouth with a facemask or your mouth. Give two rescue breaths and watch for the rising of the chest. Alternate this maneuver with chest compressions described below. If all the above description is confusing, just keep doing chest compression until help arrives.It is better than doing nothing.

-Do a chest compression by placing the heel of one hand on the chest between the nipples, then put the second hand on top of the first, interlocking the fingers of both hands.

Push down into the chest with your hand straight .The target is 100 compression in a minute.

-If there is severe bleeding in any part of the body, get a clean cloth in the absence of a gauze and apply pressure on the bleeding area. If the material gets soaked, do not remove, instead put another material on it and press firmly -If possible you may also tie the bleeding point with the clothing, not too tightly, to maintain hemostasis -Try not to move the victim too much because of the risk of worsening spinal injury -Keep trying until the medics arrive when you now hand over.

Hurray! You have saved a life!

What to avoid: -Avoid putting yourself in danger.

If what happened to the victim constitutes a threat to you also, leave the scene immediately.

-Avoid direct contact with body fluids as much as possible -Avoid causing more harm to the injured Conclusion: Basic training in First Aid and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is essential for everyone. It comes in handy even in home accidents.

I am sure by now, the question on every lip would be, who has the time for all these?

The answer is, if it was your life on the line wouldn’t you wish you had the time?

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March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Open view of Mambilla plateau

Visit Mambilla’s temperate paradise!

T

he feel of the cool rush of temperate wind, absence of insect irritant, quietude uncommon to this part of our tropical climate is what drives many tourists to the temperate regions of the world for vacation. But all these and more are there for the take in Nigeria’s on backyard.

This is the Mambilla, a high grassland plateau.

Some 2, 419 meters above sea level in Taraba, a state North East of the country, lies a stretch of eco treasure waiting for just the take. This the Mambilla plateau, home of breath taking waterfall, temperate climate, home of exotic flora and fauna.

The hilly mountain has spawned interest in the areas of hydro electricity.

In fact, federal government has mooted building a high class sports resort in the mountains to serve as place for training athletes in long distance racing.

The mountain itself is put at an average elevation of about 1,524 metres (5,000 ft) above sea level.

By the calculation, this makes the Mambilla the highest plateau in Nigeria.

The plateau which has an undulating landscape free of insects, also has temperate climate within a tropical region.

Located in the highland region of Taraba State of Nigeria, Mambilla plateau

houses Chappal Waddi mountain considered as the highest point in Nigeria and probably in West Africa with an average height of about 2,419 metres (7,936 ft) above sea level.

As soon as one reaches the top of the mountain, the hot weather witnessed at the foot of the mountain disappears and you will be greeted by fresh and very chilled breeze blowing across the plateau. Mambilla people of Nigeria and Cameroon live on the Mambila Plateau Taraba State and on the Tikar Plain in Cameroon as well as in several small villages further north towards the town of Banyo. These people regard themselves as a group with a common identity.

At an altitude of some 700 meters, these villages live in a different ecological zone where oil palms grow and gallery forest is found. The Mambila language is a congeries of dialects and related languages.

Mambila plateau features unique physical and climatic conditions for human settlement and cattle breeding.The plateau which developed on basement complex rocks, measures about 96km along its curved length and 40km wide, and bounded by an escarpment which is about 900m high in some places.

The Mambilla Plateau forms the watershed from which the major drainage systems in Taraba State take their source.

One of Mambilla’s water falls

Rivers Benue, Donga and Taraba (from which the state derives its name) are the dominant drainage systems which flow across the Muri plains to drain the entire state Mambila plateau offers attractive settings, well worth a visit. It has cattle ranches, tea plantations and rolling, grassy hills. It is home to some rare species of birds and animals, especially at the Gashaka-Gumti National Park.

Mambila plateau has some of the coolest climatic condition in Nigeria with daytime temperatures sometimes reaching around 40C. The driest months are from December to January with rel-

ative humidity dropping to about 15 percent while the wet season usually starts from August till September.

Mambila plateau has mean annual rainfall that varies between 1058mm in the north around Jalingo and Zing, to over 1300mm in the South around Serti and Takum. Because of the remote location of the plateau and lack of properly tarred roads which are still under construction, utility vehicles are recommended and visitors should make sure that essentials camping equipment and food are included in their journey.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

March 28, 2015

LEISURE

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44

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

From the Civil Service NYSC demands adequate security for corps members during polls A

kwa Ibom State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Lady Ngozi Chukwuka, has called for more security measures for the safety of corps members who will be on duty.

The NYSC boss made the call in Uyo yesterday during a town hall meeting of the Mitigation of Violence in Election (MOVE) Project facilitated by the Centre for Social Transformation and Human Development.

According to her, adequate security had been promised for corps members who were used as Adhoc staff for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in previous years, but fortunately, some corps members were entangled in electoral violence.

She said that as critical stakeholders during elections, corps members

have aided free, fair and credible polls and so deserved to live their lives after the elections, but regretted that some of them had either been maimed or lost their lives due to electoral violence in previous elections.

Chukwuka, who was represented at the meeting with the theme; Preparing for Violence-free 2015 Elections by her Assistant Director, INEC desk, Mr. Boniface Udoh, the NYSC boss said both members and staff of the NYSC have been properly educated and informed on electoral laws adding that what was left was for security agencies and INEC to guarantee the safety of Adhoc staff.

“Corps members form an appreciable number of Adhoc staff used for the election. From past experiences, they have always been in the midst of violence against the promise

of security.

“The introductions of corps members in elections have aided free, fair and credible elections. We are the critical stakeholders in the elections, we have addressed ourselves

on the electoral law and we gave same to our corp members”, she said.

The state Commissioner of Police, Gabriel Achong represented by ACP Adeshino Moronkeji said most electoral vio-

lence were caused by actions of principal actors in elections who did not respect law and order.

He said some electoral offences that would not be tolerated in this year’s election were soliciting for

vote 300 metres to polling units, shouting party slogans around polling units, being in possession of weapon, inciting disorderliness at polling units, wearing an insignia of any political party.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN (right) delivering his speech during his meeting with Public Servants at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos recently.

AGF denies diversion of over N120m union dues to NUJ

T

he office of the Accountant General of the Federation has denied the allegation by the Nigeria Union of Journalists that it was owing the union over N120 million in non-remitted union dues. The Director, Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, Alhaji Ibrahim Yusuf, on Thursday in Abuja addressed a news conference on the true status of the NUJ dues.

Yusuf said that the OAGF had not diverted or tampered with money it had deducted from NAN, FRCN and VON over the past two years as union dues. He said: “The deductions made from salaries of members could not be paid in 2014 because the

NUJ did not provide account details, which made the money to lapse. “It should also be noted that all government unspent or un-utilised balances at the end of each year are considered as having lapsed.

“They then become liabilities, which will have to be re-presented to the Budget Office for approval before further processing and payment to the affected third parties.” Consequently, Yusuf said the allegation of diversion of funds in the NUJ submission to the OAGF was unjustified. He said the January and February check off dues of the union had already been paid to NUJ. He said the union was paid N615,849 for January and N620,480 for February.

Yusuf said the issue had affected not only the NUJ but other unions as well.

He said a case had already been made to the budget office for the provision of funds, to effect the payment

of all outstanding deductions to affected beneficiaries.

The director added that even the NUJ 2014 union dues, which deductions were made but could not

be transferred to NUJ for lack of account number, would be returned before the end of the year. The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that NUJ members

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has called on the public to shun panic buying and stock-piling of petrol, especially during the general elections.

This is contained in a statement by Mr Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department, NNPC, Abuja.

It stated that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, had directed the regulatory agencies in the ministry to sanction any marketer found hoarding, diverting or selling products above regulated prices.

The agencies, it said, were Department of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Products Pricing

Regulatory Agency.

The statement stated that the corporation had enough stock of the product to keep the country wet for two months.

It put the current stock of premium motor spirit (petrol) in its depots across the country at 1.9 billion litres.

It also appealed to petroleum tanker drivers, who

had earlier staged a protest over the alleged nonremittance of dues of the Federal Governmentowned media organisations.

Fuel: Minister directs DPR, PPPRA to sanction erring marketers

had stopped hauling fuel from depots in the coastal states to the Northern part of the country, to return.

It explained that some drivers had expressed anxiety of being caught in unfounded fears of postelection violence.

It, however, stated that the corporation was working closely with security agencies to provide maximum security.

Sport

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

March 28, 2015

45

Super Eagles Coaches that can replace Keshi

Emenalo

Pius Anakali

C

aretaker coach, Daniel Amokachi was in the dugout when the senior national team, Super Eagles, engaged the Cranes of Uganda in a friendly match at the Uyo Township Stadium last Wednesday.

Playing at home before a friendly crowd, Amokachi’s team lost to the visitors and is getting set again to battle the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Nelspruit tomorrow. That embarrassing outcome, many have argued, is an indication of the quality of indigenous coaches in Nigeria.

Though reports indicate imminent return of controversial Stephen Keshi to the national team, others are already advising the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to engage the service of a European coach if the Super Eagles are to recover from their current slump.

While hiring a foreign coach might make sense in some quarters, but some other notable Nigerians still think that there are good coaches in Nigeria that can help resuscitate the ailing Eagles.

Among those clamouring for homebreed coach is FIFA instructor and former Coach of the Super Eagles, Festus Adegboye Onigbinde. To the Modakeke high chief, an indigenous coach who is given all

Oliseh

the necessary support, equipped technically, well remunerated and well motivated will perform better than a foreign coach.

He named coaches like Sunday Oliseh, Michael Emenalo, Austin Eguavoen, Dan Amokachi, Emmanuel Amuneke and the controversial Keshi as some of the homebreed who can do the job. On this list however, Oliseh seems to tower above the rest.

Oliseh in his active playing days was a physical, technical defensive midfielder.

He played for well known clubs around the globe - Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus - before he retired to pursue a coaching career.

His days with the Super Eagles were also memorable. He played 54 international matches and scored two goals for Nigeria, and played at the Football World Cups of 1994 and 1998. He was also a member of the Olympic gold medal winning team of 1996.

He is mostly remembered for scoring the winning goal in the group stage match against Spain in the 1998 World Cup, as Nigeria prevailed 3–2.

On retirement Oliseh headed for a coaching school in Europe where he earned a UEFA Professional Coaches License, the UEFA Advanced Coaches diploma, UEFA Basic Coaches diploma and a Diploma in Business management which he obtained in Belgium.

With his credentials, Oliseh would be bringing a fresh start to the team if ap-

Siasia

pointed. Though there seems to be no vacancy now, Oliseh has what it takes to deliver with the national team any day,” Onigbinde said. It is this qualification that earned him a place in the FIFA Technical Study Group.

The only snag however is the willingness of Oliseh to work with the NFF as its presently composed.

The other coach whose experience will be good for the team is Michael Emenalo.

Emenalo played college soccer in the United States of America at Boston University from 1986 to 1989. From there, he played for Molenbeek in Belgium, Eintracht Trier in Germany and Notts County FC in England before going back to the United States.

Emenalo was part of the original allocated players for Major League Soccer (MLS) and spent two seasons (1996–97) with the San Jose Clash. After that, he played with Lleida in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

Emenalo won 14 caps for Nigeria and played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, missing the first game through injury, but then played against Argentina and Greece before the country was knocked out by Italy.

Years later, Emenalo joined Chelsea when former manager, Avram Grant, was in charge in 2007. After the departure of Ray Wilkins, Emenalo was promoted from his position as chief scout to assistant first team coach in 2010. The following year, he

was appointed Technical Director.

In 2013, Emenalo resigned his appointment amid speculation that he was approached by Wigan Athletic to become general manager. His request for the termination of his appointment was however denied.

Ever since, he’s been working behind the scene and Nigeria can reap from his experience.

Siasia is another coach well qualified for the job. SiaOne as he is fondly called is loved by most Nigerian football fans because of his exploit as junior team coach.

It’s on record that Siasia won the AYC in 2005 and took the Flying Eagles to the finals of Under-20 World Cup in Netherlands before losing to emergent Lionel Messi inspired Argentina 2–1 in the final.

He was appointed national U-23 coach in 2007, took charge of the Nigerian U-23 Olympic squad, and earned Olympic Silver Medal at Beijing 2008. He also coached Heartland FC before taking over Super Eagles from Swedish Lars Lagerbäck.

Fired for failing to qualify Nigeria for the Africa Nations Cup in 2012, Siasia has returned as coach of the U-23 team. A chance to retake the Super Eagles is possible and is what many are already looking forward to.

Emmanuel Amuneke, Austin Eguavoen are the other coaches who the NFF can equip technically for national assignment.

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March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sturridge for injured, out a month

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aniel Sturridge could be out of action for a month after Roy Hodgson revealed the Liverpool striker had suffered a ‘slight muscle tear’.

Sturridge, who pulled out of the England squad ahead of Friday’s Euro qualifier against Lithuania, suffered the injury against Manchester United last Sunday.

If the injury is confirmed by his club, Sturridge, who has already missed a large part of the season because of injury, is likely to sit out much of April.

That would see him miss Liverpool’s trip to the Emirates on April 4 to face Arsenal, their FA Cup quarter final replay against Blackburn and a potential semifinal against Aston Villa at Wembley.

Hodgson said: “I’m disappointed for Daniel because he didn’t really feel that it was any problem.

“When he did the scan he was devastated as he didn’t want to leave. He has a slight tear and you can’t play through that.”

Rooney vows not to repeat boxing celebration

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he Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says he will not perform his boxing celebration again after revealing that it was copied by his son Kai at school.

Prior to Manchester United’s win over Tottenham earlier this month, footage emerged of Rooney being knocked to the floor by Stoke City defender Phil Bardsley as the pair sparred with boxing gloves on in the striker’s kitchen.

Rooney subsequently celebrated his goal against Spurs by punching the air before falling to the floor and while he insists he had no reason to apologise for the

incident, he says he will not be repeating the feat in future.

“My wife went to pick him up from school and saw him doing that in the classroom. I’m sure you won’t be seeing that celebration again,” said Rooney “I’ve always loved boxing. Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn’t go too well.

I was caught on the end of a punch. I wasn’t knocked out.

“I didn’t see it as a big issue. I spoke to the manager, and he didn’t see it as a big issue. I come from a boxing background.

“I’d have apologised if I felt it was wrong. But for me, that’s been and gone.”

Navas wants Real Madrid stay

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osta Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas insists he is happy at Real Madrid despite his lack of playing time.

Navas has made seven appearances, just three in the Primera Division, since joining the European champions from Levante last summer.

He is a reported target of Premier League sides Arsenal and Liverpool but told Spanish sports newspaper Marca: “I feel very calm. Obviously, one always wants more.

“I’m not a conformist or someone that gives up easily. I know that the situation is not one that one would like, but that is where I need to bring out the best in me and be stronger.

“It’s not the first time in my career that I’m in a position of being an understudy.”

Ozil, Mertesacker nominated for German football award

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he Arsenal duo of Mesut Ozil and Per Mertsacker along with on-loan Inter forward Lukas Podolski, have been named on a shortlist of 11 of the best German footballers

playing in a foreign league Lazio striker Miroslav Klose, Dinamo Moscow’s Kevin Kuranyi, Shkodran Mustafi of Valencia and Cerezo Osaka forward Cacau are also in contention.

The shortlist is completed by female players Anja Mittag and Nadine Angerer, of Rosengard and Portland Thorns respectively, and Brisbane Roar midfielder Thomas Broich.

Spain international Iker Casillas is Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti’s first-choice keeper but Navas is determined to become number one in the future.

Navas, who started in Costa Rica’s goalless draw against Paraguay in an international friendly in San Jose on Thursday, said: “I know what path I need to follow in order to obtain the results I want.

“For me it’s a privilege to be at Real Madrid and I try to prove day after day the reasons why they signed me.

“I have a great rapport with all my team-mates and the team welcomed me with open arms from the first day I got here. I have received the confidence that one needs in order to feel calm.”

Vogts handed USA role

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erti Vogts has been appointed as a technical advisor to the USA national team.

The 68-year-old won the 1974 FIFA World Cup™ with West Germany as a player and as coach guided the united Germany the UEFA EURO 96 title. Vogts has also been in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, Kuwait, Scotland, Nigeria and, until last year, Azerbaijan.

As the US’s technical advisor, Vogts will oversee the development of players in Europe, working with US U-23 coach Andreas Herzog and Matthias Hamann on scouting, building and improving club relationships, and identifying talent, US Soccer announced in a statement.

US coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was captain of the Germany side which won the European Championship under Vogts 19 years ago, said: “We had a fantastic experience with Berti during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. “His knowledge and experience is a tremendous asset for us. With Andi Herzog having a big focus on qualifying the U-23 team for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro; Berti will make an even more important contribution.”

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SPORT

March 28, 2015

Serena on Venus and her friend Wozniacki

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MirrorGolf With Pius Anakali

Omorhirhi wins Ikeja Captain’s day competition

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he 2015 edition of Ikeja Captain’s day competition; a tournament put together to mark the end of tenure of Ikeja Club Captain, Jibola Aowseyi came to a thrilling end at the Ikeja Golf Club on Saturday with Austin Omorhirhi emerging the overall winner of the competition.

To come top in the competition, Omorhirhi shot a net score of 66 to defeat over 150-golfers who took part in the event.

Chairman of CMCL Golf Tours Limited, Olusola Adekanola came second after shooting a 69-net score. In the third place was General Amolegbe who carded 72-net score beating the fourth placed Bidemi Babatunde by 1-shot while Muyideen Olaitan completed the top five in the net category.

Other winners in the keenly contested end of tenure tournament are Bolaji Martins, Uche Dimgba Goke Akinboro, Kehinde Afolayan amongst others.

Gloria Joel won in the women net category after shooting 71-net score leaving Morenike Nedum, with a net score of 75 in the second position.

Chichi Alamu and Alaba Adetunji share honour in the gross category for women. While Alamu grossed a score of 84, Adetunji signed for 89 gross score.

Impressed by the turnout of participants, the outgoing Captain Awoseyi thanked all who took part in the competition for their support saying without them he wouldn’t have achieve much.

Under his watch, Ikeja Golf club has witness lots of developments. The course has been improved upon; the club house and the bar are almost completed.

“I have been touched by the good wishes and guidance of all.

I have enjoyed lots of encouragement from elders, the young ones, the Caddies and even the staff of the club”, Awoseyi said in his speech at the closing ceremony.

Woods confident of 2016 Ryder Cup spot

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erena Williams discusses close friendship with Caroline Wozniacki. Appearing on the front cover of US Vogue, the American world No 1 admits that times can get tough at the top and that she is glad to have Wozniacki and sister Venus around for support.

‘It’s hard and lonely at the top,’ Serena confessed to Vogue. ‘That’s why it’s so fun to have Caroline and my sister, too. You’re a target when you’re number one. Everyone wants to beat you. Everyone talks behind your back, and you get a lot more criticism.

God forbid I lose.’

Last May, it was Caroline who needed Serena’s support. When Serena got word that Caroline had been dumped by fiancé Rory McIlroy, she immediately picked up the phone.

‘I was devastated. I had planned the bachelorette party,’ Williams said.

Serena and Caroline both sat down to chat about the event six months after the fact.

‘My phone was going crazy, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone,’ said Caroline. ‘I kept calling,’ Serena said.

‘First she texted, “If you don’t pick up, I am going to fly to Monaco.” And then, “If you don’t answer the door, I am going to knock it down.”

‘So I thought, OK, I better answer the phone. And

I am so glad I did. She didn’t pity me, like a lot of people did. I mean, it’s not like anyone died.’

Wozniacki added: ‘I was in shock, but she was really helpful because she had been through it before. She didn’t sugarcoat it, and she didn’t look down on me.

‘She was really there for me when I needed her the most, and that’s why I think our friendship is so strong now.’

‘I was impressed with how strong she was,’ Serena said, before continuing: ‘and you know, there will be other engagement parties... many.’

Serena indicated that Caroline won’t have problems finding another guy, as they literally swarm her when the girls go out at night.

‘I am really shy. I don’t talk to guys,’ Serena conceded. And although she had once wished for a family and children of her own some day, she’s not in any particular hurry.

‘I guess,’ she said. ‘I’m not even looking for it.’

On the court, it’s a different story.

Serena went on to say: ‘On the court, I am fierce; I am mean and I am tough. I am completely opposite off the court. My confidence just isn’t the same. I wish I was more like I am on the court. Nobody would know that I am constantly crying or complaining.’

ormer world number one Tiger Woods expects to be challenging for a place on the U.S. team for next year’s Ryder Cup, according to skipper Davis Love III. In an interview with the BBC, Love said he was in regular contact with Woods and was not ruling him out, despite his current struggles with fitness and form.

Woods, who had back surgery last year, has played only two PGA Tour events this season and said last month he would not return until he felt his game was “tournament-ready”.

“He’s expecting to make the team,” Love said. “He and I keep

in touch a lot more than we have.

He still has a good attitude and is working hard.”

“I spoke to a few people who tell me he’s working very hard and is eager to get back.

Nicklaus presented with Congressional Medal

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ack Nicklaus was awarded with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow. Congressional leaders attended the ceremony, including Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.

Among Nicklaus’ friends in attendance included his wife Barbara, five children and 22

grandchildren. Arnold Palmer even made the trip to the nation’s capital, as Nicklaus did the same when Palmer received the same honor in 2012.

Members of the Ohio State University marching band, where Nicklaus went to school and dotted the “i” in Ohio in 2006 during their famous prefootball game manuever, were there, too.

CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz was also on hand, delivering remarks.

Crime Watch Man charged with rape of 15-year-old girl

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4-year-old civil servant, Segun Oluyara, on Tuesday appeared before a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos over alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl. Oluyara, who resides at 36, Oduntan Street, Ketu, Lagos, is facing a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.

The prosecutor, ASP Godwin Anyanwu, told the court that the accused committed the offence on March 18 at about 2pm at 114, Ogunmefun Street, off Pedro, Lagos.

Anyanwu said the accused and the victim met at a restaurant and he promised her a job. He said: “The accused took the victim to a guest house and claimed to be the owner. “The accused took the victim to a room and pushed her on the bed before he forcefully had unlawful sexual intercourse with her. “The accused gave the victim a soft drink and a drug, Postinor 2, to prevent pregnancy. “The girl told her mother, who reported the case to the police and the accused was arrested.

“The victim was taken to the hospital for medical checkup and treatment.”

Anyanwu noted that the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the accused may be sentenced to life imprisonment on conviction. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Chief Magistrate, A.O. Soladoye, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Soladoye said the sureties must show evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government as part of the bail conditions. She adjourned the case to May 4 for advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions.

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March 28, 2015

Nigerian ‘Briton’ dupes internet lover of N4.2m

Chukwudi

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30-year-old man has been arraigned for duping his Canadian internet lover of $26,520 Canadian dollars, equivalent of N4.2million.

The suspect, Nwakanma C. Chukwudi, arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on March 23, 2015 before Justice D.V. Agishir of the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu on a 12-count charge bordering on cybercrime, obtaining money by false pretence and impersonation, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Chukwudi, who claimed to be a British citizen, named Barry Bernard, met Donnalynn, a Canadian, on a dating site, convinced her that he loved her and later

Aderanti

milked her of $26,520 Canadian dollars.

The EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said in the course of the accused and complainant’s romantic affair, Chukwudi, who also claimed to be resident in Manchester, United Kingdom, sent several love mails and pictures to Donnalynn.

Uwujaren said: “Donnalynn did not have any course to doubt him when he requested for $26,520 Canadian dollars from her, having been communicating with him over a period of time. When she later found out that she had been duped, she petitioned the EFCC.” One of the charges reads: ‘‘That you Nwakanma C. Chukwudi (alias Barry Bernard) on or about the 10th day of

June, 2014 in Enugu, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud had in your possession (email box- barrybernard777@ yahoo.com), a document containing a picture in which you represented yourself as a white man by name Barry Bernard, a pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 6 and 8 (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.’’ Justice Agishir adjourned the matter to April 7, 2015 for consideration of the bail application and ordered the accused to be remanded in prison custody.

Man to die by hanging for robbery in Delta

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aving found one Vincent Okwekwu guilty of robbery at Akwukwu-Igbo in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State on Monday, a High Court in the state sentenced him to death.

The convict, six years ago, was caught at Umueha Quarters in Ibusa stealing a GSM handset and snatching N10,000 cash from his victims at gunpoint.

The verdict was based on the offences of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, the substantive offence of armed robbery,

which was thereafter reduced to a lesser offence of robbery.

Prosecutors from the Department of Public Prosecutions had told the court that the condemned on or about November 1, 2009, with two others now at large committed the offence. Armed with cutlass, they broke into the apartments of one Ofoyeju Peter and Tietie Moses and robbed them of cash valuables amounting to N10,000 and a telephone handset. The victims raised alarm that attracted members of the vigi-

lante group in the area that led to the arrest of the convict.

Prosecution further told the court that the accused, who was later handed over to the Police, admitted to the crime in his voluntary statement.

Although, the convict pleaded not guilty to all the three count charge when he was arraigned, he was however condemned to death by hanging after being found guilty even as he bagged 21 years jail term for each of the other two count charge.

Do you have a story for us? Contact 08138773277 or crimewatchmirror@yahoo.com

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Crime Watch

March 28, 2015

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Victim fishes out robbery suspect on street

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suspected robber, who was part of the gang that terrorised and robbed a lady at the Bariga area of Lagos State, was shocked when the lady saw him one day along the street, latched onto him and raised the alarm. The suspect, Akeem Mustapha, 20, said he never believed in his wildest imagination that he would run into a victim along his street.

Mustapha said he belonged to a four man gang of robbers. He named his partners as Sulaiman, Ibrahim and Segun.

He said Sulaiman was the gang leader before his demise. The police have congratulated the lady for her sharp wit and eagle eyes.

According to the police, Mustapha is one of the wanted robbery suspects on the Police wanted List. Mustapha said after they robbed the lady, his gang leader was shot and killed by the police. Police recovered a gun on the corpse of the dead leader.

Mustapha has since identified the gun as the same they used in robbery operations.

The suspect, a child of a broken home, said since his parents went their different ways, his grandmother, 68, had been taking care of him.

He stays with her at Bariga and it was that same area that Mustapha and his gang brazenly used to carry out their robbery operations. Oane of their victims was the lady.

Mustapha said he was expelled while he was in SS3 at Ajayi Crowther Memorial Secondary School in Bariga.

He was expelled for fighting. Since then, he had tried his hands on barbing and learning window designing before the lure of robbery came calling.

Mustapha said: “Police arrested me because we went to rob. “We used to rob people of phones and necklaces at Odunsi area in Bariga. “We use machetes and guns as our weapons.

“I was arrested because of the last op-

eration we went at Bamiji Lawal Street in January 2014. “The lady we robbed saw me on our street and recognised me.

“We robbed her of her necklace and N50,000. “We robbed her in front of her home, where she used to sell phones and recharged cards. “The operation was at night. “She cooperated. “We sold the necklace.”

Sulaiman said he sold it for N30,000. “My share was N20,000.” Mustapha, who said the gang used to mainly operate around the Bariga area, said they had robbed more than six times in Bariga.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations

Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, confirming the arrest of the suspect, explained that some time last year, in June 2014, Ibrahim, Sulaiman, Segun and Mustapha conspired together, armed themselves with a locally made pistol, some cutlasses and started to rob people in Bariga area of their property.

Nwosu said: “The gang leader, Sulaiman was shot dead by policemen from Bariga Police Station, while the remaining gang members took to their heels.

Further investigation revealed that Mustapha had been on the wanted list of police since the robbery which took place on December 13, 2014. The lady, who was

robbed, sighted Mustapha and identified him. She subsequently raised the alarm, which attracted policemen. The suspect has confessed to the robbery.

He identified the gun recovered from the dead robber as their operational gun.”

Mustapha said: “It was Sulaiman who lured me into robbery. He met me one day as I was returning from work. He and some boys were smoking Indian hemp, they called me to join them.

The next day, he called and told me he would teach me how to be make money.

Since then, I started going to operations with them.”

ICPC arraigns two over yellow card, medical certificate forgery

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he Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission has arraigned two suspects before an Abuja Divisional High Court over alleged offences relating to being in possession of forged official documents to assist travellers falsely secure entry visas to India for a fee. When the cases were called for mention, the two accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In the suit filed against Akwu Josiah, 28, and Oko Victoria Inaku, a 33-year-old female civil servant from Cross River State working at the Maitama District Hospital, Abuja, it was stated that they were arrested at the Indian High Commission in Abuja and the Maitama District Hospital, Abuja on October 24, 2014 and October 29, 2014 respectively for allegedly being in possession of forged official government documents in a bid to corruptly assist travellers obtain visas.

Josiah, who is facing a two-count charge, is accused of being in unlawful possession of a forged International Certificate of Vaccination (Yellow Card) contrary to

and punishable under section 368 of the Code CAP. 532 Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja 2006. The second accused, Oko Victoria Inaku, is facing a fourcount charge for being in possession of a forged document to wit Medical Report in the name of one Aniukwu Richard Chinonso, with reference number FCTA/ HHSS/MDH/GEN/281, allegedly signed by one Dr. O. A. Balogun, dated October 29, 2014, which is against and punishable under section 368 of the Penal Code CAR. 532 Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja 2006.

Inaku is facing additional charges for being in possession of a forged Chemical Pathology Laboratory Report Form issued in the name of one Aniukwu Richard Chinonso, with Hospital No. 444068 dated October 29, 2014 contrary to section 368 of the Penal Code CAP. When the prosecution proceeded to open the case for Josiah, the defence lawyer raised an objection that he was not ready to proceed as he was just served with a copy of

the charge and asked for adjournment and bail for the accused. In the case of the second accused Victoria Oko Inaku, the prosecution opened her case by tendering relevant documents but the defence applied for more time to study the documents and applied for bail.

In his ruling, the trial Judge, Hon.

Nta Ekpo, Chairman, ICPC

Justice Adegbola Adeniyi, refused bail for Akwu Josiah and directed he should be remanded in prison while he granted bail to Oko Victoria Inaku but should be remanded in ICPC custody pending the fulfilment of her bail conditions. The judge thereafter adjourned the case to April 23, 2015.

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CRIME WATCH

Patience Ogbo

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victim of internet fraud, Tayo Laleyin, thought he was entering a genuine business venture with a man identified as Dade Idowu, an engineer, after he saw a proposal on nairaland online site that Idowu was looking for a financier who will partner with him in setting up a haulage business in Nigeria.

Laleyin, based in the United Kingdom, was impressed with the thought of having a business in Nigeria and, therefore, contacted Idowu on the phone numbers he provided online.

The duo got talking on phone and through the facebook channel and Idowu told Laleyin that he had registered haulage company in Nigeria and went on to provide proof from the Corporate Affairs Commission.

Laleyin, thereafter sent N3.548million to Idowu’s account for the purchase of a truck and later in October 2014, he sent another N3million for another truck.

According to Laleyin, the agreement he had with Idowu was that he was entitled to a percentage anytime the trucks convey goods to clients.

However, the smooth relationship turned sour after Laleyin claimed he was not being paid his dues.

He stated that he confronted Idowu about his but instead, Idowu became angry and threatened to kill him.

He further stated that after a while, Idowu stopped responding to his enquires about the business and went on to block him from his facebook page .

Laleyin stated that he became suspicious that he had been duped after all his efforts to contact Idowu on his mobile phones were unsuccessful as the phone lines were switched off.

Laleyin came to Nigeria from the United Kingdom and reported the case to the State Security Service but they were unable to arrest Idowu.

Laleyin later wrote a petition to the Pedro Police station and a team led by Inspector Olumide Solomon swung into action and less than two weeks, Idowu who had gone underground was arrested.

In his petition to the police, Laleyin narrated how he became victim of an alleged internet fraudster.

March 28, 2015

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Police track down, arrest internet fraudster Suspect swindles UK based Nigerian with haulage business deal

recovered truck

He said “Sometimes in 2014, I saw a proposal in the form of an advert on nairaland by one Dade Idowu a 44 year- old man . He claimed he was an Engineer and wanted to start a Haulage business. I was interested in the proposal and so I called him on his mobile line.

We got talking and started conversing on facebook. He told me he needed a financer for the business and we agreed on some terms. I later paid N3.548million into his account and in October 2014, I paid another

N3million.

Idowu told me that the money I sent was used to buy two trucks. I was supposed to get a certain percentage from the business but I became suspicious when all my enquires on the business were not going down well with Idowu. He started threatening me and went on to block me from his facebook page. All his phone numbers too were switched off and I could not get across to him.

I came to Nigeria and reported the matter to the SSS but they could not find him. My

girlfriend was the one that introduced me to the Pedro Police Station. The police later called me that they had arrested Idowu and recovered one of my trucks”.

It was gathered that the police trailed Idowu to Ibesa in Ogun State and arrested him.

Idowu, however, said he used the second truck as collateral for a loan he obtained and promised to pay back.

He was arraigned at the Court 12 Shomolu on a two count charge bordering on ob-

Man robs to settle drug case in court

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wenty-four-year-old Ibik Emmanuel, who was arrested for attempting to snatch a Honda car from two women at the Ajah area of Lagos State, said he committed the crime because he desperately needed money to settle his drug-related case at a high court.

Emmanuel was arrested at the Lekki/Ajah area of the metropolis after he and his partner, Chima Tony Agomoh, bought a toy gun and attempted to snatch a Honda car from two ladies. The ladies surrendered the car and key, but took to screaming at the sight of the gun. The screaming alerted people in the area and they attempted to rescue the women.

Emmanuel’s friend, Agomoh, jumped into the car, started it and drove away, leaving Emmanuel at the mercy of the crowd. The crowd pounced on him. He

said he would have been lynched, but some people prevailed on the crowd to hand him over to Moroko Police Station policemen.

He said: “I bought the toy gun at N400 from Eke Awka Market in Anambra State. “I was the one that pointed the gun at the women. “It was a toy gun, operating with a battery. “It can’t kill. “Rther it makes noise like gunshot. “A person who doesn’t have ‘liver’ will fear and shake. “I could not escape with Chima because I thought the car would not move.

“But to my surprise, Chima drove off with it. “He abandoned me.” Emmanuel said he never wanted to get into crime, but was desperate after his boss, whom he used to traffick Indian hemp and cocaine for, abandoned him and disappeared after operatives of the National

Drug Law Enforcement Agency arrested him. He said he was charged to a Federal High Court in Anambra State, where he had to settle to perfect and get his bail.

Even after the bail, he realised he still needed more money to ensure the case was trashed for good.

The Lagos State Police spokesman, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the arrest of Emmanuel, adding that the police had already spread its dragnet to get Chima, the fleeing member. Nwosu’s words: “Emmanuel was arrested on February 23, 2015 at Lekki, where he and Chima, snatched a Honda Accord car, with registration number EK 804 LSD. The car belongs to one Mrs. Dupe Agonoma. It was snatched at gun point.

Even if Chima runs into an ant hole, we’ll get him! It’s only a matter of time!”

The suspect who said he regretted taking to crime, explained that he used to work as a security guard in a company before he became a drug trafficker. Emmanuel said: “I used to sell drugs, especially Indian hemp and cocaine, for my master, Mr. Ifeanyi Okoye, a.k.a Perfect Man, at Enugu Ukwu, Anambra State.

He pays me N1,500. I later went to Umuahia, Abia State with some of the drugs to sell. Unfortunately, I was arrested by NDLEA. I was charged to Federal High Court, Awka on October 23, 2013 and remanded on March 12. I perfected my bail and went to Umuahia to meet my master to get money for my case. I had planned to steal his car if he refused to give me money. But I got there and discovered he had run away. NDLEA even seized his car!”

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REGIONAL NEWS

March 28, 2015

51

South West

Wait till your votes are counted, Fashola urges voters Gov tasks electorates on ushering in change

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abatunde Fashola, governor of Lagos State, has urged voters to waite until their votes are counted before leaving the pollen units. The governor was responding to the alleged directive from the Inspector General of Police that electorates should keep away from the polling booths after casting their votes.

The Governor said that such directive was unconstitutional adding that the

Electoral Act authorized the voters to remain behind to see the votes collated and results announced.

He, however, instructed voters not to put on branded cloths used during the campaigns on the voting day, or to campaign at the polling unit or interfere with other voters adding that they should stay at a reasonable distance from the polling officials where they could watch the collation of the votes and announcement of

Odinaka Uruakpa

me visit you here in Lagos, but I apologise for not been able to make it before now. I had no spear time then because I needed to attend to matters of the state which I gave all the time I could afford. I have tried to the best of my ability to deliver all that I promised to do in the state when I assumed office as governor of Imo. As many of you can bear me witness today, kidnapping, armed robbery and the like have become things of the past in the state. Gone are the days when people go to bed very early, all for the fear of being attacked by bad elements in the community.

“I have delivered my promise on free education at every level in the state.

Not long ago, someone asked me if there was any limit to child bearing and I answered ‘Continue having your children and if you can’t train them, bring them to me; I will educate them.’ When I took over the affairs of the state, we had 375,000 children attending school, but today, as I speak to you, there are over 1million children who attend school.”

The governor listed his administration’s achievements to include the beautification of the state’s capital, Owerri and the mounting of street light in Orlu, Okigwe and other towns in the state.

Okorocha visits Imo indigenes in Lagos

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xecutive governor of Imo State and gubernatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has appealed to Imo indigenes to re-elect him in the April 11 governorship elections claiming that this would attract more development in the state.

The governor made this appeal when he visited Imo state indigenes resident in Lagos recently at the Teslim Balogun Stadium located in Surulere area of the state.

While appreciating the people for their kind getures, Okorocha who came in the company of Imo State Commisssioner for Information, Chidi Ibe, Special Assistant, Liaison Officer, Imo State Liaison Office, Lagos, Alfred Ononugbo and a host of others aides, commended the Imo State Towns Development Association Lagos, ISTDAL, led by its President, Okey Anorue for organising a grand reception in his honour as he also appealed to the people to vote en masse for APC’s presidential candidate, Gen. Muhamadu Buhari in the general elections on March 28.

He said: “I know that you all have been eager to see

the result before they leave for home.

“It is your right to vote.

The Electoral Act authorizes you to stay at a reasonable distance from the polling official where you can watch the collation and hear the announcement of the result”, Governor Fashola said adding, “You are allowed to go with your camera and take picture of the result when they publish it”.

Stating that the Electoral

Act allows the counting of votes in the presence of the electorates, the Governor declared, “It is senseless to tell the electorates to stay 300 metres away from the polling booth. How will they see the result?” he urged the voters not to succumb to such intimidation adding, “The reason for their (PDP) fighting is because they know they have failed”.

Fashola, SAN, also urged the people to be part of the historic move to effect

change.

Governor Fashola, who spoke at the Alimosho Playing Ground venue of the APC campaign rally, urged Lagosians to appreciate the pains they have gone through especially in the last six years under the leadership of PDP. Describing the ruling party as a bag of lies, Governor Fashola said the promises President Goodluck Jonathan made to Lagosians in 2011 such as

rebuilding the road leading to the Murtala Mohammed Airport, and restoration of steady power supply still remained unfulfilled.

Governor Fashola expressed dismay that the money made from the nation’s oil resources, which is the nation’s free gift of nature, has been misused by the presidency, adding that instead of spending it on the people’s needs, the President went about distributing it as campaign gifts.

L-R: President Genotype Foundation, Mrs. Doris Gbemiloye; Former Acting Vice Chancellor Lagos State University, Prof. Yemi Olatunji Bello and representative of Commissioner of Health, Dr. Olajumoke Oyenuga during the Sensitization on Sickle Cell Disorder, Blood Group and Genotype in Lagos, yesterday.

Elections: Inspector-General of Police deploys 20,000 personnel to Oyo State

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he Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr Muhammed Kastina, on Friday said the Police Headquarters had deployed 20,000 personnel to ensure hitch-free presidential election on March 28.

Kastina disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Ibadan. He said the personnel include mem-

bers of the police special force, mobile unit, counter terrorism squad and officers from the Exclusive Ordinance Department. ``We have the K-9 sections trained to use dogs and horses. The animals will help in crowd control where and when necessary. ``The team also comprised of medical units, which will take care of

health emergencies,” he said.

The commissioner said the personnel would remain in the state after the exercise until otherwise directed by the headquarters. ``They will be withdrawn when we are sure there will be no threat to peace after the exercise.”

Kastina said the police

would work with other security agencies in the state to ensure hitch free polls.

He said the command had directed the newly constituted Ambush Squad to liaise with Criminal Intelligent Bureau for intelligence gathering.

He urged the electorate to come out en masse to vote for the candidate of their choice without fear.

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North

Elections: Commercial activities soar in Benue

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head of today’s presidential and National Assembly, commercial activities in Makurdi have soared as customers thronged shops, malls and open markets to restock their kitchens ahead of the crucial polls, A survey of business premises on Friday in Makurdi showed large numbers of people, either buying essential commodities, mostly food items, toiletries or selling their wares.

It also showed crowded bank halls as customers queued to make cash withdrawals to purchase goods.

At the motor parks, commercial vehicle operators, especially those operating intra city services, were having a hectic time

trying to cope with customers expectations.

A cross section of residents, who spoke with News Agency of Nigeria, said they needed to restock their stores ahead of today’s polls.

Mr Moses Atem, an engineer, said it was better to buy enough and store at home to avoid “ unnecessary movement during and after the elections”.

He said there were too many apprehensions about the outcome of the polls to warrant such movement.

Madam Dominic Yakubu, a house wife, said: “ Since there is restriction of vehicular movement on that day, it is better to restock commodities that have finished to avoid feeding challenges.”

NUJ inaugurates 7-man committee on safety of Journalists in Bauchi

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he Bauchi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Friday said it constituted a seven man standing committee for the safety of journalists during and after the elections.

The council Chairman, Dahiru Mohammed, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi.

Mohammed said the committee would ensure that the security of journalists was safeguarded at all times. ``The state council constituted the committee to interface whenever the safety of journalists in the state is in danger during and after the elections.

``The committee comprises of the representative of the Nigerian Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Department of State Service, Nigerian Prisons Service and three members of the NUJ,’’ he said.

He urged members to play safe during the forthcoming general elections, noting that ``one has to be alive and healthy to report activities including the electioneering processes’’.

The training sessions were held by the union on election coverage, while pamphlet titled `The Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage’ was distributed to members.

Arms recovered from fleeing insurgents in Gwoza, Borno State after men of the Nigerian Army captured the town.

Shehu of Borno urges politicians to take election outcome in good faith

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he Shehu of Borno Alhaji (Dr.) Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Amin El-Kanemi, yesterday urged politicians seeking political offices to take the outcome of today’s elections and subsequent ones in good faith.

He also advised all citizens of Borno State and Nigeria to ensure the suc-

cess of the elections by remaining calm and peaceful before, during and after elections, pointing out that what peace does not achieve, violence and intolerance cannot achieve.

The monarch made the disclosure in a statement issued by the Secretary of the Borno Emirate Council, Alhaji Zanna Laisu.

He said the Shehu also

appealed to all politicians irrespective of their political inclinations to preach peace and eschew all forms of bitterness and consider the unity, peace and progress of the entire nation as paramount and cannot be compromised for any political or selfish gains.

His words: “Borno and Nigeria as a whole are undergoing trying period in

history, therefore, there is the need to focus on issues that will bring about lasting peace, unity and stability,” the Shehu said.

He particularly advised the youth not to allow themselves to be used as political tools to create havoc or destruction and also urged all Muslims and Christians to sustain prayers for peace.

candidates of their choice during the general elections.

Giving the advice in an interview with the News of Nigeria in Abuja, Ochigbo also urged them not go to polling units with weapons such as guns and cutlasses,

among others. ``We have also warned those who are tempted to influence people to perpetrate any form of violence to desist. ``Go there as a Nigerian, knowing that this country is a privilege God has given to us to serve ourselves through this nation.’’

He also advised politicians not to make the election a do-or-die affair, stressing that somebody must win and somebody must lose in any contest.

Ochigbo further advised Nigerians to believe in the ability of whoever emerged the president of the country in the Saturday poll and cooperate with him to move the nation forward.

``We have to thank God for the nation we call Nigeria. ``Above all, we need to bless God for under His care and protection, we have come this far against all odds. ``If we trust God again and do things right, God is still on the side of this country. ``On a serious note, we want our people not to take God’s mercy and care for granted, but try our best and go to places of the vote with only two items -- voter cards and Rosary.’’

He advised eligible voters to cast their votes knowing that the future of this country depended on it.

...As Cleric advises Nigerians to shun electoral violence

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ess than 24 hours to the Presidential and National Assembly elections, Rev. Father. Anthony Ochigbo, the Parish Priest of Church of Assumption, Abuja, yesterday, advised Nigerians to shun violence and vote for

Kebbi Govt spends N126m on livestock feeds

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overnor Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi on Friday said that the state government procured 9, 900 tonnes of livestock feeds worth N126 million for cattle breeders and livestock producers.

Dakingari said this when he received leaders of Miyatti Allah Cattle Breed-

ers Association in Birnin Kebbi.

He said a bag of livestock feed would be sold at N1,000 in the six designated selling points in Bagudo, Zuru, Argungu, Yauri, Birnin Kebbi and Gwandu Local Government Areas.

The governor directed the leaders of the associa-

tion to coordinate and monitor the sales to ensure equity and justice.

Dakingari also advised livestock producers in the state to ensure that their animals receive the necessary vaccination. ``Efforts will be intensified to boost production of sufficient and hygienic live-

stock in the state,’’ he added.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the association, Alhaji Kiruwa Zuru, said the visit was to show their solidarity with the governor.

Zuru commended the state government for constructing 28 earth dams, 1,200 open wells and 12 Nomadic .

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REGIONAL NEWS

March 28, 2015

53

Group tasks Jonathan on Enugu free trade zone SOUTH EAST

Dennis Agbo

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he South-East/ South-South Professionals, SESSP, has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to give approval to the application seeking for the establishment of a Free Trade Zone, FTZ, in Enugu.

President Jonathan had, while commissioning the remodeled Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu about two years ago, assured that a Free Trade Zone would be approved

for the ancient town from the 9th mile axis in order to boost the economy of the south east zone. But, at the moment, nothing much has been heard of the proposed approval.

Addressing newsmen shortly after taking part in the just concluded Enugu International Trade Fair, the President of the SESSP, Emeka Ugwu-Oju said the application seeking for the approval of a Free Trade Zone for Enugu and by extension, the south east has been sent to the president but may have been delayed as a result “bureaucratic

bottleneck”.

He noted that approving the trade zone would not only help in boosting the economy of the south east but would also boost the confidence of the people of the area in the administration of President Jonathan as “one that has the interest of the Igbo man at heart.

“It’s something that has been hanging; the people of south east are passionate about that. The president should know that, and that all the necessary things are done as regards that.”

Continuing, Ugwu-Oju said there are immense benefits inherent in having the trade zone in the south east whose people are mostly into business, noting globally, most trade zones have impacted positively to the environment they are situated.

“Once you have a free trade zone that captures all the attributes of a trade zone and off course before this one was sent for approval, all the attributes were captured, I have perused the application and its proper, what is holding it is bureaucratic bottle-

neck. It should be approved to boost trade and commerce in the state and entire zone in general”.

The SESSP boss also used the opportunity to canvass for the completion of the permanent site of the Enugu International Trade Fair expressing dismay that while other trade fair complexes in Lagod

and Kaduna have been completed, that of Enugu has remained pending.

He described the Trade Fair Complex as a legacy project dear to the business community and people of the south east zone and as such efforts should be made by the federal government to complete it before the end of the year.

8,000 security personnel deployed for elections in Anambra –Commissioner

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he Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Mr Hassan Karma, said on Thursday that the command has deployed no fewer than 8, 000 combined team of security personnel to ensure the peaceful conduct of the general elections.

Karma made this known at Awkuzu in Oyi Local Government Area on shortly after a show of force by the security agencies.

“What you have seen is a demonstration, re-assuring the people of the state that the security agencies are ready, should any one

attempt to foment trouble.

“We are united against crime or criminality as our interest is to ensure hitch-free elections and give the polls credibility.”

He urged members of the public to go about the electoral process peacefully, warning that anyone who dared any security personnel, would meet force with force.

The commissioner explained that the team was made up of the Army, Navy, NDLEA, DSS, NSCDC and the Police, who moved in about 40 utility trucks from Onitsha to Awka. (NAN)

Polls: NBC warns against announcing results from social media Dennis Agbo INEC Headquarters in Awka distributing election materials in Anambra State, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Enugu does not borrow to finance projects –Chime Dennis Agbo

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nugu State Government has said that it has not borrowed a kobo to finance all the development projects it has been handling.

Gov. Sullivan Chime stated this in an address at the occasion marking the end of the 26th Enugu International Trade Fair that culminated.

Gov. Chime who was represented at the oc-

casion by the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Jude Akubuilo said rather than borrowing to finance projects, the state is making judicious use of ‘meager resources at our disposal.’

He said they have provided a lot of democracy dividends in the area of health, education, industry, road construction among others through prudent management of resources rather than borrowing of which they

have received accolades from within and outside the state.

He belied the speculation that the state might have mortgaged through excessive, maintain that is solvent and has only resorted to available resources.

“We have been able to achieve these milestones with meager resources.

We have not been borrowing to finance our projects. We have only been making judicious use of the resources

available to us to address the needs of our people, “Gov. Chime disclosed.

To prove how judicious they have been managing resources Chime also disclosed that they revitalized the Sunrise Flour Mill at Emene which would commence operation which will pave way for employment.

In the area of Agriculture, Chime said the state is now exporting pineapple among other cash crops.

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he National B r o a d c a s t ing Commission, NBC, has warned the electronics media against obtaining results of the elections through the social media.

The commission stressed that it is only the mandate of the Independent National Electoral Commission, to declare results of the elections and urged the media to obtain results of the polls only through INEC. The Director General of NBC, Mr. Emeka Mbah, handed the warning on Thursday when

he briefed the media in Enugu.

Mba said: “A broadcaster shall broadcast election results or declaration of the winner only as announced by the authorized electoral officer for the election.

“Broadcasters are reminded that the social media is not an official source for release of election results.

“Stations are therefore directed to adhere strictly to the law and the provisions of the code and stop all political campaigns and advertisements on their stations by midnight March 26 2015 and announce results only released by INEC.”

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SOUTH SOUTH

Supreme Court upholds Akpabio’s election

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he Supreme Court yesterday, confirmed the election of Godswill Akpabio as the validlyelected governor of Akwa Ibom State, in a unanimous decision believed to have put to an end about four-

year legal tussle to unseat him.

The court ruled that Akpabio was the suitable candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, a claim that had been instituted by Frank Okon, Akpabio’s op-

ponent in April 2011.

Okon had asked the court to nullify Akpabio’s election because he (Okon) and his supporters were not availed the information on the scheduled primaries after the cancellation of the pre-

vious exercise.

Okon’s argument was upheld at the level of the Court of Appeal.

But, in a unanimous judgment delivered yesterday by Justice Bode-Rhodes Vivour, on behalf of Justice

John Fabiyi, and six other Justices, the Supreme Court set aside the ruling of the Appeal Court in favour of Okon and restored the judgment of the High Court on the matter.

The High Court had

ruled that Okon was not qualified to contest the outcome of the election in the first place, having admitted in his affidavit before the court that he and his supporters were not allowed to participate in the primaries.

Poll: C’River CP reads riot act to trouble makers

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he Cross River State Police Commissioner, Mr. Henry Fadairo, has warned intending troublemakers and people he described as mischief makers to steer clear of the polling units during today’s presidential and National Assembly election.

He spoke in Calabar on Friday while addressing newsmen about the state of preparations for the today’s elections.

Speaking in his office at the Cross River State Police Command headquarters, Fadairo advised parents and guardians to monitor their children and wards during the period and not allow them to be used by mischievous persons to disrupt the elections or cause mayhem in the state before, during and after the elections.

He said; “All trou-

blemakers are hereby warned to steer clear of polling units as the full weight of the law will be visited on anyone and their sponsors arrested for attempting to disrupt the elections in accordance with Section 129 of the Electoral Law. “The security agencies will not tolerate any form of criminality throughout the period of the election and beyond.”

He added that joint operation had been set up to be manned by officers of all the security agencies in the state, noting that special numbers had been provided for the joint operation room.

The police boss encouraged members of the public to make use of the numbers to report any suspicious movement, distress call, complaint, observation and information throughout the period.

Men of the Nigerian Navy Pathfinder, carrying out proficiency drills on waterways and creeks for 2015 elections in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Buhari’s C’ River co-ordinator decamps to PDP

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n a rash of defections currently plaguing the parties in the past 48 hours, the Buhari Presidential Campaign Coordinator in Cross River State, Mr. U.Oko has decamped from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Uko, who decamped with all his supporters, pledged to mobilise sup-

port for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

He told a crowd of PDP supporters in Bekwarra that his decision to quit the APC for the PDP was informed by President Jonathan’s sterling achievements in office.

On hand to receive him back into the party was the PDP candidate for the House of Representatives

LP Accuses PDP of collaborating with INEC to rig in C`River Richard Ndoma Calabar

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he Cross River State Labour Party on Friday, raised the alarm that the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party PDP, had connived with some top officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to rig the today’s presidential election.

Briefing journalists in Calabar, State Chairman for the Labour party, Austen Ibok made the al-

legation and stressed that there are emerging facts on ground showing that some senior INEC staff are neck deep collaborating with the PDP to rig elections on saturday.

The party warned that it would not fold it arms and watched the ruling PDP short-changed LP in the election, adding that the party would resist any attempt by the state electoral commission to summit itself to any form of illegalities.

Other allegation levelled against the Cross Riv-

er INEC and the PDP by Ibok was that the two bodies had perfected plans to commence accreditation late in all LP strongholds.

He alleged that the PDP is also using scanned result sheets in the polling units while keeping the original copies to be filled falsely and submitted in favour of the PDP adding that the PDP has also perfected plans to use the military to arrest, harass and intimidate Labour party strongholds and supporters on election date.

“As at now, sensitive

elections materials have been illegally moved to houses of some PDP leaders in the state. I am aware that PDP has recruited adhoc staff of INEC to help manipulate the process in favour of the PDP. When contacted on telephone, the PDP state party chairman Ntufam John Okon said that the allegations were baseless.

“We have been campaigning, we have been on ground Labour party are trying to tell us that they are suffering defeat! Okon said.

elections for Bekwarra/ Obudu/Obanliku Federal Constituency, Mr. Legor Idagbo.

Idagbo commended him for the bold step and stated that unlike the broom, the PDP umbrella was big enough to accommodate everyone.

He noted that Oko was a grassroot mobiliser and an astute politician who will contribute a great deal to

the continued growth of the PDP in the State.

He assured Oko that he and all his supporters would be taken care of in the PDP. Idagbo also stated that it was clear from all indications that President Jonathan was the more popular candidate and would win the presidential elections with a comfortable margin.

Youths group agitates 40 % power eharing with elders Richard Ndoma Calabar

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socio-political group under the aegis of `Think Tank Group on Friday agitated for 40 percent inclusion of young people in the mainstream of management of affairs of government at all levels.

Coordinator for the group, Dr Xavier Idem, made the position known at a one day youth summit in collaboration with The African Child in Diaspora Foundation in Calabar.

The group demanded for allocation of 40 percent opportunity to young people to enable them participate in the taking of policy decisions of government adding that Nigerian would become a better place for us.

“There is nothing wrong if the system decides to include youth in government.

Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macaulay and several other young people who fought for the nation`s independence achieved all that when they were all very young”.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

March 28, 2015

55

Germanwings plane crash:

China’s Co-pilot ‘wanted to destroy plane’ anti-corruption crackdown T reaches U.S. he co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps, named as Andreas Lubitz, appeared to want to “destroy the plane”, officials said.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the “black box” voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.

He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.

Mr Robin said there was “absolute silence in the cockpit” as the pilot fought to re-enter it.

He said air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail.

Passengers could be heard screaming just before the

crash, he added.

Details are emerging of the German co-pilot’s past - although his apparent motives for causing the crash remain a mystery.

Mr Lubitz, 28, had undergone intensive training and “was 100% fit to fly without any caveats”, according to Carsten Spohr, the head of Lufthansa, the German carrier that owns Germanwings.

Mr Spohr said Mr Lubitz’s training had been interrupted for several months six years ago, but was resumed after “the suitability of the candidate was re-established”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that the co-pilot’s apparent actions had given the tragedy a “new,

simply incomprehensible dimension”.

Police have been searching the co-pilot’s home for evidence, German prosecutors told the Reuters news agency.

The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain, killing all 144 passengers and six crew, after an eight-minute descent.

“We hear the pilot ask the co-pilot to take control of the plane and we hear at the same time the sound of a seat moving backwards and the sound of a door closing,” Mr Robin told reporters.

He said the pilot, named in the German media as Patrick S, had probably gone to the toilet.

“At that moment, the

co-pilot is controlling the plane by himself. While he is alone, the co-pilot presses the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the aeroplane.

“He operated this button for a reason we don’t know yet, but it appears that the reason was to destroy this plane.”

Mr Lubitz was alive until the final impact, the prosecutor said.

Mr Robin said “the most plausible interpretation” was that the co-pilot had deliberately barred the pilot from re-entering the cockpit.

He added that the copilot was “not known by us” to have any links to extremism or terrorism.

Rescuers at the site of the Germanwings plane crash that claimed 150 lives

Saudi-led coalition strikes rebels in Yemen

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audi and allied warplanes struck rebels in Yemen on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia threatening to send ground troops and inserting itself into its southern neighbor’s civil war, potentially opening up a broader sectarian conflict in the Middle East.

The swift and sudden action involved 100 Saudi jets, 30 from the United Arab Emirates, 15 each from Kuwait and Bahrain, 10 from Qatar, and a handful from Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, plus naval help from

Pakistan and Egypt, according to a Saudi adviser.

The Egyptian state news agency on Thursday quoted Egypt’s Foreign Ministry as saying Egypt’s support also could involve ground forces.

What do those countries have in common? They’re all predominantly Sunni Muslim -- in contrast to the Houthi rebels, Shiite Muslims who have taken over Yemen’s capital of Sanaa and on Wednesday captured parts of its secondlargest city, Aden. The Saudis consider the Houthis

proxies for the Shiite government of Iran and fear another Shiite-dominated state in the region.

“What they do not want is an Iranian-run state on their southern border,” CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona said of the Saudis.

The airstrikes did not include warplanes from the United States, which has worked with Yemeni governments -- including that of recently deposed but still battling President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi -- to go after al Qaeda in

the Arabian Peninsula.

In fact, a senior official in President Barack Obama’s administration said “there will be no military intervention by the U.S.” But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday did tell foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman that the United States commends the military action and is supporting it through intelligence sharing, targeting assistance and logistical support, according to a senior State Department official.

C

hina’s sweeping anti-cor r uption crackdown has reached the other side of the globe.

Beijing believes at least 150 corrupt Chinese officials have fled to America, according to state media, and has sent U.S. authorities a list of the “priority cases” it is targeting.

Since coming to power, Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a massive anti-corruption campaign that has netted hordes of government officials and company executives. Critics say Xi is simply cleaning house and removing opponents, but the crackdown has continued to widen.

A new effort launched last year -- dubbed “Operation Foxhunt” -- is targeting rich Chinese suspected of economic crimes who have fled abroad. China is trying to recover their illicit assets.

The U.S. State Department confirmed Wednesday that China has sent lists of suspects to the U.S. China has also agreed to hand over more evidence on priority cases to help U.S. officials track them down, then prosecute or deport them.

“We continue to encourage China to provide strong evidence and intelligence to ensure that our law enforcement agencies can properly investigate and prosecute cases related to the alleged corruption,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.

Neither Beijing nor Washington have given details about the

list of targets, though at least one Chinese citizen has already been arrested in the U.S. with China’s help, according to the Department of Justice.

Related: Chinese snap up fine art for use in laundering schemes Last week, Shilan Zhao, the ex-wife of a former Chinese official, was arrested in Washington state, on charges of immigration fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

Zhao and her exhusband, Jianjun Qiao, were charged with fraudulently obtaining visas through a popular immigrant investor program known as EB-5.

The Department of Justice also claims that the couple bought property in the U.S. with money laundered through a massive grain storage facility in China, where Qiao served as director for 13 years. Qiao remains at large, and is still being sought by U.S. authorities, according to the DOJ. While the U.S. doesn’t have an extradition treaty with China, the State Department said it can still return fugitives to China. “We must be satisfied that an individual extradited from the United States to another country would receive a fair trial and not be subject to torture or other forms of mistreatment in that country,” Psaki said.

Since last October, the Chinese government has brought back 49 individuals suspected of economic crimes from 17 countries, according to state media.

Quote

of

the

day

All borders will effectively be closed from midnight March 25th to midnight Saturday, March 28th.

The closure of the borders is to allow for the peaceful conduct of the elections. This total restriction of movement order applies to all, except for ambulances, fire service trucks and others on essential duties. —Abubakar Magaji, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior.

Saturday, March 28, 2015. www.nationnationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria: What benefit in OPEC? (II)

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ne remarkable feature that stands out clearly in reviewing this subject is the fact that it was not OPEC’s reasons or policies that accounted for the increase in the price of oil but natural events and consequences such as war, visiting hurricanes or cold snaps. These events will naturally increase the demand for oil and by implication, the price of oil.

These natural consequences constitute an impending factor to supply so that with or without OPEC, when Hurricane Rita visited the Gulf of Mexico the price would still go up. Or when Iraq launched its war against Kuwait, the demand for oil would have still increased.

The founding fathers of OPEC did not pretend about the reasons for forming OPEC. This was clearly set out in Article Two of the Statute. It is for their individual or collective interest. The coming of OPEC has made countries like Saudi Arabia to laud their interest of being a super country with enormous wealth resources, a position that the United States, Britain and Canada insist negates the principles of globalisation within the context of providing equal power to every citizen in matters relating to the sources of income and revenue.

The long time investment of the OECD members in the supply of oil is simply to provide for a future where natural resources will not create such advantages that will provide unequal opportunities for citizens that do not work but find their accounts credited by the end of every month by their Governments, when the rest of us have to work and provide those resources that we need. I do hope that this message gets to the authorities in Saudi Arabia.

The simple question is: For how long will the world tolerate a Saudi Arabia citizen coming to the United States to buy up a street simply because he is from the royal family who control the entire wealth of a country or to whom the entire county belongs as a personal asset, as compared to a capitalist who works for his money, creating value beyond distribution of natural resources

CFR

There is no reason to justify, at this time, the need for Nigeria to continue with membership of OPEC, as there appears to be no useful benefit accruable to our membership benefits and who has come to the US to buy a street? He is most welcome - it is the new world direction.

The US, in my view, will invest so much to attack that very source of income of royal patronage. And it seems to mean that OPEC members must be more prepared beyond the present situation. The question is: What is the interest of Nigeria is in this new launch for the redetermination of the financial sources or status of their royal fathers’ in oil producing OPEC? When the OECD floods the oil market and oil sells for $10 per barrel at the production cost price of $9 per barrel, then their royal fathers may have a rethink that we all have to work for our money. I suspect this is the point being made by OECD and America and the strategy is very comprehensive.

If I may remind Saudi Arabia, in a competitive market, the stronger competitor that creates new innovation and value added that is sustainable and cannot easily be imitated always subjects the other competitor to acquisition or some sort of working together or joint enter-

prise. The option is for the weaker party to become subsumed into the stronger party. Or accept to operate within the limits of acceptable norms.

What explains the interest of America beyond the general issue of corruption and abuse of human rights in its Libyan intervention? Is Libya not a member of OPEC? What was the response of Saudi Arabia or other OPEC members in the ‘individual or collective interest’ of their ‘brother’ to the US intervention in Libya? Again this explains the universal concern for the sustainability of globalisation? It appears any sort of ethical behaviour that is repugnant to international best practice and norms is, to the extent of such inconsistency, unacceptable.

In business practice, the easiest way to fight corruption is to embark on aggressive launch for enthroning international best practices. Thus, even the financial reporting system is now in conformity to international accounting rules and not their royal majesty’s declarations. All of these were influenced by the US and the OECD.

The economic outlook for 2015 predicts three major events as follows: That insurgency will increase in 2015 is bad news to the peace of the world but may be good news for the price of oil. If insurgency affects production, a reduction in output will easily lead to increase in price. The second outlook is that the year will record improved wealth creation, which is as a result of anticipated economic recovery. Even at very slow rate, it is better than continuous recession. The improved output supply and enhanced dollar is already a signal for better economy for countries like America and many of the OECD countries. At least, recovery must start from somewhere. The last of the 2015 economic outlook summary is the fact that there will generally be improved health condition, thus leading to people living longer. This improved life expectancy is better explained by the recovery in the economy, which is again explained by the improvement in consumption pattern.

There is no reason to justify, at this time, the need for Nigeria to continue with membership of OPEC, as there appears to be no useful benefit accruable to our membership. It does appear that OPEC members, particularly Saudi Arabia, are keeping Nigeria in OPEC as supporting instrument to fight the cold war raging between Saudi Arabia and America. This arises from the demand of the US for a new world order based on sustainable global ethics, which is an offshoot of globalisation.

If the OECD succeeds in reducing the power of OPEC by flooding the oil market with supply that is capable of slashing the price of oil to five US dollars per barrel even in the medium term, no matter the amount of reserves in Saudi Arabian banks, a deceleration economic regime will surely commence that will result in the disappearance of the oppressive wealth of Saudi Arabia. This will ostensibly bring that country to conformity with conventional direction of how to generate and distribute money in accordance with global best practices.

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

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