Saturday, October 13, 2012 by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

Ondo: ACN, LP trade words over arrest plot What I know about Mimiko’s security reports –Oni

Tinubu is my mentor, says Akeredolu

Vol. 02 No. 44

P. 10, 14

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Federal allocation

N150 P. 6

FG, others share N567bn in Sept •ECA rises to $8.4bn

Constitution amendment ASUU, AGF oppose role for traditional rulers P. 8

L-R: Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba; Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar; Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, at the pulling out parade in honour of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Bakassi

Why FG refused to appeal ruling

P. 6

P’Harcourt 4: Police covering up role in killing –Victims’ families

• Community blames non-indigenes x e on fresh facts for victory Essentials of afterplay STalk •Banks

P. 2

P. 7

P. 22 & 23

Living

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

INSIDE

Beggars strike:

‘We are tired of begging for peanuts’

Police trying to manipulate Aluu 4 investigation –Victim’s mother

P.33

Lessons of my drug mess P.25 –Yetunde Wunmi, actress

Mr and Mrs Michael, Lloyd’s parents (Inset: Lloyd)

Tears on a prayer mountain P.38

z …as Shepherd and members mourn 20 members who were lost in road crash

Woman kidnaps baby at church vigil P.51

House help flees with employer’s N15m jewellery

P.52

CHINEDUM EMEANA PORT HARCOURT

t is certainly safe to say that the last has not been heard of the brutal killing of Lloyd Michael, Chiadika Biringa, Ugonna Ubuzor and Tekena Elkanah, four University of Port Harcourt students on October 5th. They were alleged to have stolen phones and laptops and they were lynched and burnt by Aluu community members. The gory murders, which have been sending shock waves all over the world, have generated a lot of reactions and continue to do so. One popular unconfirmed report has it that the dreaded sect, Boko Haram, has condemned the killings. The alleged Boko Haram condemnation is being spread alongside comments that Boko Haram bombings are child’s play compared to the manner the students were murdered. As is usual in such situations, the police have swung into action and launched an investigation and even arrested some suspects. Fellow students of the dead four have however not waited for the police to ferret out the killers before they sought some sort of justice themselves. The aggrieved students swept through Aluu community in a destructive rage to at least avenge the murders. The Paramount Ruler of Omuokiri community, Chief Hassan Walewa, has also been in police detention over the murders and now the people of Aluu have demanded for his release. In a press statement signed by Chief Richard Kalu, chairman of Aluu Council of Chiefs; Mr. Emmanuel Wawhor, Chairman, Ogbakor Aluu and Mr. Gershon Benson, spokesman of Aluu community, expressed surprise that the paramount ruler of the community is still in detention till date, adding that they do not understand the reason for his continued incarceration. “We hereby demand for his prompt

release and urge the security agencies to stop further harassment, mass arrest of innocent Aluu people and go for the actual perpetrators of the crime and subsequently bring them to justice.” In the statement, they also absolved Aluu indigenes of the murders, claiming that the murders were perpetrated by non-Aluu indigenes. But even as the police have announced that eleven out of their thirteen arrested suspects have been charged to court, the same police are now being accused by Mrs Jane Toke Mike, mother of one of the victims, Lloyd, of complicity in their gory deaths. Ibisobia Elkanah, the sister of Tekena, another of the unfortunate four, and who is also a student of Uniport, is also claiming that she saw a police team at the murder scene. Her claim is also collaborated by a certain George, a friend of the slain students, who reportedly spent the night before they were killed with them at another of their friend’s house. Speaking with Saturday Mirror, Mrs Mike said, “The police are trying to manipulate the investigation. We were summoned, I and my husband, to the headquarters of the Rivers State Police Command on Moscow Road to listen to the statement of Ibinabo, a friend of the murdered boys brought there by his father. They brought the boy and asked if I knew him. I said no, but he said he knew me. His name is Ibinabo. I have forgotten his surname. He is a friend to my son and his friends. “Ibinabo’s father brought him to the police station, so they invited us to hear what he had to say. When he was explaining, the policeman questioning him was just trying to manipulate him, trying to confuse him, but he kept saying the same thing. And what he said was that the four victims all slept in his house the night before they were killed. He said there were five of them who slept in his house that night, the fifth being George, another of their friends. “He said they discussed that someone

was owing Ugonna some money and he hadn’t paid and my son said ‘na you no wan go collect the money na.’ He said that they usually sleep in each other’s houses. He said his house gate is normally closed by 11pm, so when it got late, they all decided to sleep in his house. “The policeman was then asking him, ‘Did they sleep in the same bed? How big is the bed? Is it a six-spring bed?’ I felt irritated as he continued asking questions that were tended towards confusing the boy’s story.” Continuing, she said, “But where I got really upset was when he told them that he had gotten in contact with George and Tekena’s sister and she narrated what really what happened to him. The police then asked him, ‘Ibinabo, were you interrogating her or was she telling you?’ He said she was telling him, and according to Ibinabo, Tekena’s sister said the police people were there at the incident scene. “The police officer taking his statement then asked him, ‘Which police people? What kind of police people are you talking about that were there?’ That was when I got up in anger and left.” She added that George too has called her on phone and “told me exactly what Ibinabo said. So that is really what happened. Even George said he was present when they were beating them, but when they asked them (the victims) if they knew George, they all said no in order to protect him, because if they said they knew him, he would have also been lynched with them. So they actually saved his life. And George also told me that he saw policemen there.” Mrs. Rhoda Edokpe, Tuku’s aunty, who accompanied Lloyd’s parents to the police station, told Saturday Mirror that “I was downstairs at the police station and my sister and her husband were upstairs and I saw some policemen being told by another that they should all write similar statements. “It was when my sister and her husband came down and told me that some policemen from Aluu community were brought to Port Harcourt to give statements on the incident that it occurred to me that they were conspiring to ensure that they all wrote the same thing.” Mrs. Mike added: “When I got to the scene where my son was killed that Friday, I stood there and was singing and praising God, because the Bible told us to give thanks to God in all things. But this seeming attempt by the police to manipulate the investigation is getting me angry. The police are supposed to protect us, but it appears that they were there and did not do anything to prevent the killing of my son and his friends.” When Saturday Mirror contacted Mr. Ugwuegbulam, Rivers Police PRO, he said he was not aware that Ibinabo was brought by his father to the police headquarters to make his statement, or that policemen serving in Aluu were summoned to the headquarters to make statements about what they knew about the incident. He however promised to keep Saturday Mirror abreast of any new developments.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

Saturday Starter Olawale Omote

Tekena

Ugonna

Chukwuma Okpokiri

Lloyd

Ikechukwu

Like a recurring decimal, the issue of extra judicial killing again reared its ugly head last week. Four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) were beaten and burnt alive in Aluu, the host community of the university. Though the gruesome and barbaric murder of the four young men has been roundly condemned by all, the fact still remains that jungle justice is alive and well in Nigeria. The UNIPORT killings have again brought to the fore so many factors necessitating communities to employ self help in providing security for themselves: an untrained gang of youths parading themselves as vigilance group. Will the death of these four young men roasted on pyres of burning tyres even while still alive by a baying mob and watched by indifferent spectators put an end to such killings in the land?

Chidiaka

Lost to jungle justice T

he world, not only Nigeria, was aghast when the story filtered out last Friday. Four youths, all undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), had been arrested and lynched by a vigilance group in their host community – Omuokiri-Aluu, River State. The hapless young men reportedly stole some laptop computers and cell phones. They, according to their captors and killers, were also members of a cult. Of course, there were diverse reports of their alleged crimes. Like the stench oozing from the burning flesh of Tekena Erikena (School of Basic Studies); Mike Lloyd Toku (Year Two Civil Engineering); Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor (Year Two Geology); and Biringa Chidiaka Lordson (Year Two Theatre Arts), as their still living bodies smouldered in the bonfire made by the baying mob the air was thick with the chilling news and most who heard twitch their noses in disgust. Nigeria has done it again. The country has again written her name on another page of the infamous book of chilling, blood curling acts of man’s inhumanity to man

Sylvester

where value for human life is at its cheapest. The internet and the new media went agog and fed fat on the news. The gory video of the incident was splashed on almost all sites. Shortly after, it was discovered that the story spurned by the community of the murdered boys being thieves and members of a cult might not be true after all. The father of one of the victims, Onyema Biringa, said to be a senior manager at the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), told reporters that his son would never steal what he and his friends were accused of stealing explaining that Chiadikobi, the first of his four children had owned a laptop and blackberry phone from his primary school days. “I have handed over the murderers to God. The Nigerian government needs to look into this case seriously, as the rate of Jungle justice within this country must end,” Mrs. Jane Toku, is the mother of Lloyd, one of the four. She vouched for her son’s and his friends’ innocence insisting that he was a Christian. She challenged journalists to “Come to my area and ask questions about my child; the child I trained. Penultimate Sunday, we went to church, Salvation Ministry; that is where he worshipped. We all went together for the second service. He stayed back for the remaining service. When he came back, he started preparing to go to school. I can still see him as I talk to you. “He brought out a book; ‘How Faith Works’ by David Ibiyomie and he said ‘Mummy, read this book and you will know what faith is all about. By the time I come back on Friday, you will tell me what faith is all about.’ CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Saturday Starter

Vigilance groups and jungle justice CONTINUED FROM 3 “Ever since, I have been moving around with that book, so that I could read and not get him angry when he comes back from school and ask me about what I learnt from the book. “Thursday was his daddy’s birthday. He (Lloyd) called him and wished him happy birthday. When his daddy asked him if he would be coming home to celebrate the birthday with the family, he (Lloyd) promised to be back on Friday after lectures. “But on Friday morning, we got the call that my son was being beaten. How can I erase the fact that my son was lynched from my mind? He studied very hard and got admission into the university.” The police, according to state Police Commissioner, Mr Mohammed Ndabawa, swung into action and arrested 11 persons including the traditional head of Omuokiri-Aluu community, Chief Alhaji Hassan Walewa. They were subsequently arraigned at the High Court in Port Harcourt over the brutal murder of the four young men. There was also worldwide condemnation of the action of the community’s action and the apparent lackadaisical attitude of onlookers with nobody or group obviously coming forward to prevent the killing. The community came out with a defence. They insisted the act was done in self defence. Vigilance groups were raised in the town to protect the residents against the onslaught of criminals who had made the palce their haven. An indigene of Aluu, Barrister Okachi Ordu, who spoke with the press said that the community has not been well treated in the reports made to the world. Ordu, who blamed the government for the upsurge in criminal activities in the area, said the community had been facing some security challenges, which made them to write to the Inspector-General of Police, requesting for a police Division in the community, instead of a police post. He hinged the rise in crime on government’s decision to use the Man O’ war camp in the community to rehabilitate some ex-militants. “Since the arrival of the ex-militants here, the crime rate has increased. They rob, rape and even kill. Cult activities thrive here. We have been crying out to the police but nobody listened to us. Just a month ago, they shot and killed two men who were driving in a Toyota Camry. The crimes are committed by strangers. Our customs and tradition forbids spilling of blood. Government should share from the blame,” he added. Vigilance groups are not a new phenomenon in the country neither are their extra judicial killings. The sad and unfortunate case of the Aluu Four, as they are now called, has only brought to the fore once again the menace of untrained men and groups saddled with the prodigious task of security watch. Individuals, groups and organisations especially ethnic national groups like MASSOB, Egbesu, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Bakkassi Boys and others have in the past and up till now being saddled with the responsibility of performing vigilance and security work in neighbourhoods especially in the absence of the police or in instances of glaring inadequacies of the regular law enforcement agencies. Born out of necessity to protect society from the evil machinations of armed robbers and other criminals, civil and ethnic militia groups however became notorious in the way they meted out justice to their arrested suspects. For instance, Lateef Akinpelu aka Obey and others set ablaze Wasiu Ajose at Mushin on 26 June, 2010. They were alleged to be members of the OPC. Yussuff Olawale was allegedly killed by OPC on Sunday, 16 October, 2011 at Surulere, Lagos.

An angry mob

Saliu Saheed Okeboyelu, Adekunle Raheem aka Adex, Jide Sunny and Musibau Garuba were charged to court for the murder of Ahmed Balogun on 22 April, 2011. On Sunday October 16, 2011 night, there was pandemonium in Oduduwa Street, Aguda in Lagos State as a result of the death of a 24-year-old businessman, Yusuf Balogun, who corpse was discovered at a bar known as Jelz. The deceased, who was the only son of his parents, was alleged to have been killed by members of OPC attached to a hotel which was about 40metres to Jelz Bar, where Yusuf was shot dead. On February 29, 2012, a suspected member of OPC known as “Ultimate” was reported to have allegedly killed an employee of Etisalat, Chukwuma Eze, in the Ejigbo area of Lagos State during an argument over N10 toll. On the day the Eze was killed, it was gathered that the deceased told the collectors that he had only N1, 000 denominations with him and offered it to one of the collectors who asked him to come back for his balance. Reports said that the 33-year-old Eze who was billed to perform his marriage ceremony around April was killed after he demanded for balance from the N1,000 he earlier gave to members of the congress as toll across the bridge. The death of the deceased sparked off protest as an angry mob attacked his assailants, killing one of them in retaliation. On August 31, 2012 Ogun State Police Command arrested the coordinator of OPC in Ifo, simply identified as Alabede Baaki. He was alleged to have shot a member of the group, Haruna Babajide during a charm-trial exercise in Ifo in Ogun State. Ogor Bakassi Group, a vigilance group in Delta State, allegedly killed Prophet Ovie Omote. Mr. Sunday Ani aka Wowo was killed by the notorious Abia State Vigilante Service popularly known as Bakassi Boys. Eddie Okeke was arrested in November 2000 by the Bakassi Boys at his home in Nawgu, Anambra State. They allegedly detained and tortured him at their headquarters at the White House in Onitsha and then killed him. He was 43 years old at the time of his death and left behind a wife and eight children, the youngest born eight months after his death. Chief Ezeodumegwu G. Okonkwo, a politician and

musician, and chairman of the All People’s Party (APP) for the local government of Nnewi South, in Anambra State, was abducted and killed by the Bakassi Boys in February 2001. Aged 41, he had three wives and 11 children. He was a well-known political figure in his local area and was unafraid of denouncing abuses, including those committed by powerful figures in the community. His case illustrates the political dimension of the Bakassi Boys’ activities, as well as the escalation of a local dispute into one which ended up involving the state authorities. In another case, Ifeanyi Ibegbu, leader of the opposition All People’s Party (APP) in the Anambra State House of Assembly, was abducted and tortured by the Bakassi Boys in August 2000. He was, however, saved by the intervention of the Inspector General of Police. On 29 May, 2001, in one of the most serious cases, 36 alleged armed robbers were killed by the Bakassi Boys in Onitsha. Some of them had reportedly been detained for several weeks beforehand. They were publicly killed with axes and machetes, mutilated and set on fire, in several different locations. One of the most prominent victims of torture by the Bakassi Boys in Imo State was Bishop Alex Ezeugo Ekewuba, founder of the Overcomers Church in Owerri, who was detained and tortured on June 8, 2001. He was alleged to have been targeted as a perceived political opponent of the state government. On 7 July 2000, Bonaventure Chiedozie Egbuawa, a human rights activist in his 30’s, was detained by OTA in Onitsha, taken to their headquarters at the White House, tortured and killed. His body was never recovered. But Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, founder of OPC said: “The MASSOB, OPC, Egbesu boys are highly trained. Those who have had the opportunities of acquaintance with their services know that they are quite capable. If they are not why would the police solicit for their assistance when needed?” However, Ikechukwu Ayo Aduba, Commissioner of Police, Delta State insisted that: “There are limitations to the powers that vigilance groups could wield. Since policemen may not be able to be present at every location of a given area, the vigilance groups serve as support service to policemen and if they were able to make arrest of any suspects, they are not empowered to punish the suspects, but hand such suspects to the police for appropriate action.”

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

Saturday Starter

Nobody is above the law – Fasehun Dr. Fredricks Fasehun, President of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), spoke with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE on extra-judicial killings and other matters. Excerpts:

s it right to be using ethnic group militias as security agents? I don’t think it is right. You can have recourse to security outfits that have had various forms of training on how to handle miscreants and robbers. I don’t think it is quite safe to just get anybody from anywhere to come and provide security. But we have had cases of OPC,

Bakassi Boys, Egbesu members being used as night guards. Are you saying that those people should not be employed as security agents? They are highly trained outfit. The MASSOB, OPC, Egbesu boys are highly trained and those who have had the opportunities of acquaintance with their services know that they are quite capable. If they are not capable why would the regular police solicit for their assistance when needed? But these people have been accused of extra judicial killings? sIf there has been any extra-judicial killing, then you can take them to court. Nobody is above the law.

Fasehun

Aluu killing is wrong

Prince Idowu Ajiserere is a community leader based in Somolu, Lagos State

ow do you see the killing of four UNIPORT students by Aluu indigenes? What they did is very bad. To me the leader of that community is not a good leader because if he is a good leader he will not allow such barbaric act to happen.

bring more problems to the nation.

Is it right to be using ethnic militias such as OPC, Bakassi boys, Egbesu boys and others as security agents and night guards? We are not civilised enough in Nigeria to be using ethnic militias as security agents. Many of those in OPC, Bakassi and others groups today are forced into joining the organisations because of poverty, therefore using them as security agents or night guards will

Should ethnic militias be prevented from functioning as security agents? Yes. Many of them are not credible people and they are not merciful. So anybody that is not merciful cannot be trusted with security of lives and properties. It is only those who are trustworthy that can secure a society effectively.

Vigilance groups should be civil They are basically to protect lives and property. They compliment the efforts of the police in reducing crime in the society. But, as you know, their equipment are not as sophisticated as those of the police. And let me say that they don’t have the power to kill. Once they arrest, they hand over the suspect to the police. The vigilance group in any community cannot operate without the knowledge of the police. There is a procedure: When you employ them, you go and register their weapons with the police. So, nobody can just bring any weapon to the community under the guise of being a member of vigilance group.

Mr. Waheed Lawal, Chairman, Ajumoni Community Estate’s Community Development Area, IjokoLemode, Ifo Local Government, Ogun State, speaks on how to avoid the excesses of vigilance groups. Excerpts:

o you employ the services of vigilance group in your area and what has been your experience with them? Yes we do. At different times, we employ their services basically to ensure the security of lives and property. Talking about our experiences with them, I would say it has been fair so far. Of course, we had had some bad times with them and there are some good aspects of our relationship. We had had cases of vigilance groups taking laws into their hands and harassing those they are employed to protect. Have you had such an experience in your community? We had had things like that happen in our community before. Some members of the community coming in would be stopped and harassed. But that was in the past. The way some members of vigilance group carry out their duties Lawal is quite unprofessional. At times, they go beyond their bounds. But the crop Have there been cases of very seriof people that we have as members of ous harassment or killings by memvigilance group in our area now are rebers of the vigilance group in your sponsible people. They don’t behave like area, leading to protest? thugs. So, far, they can curtail their exNo. There has not been any major cesses. case. This is not to say that it had not

happened at one time or the other like I said earlier. What, specifically, would you say is the duty of the vigilance group and how much power can they wield?

Against the backdrop of killings by vigilance groups in some areas, how best do you think their services can be improved to prevent unnecessary loss of lives? We should try and obey stated rules in the community. People should return home early so as to avoid being “harassed” by member of the vigilance group. Where it is unavoidable to come late, once they stop you, wait and answer their questions. For instance, if they don’t allow “okada” in at a particular time because of the havoc perpetrated with it, stick to the rule to avoid embarrassment. On the part of members of the vigilance group, they should also see the wisdom in truly protecting those that they are being paid to save. They should be very civil about the discharge of their duties.

NATIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Bakassi: Why FG refused to appeal ruling OUR REPORTER

acts have emerged that the refusal of the Federal Government to appeal the October 10, 2002 judgement of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, that ceded Bakassi to Cameroon, was purely for political considerations. It would be recalled that the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, had on Tuesday October 9, foreclosed the possibility of an appeal against the vexed ICJ verdict, when he pointed out that, Nigeria might not have assembled any fresh facts to warrant an appeal. However, Saturday Mir-

ror learnt from a highlyplaced source that government’s decision not to seek a review of the fate of the people of Bakassi, was political, to say the least. According to the impeccable source, “The fate of Bakassi would have been different had it been a component of one of the majority ethnic groups in the country. Otherwise, what would Nigeria have lost, if she filed an appeal for a review?” Adoke had dashed the hope of persuading the ICJ sitting in the Hague to review its October 10, 2002, in a statement to newsmen. Part of the statement reads: “The Statute of the International Court of Justice provides that the Judgment of the Court is

final and without appeal. However, following the Resolutions of both Houses of the National Assembly calling on the Executive to take steps to apply for a review of the judgment, His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR called a stakeholders meeting comprising the leadership of the National Assembly, the Governors of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, the Members of the National Assembly from both states, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director General, National Boundary Commission to review the situation.

“The Stakeholders Meeting after due deliberations constituted a Committee comprising of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Director General, National Boundary Commission and Members of the National Assembly namely: Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, SAN, CON; Hon. Dr. Ali Ahmed and Hon Nnena Ukaje to examine all the issues in contention and available options for Nigeria including, but not limited to the application for review of the ICJ Judgment, appropriate political and diplomatic solutions. “Although the judgment of the ICJ is final and not

Members of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in a public enlightenment campaign parade, recently.

FG, others share N567bn in Sept

• ECA rises to $8.4bn TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

he three tiers of government yesterday shared a total of N566.5 billion for the month of September from Statutory, Value Added, SURE-P and refunds from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) even as the accruals to the Excess Crude Account (ECA) rose to $8.46 billion. Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Lawan Ngama, who briefed newsmen at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, said the gross revenue of N594.7 billion for the month was higher than the

N564.884billion received in the previous month by N29.6billion due to a rise in crude oil production and an increase in the price of crude oil in the international market. The minister stated: “Income from oil rose by N52.4 billion to N504.2 billion in September from the previous month. The distributable statutory revenue for the month is N453.9billion and that due to the shortfall, there was augmentation of N13.008 billion, VAT was N56.3billion. “In addition, the sum of N35.5billion is also proposed for distribution under the SURE-P Programme. Also distributable is the N7.6billion refunded by NNPC.

“The policy government is pursuing is to raise the balance in the account to a certain level of not less than $10billion. This is to ensure that at any time the government has enough revenue to take care of the allocations for at least two months”, Ngama said. The rise in the ECA to $8.4 billion, up from the $8.03 billion accrued as at the end of August 2012 was due to the transfer of N1.24 billion to the account in September. It would be recalled that the federal government, through consensual agreement with other tiers of government, set a $10 billion target for the ECA by the end of the year as part of steps being taken to achieve a stronger finan-

cial system stability and create a strong buffer for the economy in the face of the increasing volatility of the international oil market and depressive signals from the global economic environment. At the June FAAC meeting, the Minister of State had stated the need to shore up the ECA base in view of the ugly debt crisis situation in the Euro zone, Asian and American economies had become imperative for the country. The minister said: “The Excess Crude Account is supposed to serve as a buffer for the economy. Whenever available revenue is not up to the budgeted figure, government will augment for the health of the economy.

subject to appeal, the ICJ Statute provides for circumstances under which its judgment can be reviewed. The relevant provisions are… “The Committee proceeded to examine the case for revision against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute and was constrained to observe from the oral presentations made to it by the proponents of the revision that the strict requirements of Article 61 could not be satisfied. This is because their presentation was unable to show that Nigeria has discovered a decisive fact that was unknown to her before the ICJ judgment, which is capable of swaying the Court to decide in its favour. This is more so as most of the issues canvassed in support of the case for a revision of the ICJ judgment had been canvassed and pronounced upon by the ICJ in its 2002 judgment. “ The Federal Government also retained a firm of international legal practitioners to advise on the merits and demerits of the case for revision. The firm after considering all the materials that were placed at its disposal against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute came to the reasoned conclusion that “an application for a review is virtually bound

to fail“ and that “a failed application will be diplomatically damaging to Nigeria”. “ In view of the foregoing, the Federal Government is of the informed view that with less than two days to the period when the revision will be statute barred (9th October, 2012), it would be impossible for Nigeria to satisfy the requirements of Articles 61(1) -(5) of the ICJ Statute. Government has therefore decided that it will not be in the national interest to apply for revision of the 2002 ICJ Judgment in respect of the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria.” In a swift reaction to the AGF’s statement Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba said: “I wish we had taken the opportunity of the window for review. Now I can only hope and pray that time and history will vindicate Government’s position”. Another Senior Advocate, Sir Mike Ahamba noted that, “Nigerians must learn that there is always merit in being honourable. Since Nigeria submitted to the International Court of Justice when she had the option not to submit, honour demands that we respect the court’s decision. Why did Nigeria and Nigerians suddenly remember it now?”

Keystone Bank announces new MD/CEO

ollowing the sudden resignation of Mr Oti Ikomi yesterday as the MD/CEO of Keystone Bank, the bank’s Board today appointed Dr. Shehu K. Muhammad as the acting Managing Director/ Chief

Executive Officer. Muhammad was until his appointment the Executive Director, Corporate Banking at the bank. His appointment was announced in a statement by the bank’s Head of Corporate Communications.

Labour leader advises FG on 2013 budget

r John Kolawole, General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), wants the Federal Government to implement the provisions of the 2013 budget to enhance the achievement of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda. Commenting on the budget proposals in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, in Lagos, Kola-

wole lauded the allocations to the various sectors. ``The allocations to the various sectors of the economy are good; we want the government not only to present an annual laudable budget but to ensure its implementation. ``We also want the National Assembly (NASS) to ensure quick passage of the budget since it has already been presented to a joint session of the NASS,’’ Kolawole said.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NATIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Police kill one over demolition exercise OMEIZA AJAYI

t was a bloody weekend yesterday when some residents of NEPA Junction in Apo, Abuja, resisted the demolition of their property by officials of the Department of Development Control, Federal Capital Territory Administration. The FCT officials were supported by a team of fully armed anti-riot policemen. Consequently, a 20-year old lady, identified as Lucy was hit in the chest by a police bullet which penetrated the wall of a photo shop where she worked as a sales girl. She was said to have been rushed to Garki Hospital where she was certified dead.

Residents of the area who are predominantly indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory had vehemently resisted the exercise describing it as unfair since they were yet to be effectively resettled. The residents also claimed the case was still in court and that their leaders had advised them not to relocate pending the outcome of the case. The stiff resistance by the residents, Saturday Mirror gathered, made the police team to call for a reinforcement and in less than five minutes there were sporadic shootings, making the residents run for dear lives. Unfortunately, one of the bullets reportedly penetrated the shop where the victim was and hit her around the chest.

Gabriel Inalegwu, a Police Officer in the FCT Command of the Nigeria Police however stated that the police had already launched an investigation into the matter. “We are not sure what took our men there or what led to the shooting, its still a matter for investigation”, he said. Speaking, the owner of the photo shop where Lucy was shot, Emeka Ani, said, “Police surrounded our area. They said they came for demolition. All of a sudden they started to shoot anyhow. Through that shooting, they shot through my shop glass and look at the result (pointing at the dead girl). “She is my sales girl and they have shot her to death. Even my boy too sustained some injury

through the gun shot. She has been with me for barely a month now. Her sister brought her to me from Cross River.” On his own account, the national coordinator of Greater Gbyagi Initiative, Gimba Baiza, described the incident as wicked. He said, “I was going to the office when I got a call from some of our members that the police from SARS (Special Anti Robbery Squad) came with plenty vehicles to surround the village for demolition. “It is true they have given us a resettlement site but it’s not adequate and that’s why some of us are still here. However, the case is still in court “Above all, the constitutional review is on and issues concerning indigenes will be treated. Why can’t

Executive Secretary, Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (middle), with members of House Committee on Foreign Affairs during an inspection of NCPC pilgrims reception camp in Abuja, recently.

Farmers sue Shell over N’Delta pollution

our Nigerian farmers and the environmental group Friends of the Earth took oil giant Shell to court Thursday in the Netherlands to demand a proper cleanup and compensation for pollution in the Niger Delta. The farmers want the Anglo-Dutch multinational to “clean up the oil pollution in their fields and fishponds” and make sure their pipelines are maintained and kept secure to prevent leaks in the future. The civil case has been filed against the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), and its international headquarters in the Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell. Based on “years of

oil pollution in three villages in the Niger Delta,” it could have “major legal consequences internationally,” the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, known locally as Milieudefensie, said in a statement ahead of the first hearing. The three villages concerned are Goi, hit by a spill in 2004, Oruma, affected by a spill a year later, and Ikot Ada Udo, hit by various spills in 2007, according to Friends of the Earth. Shell argued that it had cleaned up the spills to the satisfaction of the Nigerian authorities, and had no case to answer. But Friends of the Earth said that oil pollution had had a devastating and continuing impact on vegetation, water supplies and lo-

cal fishing ponds. The campaign group said that was the first time a Dutch company had been brought before a court in the Netherlands over environmental damage caused abroad. “It is also the first time that the headquarters of a multinational concern on the European continent has been summoned to appear in court for environmental or human rights violations in a developing country,” it said. Shell insisted it was “committed to cleaning up all spills from its facilities” and blamed saboteurs who stole oil from its pipelines for much of the environmental damage. “The real tragedy of the Niger Delta is the

widespread and continual criminal activity, including sabotage, theft and illegal refining, that causes the vast majority of oil spills,” Shell spokesman Jonathan French said in a statement Thursday. “It is this criminality which all organisations with an interest in Nigeria’s future should focus their efforts on highlighting and addressing.” French said that Shell had cleaned up three leaks at three locations, from 2004 to 2007, which were caused by sabotage. The court is expected to hear from both sides in the case Thursday and will probably deliver a verdict late this year or early in 2013, Friends of the Earth said.

they wait for the outcome? Why are they in a hurry? “You cannot take peoples land, their culture

and heritage and still turn around to kill them. Please government should give us a listening ear.”

UNIPORT 4: Community blames non-indigenes • Demands release of paramount ruler CHINEDUM EMEANA PORT HARCOURT

lu, the community in which four students of the University of Port Harcourt were killed about a week has spoken on the incident: “The students were killed by non-indigenes” The leaders of the communities, in a statement on Friday, said the “the area where the late students were accosted by the so-called faceless vigilantes is not the area inhabited by natives but students and non indigenes”. The community leaders claimed that the arrests so far made by security agencies buttressed their position that no Aluu indigene was involved in the murder of the four students. The community said the paramount ruler of the Omuokiri , Chief Hassan Walewa, was invited “merely in his capacity as the paramount of the community where the act took place.” In the statement signed by Chief Richard Kalu,

chairman of Aluu Council of Chiefs; Mr. Emmanuel Wawhor, chairman Ogbakor Aluu and Mr. Gershon Benson, spokesman of Aluu Community, expressed surprise that the paramount ruler of the community was still in detention till date. They added that they did not understand the reason for his continued incarceration. “We hereby demand for his prompt release and urge the security agencies to stop further harassment, mass arrest of innocent Aluu people and go for the actual perpetrators of the crime and subsequently bring them to justice”, they demanded. The statement, which condemned the killings as well as condoling with the bereaved families, reassured the public of the “non-violent nature of Aluu people which can be attested to by many highly placed Nigerians including the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Governor of Rivers State, who were once students of the University of Port Harcourt”.

Police arraign 2 over alleged N6.3m fraud

wo men, Samuel Ajayi, 65, and Omitoogun Jimoh, 54, on Friday appeared before an Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court over alleged N6.3 million fraud, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. According to the prosecutor, Mr Paul Etusi, the offence was committed on Aug.18 at Iwe-Iroyin, OkeIlewo in Abeokuta. He said the accused persons posed as car dealers and obtained 6.3 million from one Mrs Olubunmi Oyebola under the pretence of helping her to buy two buses. ``Ajayi and Omitoogun said they are car dealers and promised to help her to buy two buses for commercial use. ``They collected the

money from her and never contacted her again,” he said. Etusi said the offences were contrary to Sections 516, 419 and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code of Ogun. The accused persons, who were represented by Mr Ola Ogundeyi, however, pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge of fraud, conspiracy and stealing. The defence counsel applied for their bail in liberal terms, assuring the court that they would not jump bail. Chief Magistrate Ayoadele Ayobolu granted the accused persons bail in the sum of N1 million with two sureties in like sum. She adjourned the case to Nov. 12, for further hearing.

NATIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

ASUU, AGF oppose constitutional role for traditional rulers …As Senate assures submissions‘ll be treated seriously GEORGE OJI AND EMMANUEL ONANI ABUJA

he two-day national public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on constitutional review ended in Abuja yesterday with appeals by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and members of the Academic Staff of Universities Union (ASUU) not to assign any constitutional roles to traditional rulers in the new constitution. The AGF explained that its position was informed by its conviction that the

inclusion of traditional institutions in the constitution would make them more involved in politics than their traditional roles, while ASUU said its opposition was based on the association’s desire to maintain the sanctity of the traditional institution. While ASUU’s position was presented by Professor Demola Oladepo, that of the AGF was articulated by one Bassey Etta Eyo, Chief Legal Draftsman, Ministry of Justice. Also, both ASUU and the office of the AGF voted for the inclusion of the six geo-political zone arrangement in the new

constitution, since the zones are being recognised by the Acts of the National Assembly, providing for composition of some governing councils, boards of parastatals or commissions to reflect memberships from the six geo-political zones. In addition, the duo were on the same page on the issue of devolution of powers from the federal, states and local government areas through the composition of the legislative lists as follows, exclusive, concurrent and state legislative lists. There was also a convergence of position by

the two bodies on the abrogation of the state/ local government joint accounts, to allow local government direct access to their federation account. On its part, the AGF expressed opposition to the proposed abrogation of the immunity clause in the constitution, urging that, ”The immunity clause should be retained in the constitution otherwise the incumbent office holders will be so distracted and will not be able to focus on governance.” It also advocated that the constitution of the supreme court should be in-

L-R: National Union of Journalist, National Secretary, Shuaibu Liman; Treasurer, Fatimah Abdulkareem, and President, Mohammed Garba, during a news conference on 2013 budget proposals, security and flood disaster, in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Women more prone to mental illness than men –Experts SEKINAH LAWAL

call has gone to Nigerian women to be conscious of symptoms of depression as they are more predisposed to depression than men. The call was made on Friday at a public lecture organised by Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (MWAPA) in collaboration with Pfizer Plc to mark the Mental Health Week. According to the duo of Dr. Oluwafemi Oluwatayo, Consultant Psychiatrist, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, UK and Dr. Rotimi Coker, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, more women are prone to depression due to their hormonal make-up and being more emotional

in nature. “Some forms of depression are linked with the female hormone and the stress many women go through as a result of pregnancy, childcare, career, pre-menstrual and post-menopausal symptoms, need to support their husbands and expected societal roles are enough to depress some of them,” Dr. Oluwatayo explained. Also, Dr. Coker made it known that cases of mental illnesses were increasing on daily basis and much more disabling than other illnesses. He cited many cases of suicide attempts in Lagos in recent times of people wanting to jump into the Lagoon and the one by a mother of new-born twins in Osun State on Thursday. He therefore urged people to seek help from

trusted people like clerics, nurses, doctors and psychiatrists if they notice signs of lack of concentration, excessive weight gain or loss, lack of sleep or too much sleep, feeling of guilt, loss of self-esteem, not enjoying what used to give joy, suicidal attempts among others. Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, MWAPA, Mrs. Risqat Akiode, reiterated the ministry’s readiness to ensure better health and living conditions for women in the state and urged women to watch out for the abovementioned symptoms of depression, pass the information to others in mosques, churches, markets and other fora as well as encourage them to seek help on time as mental illness is not demonic but treatable.

Dr. Oluwatayo disclosed that children were not left out too as it happens more in children of school age with signs of social withdrawal, lack of concentration, conduct disorder, irritability among others. Other factors that cause depression include heavy traffic and poverty Over two million people living in Lagos State are said to be suffering from one form of mental disorder or the other. Dr. Coker said, “mental, neurological and substance abuse account for 14 per cent of the global burden of diseases according to recent studies.” According to the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Femi Olugbile, in Lagos, an average of 14.1 per cent of the total Lagos population suffer from one form of mental illness or the other.

creased to eleven justices provided that it would sit as a full court when considering an appeal where any person is sentenced to death by the court of appeal among other situations. Other groups and individuals also presented their position papers to the committee yesterday before the committee

wound up the public hearing. Leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba, while declaring the event closed urged all those who could not present their position to the national event to ensure they used the opportunity of the zonal public hearings, which have been slated for November 15 and 16 to do so.

Why 200 LASTMA, KAI officials embark on field project-Lagos MURITALA AYINLA

he Lagos State government yesterday gave reasons for engaging 200 officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA and the Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI in a field project on some notable gridlock areas in the state. According to the state government, the officers were assigned to undergo field project in order to proffer lasting solutions to the traffic bottleneck which has become a common feature of some of the roads in the state. The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Transport Education, Dr. Mariam Masha, who gave the reason, said the field work was part of the ongoing intensive Career Evaluating Training Programme which the law enforcement officers had been undergoing in the last one month. She added that the thrust of the field project

was to adopt practical approach to the recurrent traffic snag in the state metropolis, adding that the research work will also complement their theoretical aspect of the training. Masha said the law enforcement officers, having completed their two weeks in-class training had begun their field projects which was a critical component of the training exercise. She said: “We grouped and assigned specific areas in Lagos with various traffic and environmental challenges that need to be addressed. Their tasks are to develop plans to address these challenges and work with the community to effect positive change and promote law and order. “This project will form a significant part of their assessment. We humbly request the general public who are being served to appreciate their work by providing an enabling environment for the officers to help serve them better.”

TACSFON celebrates reunion TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

he alumni of The Apostolic Church Students’ Fellowship of Nigeria (TACSFON), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State chapter, are set to mark the silver jubilee edition of its reunion. In a statement made available and signed by the anniversary’s General Secretary, Mr. Ezekiel Ayeni, the group described the silver jubilee of the reunion

programme as a landmark in the annals of the fellowship and the OAU community. Part of the statement reads: “It’s been a long journey since 1987 when the reunion started. Now it is the 25th edition of God’s faithfulness upon TACSFON OAU Alumni all over the world. “This is to call on all TACSFON OAU alumni to come around for this special edition where we can reignite our strategies and renew our strength before God.

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NATIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Tukur, Nyako faceoff: PDP suspends N’ East national vice chairman • Dubs ACN tribal party

OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

he national vice chairman, North East, of the People’s Democratic Party, Alhaji Girigiri Lawal, has become the first major casualty of the power tussle between the national chairman of the party and Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, as he has been suspended for one month for anti-party activities. The National Executive Committee of the PDP said Lawal had to proceed on immediate suspension for breaching Articles 51(1) (b) (c) (h) of the constitution of the party which stipulates its position in matters concerning congresses into state and wards. The party also said that punitive actions was in fur-

therance of the resolve of the leadership of the Party to entrench discipline at all levels. In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, PDP said “following the breach of the constitution of the party by Alhaji Girigiri, he was invited by the National Working Committee for preliminary hearing in accordance with Article 57(3) of the constitution of the PDP. “After the preliminary hearing, the National Working Committee resolved to suspend Alhaji Girigiri Lawal for a period of one month with effect from October, 12 , 2012.The matter has been referred to the National Disciplinary Committee of our party for further action. “The National Working

Committee wishes to emphasise that the issue of discipline is paramount to building a virile party. It therefore expects that the custodians of the constitution of the party be they elected or appointed as well as all members should live by example and adhere to the provisions of the constitution of the party.” It would be recalled that only last week the national headquarters of the PDP suspended the congresses held in Adamawa where members loyal to Gov. Nyako were returned as valid state executive of the party, a development which both Tukur and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have condemned. In a separate statement, PDP describes the comments of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN,

governorship candidate in Ondo State, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, that the ACN was a party for the people of the South-West as nepotistic and reprehensible. PDP stated that although it was common knowledge that the ACN was a regional party it remained condemnable that a governorship candidate would deliberately weep up clannish sentiments for cheap political gains. He added that what Nigeria needed at all times was national integration and not ethnic chauvinism. The National Publicity Secretary stated that with the comments the ACN had reinforced it’s image as a party willing to pander to the whims and caprices of tribal lords and tyrants who had continued to lord it over members.

Flood relief fund: Why Lagos deserves “A” status –Ashafa MURITALA AYINLA

lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Senator ‘Gbenga Ashafa, has appealed to the Federal Government to consider Lagos State for category “A” in the flood relief fund owing to the perennial incidence of floods frequently recorded in the state. The lawmaker who faulted placement of Lagos State in the second category of severely affected states in the recent floods that ravaged many communities across the country, said the state deserved category ‘A’ status. He argued that the geographical location of the state and the frequent opening of Oyan Dam made Lagos State prone to perennial flooding that usually wreck havoc on the residents of low-line areas in the state. Ashafa appealed to the Federal Government to enlist the state among the severely affected states owing to recurrent cases of flooding in the state which destroys properties worth millions of Naira. Reacting to the nationwide broadcast by President Goodluck Jonathan

on Flood Relief Fund to all states of the federation, including the FCT, Ashafa said that placing Lagos State in category “B” was absolutely unacceptable to the good people of Lagos State. He insisted that the state deserved to be placed in category “A”. His words: “Long before the recent incidents of floods caused by excessive torrential rains, I have clamoured repeatedly and extensively that due to the fact that Lagos State is about 5m below sea level and surrounded by lakes, creeks and rivers, it is extremely prone to flooding. In addition, due to the heavy rains, excess water from the Oyan Dam is regularly released so that the Dam does not give way. “This displaces thousands of families each time and floods places such as Ketu, Ikosi, Mile 12, Owode, Isheri, Agiliti, Ikorodu and Itokin areas etc. There have also been confirmed reports of loss of lives.” He added that to worsen the situation, the excess rains consistently cause the Atlantic Ocean to surge, causing the commercial heart of Nigeria to be at a standstill and crippling commerce.

Group campaigns against child marriage JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

L-R: Former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin; his wife, Appolonia and Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, at PHOTO: NAN the pulling out parade in honour of Petinrin in Abuja , yesterday.

Duke signs Performance Agreement with heads of agencies MARCUS FATUNMOLE AND IJEOMA EZEIKE ABUJA

inister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, has signed Performance Agreement with all heads of parastatals in the ministry. Signing the agreement in Abuja, yesterday, Duke called on the officials to brace up and live up to the expectations of the Nigerian populace. He noted that the exercise was a reminder of their commitment to service delivery for the com-

mon good of Nigerians and indeed the transformation agenda of the President. “What this requires of us is to redouble our productive efforts, be more professional, accountable, transparent and focused,” the minister declared. Duke also noted that top officials of the ministry had met with the National Planning Commission and agreed on a number of key performance indicators that would help them keep on track. “It was on the basis of the key performance indicators which you all agreed to that I signed on your behalf a Performance Agreement with Mr. President.

Today, in turn, you have signed that same agreement with me as a reminder of what the President expects from each and every one of us and collectively from our sector. The performance agreement that has been signed by each one of us today is part of the process aimed at ensuring that we deliver on our mandate and responsibilities to Nigerian citizens,” the minister stressed. He also added that: “Having gone through the process, we have become better exposed to the critical need for better understanding of our mandate, strategic and operational planning

and the need to focus on result delivery. The process would provide the missing link between planning and budgeting in such a manner that provides the basis for performance-based budgeting that will tie our budget to our capacity to deliver on agreed mandate, based on clear, concrete and evidence-based results. There is no going back. Nigerians expect a better and a more robust Tourism and National Orientation sector that supports their aspirations in areas of employment, wealth creation and income generation. That is what each of you must see as your primary goals.”

ivil Society Action Coalition on Education for All, a civil society organisation committed to socio-economic advocacy, has called for an immediate end to child marriage in the country and other parts of the world. The group made the call at a media briefing on Thursday in Abuja as part of the activities it organised to mark the International Day of the Girl Child. Speaking at the event, Deputy Director of the society, Mrs Ifeoma Monwuba, observed that a girl child was a powerful agent of change for a better world of equal opportunities. According to her, statistics showed that globally, about 36 million girls of school age are not in school and Nigeria accounts for over 6 million of this.

Millions of girl’s rights, she said, are violated; and all these prompted United Nations to set aside this day as international day of girl child. Monwuba stressed that the international day of girl child “gives people and organisations the opportunity to raise awareness on different types of discrimination and abuses that many girls around the world suffer.” She also disclosed that nearly half of Nigerian women became mother even before age of 18 which she said was against the legal age for marriage stipulated in the Nigeria Constitution. She pointed out that early marriage “denies a girl child of her childhood rights, limits her opportunities, disturbs her education, makes society discriminate against her, jeopardises her health which leads to premature death of many girl child.”

REGIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SOUTH WEST

OJO OYEWAMIDE OJO

chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Ondo State, Mr. Femi Adekanbi, has raised the alarm over an alleged plan by the ruling Labour Party to instigate his arrest ahead of the October 20 governorship election in the state. But the Mimiko Campaign Organisation (MCO) described Adekanbi’s allegation as spurious and unfounded. MCO said the ACN chieftain was being haunted by “his evil deeds being the leader of the ACN killer squad wanted by the law.” Adekanbi, who is the Director of Security under the ACN Independent Campaign Network (ICN), alleged that apart from the fact that the LP was planning to get the Inspector General of Police to place him under

Ondo ACN, LP trade words over arrest plot

Wife of chairman of Lagos Mainland Local Government, Mrs. Anike Adekanye (m) cuts a cake with head teachers in public primary and secodanry schools in Lagos Mainland on the occasion of the World Teachers Day, recently.

house arrest, LP agents were also planning to eliminate him. Addressing journalists yesterday in Akure, Adekanbi further alleged

that he had been receiving strange calls from people suspected to be members of the LP, harassing him to stay clear of the election.

He said: “My life has been under serious threat for the past two days by agents of the LP who are desperately after my life. They have petitioned the

IGP to place me on house arrest to ensure that I am rendered useless on the Election Day. I have it on good authority that they are planning to also plant

Tinubu is my mentor, says Akeredolu OJO OYEWAMIDE AKURE

he Akeredolu Campaign Organization (ACO) yesterday debunked the insinuation that the national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is supporting the candidate of the party in the October governorship election in Ondo state, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, in order to share the wealth of the state. ACO was reacting to a statement credited to the Ondo state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, that Tinubu’s support for Akeredolu was informed by his desire to play the role of godfather and have access to the resources of the state. The organization, in a statement, said the insinuation only existed in the imaginations of Governor Mimiko, adding that Akereolu did not only regard Tinubu as “leader of leaders, Yoruba hero, but a politician of note.” It said: “Having had a successful stint at the private sector in which he was a treasurer of a multinational company, Mobil, and having governed

Lagos, the most complex state of Nigeria, Akeredolu believes that he has a lot to learn from Tinubu because of his success in governance, where he built enduring legacies. “Besides, for every gen-

eration, there is always a leader. For example, at a difficult time in the Bible, God raised Moses, Joshua, and Aaron to lead the people of Israel. Also the late Sage Obafemi Awolowo provided the progressive

leadership for the Yoruba. From the late Adekunle Ajasin, who led the NADECO struggle against the military to the late Abraham Adesanya and now by fate at this critical period of Yoruba life, God

has thrown up Asiwaju as the political leader of the race. “However, if Mimiko and his drowning Labour Party (LP) say Tinubu is my mentor, so be it. After all, Mimiko ran to Tinubu

incriminating weapons in my house and that of my supporters. Any attempt to eliminate me by supporters of LP will spell doom.” But according to the Director of Publicity and Media Relations of the MCO, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi, Adekanbi was “merely hallucinating and playing out a script by his taskmasters.” Olabisi said: “Adekambi is no doubt behaving to the proverbial saying that he who kills will be afraid at the mere sight of the hilt of a sword. It is ACN that harbours a nest of killers, importing thugs into the State to come and capture Ondo State as if we are animals, not us, LP is not after anybody; the law enforcement agencies are after him to answer for his misdeeds.” in 2007 for help. I am better off being a political god son to an iconic Yoruba leader instead of Mimiko’s godfather, Dan Nwanyanwu, a political nonentity, who is feeding fat on the resources of Ondo State as the ProChancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University.”

Alao Aka-Bashorun’s son drags ACN, LASIEC to court over council poll TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

ollowing the manner he was excluded from participating in the October 22, 2011 local government election in Lagos State, a former Vice-Chairman of Kosofe Local Government Area, Mr. Oluwasegun Aka-Bashorun, has dragged the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) before a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja for failing to conduct primary for the council’s chairmanship election. Oluwasegun, the son of Nigeria’s foremost activist and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Alao Aka-Bashorun, in a suit filed through his counsel, Mr. Ugwuzor Adindu, before Justice Aishat Opesanwo of Lagos High Court asked the court to nullify the election of the incumbent Kosofe Local Govern-

ment Area, Mr. Afolabi Sofola on grounds that the process that threw up Sofola for the election was faulty. Joined in the suit as respondents is the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) and Sofola. Adindu, the claimant counsel alleged that Segun Aka-Bashorun was deliberated prevented from contesting in the Oc-

tober 22, 2011 by the ACN leaders. His words: “The failure of the ACN to conduct its primary for the election breached the provisions of Article 21.5 of the ACN’s constitution. The refusal of ACN to allow other aspirants, including the claimant, to participate in the election, violates their fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.” In his response, the defence counsel, Mr. Hillary Akam, in his preliminary notice of objection, urged the court to dismiss the suit on account that the originating summons was filed out-of-time. He said: “The claimant did not file the suit within the relevant time frame and the matter has been

overtaken by events. The claimant does not have the locus standi to institute this suit because he did not participate in the primary. And as such my Lord, the suit should be struck out for lacking in merit.” After hearing the argument of the two counsels, Justice Opesanwo adjourned the matter till November 7 for further hearing.

the current trend in the global war against the pandemic. Expected to be attended by stakeholders within the country and the African sub region, the confab is designed to keep health workers and all stakeholders abreast of global trend in HIV/AIDS intervention to mitigate new infections.

The conference which will hold on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Airport Ikeja, Lagos, according to the Secretary of the Lagos AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), Mrs Folashade Lejidu, is expected to be attended by not fewer than 500 participants. Lediju who represented Dr. Adetokunbo Dabiri, the Senior Special Assis-

tant (SSA) on HIV/AIDS to Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and the Chief Executive Officer of LSACA, said at a press conference held at the General Hospital, Lagos Island, that the confab is in partnership with the Humanity Family Foundation for Peace and Development (HUFFPED) in collaboration with AIDS Health Care Foundation.

Lagos to hold confab on AIDS

n its efforts to further its war on HIV/ AIDS, Lagos State is billed to hold an international conference on the scourge. The conference is to enable stakeholders who were not opportune to be at the world conference on HIV/AIDS held in Washington DC in the United States be aware of

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

REGIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

SOUTH SOUTH

Bakassi indigenes dissociate selves from clamour for new nation TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

he Senator Florence Ita-Giwa-led Bakassi Peoples General Assembly yesterday dissociated itself from the call for Bakassi Efik indigenes to join other ethnic nationalities of Southern Cameroun to form a new sovereign state. Ita-Giwa, a Special Assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on National Assemby Matters, in a statement made available to Saturday Mirror yesterday said that what is paramount to the people of Bakassi was resettlement of the people and not clamour for a sovereign state. “The umbrella organisation for Bakassi Aborigines, Bakassi people’s General Assembly, under the leadership of Senator (Princess) Florence Ita-Giwa, wishes to dissociate itself from the call for Bakassi Efik indigenes to join other ethnic nationalities of South-

EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

orried by the illegal setting up of a nonindigent relief camp for flood victims in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Governor Seriake Dickson yesterday ordered the immediate closure of the camp, which lacked basic facilities. It was learnt that the non-indigenes were relocated from the camp at the Sports Complex due to congestion in the area. The illegal camp, which is located at Community Secondary School, Kpansia in the state capital, lacked toilet, electricity, water, food, drugs, mattresses among other items, as over 800 displaced persons sleep on the bare floor amidst the cold weather. State Commissioner of Police , Kingsley Omire, disclosed this to journalists yesterday shortly after an assessment tour of some relief camps in the state capital, while noting that a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Non-

ern Cameroun to form a new sovereign state as contained in a story published in the 11th of October issue of Thisday Newspaper. “The General Assembly has consistently called for the relocation and resettlement of the displaced indigenes of Bakassi in the Kwa island and Day spring 1 and 2 Islands, which are the only unceded portions of Bakassi land. “For the avoidance of doubt, we Bakassi indigenes affirm that we are bonafide Nigerians and have no interest in forming a new nation or changing our nationality. We have proof of our nationality in our voters cards which were issued to us on Kwa Island as well as Day spring Islands 1 and 2. “The Bakassi people take exception to any attempt to frustrate our legitimate demand to be resettled in Kwa island and Day spring Islands 1 and 2. We see the call to join Southern Cameroonians to form a new state as a

Displaced persons boarding lorries in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State for Port Harcourt, River State after being relocated over the rampaging flood that invaded their community.

distraction. The political leader of Bakassi in the statement also called on the federal government to initiate action to resettle the people in their place of choice which incidentally is part of their ancestral home land. “We have begun the restructuring of our political institutions and demand that our traditional

and economic institutions be restored to us through the resettlement on the islands we have identified as ours and in which we voted en masse for President Goodluck Jonathan. “For too long nonBakassi indigenes have presumptuously spoken on our behalf as if we were dumb or incapable of articulating our aspirations. Let it be known

that we have a voice and are able to articulate our desires. “All we are saying is to relocate and resettle us in the Kwa Island and Day spring Islands 1 and 2, we will not rest or waiver in this demand. When we asked that the unfortunate judgement of the international court of Justice be appealed 10 years ago nobody did anything,

now everyone claims to love us and wants to fight for the return of our ancestral home land. “In our estimation, it amounts to shutting the gate after the horse has bolted away. Just resettle us in Nigeria on the 3 islands that are still ours and let us lick the wounds of our lost home land with dignity,” Ita-Giwa pleaded.

Dickson orders closure of illegal relief camp

indigenes, Chinedu Mba, and others, were behind the setting up of the illegal camp for their selfish gains. He said the Governor had directed the reconstitution of the food distribution committee to ensure food reaches the displaced persons. Omire was accompanied by the State Director of the State Security Service (SSS) Andrew Lorkyar , on the tour of the camps. Already, those displaced by the flood were being conveyed by tipper trucks to Elele, Rivers State, due to the rising floods along Okogbe, to enable them assess Port Harcourt and parts of the East . Displaced persons at the various camps lamented of starvation and lack of mattresses and there are plans of protests by the aggrieved inmates over poor welfare. Omire , who threatened to arrest the Governor’s aide, decried the poor facilities in the camps at the Sports

Complex , Bishop Dimieri Grammar School and Kpansia Community Secondary School, where displaced persons are crying of starvation. He said: “We were instructed by the governor to tour round the various

camps. The governor was surprise to hear of the illegal camp. The security agencies and the Bayelsa State government would not tolerate any act of breach of the law. A few miscreants who are try-

ing to organize themselves to protest may be they were not given food, perhaps they are not victims of the flood”. But, in an interview with State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Markson Fe-

fegha, said the committee which he is member was working round the clock to distribute food at the Bishop Dimieri Grammar School relief camp. Fefegha admitted that the lapses incurred would be corrected in the due.

Uyo airport MRO’ll improve air safety in Nigeria –Dep. Gov. TONY ANICHEBE UYO

he Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere, has described the construction of the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Akwa Ibom International Airport as an indispensable asset that will enhance air safety in the country. Ekere, who made the call yesterday after conducting members of the Senate Committee on Aviation round the airport, explained that the State Government embarked on the facility, which will be operational by the first quarter of next year, as a

positive contribution to the national aviation infrastructure. “The MRO facility will lead to increased air safety and eliminate fatalities arising from air mishaps”, he stressed. “We believe that the Federal Government should key into it because a functional MRO, run by international standard, will add to our air safety”. Mr. Ekere described the airport as about the best in the country in terms of facilities and land mass, pointing out that the International Terminal building, which will be operational by the third quarter of 2014, will be the first of its kind in the country.

He disclosed that the State Government was planning to dedicate a power transmission line from the Ibom Power Plant, Ikot Abasi, to the international airport in Uyo to ensure a robust power supply to the airport. The Deputy Governor, who was the Chairman of the Ibom Power Company until his elevation last year, stated that the airport, which was currently being serviced by a minipower plant comprising of 26 generators, will also enjoy normal power supply from the national grid. He commended members of the committee for making out time of their busy schedule, par-

ticularly the presentation of the 2013 Budget to the National Assembly by the President that day, to inspect the airport, reasoning that “this is the way public officers should take their assignment”. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodinma, said from their inspection they were impressed by the international standard of facilities at the airport project was worthwhile as it as it had prospects of economic viability. A member of the committee, Senator Hadi Sirika, predicted that the airport will be the busiest around in the next 10 years.

REGIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SOUTH EAST

EFCC grills Anambra monarch over alleged diversion of N12.9m fund NWABUEZE OKONKWO ONITSHA

fficials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday visited Ikenga community in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State and interrogated the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Alfred Ezeonwuneme, over an alleged embezzlement of N12.9 million Millennium Development Goals, MDG Market and Water borehole project in the area. Their visit to the community followed some series of petitions forwarded to it by the executive members of Ikenga Town Union, led by Mr. Oliver Ebom, its President-General. On arrival to the community’s market square, yesterday afternoon, the EFCC officials asked the royal father to show them the market and bore hole projects, which he claimed to have built with the N12.9 million allocated to the projects, which were awarded to the community in 2008 by the Federal Ministry of Works, Housing and Ur-

ban Development. Conducting them round the market and bore-hole projects, Igwe Ezeonwuneme told the EFCC officials that, although he was not the contractor that handled the market project, he must recognize the fact that it was executed according to specifications. Igwe Ezeonwuneme also took them to the bore hole site where he showed them dried water taps and tanks already installed, even as the water was yet to start running. He told the officials that he heard the incumbent town union executive saying that the water project would be commissioned few days to the Christmas, as part of activities marking the celebration of the yuletide festivities. The EFCC officials also interviewed some of the incumbent town union officials who were accusing the monarch of the fund diversion and some past union officials who were in support of the monarch before they left with a word that they would soon invite both the accused and the ac-

cusers to EFCC office for further interrogations. The town union executive had, in a petition to the chairman of EFCC, alleged that they visited the office of the Federal Ministry of Works on May 7, 2010 to find out why the contract awarded to the community had not been executed, only to discover that the mon-

arch, Ezeonwuneme and his son, Prince Godfrey, connived with the contractor, one Simidia S & I International Company Limited, to fraudulently divert the contract sum of N12.9 million into their private pockets and in a bid to cover their act, sent a picture of a market built to the Ministry and wrote a letter to the min-

istry commending them for building a market in his community, when there was no such project executed. In the petition entitled: “A case of fraudulent diversion of money by His Royal Highness, Igwe Alfred Ezeobi Ezeonwuneme and Prince Gedfrey Ezeonwuneme”, jointly signed by the President-

General, Mr. Oliver Ebom, First Vice President, Mr. Ifeanyi Ewelu, and Mr. Eugene Okoli, SecretaryGeneral of Ikenga Town Union respectively, the petitioners, through their legal counsel, T. P. Anyaeji, urged EFCC to investigate the fraud allegation thoroughly with a view to bringing the culprits to justice.

President Goodluck Jonathan (right) greets traditional rulers at the St. Joseph flood victims camp in Aguleri, during the visit of the President to the flooded areas of Anambra and Delta states, yesterday.

‘We won’t allow fifth columnists in Ohaneze Ndigbo’

TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

former member of the defunct constitutional conference and prominent Igbo leader in Lagos State, Chief Onyekachi Onyekwere, yesterday commended the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State Chapter and Chairman Ohanaeze Diaspora, Chief Oliver Akabueze, over the recent suspension of four executive officers of the organisation for alleged gross misconduct. Speaking to Saturday Mirror yesterday in Lagos, Chief Onyekwere said that Igbo leaders in Lagos State would not allow fifth columnists to destroy Ohanaeze Ndigbo. He warned that anybody fermenting trouble in Ohanaeze Ndigbo should desist from such attitude or else those fanning the

embers of disunity in the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation would face the wrought of the Igbo leaders. His words: “The leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo paid me a courtesy visit and enumerated his problem and what he has done to put the group together in

Lagos. I am aware that he has done a good job and I was taking aback when I heard about the impeachment and the conspiracy to remove him from office. As a matter of fact, I can’t fake ignorance not to know that from investigation one of the so-called Eze-Ndigbo in

Lagos (name withheld) was responsible for the conspiracy. “It pissed me off to know that a so-called traditional ruler will want to destroy the Igbo heritage in a strange land. So, I am rising up as a true Igbo son to warn that royal fathers to put his house

in order and think about how to promote Igbo culture and not to destroy it. Having said that I am encouraging the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leader to continue his good works; he has my support and the supports of all the Igbo leaders and indigenes in Lagos. We are not revolutionar-

ies; we would not rebel against our leader. In the same development, Hon. Onyekure while commending the Eze Ndigbo of Ghana, Eze Chuks Chineto, over his visit to Lagos tasked Eze Chineto to govern all Igbo indigenes in Ghana with the fear of God.

Anambra flood victims beg Jonathan to rebuild submerged houses CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

lood victims in Anambra State have appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to help them rebuild their houses. Floods had destroyed coastal towns and communities in eight local government areas of the state. The flood victims made their distress call when President Jonathan visited displaced people’s camps in Otuocha. Responding, President

Jonathan assured them that their sufferings would not last long and that government would continue to offer the necessary assistance. They also thanked the President for providing relief materials to them through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). They stated that their major worry was that when the waters finally recede, they would have nowhere to live in, as their houses had been washed away by the flood. President Jonathan had

arrived Father Joseph Camp, Aguleri, Anambra East LGA of Anambra State, one of the biggest camps in the state, consisting of 6,721 refugees at exactly 11:40 am. The President who expressed pain about the plight of the displaced persons assured the people that their pain would not last longer as he had been assured that the waters had started going down in some places, and that probably in the middle of November, the water in Anambra State would

have totally receded. In assuring the victims of the continued support of the Federal Government, President Jonathan contends, “I want to assure you that the Federal Government is working very hard to cushion your pain when you leave this camp. We set up that committee because we know that you need more support when you leave here, you need more support for you to be rehabilitated. The farmer whose seedlings have been destroyed by water, the businessman

whose factory has been submerged by water will need help. Your children will go to school, and we know you need help, that is why we set up the committee to rally round the world and assist Nigerians,” The president, who sympathized with the people described the flood as a big surprise worse than the 1969 flood. He revealed that findings and steps taken by the Federal Government would avert reoccurrence of such disaster in subsequent years in the country.

Politics

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

Oke Akeredolu

Mimiko

Jega

Ondo election:

INEC dogged by suspicion OJO OYEWAMIDE

he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promised on several occasions that the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State will be the best it has ever conducted. Addressing stakeholders in Akure a couple of weeks back, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, said the electoral body was well prepared for any antics that politicians might want to play during the election. Orebiyi, who said the commission had put in place machinery to ensure that the forthcoming election is an improvement on that of Edo State, said, “In fact, this coming election will be the best ever conducted by INEC and it is going to be a model.” But despite the assurances of a free and fair poll, the electoral umpire is still dogged by suspicion. Several allegations have been made against it by the three major political parties in the state - the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In July, the Ondo State PDP Chairman, Mr. Ebenezer Alabi had at a press conference in Akure alleged that the state government and LP leaders in collaboration with some functionaries

of INEC in the state were engaging in an illegal voter registration exercise. According to Alabi; “Sometime in June 2012, the Ondo State government imported 20 Secured Finger-prints Scanners, Mode AET 63, at N265, 569:00 per unit and also brought in two Indian experts to train local hands in the use of these machines. Thereafter the illegal registration began, using the Government House, Accountant-General Office and Water Cooperation Headquarters, all in Akure, aside from other locations yet to be discovered. “Furthermore, we were reliably informed that those involved in the conspiracy include some functionaries of INEC in Ondo State, top officials of the LP and the Ondo State government, the ultimate goal of which is to violate and bastardize the INEC Voter’s Register for Ondo state through a method known as elimination by substitution. In other words, the intention is to use the exercise to delete the names of genuine voters and replace them with the fake voters being secretly registered now.” Also last month, Chairman of the State PDP Publicity Committee, Dr. Demola Ijabiyi, accused INEC of involving in the massive transfer of voters from the neighbouring states of Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Edo. He said the party had it on good authority that close to 10,000 of such transfers had already taken place,

adding that a top functionary of INEC in the state was behind it. Ijabiyi, who claimed that the transfers affected people who were not indigenes and who did not intend to take up residency in the state, said although the Electoral Act permitted the transfer of a voter from one state to another in special cases, the law did not envisage mass and indiscriminate transfer. Not only PDP is suspicious of INEC, the Akeredolu Campaign organization (ACO) last week challenged the commission to explain how it came about 1,654,205 registered voters in the state. Speaking through its Director of Media, Publicity and Strategy, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku, ACO said it was worried by the statement credited to Orebiyi that there were names of voters whose photographs could not be found in the last elections but which would be allowed to vote in the governorship poll. The statement was said to have been made by the INEC boss at a stakeholders meeting in Akure, the state capital. “Orebiyi said 88 polling booths would be created to supplement the 135 existing ones in the Akoko North-East of the state which Orebiyi claimed will be used by these voters whose photograph did not appear in the voters register. “However, ACO wants to sound a note of warning to the Orebiyi-led State INEC that the Action Congress of Nige-

ria (ACN) will not allow those whose photographs did not appear in the voters register to vote, as this is against the Constitution and the Electoral Act. The creation of these Sisters polling booth is not necessary,” Ajanaku said. Ajanaku expressed fear that the LP could capitalise upon the development to rig elections in the state. Wondering if Orebiyi was not saying that the Mimiko-led administration had succeeded in smuggling the result of its biometric registration exercise into the data base of INEC, Ajanaku said Orebiyi himself confirmed that the electoral body only had fifty requests of Voter registration transfer in the state. Vowing that ACN would not allow the use of the illegal voter register in the state, Ajanaku said ACN, like other political parties, had the original list of voters register and anything outside of that would not be accepted by the party. He warned that unless INEC kept to the rules, it would cause chaos in the state. The ruling LP has also made several allegations against the electoral umpire. A couple of weeks back, the Mimiko Campaign Organisation (MCO) called the attention of the national chairman of INEC, Prof Attahiru Jega, to alleged plans by the ACN CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

POLITICS

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

What I know about Mimiko’s security reports -Oni Dr. Olaiya Oni, former chairman of the Labour Party in Ondo State, speaks on the contentious security reports used by Governor Olusegun Mimiko to fortify his case at the Election Petition Tribunal in 2007, where he challenged the victory of the former governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu. State. I then wrote a letter to the Resident Electoral Commissioner which and I sent through the man who represented us at the collation center, Comrade Oyekan Arije. In the letter, I said the Resident Electoral Commissioner should look at the areas of irregularities because in some cases, including my own local government, election did not take place. As a matter of fact, the result from my ward, Isoko ward 1, was cancelled. It was cancelled by the Resident Electoral Commissioner. So, at the tribunal, that was the reason why the lead counsel to Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Chief Wole Olanipekun, told me that since I mentioned police and security reports in my letter to the Resident Electoral Commissioner on the

On Oni On ni

Oni

OJO OYEWANDE

ould you tell us your role in the election petition of Governor Olusegun Mimiko in

2007? I was chairman of the Labour Party, as you know. During the election, I collated reports from my party chairmen from all the 18 local government areas. On the election day, ballot boxes were snatched and there was violence. As a matter of fact, the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), in his broadcast, when he announced the result of the election, admitted that there was violence and

so on and so forth. But in spite of this violence, he did not utter the verdict of the election. At the tribunal, all of us gave evidence. In my ward, Isoko Ward 1, Akoko North East Local Government Area, we didn’t even see ballot boxes at all during the election because they were snatched away at the distribution center at Ugbe in Ikare. So, the Deputy Director of State Security Service (SSS) in Ondo State, at that time, when he was monitoring the election at Ise, my home town, saw that there was no election there. When I now got back to Akure, I found out that what happened at Ise happened in some other places in Ondo

day of the election, they were going to tender, through the bar, all security reports on the election including SSS reports for my identification whether those reports agred with my evidencein-chief of violence, box snatching and so forth. The Police Investigation Unit has found out that the security reports tendered by Mimiko’s legal team before the tribunal were forged. What is your reaction? The fact of the case was that it was shortly before I mounted the witness box that Wole Olanipekun, you know I am mentioning names now, told me that I was going to identify certain reports which they had tendered at

the bar. I don’t know how to put it in judicial language. When I mounted the witness box, they gave me those documents, up to 37, I think. I read through and then they said “do they agree with what I said in my letter to INEC REC that there was violence and so and so forth.” I said yes. So, I only identified the report. That was all I knew about it. Then in 2010, I was invited by the police headquarters. That was September or so. I think the invitation letter came through Governor Mimiko at that time. He was in Abuja. He asked me to come to Abuja that I had to meet the police. I said on what. He said on the documents that I tendered at the tribunal. When I got there, I went to the police headquarters. They now put those questions to me that I tendered SSS reports and where did I get them. I said ‘okay police, let me write down my statement first.’ So, he gave me paper and wrote down my statement just the way I put it. I now told them in my statement that many people brought documents to the party secretariat and at the party secretariat, I was not the only person there. But the instruction of our legal team was that all document that were brought to the party secretariat in respect of the election- INEC register, security reports, international observers’ reports, reports by individual local government chair men, party elders, representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, representatives of even the political desk of INEC- that I should send all of them to the legal team. They were based in Ondo at that time in Dr. Mimiko’s house. The Legal Adviser to the party was one of those who were collating these reports. That is, Yinka Adeyosoye. He was a member of the legal team of Mimiko. Also Barrister Remi Olatubora was there. He was the Publicity Secretary of Labour Party at that time. He was also a member of the collating team. Some of these reports went through them. There is also Dr. Daodu. Dr. Daodu was chairman of CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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October 13, 2012

POLITICS

October 13, 2012

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‘What I know about Mimiko’s security reports’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 the tactical committee on INEC matters. So, it was not me alone. But as I said earlier, Wole Olanipekun told me that I was the most relevant person to identify those reports, including SSS reports. That was what happened. But when I now finished with the police, I went back to Dr. Mimiko to ask him ‘if I was going to answer questions on SSS reports “which you yourself know that I didn’t know anything about.” I asked him why he didn’t tell me before I went to the police? It became a very acrimonious discussion. The national chairman was there, the national secretary was there, and Col. Omowa was there. They blamed me for nothing when I told them exactly what I told the police. They said I shouldn’t have gone to the extent of details. I said why, he didn’t tell me what I was going to meet at the police headquarters. The matter was so messy that I decided to resign my appointment as chairman of Labour Party because I was very disturbed. How could the governor, the national chairman of the party be behaving like rascals? I actually used that word. In fact, they gave me a query, they called it a call to order; they said that I was very rude to the national leadership of the party. I said if my saying the truth would involve me being rude to the national leadership of the party, then I had better resign because in terms of my personality in this country, I am superior to all of them. Later, when I came back to Akure, people had to come and beg me that I should please forget; Mimiko himself, national chairman, Dr. Akinlaja, the National Deputy Chairman. They all came and started begging me. That was it. Then

I became very curious because when I asked from Mimiko how he came about the SSS reports, he now told me I knew that he could use unorthodox means to achive orthodox results. Those were his words He said the way he got those reports was a matter for his own personal consumption. I said ‘okay that is right; anyway, I have told the police what I knew about it. So, what now happened? Later, I got to know that one Steve… The Police in Abuja asked me whether I knew one Steve and I said I didn’t; that there were so many SSS operatives that I worked with at the SSS headquarters, in Akure South Local Government Area in Akoko North East Local Government Area. I showed them my telephone that I had their telephone numbers. But that Steve I said I did not know him. When I now investigated, I discovered that Steve was an orderly to the Director of SSS, Spero Jack. He was not an officer as such. He was just an orderly to Jack. Maybe it was he that Mimiko used, I don’t know. What I don’t know, I don’t know. But did you make any efforts to find out who that Steve was? I carried out an investigation. My investigation revealed that Steve, with one or two SSS officials was dismissed. They were dismissed following some investigations into the matter. It was then that I knew that even the matter had been on long before I was invited to Abuja. So, when they were dismissed, the dismissal of Steve was converted to retirement or something and Mimiko now hired him as his private personal security aide. I demanded to know that Steve and I met him. I asked him his role. He said

Oni

he was formerly in this state and that they investigated him because they thought he gave the SSS reports to Labour Party. He said that was why he resigned and that he was first dismissed but that his letter was later changed to retirement. So that is what I know. I think the police subsequently came about six months or about a year ago, they came to me here from Abuja to come and ask me further questions and I told them exactly what I am telling you now. That is all I know. I didn’t know the author of those reports. But I think the police are in a better position to know whether they are fake or not. They told me in Abuja that eight of the nine reports are fake. I said ‘I don’t know whether they are fake of not. All I knew was that SSS stamp was on the

documents. That was how I was able to identify them. What do you think about the recommendation that you should be tried being the one that tendered the alleged forged reports before the tribunal? I think if anybody should be held responsible for this matter, it is Governor Mimiko himself because it is only he who knows how those reports were procured. Of course, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko is capable of any evil. You know I have said it on several occasions that the man has unlimited capacity for evil. Let me tell you, when I asked him how he came about the SSS reports, he told me that ‘You know I can make unorthodox methods to achieve orthodox results.’ He didn’t tell me more than that. That is why I said if they want to find out who got those reports, that fake reports as confirmed by the police, Mimiko is the person. The governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Rotimi Akeredolu, was part of the legal team of Mimiko. Do you think he was aware the reports were forged? I don’t know whether Akeredolu was aware the reports were forged or not. Even Wole Olanipekun, I don’t know whether he was aware. Like I told you, it was just a few hours to the time I was to testify at the tribunal that Wole Olanipekun told me that looking at my evidence in chief, I made reference to police and security reports; that they had some security reports that were in the tribunal; that they were going to tender them from the bar for me to identify. That was what happened. I don’t know whether they know about it.

Ondo election: INEC dogged by suspicion CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 leadership “to subvert the popular wish of the electorate in Ondo State by using some staff of the Commission to rig the October election.” Specifically, the campaign organisation urged Jega to monitor the activities of the commission’s officials alleged to have aligned with the ACN to compromise on the Election Day. In a release issued by its Director of Publicity and Media Relations, Mr Kolawole Olabisi, the Mimiko Organisation said that since it had dawned on the opposition in the state that they would fail woefully in a free and fair election, they had resorted to “underhand tactics of compromising some INEC Officials.” It also stated that officials of the commission recently met with some leaders of the ACN in Lagos to strategise on the alleged rigging plans for the Ondo gubernatorial election. According to MCO, a meeting was held in the home of an ACN leader in Lagos with

some INEC officials where modalities were mapped out on the rigging plans in favour of the ACN candidate in the October 20 election. It added that, as a follow up, a meeting was to be held later in Dubai, where a South-West governor was waiting to receive the INEC officials. As if it was not sure of which party is plotting to induce INEC officials to rig the election, the Mimiko Campaign Organisation last Friday also accused the PDP candidate, Chief Olusola Oke, of planning to compromise federal civil servants in Ondo State who are to be used as Supervising Presiding Officers INEC. MCO alleged that Oke had few days ago met with some of the proposed INEC Supervising Presiding Officers at a popular Hotel located along the Ado/Owo Road owned by a chieftain of the PDP in Akure at about 11 pm. According to the MCO, the plan was that the SPOs, who had been compromised with huge sum of money and with a promise of more of such, would

be used to divert sensitive election materials and muddle up things to favour the PDP at the poll. It said: “We are aware of the meeting some of these federal civil servants had at a hotel owned by an aide of the former PDP Governor in Akure where they were given money with a promise to make them rich if they could compromise the election as SPOs in the favour of the PDP. Could these political parties have been crying wolf where there was none? While some of the allegations may not been taken seriously, political observers are of the view that there are bases to suspect that some of the INEC officials in the state have been compromised. A chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Olaolu Oladapo, and a woman, Omolade Raphael, were arrested few days ago by the Police for allegedly being in possession of more than 2,000 voters’ cards. They were apprehended in Ondo, the home town of the LP’s gover-

norship candidate and incumbent governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko. The LP chieftain was said to have confessed that officials of the INEC gave him the unclaimed voters’ cards and that he was not alone in the business. All eyes are now focused on INEC as the governorship election in the state is less than two weeks to this time. Will the electoral umpire take the opportunity of the poll to increase the little confidence that the people of the country have developed in it since Prof. Attahiru Jega took over the headship of the commission? Will it allow the activities of the bad eggs among its staff to erode its credibility? One fact about Ondo is that it is a politically volatile state. The state has an unenviable history of political violence often precipitated by electoral theft, and its people have a very strong spirit of resistance. Whatever happens in Ondo State before and after the October 20 election will depend on how much INEC is guided by the political history of the “Sunshine State”.

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October 13, 2012

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“Yahoozee gave me breakthrough”

Joseph Babatope Temidayo also known as Puffy Tee became a household name when he produced and featured on the monster hit song, Yahoozee. He also produced Lorile which was also a monster hit. In this chat with OSEYIZA OOGBODO, he explains how it all began for him and his plans for the future.

Celebrity

What is your honest opinion of the music industry? Is it growing or not? It’s not. Forget about the money and the Sport Utility Vans (SUVs) that belong to those who are considered to be successful. People don’t know what they are really doing. How much do marketers give them? How much do they make from CD sales? They are being helped by endorsements and contracts. If you earn N10m and you are happy, you are a big fool because you should be earning N100m. It goes beyond cars and houses and chicks. Check out the foreign artistes, the way they are compared to ours here and you will know what I’m saying.

ou’re widely celebrated as a music producer. How did it start? Music production began for me in 1996 when I started as a trainee music producer at Even Ezra Studio. Already, I was playing the keyboard, bass guitar, lead guitar, but I had no knowledge of studio engineering. So I went to Even Ezra through Peterson Agu and started there fully. But because it was located on the Island, I had to live with Femi Lasode for two years to the extent that people began to call me Tope Lasode because he saw me as his son and we were always together.

What’s the way forward out of the problem and what are you doing personally to help matters? The way forward is the government. Let them give us a ministry as the arts is too big to be under one ministry. The ministry I’m talking about must be the normal type with commissioners and ministers. This industry can bring a lot of revenue for Nigeria just the way Hollywood does for America.

How did you come about your Puffy Tee nickname? If I remember well, it was in 1999 when in the mornings after night sessions, I would take two balls of puffpuff and tea. It became part of my daily breakfast that one of my friends, Akin Flow G, began to call me PuffPuff Tea as a joke. Though I didn’t like it and it made me angry, I began to get used to it and it was modified and changed over the years by Foster Zeeno. But the same Flow G was still the one who named me this final version in 2000. And I have to add that people don’t know the spelling. It’s Puffy Tee as in DJ Tee and Tee-A. What made you choose your line of trade? I started with playing instruments in as far back as 1986 when our church’s keyboard was kept in our house. Every night, I would play with it and I taught myself a Christian hymn with one finger by listening to the sounds made when I struck the keys till I mastered playing it with one finger. From there I joined the children’s choir, playing drum set for them till I joined the senior choir. Then in 1992, I began playing bass guitar for churches. After

tency will eventually get you there. Let me tell you this. I co-produced Jagajaga album and produced Letter To Mr President and Gbamileti. These were all before Yahoozee. But I just needed one major breakthrough hit to become recognised and that’s what Yahoozee did for me.

What about piracy? Piracy is backed by top dignitaries. That’s why those who have fought it did not win. The bottom line is the ministry and to bring back foreign labels. Corporate bodies too should come in. We should have confirmed professionals in every field of the entertainment industry. With your high profile, do you have cause to complain? It’s God that is helping me. I’m in demand by artistes. And I’m going to use the platform I have now to give back to the society through my foundation and many other things I want to do.

a time, I became the music director of Victorious Army Ministries. In short, it was only natural for me to take my music abilities a step further by becoming a producer.

Why did it take you so long to find the limelight? That’s life for you. Sometimes it takes a long time to get to the top but consis-

So is that your vision? Yes. I have so many. I want to pick kids from the streets and train them to be another Puffy Tee so that when I retire, it won’t be a loss to the industry. I can’t disclose them all but I have many. Who is or are your role models? Jesus Christ is my role model.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

Entervaganza Headies set to glitter again

With OSEYIZA OOGBODO

08023755142 kingseiza@gmail.com

Omawumi and MI are this year’s hosts

Mode 9: Won an Heady every year for six years

hen it comes to the the Nigerian music calendar, the biggest event is unarguably the Headies, formerly known as the Hip Hop World Awards. The Nollywood equivalent is the Africa Movie Academy Awards. These two events are fast becoming Nigeria’s own versions of the Grammys and Oscars respectively and the former is set to continue its tradition of being the pacesetter in the music industry when it holds next Saturday. Organised by Smooth Promotions, its success is mainly due to one factor: its chief promoter’s relentless desire to always make the difference in everything he does, notably magazine publishing, TV production and events organising. Ayo Animashaun is that chief promoter and he has successfully guided the Headies to keep holding since 2006 when other awards have come and gone in that same period. The benchmark he sets is that each year’s Headies must be better than the previous editions and this year’s has also been designed to surpass all its predecessors and has thus been tagged The Year Of The Exceptional Reward. When the nominees were announced initially this year, Chuddy K was nominated in the Next Rated category. Shortly afterwards, he was removed from the category as he is ineligible for it because he had already released an album. This was a big oversight on the part of the organisers but it was quickly smoothed out. Mind you, though, its merits far outweigh the demerits. The memorable periods far outnumber the murky. People will never forget when D’Banj wore a towel to perform in 2006. Next Saturday, emotions will get high again as the winners are announced. P-Square and Bez lead the nominees with six nominations each. MI and Omawumi are this year’s hosts. But you can be sure there will be a lot of surprises at the awards next Saturday. The first surprise is that Mode 9 wasn’t even nominated in any category, meaning he can’t win any. His non-nomination is coming at a time when it is being almost accepted that Modey who has won the Lyricist On The Roll category since inception might just continue to do so. Modey’s non-nomination is only symbolic of the surprises to come though.

Animashaun: Founded the Headies

D’Banj’s historic performance at the maiden edition

ENTERVAGANZA

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CLASSICAL RYHMES

AIRWAVES LINK

Now Muzik berates MCSN, commends NCC

equel to the raid by the Nigerian Copyright Commission on the office of the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria, the management of Now Muzik which is probably Nigeria’s biggest music talent management agency has commended the NCC on the raid and berated the MCSN for its alleged “flagrant disregard of the law.” In a statement signed by Efe Omorogbe, Now Muzik CEO, the management agency didn’t mince words in stating its position on the copyright imbroglio which has plagued the entertainment industry for some time now and taken a new dimension with the NCC raid that led to the arrest of top MCSN officials. According to the statement: “The management of Now Muzik on behalf of our esteemed clients - Tuface Idibia, Timi Dakolo, Crystals, D’Beat, Sunny Neji, J. M a rtins and

staff wishes to voice its support of the Nigerian Copyright Commission’s decisive action towards tackling the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria igeria issue. “When When we made our decision on to work with other stakeholders eholders in 2009 to collectively vely sponsor ONE application ation for a Collective Management agement Organisation (CMO) license, MCSN rejected cted our overtures and put in its own application. Conventional ventional wisdom suggested ed that in accordance with Nigerian law, any organisation that nisation failed d to obtain the license icense would seek out ways to further her its interest within the confines ines of legality y. “However, However, MCSN’s SN’s flagrant nt disregard of the law and tthe attendant confusion confu usion it has generatgenerrat-

ed has considerably reduced the pace of development within the industry. We had indeed come to the point where questions were being raised about the usefulness of the long-drawn approval process if indeed no organisation needed govern-

ment approval to act in the capacity of a collecting society. “The NCC’s move has restored our confidence in the ability and willingness of government to enforce compliance with the law in furtherance of the drive towards the creation of the best possible environment for the development of a vibrant and world class creative industry. “We salute the courage of the NCC DG, Mr. Afam Ezekude and the staff of the commission and pledge our u n fl i n ch ing support to them f o r the good work they are doing.”

Tuface

BrymO

BrymO floods the airwaves

head of his album release scheduled for next month, suave singer, BrymO, sua has flooded the Nigerian ha radio and TV airwaves rad with songs and videos to wit ensure that his album is ens received warmly. rec Titled The Son Of T A Kapenta, it will be BrymO’s second released Br album. The first, Brymalb stone, was released besto

fore he became a truly popular singer andit failed to catch on with the public, only achieving a modicum of acceptance when BrymO became popular with Ice Prince’s Oleku. In order for his second ond album to do better than han the first, BrymO has just released the video We All Need Something to o further whet the ap-

petite of his fans for his album which is expected to contain the wildly successful Ara. The We All Need Something video is coming on the heels of the audio release of Go Hard produced by Jesse Jagz.

Golden Icons holds awards

opular TV content producer, Golden Icons, is moving ahead with its plans to hold the maiden edition of the Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards (GIAMA) in Houston, Texas on October 20th with Jim Iyke as the host. Iyke will not be the only

star at GIAMA. Other prominent African movie stars including Ramsey Noah, Majid Michel, John Dumelo, Desmond Elliot, Van Vicker, Uche Jombo, Ini Edo, Monalisa Chinda, Emem Isong, Juliet Ibrahim and Susan Peters will also be there and compete for the several awards on

offer. Golden Icons has been in the news in recent times for airing an interview where reputed Nollywood actor, John Okafor aka Mr Ibu, claimed that a sexuality plague had invaded Nollywood and would consume it if care is not takPeters en.

Ruggedman

Ehen Artist: Ruggedman Chorus Ehen, why you too dey rap like mumu? (2x) Ehen, wetin concern dudu and fufu? Ehen, God don catch you somebody don blast you Ehen, why you too dey copy copy? (2x) Ehen, abi your name na floppy floppy? Ehen, God don catch you Ruggedman don blast you Good for you Verse 1 No more games, I go go straight I go name names, I no go lay blame Na time to flog with cane I go let you feel pain and shame If I leave you and you still dey yarn your stupid game Dey shout your name Like say na something good You disrespect? If you rude, I go slap you right here I no go wait for any mood Now Rasqie, how you take get deal pass me I no know wetin Kennis been hope to do by signing you Why? Ba lyrics, ba sense, ba concept Wetin e get? Nonsense You even talk say fakers dey out there Out where? Shey where you stand? Okay, yeah!!! See kettle, calling the pot black like the Reverends Ayangba na another point of reference, But I go take una one by one Cos even the sun and the moon dey take am, Turn by turn As long as my wheel dey turn, my fire go burn I go call your name no matter where you are from Or who you roll with or who you flow with, No blame me, I only see you, as wetin you spit So if I call Rasqie a ras kid I know wetin I speak so make anybody no harass me for street If you do, e go too bloody Cos my dogs dey with me some of them high pass Whitney and Bobby put together, Rock for the butter, the bread, the cheddah, whenever ... hmmn, In short forever You see me dey come through You best dey run too, Cos ma crew’s gonna run through you like a runaway Choo choo, If you like the beat gbon idi Rasqie do the track but him gan him no soji, I say if you like the beat gbon idi, Rasqie do the track but him gan him no soji Repeat chorus Verse 2 No be secret say Remedies, been need remedy, I hear their rap I laugh to me na like comedy, Eedris and my five-year-old nephew rap the same way Like say dem born dem on the same day Wetin him dey talk I no hear, But I fear when him migidi and people start to cheer, I say wetin him dey try say for so long? Him name na Eedris How come him sabi speak in tongues? I speak too strong to be lyrically weak So if I die na of lyrics I go dey reek So Eedris, here’s a word of advice Try using words and you just might sound nice, But not as precise as me and my guys in front of your eyes No try too hard cos we don already win the prize, So no need to rush to grab the mic to dey bust No need to … To step on stage just because Ti wa abinibi Ti e ability

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ENTERVAGANZA

October 13, 2012

BOX-OFFICE HITS

BRAIN BEHIND THE SCENE

rgo is a must-see movie. It has great performances all around, amazing direction from Ben Affleck and just the right amount of heart and humour needed in a serious drama like it. Don’t be surprised come Oscar awards time next year if you see Argo racking up the nominations. After gaining worldwide acclaim from critics and audiences for both Gone Baby Gone and The Town, Affleck returns to directing with what may be his best movie yet. With Argo, Affleck manages to create a film that combines a real sense of tension with a nice bit of fun to make one incredible experience. Taking on a film that’s based on a true story can be challenging for some directors, especially when it’s a story that’s known worldwide. Affleck however manages to get it right and the result is Argo which is about a CIA agent who concocts a plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador during the 1980 Iranian Revolution. During the revolution, some angry Iranians stormed into the U.S. embassy to take charge. They managed to take about 50 Americans hostage but six managed to escape and find shelter at the Canadian ambassador’s home.

Bello

Michelle Bello … gifted filmmaker

ichelle Bello is not just another brain behind the scene. She is a rare gem among their lot as evidenced by her principles and achievements. She is a filmmaker who is bringing new innovations into productions and thereby setting the standard. The brilliance of her movie, Small Boy, thrust her into limelight with such force in 2009 that she is still basking in it. It won two AMAAs for Best Art Direction and Best Young Child Actor. And it confirmed to Bello that her destiny truly lies in making films. “I am passionate about film and I really love to do it,” she disclosed in interviews. “I do not have any particular social goal in film making. It depends on the story of the film I am interested in. I just want to tell the Nigerian story to the world.” Proof of her statement is apparent in the sort of projects she’s involved herself in. While SB is a feature film, another of her most successful projects, Greenland, is a music video.

When the video was released to the airwaves a few years ago, it became an instant sensation because of the unique way it tells the story of the song it represents. She also confirms that she is satisfied with being a brain behind the scenes and has no intention of coming out from behind the scenes. “I enjoy it when I remain behind the camera to do my stuff,” she said. “A lot of people tried to talk me into working in front of the camera but I know the type of person I am. I am not cut out for such things. I can‘t act. I prefer to work behind the camera. I am camerashy. I don‘t mind taking photograph with friends. But to be in front of the camera reading lines, I can‘t do that.” Truly passionate about filmmaking and the tangible growth of Nollywood, she and her brother created a film directory for film practitioners across the world to interact. It is not all a bed of roses for her, though she has declared that funding is one of her major obstacles, same with movie producers worldwide. And another of her major obstacles is the one that is perennially Nigeria’s problem: piracy.

n the comedy, Here Comes The Boom, former collegiate wrestler Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a 42-year-old apathetic biology teacher in a failing high school. When cutbacks threat-

A few months after, a CIA ‘exfiltration’ specialist, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), concocted a plan where it would look as if he and the six Americans are on location looking for places to shoot a fake movie titled Argo. Tony hoped this would fool any Iranians who might believe them to be the Americans who escaped, allowing him to bring them back to America safely.

en to cancel the music programme and lay off its teacher (Henry Winkler,) Scott begins to raise money by moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter. Everyone thinks Scott is crazy - most of all the school nurse, Bella (Salma Hayek) - but in his quest, Scott gains something he never expected as he becomes a sensation that rallies the entire school. Like many of James’ other movies, Hitch and Paul Blart: Mall Cop especially, HCTB is destined to be a surefire box office success. Its plot is already generating a lot of debate on it and you can be sure that will make it another box office sensation for James.

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Relationships

Widowhood rites: If it is tradition

he existence of widowhood rites at the beginning of time must have been to serve certain holistic purposes which have been derailed as cultures have become dynamic in their changes. Derailed in its totality, especially here in Nigeria. And if you don’t believe me about the horrors of widowhood rites, ask any and many women who have had to go through one dehumanizing act or the other to show that they really truly loved their husbands so much that they’re ready to be subjected to any act to show that they respect the acts, norms and cultures of their dead husbands and their family, even when most of those acts are lies perfected by the man’s family to scare and lay their hands on what they believed the man left behind in terms of material wealth. Marriage is supposed to be ‘till death do us part’. Widowhood rites are therefore an extension of the marriage contract beyond what both partners had initially planned or bargained for. Cultural norms and traditions play a large role in what widowhood rites are or should be. A lot of women, who are in cross-cultural relationships most often, find themselves involved in very strange rites at the demise of their husbands. Even within the same culture, women whose dead husbands left them something or which the family assumes or believes have inherited something are subjected to acts that are dehumanizing. Modernity has empowered a lot of women to the extent that they may even be the primary breadwinners of their families. That they did not come out when the man was alive to ‘burst his bubbles’ to tell the true story of how cash was coming in, does not mean that all that they laboured for should be subjected to scrutiny and forceful takeover by the man’s family after his demise. A lot of women these days go through a lot to fend for the family. Most of them are the backbones or pillars upon which the family rests. Being made to suffer instead of being pampered by the man’s family after his

death is something I do not subscribe to. Not all widowhood rites are bad however. Some are done in good faith to make a woman feel welcomed and to also have a sense of belonging within the social framework of the community. In some communities, once a woman is widowed, feeding her and her children, if they have not attained an age to fend for themselves becomes the job of the man’s family. I have examples of widows who are lucky to belong to this group. Some are so pampered by their in-laws that they won’t even want to remarry again. I know of a family friend whose husband died at a relatively young age leaving her with three kids. The mother-in-law, according to her has been so good to her that she feels that even her dead husband didn’t take care of her needs as well as the woman. I also know of another who is almost being treated like royalty by her dead husband’s people. This is not to say that they wouldn’t have prayed that their husbands didn’t die, but that life after the death of their partners haven’t been all bad. Pregnancies may also be protected if the woman did not know that she was pregnant before he died. The unborn child is given hope of having a name and identity within the man’s family if during the period of rite of incarceration she discovers she is pregnant. That a man dies shouldn’t be an excuse for his immediate family to suffer. Some widows may get inherited in certain parts of the country. They will become wives to other members of the man’s family. To the man’s family, this may be to take care of the children and widow or as a means to getting their hands on the properties of the dead man. Given all the above, I won’t say women shouldn’t perform it. All I’ll say here is that society should stop the dehumanizing part of it. And that women shouldn’t allow themselves to be debased to show that they loved their husbands. Marriage is a joyful thing; it shouldn’t end with sorrows for the living.

SEX TALK This column is x-rated Essentials of afterplay

fter a particularly hot and sweaty session of fulfilling sex, satisfaction will hang heavy in the air… but have you ever thought about what ought to happen next?

Why should you enjoy afterplay? For years, the average man has endured ample criticism and been called a ‘typical male’ when he starts snoring just moments after sex, while his wife is still gasping for air after an energetic session. But thanks to ample media coverage and women beginning to play an equal role in the bedroom, men have begun to realise that if they wish to defend their reputation in bed, bed-etiquette is an absolutely must. Many modern men are wise beings and do appreciate basking in the afterglow of sex, but a significant percentage of men still see this part of sex as an over-indulgence. Great pity! All the different stages of sex are important in the creation of sexual enjoyment for both him and her. Foreplay awakens latent sexual feelings and is the catalyst for great orgasms, whilst afterplay is the part of sex which ensures that love is involved.

For Men: tips for fantastic afterplay

Make sure you do a few special things to show her that you do take her feelings into consideration.  Don’t fall asleep. Whatever you do… don’t fall asleep.  If she is lying on a wet spot, bring her a towel to absorb the stickiness.  If she needs the toilet, don’t run out in front of her, even if you think your urge is greater!  Let her shower first, or even better, shower with her.  If she’s thirsty, fetch her a glass of water or something else to drink.  If you use condoms, make sure you throw them away and don’t leave them in bed or on the bedside table… not even for a minute!  If she used a female condom, give her the time or help to remove it.  For top-notch cuddling, drape your entire body over hers.  Praise her with genuine compliments.  If she wants to put her underwear on, pass it to her.  ...but reassure her that you prefer her without it!  Don’t get up… not for a drink, and not to check your emails!  Don’t talk about irrelevant things that she has no interest in.

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RELATIONSHIPS

October 13, 2012

CHINWE ANNIE AMAECHI 07028684481 chinweamaechi@gmail.com

Should a woman comply? No way

This column is x-rated  Stay away from your cell phone – it can wait until later. Your woman is physiologically different from you. She wants to be caressed… but there is also another reason why she’s still awake after sex whilst you rub the sleep out of your eyes. Maybe she hasn’t reached orgasm… or maybe she has, and she’s ready for round two. If you really want to be her hero, ask her if there is anything else you can do for her. Perhaps you aren’t ready for any round yet. But who says you always need your Mr. John to please her?

Talking like this will get a man full points:  “I can’t get enough of your body.”  “It’s times like these that remind me why you and I are together.”  “I could lie here with you forever...” For Women: Remember, he is created differently While he looks as if he has just run a marathon, you may feel wide awake and want to talk (maybe this is why he’s tired). Men feel that talking after sex is unnecessary. They are action-orientated and feel that you have both ‘talked’ using your bodies. If you really have

This column is x-rated something on your heart, feel free to talk, but make sure you don’t discuss the following:  “So tell me… how do you feel about our relationship?”  “Do you think that having children is OK?”  “Eew… I must have shaved my legs two weeks ago!” 

Rather try the following:  “Wow! You are such a stallion!”  “You know just how to let your fingers do the talking…”  “I wish we could do this every day.”  For you both: Afterplay is never-ending foreplay! There is no rulebook that says afterplay is essential. There is also not as big an emphasis placed on afterplay as foreplay – but frequent ‘afterplayers’ know that it provides for an amazing sexual atmosphere between a couple and that afterplay often forms part of your next foreplay. Try these strategies:  Leave a note on your partner’s pillow that says: ‘I still feel your hands on my body’.  Send a text later in the day that says: ‘Last night is still a vivid memory’.  Send an intimate email that says: ‘20 reasons why I love you’.

hen a woman loses her husband, her clock freezes; it is almost like the end of the world for her; it could even drive her crazy; events begin to unfold in quick succession and she is suddenly faced with a bleak and uncertain future. Coupled with all these, she is faced with all sorts of demands from her husband’s family, their local community and the society as a whole. According to most norms, there are things which a widow must or must not do, particularly within the three to six months following her husband’s death. Widowhood rites vary from ethnic group to ethnic group, but most practices are, in my opinion, extreme. No one says a woman should not mourn her husband. Of course, she should, but how? Must her mourning be according to laid out rules, regulations and procedures created by communities over the years? Does the submission to and performance of these rites prove sorrow and a deep sense of loss? Because of the way some tribes practise widowhood rites, a lot of women dread the rites more than they dread the loss of their husbands. They would rather die before their husbands in order to be free of the woes and traumas of widowhood rites. When they think of the rites and see what widows go through in this regard, they pray for their husband’s sound health and long life (laughing out loud!). This is not a women-liberation point of view, but don’t you ever wonder why no man is subjected to any rites in the event of the death of his wife (I have never heard of morning rites for widowers!)? I have never seen a widower dressed in white or black clothing in the name of mourning, except at his wife’s funeral. In the same vein, I have never heard of any tradition which requires a man to go bald or stay indoors, sitting on a mat for over three weeks; have you? It is almost as if a woman should suffer because her husband died. These rites seem to insinuate that a widow is the cause of her husband’s death and must therefore serve a sentence like a convicted criminal. One could actually rephrase

the widowhood rites instructions thus: “By reason of the death of your husband, you are hereby sentenced to a doomed life. Your hair shall be shaved immediately. You shall be confined in the family house in the village for at least three weeks during which you shall remain on a raffia mat. You shall be dressed in plain white or black clothing, without make up or jewellery for at least three months. You are banned from remarrying and you shall remain Mrs. --- for the rest of your life!” Yeah, this sounds ridiculous, but isn’t this what it really is? Let’s be frank. The most barbaric of them all is the one which requires a widow to drink water that was used to wash her dead husband’s body in order to prove that she did not kill him. Very inhuman practice, but unfortunately, we are surrounded by advocates and implementers of such rites. The other crazy one is that which requires the widow to marry her late husband’s brother or relative. We all think that this is ancient practice, but the truth is that you can’t live in Germany and assume you know everything going on in France. Neither the television and radio stations nor the internet can tell it all. If I have stirred up your curiosity, conduct a personal survey by initiating casual discussions on this issue. Ask your neighbours, colleagues, relatives and friends about what obtains in their local communities. You will definitely be amazed at what goes on. I believe widows should be treated with more empathy than some traditions permit. The death of a woman’s husband is enough trauma for her, so she should not be further traumatized by these so-called traditional widowhood rites. The woes that widows experience in our society are unbearable. Those who claim that those rites are the true proof of mourning are big liars. A widow should be allowed to mourn her late husband in her own way; after all, it is she who wears the shoe that knows where it pinches. So should a woman submit to traditional widowhood rites? I think not.

October 13, 2012

Woman

Lessons of my drug mess –Yetunde Wumi

Few years ago, Taiwo Akinwande a.k.a Yetunde Wumi almost had her acting career truncated when she was arrested for possessing hard drugs at the airport in Lagos. The soft-spoken actress spoke with YEMISI ADENIRAN on how she has since picked up the pieces of her life together.

ou disappointed your fans some years back when you were arrested for drug trafficking at the airport by the National Drug Law Enforcing Agency (NDLEA). How did it feel? It was one sad experience that I would never wish for my worst enemy. I did not only disappoint my fans, I disappointed my friends, families and, of course, my very self. I have been acting since 1981 when I joined Feyikogbon, a Yoruba serials, on the television and until that incident, I was respected and loved by all. Whenever I passed through an area, I was a known face and I enjoyed everyone’s approval. I thought my world had come to an end when that incident occurred, I thought I was going to die, I didn’t know, I would ever be accepted into anywhere again. I hope I could turn back the hands of the clock, I just wished it never happened but I thank God and everyone for giving me the opportunity to redeem my image. Was it your first time? Yes, it was and I really wouldn’t want to have the memory back. It was one wrong decision I took, it was one big effort of the devil to ruin me and my career but I thank God I was able to survive it. A lot of people didn’t live to tell their stories, I thank God for the opportunity He gave me to learn my lessons and to tell the story afterwards. What lesson(s) did you learn? So many lessons I learnt. Above all others, I have learnt that God Almighty is a loving God. He is merciful, He does as He wills, He is God of a second chance and I intend not to misuse this rare opportunity to amend my ways, wash off the evil blemish the devil inflicted on me. I have also learnt to take each day as it comes and never compare myself with others. I learnt to be contented with what I have and not to allow any lack to push me into trouble. I learnt to love God, appreciate people and rely on what I can do to earn my money. So many lessons I have learnt through that incident.

Wumi

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

WOMAN

October 13, 2012

Many believe that many top Nigerians who are rich today have been involved in one drug deal or the other before. What would you say to that? I would say it is wrong to believe every hearsay that comes our way. If we will listen to these rumours, we are likely to be taken over by them and we may end up in trouble. Besides, what one person will do and escape, another may do and end up in a cobweb of problems. Was that what happened to you? This belief that you mentioned is not just coming up for the first time. People had heard of even worst things before. All I can say is that we should be wary of what we listen to because it is what we hear that will stay long on our minds; it is that which will play back on our minds and if these things are negative, they can push us into negative acts. Take for instance, students in higher institutions, even secondary schools. If they go by the general notion that if they don’t belong to a secret cult, they may not have it smooth on campus, they will be lured into wicked acts that are associated with cultists. The same thing goes for ladies, if they will go by the saying that there is nothing wrong in using what one has to get what one needs, they will easily go into prostitution, which will eventually lead them to all sorts of evil. If mothers want to join the bandwagon or the trend, they will not be able to lead their children aright; they will end up as failed mothers. I have tried to help myself by the option I took and like I said, I have learnt my lessons. There is no hard situation that can make me get involved in any negative deals in my life. That is just it. Has this, in any way, affected your acting profession? I must tell you that it has not. I thank God for the kind of people in my industry. Everyone can attest to the fact that they all rallied round me at that time of trial and even after; they have continued to invite me for roles. I thank God for this which is why I said it has pleased God to give me another chance to live a good life and I am not going to play with it. I appreciate it and I will always be His mouthpiece anywhere I find myself or whenever I have the opportunity. You don’t live with your husband. Is this a further confirmation that actresses can’t keep their homes? We want to keep our homes. There is no woman that goes into a marriage with the mindset of making it fail. The problem we usually encounter is that of full support and lack of understand-

ing on the part of our men. Many of them can’t endure or let me say, cope with the dictates of our job and because we love what we are doing, we find it hard to give it up for anything. Is this not contradictory to God’s dictate that men are the heads of the homes and should be respected accordingly? It depends on how you look at it and what the situation is like in each instance. Agreed, men are the heads, but the same God also instructs that they should love their wives. Loving their wives should include loving and caring for what makes her happy especially if it is in the interest of the family. Most men are self-centred and this is bad. Mind you, broken homes are not limited to our world alone, it is everywhere and I tell you, those things that contribute to our plights are equally applicable to those in other professions. If you have another chance to reunite with your husband, what would you do to keep him? I love my job , I am passionate about it. It makes my world go round, so, I will always do anything to keep it. May be, if he will see it the way I see it, we will be able to work things out. I don’t know. We were married before I went into acting; he doesn’t like the job, I love it. So, the clash of interests is one we couldn’t get to settle. If we are able to find a way around it, may be, things will work out better. What advice do you have for people who may be planning to try the drug courier option to get out of poverty. I will advise them sincerely to look elsewhere. It is not a good option, it can only kill or deter their progress in life. Only lazy people take the cheapest option to make it in life. They should work hard; follow good friends who would not corrupt them. is what we should be thinking of. We should engage or brains here and God will help us. What about couples whose homes are on the verge of collapse? They should exercise patience with each other. They should talk more. When there is no gap between couples, they settle their matters easily and quickly. They should learn to listen to God and not their own interests. Husbands should take time to get to know details of the expectations of their wives’ work and vice versa. Couples should respect each other and disallow third party interference in their affairs. Above all, they should pray and give each other chances to have their ways on issues.

Keeping ABREAST

Hi-tech bra

Your BRA could save your life •New underwear that can detect breast tumours could boost cancer survival rates •Could detect tumour up to SIX YEARS before mammogram could see it •Software monitors changes in breast tissue and temperature fluctuation that can indicate tumours •Set for release in 2013

he humble brassiere could have another - and much more vital - role to play as a company unveils plans for a hi-tech device that can be worn inside the bra to help detect breast cancer. Millions of women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year - and of those, about 45% will die. Catching the cancer early is crucial to survival rate - and the efficacy of traditional annual mammograms as a reliable detection method is being called into question, with tumours beginning to form up to six years before they can be detected using mammograms. First Warning Systems, the company making the life-saving bra, believe their device will be able to detect

tumours early and reduce the rate of false positives and negatives - thereby helping women seek treatment as soon as possible following a diagnosis. The invention takes the form of a sensor that is placed inside the undergarment where it will measure any changes in cell temperature caused by the blood vessel growth associated with tumours as they develop. The sensor will also contain software that uses pattern recognition, chronology and artificial intelligence to look for changes in breast tissue that might indicate a tumour is present. The launch of the bra is reported to be planned for 2013. Culled from www.mailonline.com

Semen is good for women –Study •Range of chemicals in semen ‘promote mental well-being and feelings of affection’, say researchers

ex is good for women’s health and makes you feel happier, according to a study which studied the effects of semen’s ‘mood-altering chemicals’. The State University of New York study - which scientists carried out via survey rather than through practical experiment - compared the sex lives of 293 females to their mental health. It follows research which shows that seminal fluid contains chemicals that elevate mood, increase affection, induce sleep and also contain at least three antidepressants.

The researchers also claim that women who have regular unprotected sex are less depressed and perform better on cognitive tests. Semen contains a range of chemicals along with spermatozoa, including cortisol, which is known to increase affection, estrone, which elevates mood and oxytocin, which also elevates mood. It also contains thyrotropin-releasing hormone (another antidepressant), melatonin (a sleep-inducing agent), and even serotonin (perhaps the best-known antidepressant neurotransmitter). Culled from www.dailymail.co.uk

October 13, 2012

Parenting

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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

10 ways to help your baby learn to walk T

hough it is true that most children will start walking on their own, kids have to learn to walk and won’t walk unless given the opportunity to do so. Consequently, there are several things you can do to help your child learn to walk a bit earlier.

Don’t use a walker Walkers pose numerous safety threats, even though they can be fun to babies. Walkers are so risky and have resulted in so many injuries. And, despite their name, a walker can actually cause your child to take longer to learn how to walk. Your child may not learn that she can support herself with her feet, and steps taken in a walker don’t move your child forward, so it’s harder for your child to make the connection between taking steps and moving forward. If you want your child to walk early, don’t use a walker. Try a jumper As an alternative to walkers, jumpers are top notch, though they can be dangerous if your child is left unsupervised, so make sure you are right next to her when she’s in the jump-

er. Jumpers encourage leg strength and confidence, and also help your child learn that when she moves her legs in a certain way her whole body will move. A word of caution: jumpers should be used sparingly. Encourage strong back muscles Though we often think of walking as primarily involving the legs, the most important muscles we use when we walk are our back muscles. You can encourage strong back muscles from birth by giving your baby ample time on her stomach. Encourage her to lift her head and neck by showing her interesting objects and making tummy time exciting. The muscle control she learns during this period can help her develop strong walking skills in a few months. Practice muscle control while sitting Encouraging your baby to stack and reach for things while she’s sitting up can help her develop the coordination and muscle control that will ultimately help her begin walking.

Practice coordination while crawling Crawling teaches your child to move his arms and legs at the same time, which is an important skill to have when he first begins walking. Encourage your child’s efforts at crawling by encouraging her to crawl across the room and even reach for things when crawling. Encourage independence Encourage this by allowing your child to explore her environment from a young age..

ing to walk and can also help her to avoid falling in a way that can hurt her. Let him push something When your baby is able to stand up, try giving her a light stool or box that won’t collapse

but is light enough to push. He’ll feel safe balancing on it but is likely to take a few steps forward pushing the object. Be sure to be there to catch him in case of any falls or missteps. •Culled from www.parenting.com

Tiny Feet

Go barefoot Bare feet can grip surfaces more easily and shoes are foreign objects that can distract kids from walking. Provide soft surfaces Your child won’t be tripped by moving rugs and can easily grip the carpet with her feet. Practice pulling up When babies start cruising and trying to walk, they love pulling up on surfaces. Show her how to bend her knees to return to a sitting position. This is a critical step in learn-

NAME: Opeyemi Orisasami

BORN TO: Mr. and Mrs Abdulwasiu Orisasami AGE: 3 months BIRTH WEIGHT: 3.65kg Have you just had a baby? Send a picture of your bundle of joy to mirrorbabies@gmail.com

Good parenting more important Update Parenting

ood parenting has more effect on a child’s academic achievement than the quality of the school, researchers say. A study compared levels of ‘family social capital’ - quality involvement from parents and ‘school social capital’, the role of the school itself. They found students with high levels of family social capital and low levels of school social capital performed better academically than students with high levels of school social capital but low family social capital.

than good schooling –Study

According to the researchers, while both school and family involvement are important, the role of family involvement is stronger when it comes to academic success. The research team defined family social capital as the bonds between parents and children, including trust, open lines of communication and active involvement in the child’s academic life. Capital could be added to by activities including checking homework and attending school events. School social capital includ-

zTrust, good communication and active involvement in a child’s academic life can help them succeed more than sending them to a good school zStudy finds that youngsters whose parents are supportive but who go to bad schools perform better than children whose parents are unsupportive but who attend good schools ed a school’s ability to serve as a positive environment for learning, including measures such as student involvement in extracurricular activities, teacher morale and the ability of teachers to address the

needs of individual students. The research findings emphasise the crucial role parents play in kids’ education. The lead researcher says, “Our study shows that parents need to be aware of how

important they are, and invest time in their children - checking homework, attending school events and letting kids know school is important. “That’s where the payoff is.”

Limit the time your child spends in front of TV -Experts

imiting the amount of time children spend in front of a screen could have significant advantages for their health and wellbeing, a

leading psychologist has said. By the age of seven, a child born today will have spent a full year glued to screens. The average 10-year-old has

at least five screens available to them at home, and over the course of childhood youngsters spend more time watching TV than they do in school.

All this screen time has been linked to obesity problems and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. Such extensive use of TV

screens could also lead to attention problems and other psychological difficulties. •Culled from www.mailonline.com

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

le StyGlam and

with Yemisi Adeniran

(08037801158) ydiran@yahoo.com

fringe makes a bold statement and brings structure to a hairstyle. It’s the smart option when you want an image change without the risk factor involved in a total restyle. Flirtatious fringes are currently riding high in the fashion stakes whether they’re full-on, peek-a-boo, short and choppy or asymmetric, bobs and likewise long locks have been bitten by the retro bug. It is all about versatility and where one suits one face shape, it may not suit another. Try short and sweet on a round face and an eyelash tickling; a blunt one will go on a long face shape. More or less, anything goes if you have the perfect oval. Don’t opt for a fringe cut to last 6-8 weeks to match the rest of your cut. Instead, have it cut to the length you love and pop into the salon for an expert’s touch. Adding a fringe is a daring decision, so don’t trim your tresses until you’ve checked out with the style that fits you best.

STYLE & GLAM

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Fashion Frenzy

BEAUTY

Q&A

Your candid response to all fashion questions

How to look smart & stylish in tunic shirts

Tunic shirts make it simple for you to look smart yet chic. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a fabulous alternative to regular dress shirts and can be worn to ca-

sual office settings. One good thing about them is that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re versatile to wear throughout the season. For the hot season months - drop the pants and wear it as a tunic dress, or pair it with mini or capri shorts. When harmattan is approaching, combine it with your jeans, wool tights or denim leggings and of course, layer it with a knit cardigan.

You can button-dow shirt. Som ones tend how to buy Since th

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

8 ways to show some legs

STYLE & GLAM

Facelift

YEMISI ADENIRAN

ne of the best things about being a girl is those beautiful legs you have. And you don’t have to be a supermodel to have nice legs. Even if you think you have short, stumpy, ugly legs, there are still lots of tricks to show them off. The following are tips you should always keep in mind: Make them hair-free: Hairy legs are never sexy. If you’re going to rock that mini, make sure you’ve waxed and your legs are smooth and silky. Moisturise: Dry skin isn’t attractive; so make sure you moisturise well. Waxing and shaving especially can make skin very dry. So, before you step out, use some moisturizer to keep those legs glowing. Be in love with heels: No matter what you’re wearing, if you want to draw attention to your legs, the best way to do it is with a pair of heels. When you’re in heels, you automatically seem more feminine and yes those legs do seem longer too! Go on classic mini: The classic mini is the leggy beauty’s favourite piece of clothing. A skirt is feminine and even better when it’s short. Everyone loves to see some beautiful legs peeking out from under a mini. Slit skirts: If the mini is not your thing, or you’re going someplace where it’s not really appropriate, don’t worry. Wear a skirt with a sexy slit instead. This could be an ankle length skirt with a long slit or a knee length one with a small slit. The sneak peek makes your legs look hotter. Sexy shorts: Like the mini, the short shorts are a leggy lass’s must have. They can be casual and flirty and worn with heels, they can even be worn out for a night on the town! Skinny jeans and pants: Don’t want to show off skin but still want to tell the world what gorgeous legs you have? Skinny jeans and pants are the hottest things on the fashion scene and what better way to show off those legs? Leggy swimwear: A great swim suit is a nice way to showcase your legs. Pick one that sits low on your hips and you’ll automatically look even better. Don’t hide away those beautiful legs anymore. Flaunt those beauties is all you want. Just look in your wardrobe and I’m sure you’ll find a million different things you can wear to make those sexy legs look sexier. Have fun!

n find tunic shirts in a variety of styles - from sophisticated wns to boho floral prints, rustic plaids to the classy belted me don’t like shirts that nip at the waist because the looser to make them look pregnant. Now here are some tips on y the right shirt for your body shape: he shirt is long, usually around hip or thigh length, I will

advise you to pair it with slim and fitted around the legs such as leggings, straight or skinny jeans. Boot cut and flare jeans can also work - but there’s a big BUT. You need to be taller than 5’4 or add heels or select a bottom that is fitted around the hips and thighs - to avoid looking frumpy. Adding a belt also adjusts the baggy look of the shirt.

How to keep your face beautiful O ne of the things that snatch the beauty away from your face is aging. It is most apparent by the amount of wrinkles in your face. If you consider some of the most basic principles of physics, then you will be able to beautify your face and give it longevity. The instructions below will guide you: 1. Drink eight glasses of water each day. Fatty acids are wonderful. Taking ground flax seeds with a meal or healthy drink, which is high in Omega-3 and Lignans, will give you fatty acids needed to help preserve your skin. 2. Use Vaseline or petroleum jelly on your face and apply it around the top and sides of your mouth. Also apply it on the sides of your eyes where crow’s feet usually appear. Ever noticed the parallel of some people who have oily skin and appear to look substantially younger than people of the same age who have dry skin? 3. Use a makeup that is complimentary with these products to tone down the oily look. You don’t want to walk around with a big shiny face. 4. Work out or steam your face at least five days per week so that you will sweat. This will help to keep the pores clean. You have to do this if you are using something like Vaseline on your face because it can clog your pores over time if you don’t. 5. Wash your face at night with a moisturising solution. 6. Do not bake yourself in the sun. The sun is extremely powerful. A sun blocking solution helps.

October 13, 2012

Male Essentials The current style trends Patterns he overall trend now is of patterns. Stripes, flowers, native, camouflage, plaid, even polka dots and animal prints (in moderation). Options, options, options. You have to love that men have that now. Not just options in colours or fits, but in patterns as well!

The formal utilitarian Another favourite trend is the mixing of formal wear with sportswear, in particular utilitarian gear. Back in the day, the mixing of casual and formal was throwing on a pair of sneakers with a suit. We’ve graduated from such simplicity and taken things to a different place. Now it’s throwing on a parka with that dress shirt, dress pants and tie, refined leather hardbottoms worn with rolled-up cargo pants, rugged lace-up boots worn with double-breasted blazers. The basic white Going all-black has been in trend for a while, now the opposite befalls us. Lately more and more celebrities have been keeping it simple with highdollar simple white T-shirts and white button-downs. While some are going pattern crazy, others opt for the opposite, and you’ve just got to respect it. You just do. Bright and bold Designers and retailers ers alike really want us to pop out now in bold and bright colours. While hile wearing bold and bright colours may seem like more of a girl thing to some, ome, boys can do it too. Just you do so in n a more studious and conscious way. ay. Don’t just throw on a bunch of colours. olours. Mix a bold colour with a neutral. al. Make your bold or bright colour unexpected. expected. Back to easy fit Well-fitting tailored clothes are good and okay, but the looser fits designers are re-introducing ucing are also very welcome. Why? Because some people don’t know the difference between tailored and too damn tight. If your junk is very visibly exposed, maybe rethink ethink it, unless you’re a rock k star. And if you’re sagging with too skinny jeans, you really eally have to rethink some things. ings. This is a real issue. So going oing back to looser fits may just ust be what the people need. ed. Looser fitting, more airy y silhouettes are making their way back to us and they are welcome at that. •Culled from www.theurbangent. heurbangent. com

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

08036961187

with Oseyiza Oogbodo w do kingseiza@yahoo.com kingseiza@ @yahoo.com

Amazing an, here comes the ove over, Spider-M Alexx. ubo is fashion, Alexx Ek When it comes to a man for every el and actor, he is od m A g. in az am just d and looking propriately dresse ap s ay alw n, sio occa thes wears. nal and Wester n clo tio di tra th bo in good of clothing and rity, he has tons leb ce e tru a ke Li style or trend. self to a particular m hi ict str a re n’t does g. But when it’s rs for mal dressin efe pr r, ve we ho , k. He t casual loo goes for the smar casual occasion, he

COOL

Alexx

People

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

Kayode Adesina: Aviation player OSEYIZA OOGBODO

t is difficult to look at Otunba Kayode Adesina today and envisage that he was once a teacher. He doesn’t look like a teacher but the confident and successful businessman he is. “I was a cargo instructor for over 10 years at the International School of Aviation,” he told Saturday Mirror, “and when I got tired of teaching, it prompted me to practise what I had been teaching others.” And so in September 1995, he took the faithful step of quitting his guaranteed life as a teacher for the new uncertain one of business. Though it is a decision he doesn’t regret now, he still remembers how tough the adjustment was. “When I started my business, Alpha-K Aviation and Allied Services, the beginning was seriously rough to the point I would want to cry sometimes. Though there wasn’t much coming in from teaching, I was getting to know people, training people and travelling. My life

was assured so I had rest of mind. “So when things were dull for me initially in my business, I thought of going back to teaching. Sometimes, I regretted that I started the business as most of my students had become successful. There weren’t that many skilled hands in the aviation sector then so anyone we taught at ISA was immediately snapped up. So they were doing well and I their teacher was languishing in business. So I cried to God, I challenged Him and He answered and things turned around for the best.” Since then, he has been doing quite well by sticking to viable principles. “I just don’t invest in any business scheme. I invest in only those I have competent knowledge of. I started with aviation and its allied services because I’m wellversed in it. “So everything I do is interwoven: shipping, travel agency, etc. I’m just going into oil and properties now. Property is not really related to my other businesses but I’m very interested in it so that interest will make me succeed in it too.”

An indigene of Iresi, Osun State, who was taught Biology by President Goodluck Jonathan when Jonathan was a youth corps member serving at Ebekun Secondary Commercial Grammar School in Iresi, he declared that he intends to become as successful and renowned as Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, Aliko Dangote and their ilk. He also disclosed his main success secret is the constant drive to satisfy his

clients. “I don’t joke with my clients’ desires. I go out of my way to satisfy them and it is paying off for me because they keep recommending me.” And like the teacher he once was, he still knows the value of education. “In order to maintain the pace in my business, I belong to many associations, including World Freight Network, and I keep going for conferences all the time. It’s like going back into class again. They refresh me.”

Oluwaseun Shobo: Youth leader, mentor TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

luwaseun Shobo is a youth pastor at Fountain of Life Church, brand consultant and radio pre-

senter of Trendy Shobo on City 105.1FM. He is also the founder of “100 Per cent Leaders” project. His organisation is a socio-economic group that is devoted to training, building and mentoring Nige-

rian youths toward greatness without involving in criminal activities. Speaking on what motivated him into mentoring of youths, Shobo, who attended three secondary schools before proceeding to the University of Lagos for a degree in Botany, said: “I have seen and met many young people and most times what I see is not what I think they can be. So for me it is about bringing out the potential the youths are made of and what the country is made of. I believe in mentoring youths toward living an integrity life. I love seeing the youths doing write things and achieving the potentials God has deposited in them. “One of those things that made me to start the 100 Per cent Leaders project is that I believe that what we are seeing in many of our leaders today is the reflecting of what they were doing during their youthful days because many of them involved in a lot of bad behaviours while growing up.” Shobo, who just finished a course in Media Enterprises at the Pan African University, while stressing the need for youths to be a catalyst of positive change in the society said that he has affected many youths positively through various programmes organised by the

100 Per cent Leaders. He added: “Hundred Per cent Leaders is about integrity. The vision of the 100 Per Cent Leaders is to build an optimistic value system in the average Nigerian youth. In doing this, we have applied many models like teaching, seminar, counselling and mentoring. We have changed the wrong perceptions of many Nigerian youths on how to be effective in the country despite many negatives situation in the country. “The organisation is about building people’s mindset on what they can do and achieve with their hands and how to contribute immensely to growth and development of Nigeria. I intend seeing youths who will become role models to others in the society and youths who will be at the top of their careers. “Hundred Per cent Leaders started in 2008 and the aim of the programme is to create an avenue for youths to relate freely with many of their role models who are making impact in different human endeavours. We bring distinguished people to address youths on how they can achieve their goal in life without involving in any crime. I believe as a youth we must believe in Nigeria and work toward our country development and growth.”

October 13, 2012

Dear Igho

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

TTel: e 08023924679 (SMS only) ighomit@gmail.com

Having diﬃculties with relationships, family, work or any other aspectt off your life? lif Help is at hand with TOBORE IGHO OVUORIE Dear Aunty Igho, I appreciate the good work you’re doing; I must confess, your publications are superb. Keep on the good work. I have never been that lucky in relationships with ladies; maybe it’s because I don’t have enough resources to give when requested and at the time such thing is needed. I don’t know but is it my fault? I am a very caring young man, who is open minded and straight forward, good looking and faithful. Currently, I’m not into a relationship with any lady.

Is love really for sale?

Akolade Thompson, Port Harcourt.

Dear Akolade, If girls act poorly to you because you don’t have money now, offer no apologies, rather, ask them why they too cannot work hard to care for themselves. I still don’t know when love would get off the ‘For Sale’ shelf. I wonder when. Let them know that women who work hard and see themselves as breadwinners are in most cases in control of their lives than those who wait for crumbs to fall off the tables of men. I pray you meet a very good lady who will see your heart first before your pocket. Good luck!

Help! Life is unfair to me Dear Madam Igho, My life has been so unfair to me and is passing me by. When I look in the mirror, I don’t like what I see. I always wonder what is happening to me. Everybody thinks I’m happy but deep inside me, I know I’m sad. My life is wasting away. This isn’t the life I want to live; this isn’t the lady I see in my dreams. Life has been so unfair; I just want to end it. I want more from life than I’m getting.

Dear Afoke, I tried reaching you over a hundred times since I got your text; your phone kept ringing without any reply. My text message to you too though delivered received no reply. Stop shutting yourself out. Things are not as bad as our minds tell us. Recently, I was feeling very bad about my health and other issues I was facing. My very young sister-in-law called me after pulling through another bout of asthma attack and noticed that I sounded too low. Without thinking about what I was saying, I said “I’m tired of this life

Whom do I choose between these two guys? Dear Igho, I’m 22 years old. After my break-up, many men have indicated interest in me but I don’t like them. I’m a virgin and want to remain so until I get married. That was the reason I broke up with my former guy. Now I find it difficult to love thoroughly. Two guys are seriously asking me out and I don’t know whom to choose. Rosemary,

Afoke Briggs, Gwagwalada, Abuja.

Ikot-Ansa, Calabar. Dear Rosemary, You don’t have to choose anyone of them if you’re not sure about what you want. I always say that when love comes knocking; we won’t even need to ask for advice before going for it. Take your time; enjoy all the attention you can get until you’re truly convinced you have indeed found the one who makes your heart beat faster. Good luck!

o”! To my surprise, she said “can we exchange lives then? Your kind of life is something I and so many other people won’t mind having”. That brought me back to reality. Mine is a life I honestly won’t like to exchange with many other lives. With God, I’m living a happy life. But because things were not happening the way I wanted at that particular period, I said I was tired of that same happy life. You stated it yourself that some people think you’re happy. That means you have something going for you, but which you’re not appreciating. People are quick to assume we are sad when we are not; aren’t you lucky then that you radiate such charm that makes people think you’re happy?

We all have dreams, but tell you what, not all of them would come to reality. Appreciate the things you have now and hope for newer things. Good things hardly meet us in unhappy states. That face you despise could be the dream of other people. May you never have reasons why that face would be seriously injured; then you’ll look back and want it back the way it is now. Love yourself, only then can you love God and the people around you. Inner peace is a potent charm that works wonders. Pray for forgiveness about your inability to appreciate what you have so far. I love you and I’m sure many people love you too. Give love a chance in your heart by first loving yourself. Please, do stay in touch.

I love him, but he’s not my taste Dear Igho, I’m in love with a guy but he’s not my taste. Please, what can I do? Temitope, Cehvron Drive, Lekki. Dear Temitope, So he’s not your taste but you love him; that’s good. You really must love him for you to know he’s lacking in some things, and have great feelings for him. I want to believe your love is not based on material things. If you genuinely love this guy and he’s deficient in some quarters, let him know without making it look like you’re forcing him to change. He might not even know that he’s not your dream man. If it’s his dressing you detest, when you have money, get him the kind of

stuffs you’ll like him to wear and let him try it. If it’s other areas,

you can remedy them all without appearing to be forceful.

HIV positive life partner needed Dear Igho, I am from Kaduna but live in Lagos and I’m 33 years old, HIV positive and a school dropout. I saw the letter an HIV positive person wrote (6 Oct, 2012) and was happy with your response. I need a woman to marry and I don’t mind if she is a woman with two kids or non Yoruba by tribe. She may or not be from a Lagos, HIV positive between 33 and 40years. I will marry her so far she will sponsor my education. I am also an artiste and musician. That was what I was

into in 2008 before the stroke of fate came my way. But I am now ok. Igho, help me and keep doing the good work. I will pay you back. Nata Ogasa Sanda, Lagos. Dear Nata, Your details as you can see have been published. I pray you find true love and the Lord touches you as He deems fit. You don’t have to pay me back; I’m here to serve humanity with all God has given me. Wishing you the best ahead. God bless you.

Living

Protesting beggars

Begging has been considered a lucrative venture by many over the years, as attested to by beggars themselves. But the current economic downturn seems to have taken a toll on the alms business. “Begging is no longer a sure business,” beggars moan. THOMAS USHIE

“I

am tired of begging. If I can have my way, I would not be doing this,” Suleiman Aminu who said he hails from Kano, lamented. Aminu is a beggar and he has been at it for some time. But for Aminu and most of his professional colleagues who bared their minds to Saturday Mirror, the attraction in the alms seeking business in the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, Lagos, is by no means waning. The inclement business environment is now forcing most of them to adopt new strategies: while some have

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October 13, 2012

Beggars strike: ‘We are tired of begging for peanuts’ changed career, some have volunteered themselves by working in public places like the bridges, attracting public’s sympathy and seeking alms from them. After all, the labourer deserves a wage. On the traffic-locked Maryland, via Ikorodu Road towards Bank Anthony Way, two ‘retired beggars’, Abdul and Musa, are now hawking handkerchiefs, bandanas, and other wares. When asked why they choose to be doing this instead of asking for alms, Abdul offered: “When I was begging, I was not always sure of what people will give to me. Sometimes, I will move around for so long before I can earn N20. When the business was good, I would go home with N700 to N1,000 after trying hard to move people to sympathy. Sometimes, I might not be able to make even N200. Nigerians are good people and they love to see people like us doing something. That is why I changed my business. I am now selling handkerchiefs. Now I make better money. I think that sometimes, people just buy from us just to encourage us. Sometimes, they leave

change (balance) as much as N300 for us. If I was begging, I don’t think that one person will give me that kind of money. The only problem is that the government said we should not hawk on this road again, so, sometimes, KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline) will try to arrest us”. Musa’s story is not too different from that of Abdul except his grouse over the bound on street trading adding that the traffic snarls offer good patronage for their goods, even so, having mastered the traffic terrain when they were begging. “I stopped begging because I was tired of doing so. I decided to invest the little money I saved, it in this business. Since then, I have not regretted it. I am doing better here than begging. Begging is not a sure business. The problem I am having now is the government who we were told, had stopped hawking on the street of Lagos. We still do so but with our eyes wide opened and risk bearing some losses because if KAI arrest us, we may lose everything. The government should please let us be because they did not give us work

and we are helping ourselves.” Also speaking, two cripples who hang precariously on Total-Jibowu aluminium constructed but dilapidating pedestrian bridge that stretches across the ever busy 10-lane Ikorodu Road, Suleiman and Abubakar, said that the business has been too dull even when they have been rendering voluntary services to the users of the bridge by sweeping and clearing the litters. For them, instead of begging without service, they choose to follow the admonition of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, who challenged Americans that “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”. And they bought brooms and started to do something by crawling and sweeping the pedestrian bridge. “I have been doing this work for the past five years and it has not paid me enough. I am tired of begging. If I CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

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Many parts of the country have been and are still being ravaged by flood. The Isokos of Delta State have not been spared. They are, however, taking the calamity in their stride and not leaving the rescue and rehabilitation of victims to the government alone, as AMOUR UDEMUDE reports.

ike a dream, it began two weeks ago. But today, the reality has dawned on the Isoko nation of Delta State. Their land is now flooded. The beautiful scenario they all cherish has now become one big pool of water which has swept away all in its path. No doubt, in these last two weeks, the coastal areas of Delta State especially the Isoko nation has experienced unprecedented flood from the River Niger leaving thousands of Isokos homeless, while some have also lost their lives and property worth millions of naira perish. Some of the affected communities in Isoko nation include, Ikpide-Irri, Umeh, Aviara, Araya, Emede, Irri, Uro-Irri, Ivrogbo-Irri, Ada-Irri, Iyede-Ame, Onogbokor, Ofagbe, Okpe-Isoko, Ovrode, Ellu, Aradhe. Others are Oyede, Okrama-Oyede, Uzere, Ivori, Orie, Idheze, Igbide, Owhodokpokpor-Igbide, Olomoro, Enwhe/ Okpolo, Ukpude, Edherie, Ibrede, EbohIyede among others. Reports have it that some of these communities mostly in the Isoko South council area of the state have been completely submerged with no trace of a building. The areas now look like one big river from afar. Now, indigenes have become refugees in their own land. The situation has, however, not abated. The flood is still rising and rising wrecking more havoc on anything in its way. In the past two weeks, the members of the Isoko political class led by the Secretary to Delta State Government (SSG), Ovuozorie Macaulay, have broken into groups to combat the frenetic situation created by the flood disaster in Isoko nation. The tasks before the groups include hiring or purchasing of speed boats to evacuate victims from flooded area, hiring of buses to take victims from the waterside to designated camps in Oleh and Ozoro as well as the provision of relief materials for the camps and ensuring their security and medications. Macaulay told Saturday Mirror that it was the sons and daughters of Isoko who are into politics that were responsible for all actions so far taken on the flood crisis. He, however, added that the state government has been helpful since the calamity hit the Isoko nation. “We in government alone cannot sustain the measure we have taken so far to cater for the displaced person in

Flooded area in Isoko land

Great Flood: Isokos move to zDisplaced persons bemoan fate, request more aid

Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay supervising the evacuation and moving round the camps.

Isoko nation. I want to thank the wife of the state governor, Deaconess Roli Uduaghan who has donated relief materials to the victims. Let the whole of Isoko people both at home and in the Diaspora come home and contribute their quota to the situation at hand by donating generously to our affected brothers and sisters who have been ravaged by the flood. This is not something you will leave for us in government alone to carry. We are working on our own and on behalf of the government.” In an emergency meeting of all Isoko stakeholders held at Oleh, headquarters of Isoko South council, Macaulay disclosed that over 6, 500 adults, excluding children which far outnumber the adults have successfully been evacuated and registered in the camps. Briefing the meeting which was attended by Senator James Manager, member representing Isoko Federal Constituency, Leo Ogor, member representing Isoko North State constituency in the state Assembly, Tim Owhefere, NDDC Commissioner, Chief Solomon Ogba,

Commissioner for Lands and Surveys, Sir Patrick Ferife, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Chief Betty Efekodha, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Orezi Esievo, pioneer Speaker, DTHA, Emma Okoro among others, Macaulay said that there was an ongoing effort to evacuate more people from the affected coastal communities. According to the SSG, over 4,000 people, excluding children are living in the camps while more are still being evacuated with the possibility of setting up another camp at another axis of Isoko. “What we are doing has no political platform. We are all working for the general interest of the Isoko nation. I therefore enjoin all to see this as an effort geared towards saving the lives of our people. The Isoko man does not know boundaries in emergencies but some of us are behaving strangely. What has happened to our values? We need to change for the sake of posterity,” he added. He said one of the major problems being faced is that s of some of the affected people resisting relocation despite

the dangers they are facing. He then appealed to traditional rulers to help talk to their subjects to lend support in various ways, especially in areas where the camps are located. Macaulay who commended the Head of Personnel Management (HPM), for Isoko South, Mr. Lucky Edoh for his effort in the flood crisis also called on religious bodies to also assist in ensuring that the displaced persons have maximum comfort. Also at the meeting were all Isoko traditional rulers, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Presidents-General of all Isoko communities as well as the members of the Isoko political class. Commenting in the same vein in an interview, Senator Manager, described the spate of flood as a calamity nobody expected. “We have experienced flood before but this very one is disastrous. There is nothing any individual or government can do alone as such all hands must be deck. One of the first communities to be sacked was mine and my house was affected. We appeal to everybody. All hands must be on deck to rescue and care for the victims because no one ever planned for this kind of disaster. This is beyond human comprehension; it is only God that can resolve this situation.” Also speaking, a member of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Benjamin Okiemute-Essein, expressed disappointment over the situation where some Isoko speaking people living in some of the Ndokwa communities were aggressively denied boarding boats and buses brought for rescue by the Ndokwa sons and daughters. The lawmaker explained that “Five percent of the coastal communities in that part of River Niger are Isoko communities and out of these five percent we could access they said if you are not Ndokwa speaking person they wouldn’t allow you to board their boat, so we

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Victims

be kin’s keepers took it upon ourselves to evacuate every of our people. So we mobilised more boats and it was a total operation. When there’s crisis the issue of party doesn’t rise at all. The dichotomy of party doesn’t rise. Every one of us worked assiduously to make sure lives are saved.” On the allegation that the state government’s presence was not felt by the people, Essien whose constituency is worst hit by the flood has this to say “If anybody tells you the government present was not there the person is lying. First when it started the deputy governor came into the scene and then the governor was outside and when the governor came he mobilized and asked everybody to go into the field. If there was not government present you cannot see government vehicles round the place. The government is fully on the ground and who are the government? It is those of us that are in power. The governor cannot come here and start dragging people out it’s we who are foot-soldiers that would do the job. So the governor was present.” According to Essien, instructions were given, from the SSG to Commissioners and the council personnel. “But like I said in a crisis situation you cannot have 100 percent cooperation. But if some people are trying to bring dichotomy into the system, well it’s a perfect ar-

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October 13, 2012

rangement. In situations like this there must be some up and down but I want to tell you that, the state government on its own did everything humanly possible to ensure the operation didn’t fail. But if failure is coming from anywhere those involve should be held responsible. I’m saying this categorically that if anybody can stand up today to say the governor didn’t do anything as regard the evacuation of this people and the welfare of this people, the person is lying.” While commending the state government, Macaulay, Rear Admiral Kpokpogri, Chief Security Adviser to the governor and all those who have contributed in one way or the other to ameliorate the suffering of the flood victims in Isoko nation, Essien asserted that everybody in Isoko who dwells in the coastal areas were affected. “I have been with my people, assuring them that the government is doing everything possible to handle the situation. As the water recede, we would get to the entire village to asset and know what to do. The House and the State government would definitely have a postflood impact arrangement for the people so I appeal to the people to keep calm. The flood has been very devastating and we have been trying our best to cushion the effect on our people. All their means of livelihood lost, public institutions,

health centres and many more lost to the flood but we thank God a good number of people were brought to safety.” Also speaking, the Head of Personnel Management (HPM), Isoko South council, Mr. Lucky Edoh enumerated some of the earlier assistance given by the council to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to include, boats, buses, clearing and fumigation of the entire camps, feeding of the victims for about three days, provision of a generating set to pump and illuminate the premises as well as mobile toilet and clinic facilities among others. Edoh noted that however “It would be very unfair to the state government to say people were abandoned. In the first place the camp that was opened at Ivrogbo-Irri was set up by the state government through the effort of the state Deputy Governor, Prof Amos Utuama-led State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) set up by the governor. It’s a state government camp so I would say it’s only the uninformed that would say the state government abandoned Isoko IDPs.” According to the HPM, the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is very large. “We have been having a lot of complaints. The challenges are much. Because of the large number of persons, we have problem of taking care of all their needs. We have challenge with mattresses and pillows however a lot of donations have been made. The council has provided some. And the state government has also provided through SEMA and a good number of NGOs too. The wife of the governor, Mrs Roli Uduaghan also brought a good number of items, food items, clothe and all that and everybody is touched.” Edoh, therefore appealled to everybody to see the situation as an emergency and put every hand on deck until the flood recedes. “My advice is that people should be in touch, let them come out to give relief material. We are not talking about cash now; we need the relief materials here”. a victim and indigene of one of the mostly affected community, Umeh, Isoko South, Barrister Duncan Akpoviene Afahokor described the situation as unfortunate. “It’s very unfortunate that my entire community has been sacked. Umeh is an agrarian community and we have lost everything in the place. Well, the only thing we have gotten so far from the government was the advice to move but my people were reluctant to move because they have not been able to march that directive with action but the Isoko political class brought some vehicles but they were not enough.” Afahokor stressed that basically, what they are looking at is the post-flood era and as a farming community what happened after the flood recede is their concern now. “I think it’s part of negligence on the part of the government. We have not been respecting our building code. We have not been respecting the natural flow of water. Man is paying for the rip on the environment. We have violated the environment and that’s what we are paying for. But I also think the dredging of the

Niger River would have help. As we talk some of my people are in the two camps in Isoko, Oleh and Ozoro however many still need to be evacuated. “First of all we have to commend the state government and Isoko political class for setting up this camp but the standard here is still quite low when you compare with what is happening in other jurisdiction. I know even in Asaba, they are engaging the IDPs. They have set up skill acquisition centres even computer training centres but we don’t have that kind of a thing here in Isoko. The only thing here is that people are struggling to feed the IDPs. So I want to call on the government to keep on improving on the facility we have here. Again the sanitary condition here is alarming because the number of toilet that we have are not sufficient for the number of people here. The people here are overwhelming. And they need to as a matter of urgency fumigate the place because it’s prone to mosquitoes that cause malaria.” A victim, who simply identified herself as Joy Omugbe from Ariaya complained bitterly of food and where to sleep even as she lamented a situation where all her entire household were lost to the flood. On her part, Mrs. Omugbe called for more government assistance so as to cushion the effect of the flood. Mrs Erezi Ebie, a widow with six children from Onogbokor, Ndokwa East lamented bitterly that since they were evacuated to the St Michaels’ College in Oleh they have been faced with problems of hunger and where to sleep. She appealed to governments of all levels to as a matter of importance come to their aid. Mrs. Veronica Edhewre from IkpideIrri, Isoko South council described the situation as pathetic and calamity which no one planned for and prayed God to intervene and arrest the situation because if it continues so many lives and property would be lost. As the flood continues to increase daily, the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Victor Ochei has expressed pains over the condition the victims found themselves. Ochei accompanied by other members and the House’s Deputy majority leader and member representing Isoko South constituency 11 in the house while on inspection tour of the camps in Isoko South and North lamented the effect of the flood describing it as a painful thing to be driven away from ones home by flood. Ochei who had earlier cut short his foreign bar conference to Dublin, promised the continued support of the House materially and otherwise. Meanwhile more succour has come the way of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Isoko South and North as the Umeh Need Road Facebook Forum (UNR), donated relief materials worth a million naira to the victims. Presenting the items to the two camps, founder and administrator of the group, Duncan Akpovienehe Afahokor, sympathised with all the victims of the flood even as he lamented the situation which he described as a pathetic one that required all hands to be on desk so as to assist the people.

October 13, 2012

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‘No longer lucrative’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

can have my way, I would not be doing this,” Suleiman groaned, while calling on public spirited individuals as well as Not-for-profit organisations to be of help to them. Continuing, he said that he has made retirement plans which he has been pursuing for the past two years as his present job is not dignifying of a married man. “I have been training for taekwondo and karate at the stadium. I have dedicated Sunday and Saturday for my training. I don’t joke with those two days. Though the business of sweeping and seeking alms on this bridge is not lucrative, there is nothing I can do now because I have to help myself. I would not steal and I have a family to take care of. Instead of sitting and begging for alms, I decided to be sweeping this bridge to attract sympathy from passersby. Just see (displaying his money), I have been here since 7’o clock and I have just N140 by noon. I don’t live here. I live at the stadium and I cannot crawl from Fadeyi back home. I would have loved to be part of the Paralympic contingent in the London games. I hope to train hard and be part of the next Olympics,” he enthused. Also speaking, Abubakar, a cripple and co-worker with Suleimna on the Jibowu Pedestrian Bridge, who claimed to be an indigene of Kebbi State, said that he is married with three children. He held that he changed strategy of begging without rendering services to working and begging because of low patronage. Even then, “since morning, I have not had anything tangible. The country is hard. Before, the people using this pedestrian bridge would give us good money as we swept the bridge but the case is presently not the same. Since morning, I have not had any money that could buy me ‘tuo-shinkafa’ (rice meal),” he grieved. Asked if he, like Suleiman, has alternative plans, he said that “I have a wife and three children. I am already tired of begging. If I can save enough money, I will go into business of buying and selling since I am a cripple. I might also learn a trade and be useful to myself and family. I did not go to school and I don’t want my children to be like me. I want them to be better than me, by the Grace of God,” he said. Ditto for Ajibade and Ishola who operate on the pedestrian bridge at Charity Bus Stop, Oshodi, Lagos. They are both married, rendering voluntary ‘public service’ and seeking for alms from the pedestrians. But unlike before, their business is nose diving. When asked if they have heard of inspirational stories from disabled persons who have made it in life, especially Nigerians like Cosmas Okoli who did not allow his disabilities to weigh him down and made it intellectually, economically, invented mobility appliances, driving himself in his Sports Utility Vehicle and even ventured into politics by contesting in the last general elections for the position of House of Representatives in Lagos, they responded in the negative. They however

Disabled beggars

I AM ALREADY TIRED OF BEGGING. IF I CAN SAVE ENOUGH MONEY, I WILL GO INTO BUSINESS OF BUYING AND SELLING SINCE I AM A CRIPPLE. I MIGHT ALSO LEARN A TRADE AND BE USEFUL TO MYSELF AND FAMILY enthused that “with God, all things are possible and we hope to give our children a better future than the one we are having. Begging is not an easy job.” At the NAHCO bus park located along airport road, Ajao, Adamu, a blind beggar operates with the help of an assistant. At first sight, he seems to speak good English but obviously recites mercifully couched verses of his “begging lyrics” garnished with words that can evoke pity and/or religious sentiment for piety and empty ones pocket. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” he started, “Please I am begging you in the name of God to assist me. God will bless you and your family. God will bless you and promote you in your work. He will not let any evil befall you…..” he recited to the amazement of his target audience. Saturday Mirror probed into his

business wondering if he could recite in good English, why he did not go to school. “I did not have the opportunity to go to school. I became blind as a tot and my parents are not rich. I have heard of schools for the blind and other physically challenged people but I don’t think that I can afford it. By the way, it is too late for me to do that now. The only thing anybody can help me with is to learn a trade or settle down for business. The money I earn here is not enough to take care of me and my family. Begging is not an easy job at all. You keep approaching people with the hope that they will have mercy on you because of their beliefs or human sympathy and most time, they will not response positively. But we have learnt not to give up. If one person did not give you, the next man could be of help, so we don’t lose hope. But it is better to start doing something that you can be proud

of than to continue in this business,” he stuttered in Pidgin English. Another beggar, Hakeem, who operates on the ever busy Broad Street on Lagos Island, exclaimed when this reporter asked for his opinion about the present condition of his business. “Who are you,” he enquired in sustained surprised. And after the reporter introduced himself, he continued: “I thought you are one of these KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline) people who usually arrest people. I am surprised that anybody would come and ask me ‘how market’ when you know that I am not selling anything. I am just a beggar. I am seeking for alms to support my family”. Probing further, Saturday Mirror asked if he has bothered to learn a trade that could fetch him a dignified job. “You are asking me why I did not find something to do?” he posed rhetorically. And with a sort of suspicious smile, he continued: “If you don’t have money and people to assist you, how will you find something to do? Beggars don’t have support if not, they will not beg. Do you think I enjoy walking or standing on the sun and rain like this? I don’t! If I can get help to do what will give me money to support myself and my nuclear family, why not?”

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October 13, 2012

Bessy, the lady carpenter Mrs Bessy Osayi Imasuen is attractive and strong-willed. She holds a National Diploma in Marketing. Today, however, she is a celebrated furniture maker; a field most consider the sole preserve of men.

Bessy

Bessy at work

YEMISI ADENIRAN

re women really the weaker sex? No! Definitely not Mrs Bessy Osayi Imasuen, the Chief Executive Officer of Beesharus, a thriving furniture company seems to have portrayed. Bessy Osayi, a mother of three, for over two decades is in a business many people, especially the womenfolk will see as a struggle. Yet, she feels warm and contented even as she terms it a delight. “There is no job a woman cannot do as long as it gives her pleasure. Besides, there is no job that is simple and there is no one that is difficult. As a matter of fact, the more money involved in a job, the more tasking it will be,” she told Saturday Mirror. Her workshop with its head office located in Benin continues to draw visitors who view her as a special person for dabbling into a job characterised by frantic activity and is inappropriate for women. Osayi, however, appears oblivious of the attention she attracts, as she handles her tedious but necessary task confidently. “Ever since I started this job, my sex has been of a tremendous advantage. The more people stand to be sure if I am indeed in charge of this place or a mere sales girl, the more I get being advertised and of course, the more customers come to patronise me,” she said. Meanwhile, it never ceases to amaze people that Osayi was already a holder of a National Diploma in Marketing from the Ondo State Polytechnic, Owo, before opting for the carpentry vocation. Explaining why she took this unusual decision, Osayi said she got into the furniture business by accident. ‘I had wanted to further my education after my one-year

industrial training but for my father’s ill-health. My father was sick and I had younger siblings to cater for, so, I had to look for a job to feed on,’ she recalled. The Igbinosu Furniture Company in Benin, came handy and she promptly made for the option. She was made the manager in charge of sales and production where she was taught the rudiments of the furniture business. Unknown to her, her encounter with the company was meant to change her fortune forever. Her manager, in the course of getting her well-grounded, advised her to follow him out to buy materials of different ranges and stay with the furniture workers in the factory whenever they were working. For seven years, she did this with commitment and ended up knowing not just the financial details of the furniture business but the technical aspect as well. After seven years at Igbinosu, Osayi decided to take the bold step of being an entrepreneur thus in 1993, she established her own furniture company. Unfortunately, her parents were disenchanted with the whole idea. “My parents could not understand why I had to take up the vocation of a carpenter with my educational qualification. They resented my choice and kicked vehemently against it,’ she said. But, her mind was made up. She quietly bought all the necessary tools, she needed for the job behind her parents and started her own outlet even before her parents could discover. , “I was convinced of having a head way through this business and I was not going to be discouraged by my parents’ disapproval,” she added. Determined to convince all of a future in the vocation, Osayi worked and within a very short time, made not only profit

from the business but equally broke the common record that the business of furniture is only meant for men. “So many people who saw me as a confused person then have started citing me as a good example to their children. I have not only made money but become mentors to people far and near. Even my parents are proud of me,” Osayi enthused. Speaking on the nature of the job and its challenges, Osayi said it is lucrative and quite demanding. “But you have to be careful to use durable materials for your work and allow people to know you for this. That way, you will help them build trust in you and you will have their loyalty via patronage permanently. Again, when they know you don’t disappoint on the time agreed to deliver your job, they would also stay glued to you,” she explained. For people who may want to follow her footsteps, Osayi said training for brilliant secondary school leavers lasts between two and three years, after which one would require between N200, 000 and N300, 000 as set-up capital. “It is better to be an employer than an employee. I can boldly tell you that I am much better-off and sure of the future than many of my mates who are still employees of one company or the other,” she said. On days when there are no jobs, Osayi said she goes out to scout for jobs. “I don’t just sit in the office waiting for jobs to come. I go out to seek for little jobs like doors, frames, roofing of new buildings and all areas of woodwork in order to keep busy and earn some money,” said she. And with the help of a supportive husband, Osayi’s life, according to her, is made easier. “I am blessed with an under-

standing husband. Many times when he closes from work, he comes around the workshop to lend a helping hand,” she added. Osayi who currently has a branch at Baale area of Abule Ekun area of Ogun State, advises Nigerian women to endeavour to accord dignity to womanhood. She said women should learn to work hard like men to earn a living and jettison the belief that they can use what they have for what they don’t have.” ” We shouldn’t allow the society to continue to intimidate us because there is nothing a man is doing that we cannot do. If the men can work hard to give extras to women, women too should also rise up to do likewise.” Meanwhile, the men who are working and learning under her are not ashamed to do so. “I am not one of those who feel bad or intimidated by a successful woman. She even has more patronage than some men around and it is when you have such that you can have challenges and exposure. Besides, she is hardworking, humble and won’t shout at you as many female bosses do,” said John Udeyi, one of her apprentices. While Osayi’s ultimate ambition is to be one of the most successful furniture makers in Nigeria, she agrees that education is necessary in whatever spheres of human endeavour one finds oneself and expresses her desire to further her education. She added that even in furniture business there are some calculations that require some level of education. “I hope to make better success of this career I have chosen. If I am, I will be able to achieve my dream of establishing more success, construct buildings and live a life worthy of emulation by all and sundry,” she said.

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Tears on a prayer mountain FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

or the worshipers and shepherd in-charge of The African Church Solution Camp, a prayer “mountain” situated at the entrance gate of Sam Ewang Estate in Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun state, Saturday 6th October, 2012 would forever remain indelible in their memories because of the death of 20 of their brethren in a ghastly motor accident. The Shepherd in-Charge, Reverend Jeremiah Okunlola, popularly called “Baba Ori-Oke” specifically will not forget the day because it was a day when the devil put his call and anointing to test as a result of the calamity that befell members of his church. As expected, the brethren were all gay and gorgeous in their attires, hoping to celebrate the day with one of their own who was giving out her daughter in marriage in Lagos. That expectation was, however, cut off and replaced with tales of woe in an accident that claimed lives of 20 members of the church Ototo village, along the Abeokuta-SiunShagamu expressway, few meters from Abeokuta where they had taken off. Saturday Mirror gathered that the church members had all converged at the church premises before taking off in a convoy and were led in prayers by the “Baba Ori-Oke,” Reverend Okunola, who committed the journey and every celebration to the hands of God. About three kilometers away, however, an 18-seater Hiace bus, which led their convoy of two buses and three cars had a head-on collision with a truck, and in a jiffy, 20 lives were gone. The gruesome end of these church members has continued to generate questions and controversies. Many have wondered why such a thing should happen to members of a praying church such as the African Church Solution Camp. Many sceptics have even questioned the genuineness of the call of Reverend Okunola, the Shepherd-in-Charge of the church. Saturday Mirror’s investigation, however, revealed that the accident was foretold a week earlier by a visiting pastor during one of their prayer meetings. Church insiders told Saturday Mirror that the visiting pastor told the congregation that had a vision in which he saw a river of blood. He also told members of the church to pray fervently against being presented with gifts of coffins. The believers prayed and believed that they had overcome the prediction. Alas, the foretold happened. Insiders say the Sunday after the accident, the church gathered for the

…as Shepherd and members of African Church Solution Camp mourn 20 members who were lost in a car accident on their way to a wedding in Lagos.

Bewildered church members

Late Rev. Adebowale and family

The accident scene

Sunday worship, which was observed in tears. The Shepherd-in-Charge was said

to have been unable to utter a word of sermon. It therefore fell on other preachers who came from neighbour-

ing churches to deliver the sermon and coordinate the worship. Among the victims were Miss Mayowa Odunlami, a graduate of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State and the only child of her mother, who was set for Youth Service and a newly ordained priest, Reverend Josiah Adebowale. The late Reverend Adebowale was ordained as a priest in the African Church denomination less than 30 days ago by the Primate of the church, Rt. Revd. Emmanuel Udofia. Adebowale, who was in his late thirties, had been a deacon for the past twelve months in the church and hailed from Ilaro area of Ogun State. He is survived by his wife and two kids between the ages of one year three months and five months old baby. He has since been buried. Others were a protocol officer in the church, Mr. Olamilekan Saka, who was said to be planning for his wedding, Evangelist Bola Kuye, one Mrs. Ogunwemimo, Mrs. Adefule, Mrs. Tosin Ewuoso and a middle aged woman identified as Iya Alakara. It was tears and wailing at the burial of Mrs. Ogunwemimo who was billed to travel for Holy Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, her dream of visiting the holy land could not materialise. Mayowa Odunlami, the new graduate of Bowen University was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Oni Odunlami, a retired Police officer of the rank of CSP who retired in Zone 11, Oshogbo, Osun state. Meanwhile, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has commiserated with the families of the victims and promised that government will foot the medical bills of the survivors.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

Simple ways to live a healthy lifestyle Y

gym to maintain your fitness. Simply boosting your levels of general daily activity can massively improve your health and energy.

ou hear a lot about living a healthy lifestyle, but what does that mean? In general, a healthy person doesn’t smoke, is at a healthy weight, eats healthy and exercises. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The trick to healthy living is making small changes...taking more steps, adding fruit to your cereal, having an extra glass of water...these are just a few ways you can start living healthy without drastic changes.

Eat a healthy, balanced diet and stay active The key to a healthy balanced diet is not to ban or omit any foods or food groups but to balance what you eat by consuming a variety of foods from each food group in the right proportions for good health.

Importance of exercise

Exercise One of the biggest problems in the world today is lack of activity. We know it’s good for us but avoid it like the plague either because we’re used to being sedentary or afraid that exercise has to be vigorous to be worth our time. The truth is, movement is movement and the more you do, the healthier you’ll be. Even moderate activities like chores, gardening and walking can make a difference.

Just adding a little movement to your life can:  Reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes  Improve joint stability  Increase and improve range of movement  Help maintain flexibility as you age  Maintain bone mass  Prevent osteoporosis and fractures  Improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression  Enhance self esteem  Improve memory in elderly people  Reduce stress So, even if you opt for small changes and a more modest weight loss, you can see the benefits are still pretty good. One study has found that just a 10 percent weight reduction helped obese patients reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and increase longevity.

Simple ways to move your body You can start the process of weight loss now by adding a little more activity to your life. If you’re not ready for a structured programme, start small.

Every little bit counts and it all adds up to burning more calories.  Walk more. Look for small ways to walk more.  Do some chores. Shoveling, working in the garden, raking leaves, sweeping the floor...these kinds of activities may not be ‘vigorous’ exercise, but they can keep you moving while getting your house in order.  Pace while you talk. When you’re on the phone, pace around or even do some cleaning while gabbing. This is a great way to stay moving while doing something you enjoy.  Be aware. Make a list of all the physical activities you do on a typical day. If you find that the bulk of your time is spent sitting, make another list of all the ways you could move more--getting up each hour to stretch or walk, walk the stairs at work, etc.

Eating well Eating a healthy diet is another part of the healthy lifestyle. Not only can a clean diet help with weight management, it can also improve your health and quality of life as you get older. If you’re looking for smaller changes, you can use these tips for simple ways to change how you eat:  Eat more fruit. Add it to your ce-

real, your salads or even your dinners  Sneak in more veggies. Add them wherever you can – a tomato on your sandwich. Keep pre-cut or canned/ frozen veggies ready for quick snacks.  Switch your salad dressing. If you eat full-fat dressing, switch to something lighter and you’ll automatically eat less calories.  Eat low-fat or fat-free dairy. Switching to skim milk or fat free yogurt is another simple way to eat less calories without having to change too much in your diet.  Make some substitutes. Look through your cabinets or fridge and pick three foods you eat every day. Write down the nutritional content and, the next time you’re at the store, find lower-calorie substitutes for just those three items. Creating a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to mean drastic changes. In fact, drastic changes almost always lead to failure. Making small changes in how you live each day can lead to big rewards, so figure out what you can to be healthy today. It’s never too late to change your habits, and by establishing a healthy lifestyle now, you’ll continue to reap the rewards in the future You don’t have to slog it out in a sweaty

There are many reasons why we can find it hard to start exercising our everyday lives require less physical activity than in our grandparents’ day, we rely on cars to get around and spend hours sitting in front of computers.  Physical inactivity is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease - in other words, if you don’t exercise you dramatically increase your risk of dying from a heart attack  Conversely, exercise means a healthier heart because it reduces several cardiovascular risks, including high blood pressure  Being physically active can bolster good mental health and help you to manage stress, anxiety and even depression  Regular exercise as you age keeps you strong, mobile and less dependent on others  Regular exercise can help you achieve and maintain an ideal weight, which can be important in managing many health conditions, or may just make you feel happier about your appearance  All exercise helps strengthen bones and muscles to some degree, but weight-bearing exercise, such as running, is especially good in promoting bone density and protecting against osteoporosis, which affects men as well as women Different exercises help with all sorts of health niggles, such as digestion, poor posture and sleeplessness, and physical activity can be beneficial for a range of medical conditions, from diabetes to lower back pain.

LETTER Dear Doctor, I have rash on my private part and bum-bum for over a year. They look like ringworm. I have used so many creams but they will disappear and appear after sometimes. My laps and bum-bum are terrible as I cannot pull off before my friends. Worried Ene Mirror Doctor replies

Rashes on my private parts ‘Bum bum’ (buttocks) rash is an eruption on the skin of the buttocks. The possible causes are numerous usually as a result of some medical conditions though there are likely to be other possible causes. Some causes include heat rash, eczema, measles, dry skin, scabies, fungal infection, contact dermatitis etc

From your mail, you claimed to have used so many other creams to no avail as symptoms always disappear and appear after sometimes. This is often possible as skin infection needs to diagnosed properly before application of any medication, be it topical application of cream, or oral ingestion of drugs. In most cases,

applying creams only would not help as the causative agent may need to be taken care of by ingestion of the appropriate medication. Unfortunately because I am unable to see and examine you, I recommend you visit a dermatologist (skin doctor) for proper examination and evaluation as different rashes have different causes and denote different disease conditions.

LEISURE

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

South Africa 2013

Calabar aglow as Eagles, Lone Stars battle for ticket Coach Stephen Keshi (left) watches as Super Eagles sweat it out in training ahead of today’s Nations Cup cracker against Liberia.

SAYO OGUNDEJI

igeria’s Super Eagles have a date with history today as they take on the Lone Stars of Liberia in the second leg of the final round of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar. Saturday Mirror gathered that, ahead of the crucial tie, the ancient city of Calabar is aglow with excitement and the players aware that nothing short of good result will fetch them a qualification ticket for the tournament billed for South Africa next year. The Eagles, who were held to a 2-2 draw in far away Monrovia during the first leg, must up their game if they are to avoid the repeat performance which saw them lose the 2012 Nations Cup ticket to Guinea here in Nigeria on the final day of the qualifier. Samson Siasia-tutored team missed out of the last Nations Cup tournament held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea despite being held to a 2-2 draw by the visiting Guineans at the Abuja National Stadium, but on this occasion, Coach Stephen Keshi

has assured Nigerians on the players’ resolve to win the ticket for the country. The Eagles, who had beaten Liberia 2-0 earlier in the year in an international friendly match, were poised to snatch an important 2-1 away victory in Monrovia in the first leg of the last round of the qualifiers played last month, having led through Nosa Igiebor and Ikechuchkwu Uche, but an error by the goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, ensured the hosts had a share of the points. While many blamed the goalkeeper for the error and called for his replacement in today’s match, an ex-international, Alloy Agu believes the former Enyimba shot-stopper remains the safest hand the country can boast of. And he called on the coaching crew of the team to select the best players for the country, adding that the entire team must be blamed for the error which cost the Eagles the vital away points. “People should not forget the fact that Enyeama has been our saviour on many occasions and making a mistake in a match does not mean he should not be trusted again, because I still believe he is

Jibrin wins Jaji Open P. 42 Golf tourney

the best choice in the goalkeeping department of the team. “So, the choice lies with the coaches to decide who gets to play and we can only hope they select the best crop of players who will go out there and give us the desired result,” Agu enthused. The Eagles team received a boost following the return of Chelsea of England midfielder, John Obi Mikel, after a long absence, and the team’s captain, Joseph Yobo, will however not be available for selection having sustained an injury while playing for his Turkish side, Fernabahce a week earlier. Keshi, who expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team in training so far, has seven domestic players and 15 foreign-based ones to choose from. Despite Yobo’s absence, the rest of the squad responded positively as the foreignbased professionals arrived early to join their home-based counterparts who have been sweating it out for a couple of weeks ahead of the much-important game. The Liberians on the other hand, have kept themselves busy with quality friendly matches and managed to engage some of

We must stop using fire-brigade approach to prepare athletes –Aretola P. 44, 45

the local sides in tune-up friendly games. They also rounded up their preparation with a warm up friendly against the Mena of Niger Republic last Monday, losing 3-4, and defeating Malawi 1-0 earlier. The Lone Stars also recorded a 2-0 victory over the Black Stars of Ghana before losing 0-1 to Equatorial Guinea in Malabo. But according to Mutiu Adepoju, a former captain of the national team, the Eagles are well motivated going into this encounter and missing out in another final will be unacceptable to the players and Nigerians. “Every player’s ambition is to win trophies, both for club and country and Nigerian players have not been able to achieve that in a long time. I feel this is enough motivation to the Eagles to fetch Nigerians the ticket. “The country missed out at the last tournament almost in this same manner on the last day of the qualifier, but I believe they are well motivated and determined to bring success to the country now,” Adepoju who recently resigned his appointment as the General Manager of Shooting Stars of Ibadan added.

Oshaniwa explains Liberia snub P. 45

SPORT

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Eagles, beware of Lone Stars!

ll roads will, today, lead to the ancient city of Calabar for the important last qualifying match for the 2013 Nations Cup between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Lone Stars of Liberia. According to soccer pundits, the outcome of the match would determine the continuous stay or otherwise of Stephen Keshi as the Eagles sweat-merchant as the encounter is a must-win if Nigeria truly wants to remain a dominant force in African football after missing out in the last edition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. For the visitors, they would want to use this game to prove to soccer fans across the world their prowess and new giant killing status by making a mince meat of the Eagles in Calabar. Going by the permutations of soccer analysts across the continent, the U.J. Esuene Stadium, which is the venue of the encounter, will definitely witness a lot of soccer fireworks and I have my fears on the likely outcome of the game, because gone are the days when teams like Lone Stars are underrated. Going down memory lane, Nigerian soccer fans have been starved of great matches like the one at hand and it will be a big disaster for the Eagles to fall in Calabar. Analysts are also aware of the massive corruption going on in our sports industry (football inclusive) which has affected our rating in the world, and they are of the belief that failure to pick a ticket for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations

Hard Tackle with

Andrew Ekejiuba anelsports@yahoo.com

08023103605

Super Eagles players praying for victory ahead of today’s cracker against Lone Stars.

finals in South Africa will destroy what remains of our reputation in world soccer. In the past few weeks, a lot has been done to motivate the Eagles to crush the visitors. Aside the fact that the team has continuously received 5-star treatments from the government and good people of Cross River State each time they play at that venue, many die-hard soccer fans still believe a miracle may see the Eagles land in South Africa next year. Going by the preparations so

far made, the Eagles do not have any reason to disappoint Nigerians today because the crowd will play the role of the 12th player in their squad and as such the massive support would make them rise up to the occasion. HT recalls that on Thursday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in Abuja that it would give the Super Eagles the necessary support to become a dominant force in world soccer, and this assertion is seen by many Nigerian soccer fans as a big boost.

Ugochukwu Okoroafor, the Director, Corporate Communications Department of the apex bank, gave the hint and added that the drop in the performance of the Super Eagles called for concern and as such, should not be left to sports people alone to handle. Therefore, the national team is not alone in this quest to raise our football from its present obscure state. The CBN’s support to the Eagles and football in general, is a replica of what the apex bank had done to golf and tennis that have produced talents for the country, so the players must reciprocate this kind gesture by crushing Liberia in Calabar. Currently, many Nigerians are on their knees begging the God of victory never to go to sleep when the Eagles battle the ambitious visitors and I feel the ball is in the court of the players to deliver the killer punch. Like I noted last week, faith without work is dead; so, the players and the coaching crew must endeavour to be at their best elements ahead of today’s cracker. The players must be ready to create enough scoring chances and convert them to guarantee a good harvest of goals. Aside scoring, the defence of the Eagles must be water-tight to deny the visitors the opportunity of scoring or dictating the pace of the game because that may spell doom for the home boys. Keshi and his lads must take seriously the advice of former Warri Wolves coach, Lawrence Akpokona, to go for early goals to unsettle

the Lone Stars who have planned to use such strategy against them. In my write-up last weekend, I hinted that the Liberians have perfected plans to score early goals and it would be wise to remind Keshi and his team to be wary of the antecedents of the visitors in this regard. Therefore, Super Eagles defenders must be on the alert as they have a herculean task of checking the forays of Lone Stars attackers since they have demonstrated in their past engagements that they are a scoring side. The advantages of scoring early goals against the visitors are much, because it will greatly hamper the chances of the Lone Stars to cause an upset and somehow help silence their fighting spirit. Already, returnee Eagles’ midfielder, John Obi Mikel, has assured Nigerians that the team would beat Liberia today to qualify for South Africa 2013 Nations Cup, no matter how prepared the Lone Stars are for the game. And HT believes that his words of assurance must be matched with action because Nigerians are tired of watching negative or ‘hypertensive football’ from the senior national team. As a prayerful nation, Nigerians should go into their closets once again and pray for God’s divine favour to be on the side of the Eagles as they battle to pick the 2013 Nations Cup ticket. We must not allow history to repeat itself as seen in the qualifiers for the 2012 edition where Guinea stopped Nigeria from featuring in the continental showpiece.

SPORT NEWS

Jibrin wins Jaji Open Golf tourney IFEANYI EDUZOR

igerian Breweries Plc organized annual Jaji Open Golf championship has ended at Jaji Golf club with Ahmed Jibrin of Zaria Golf Club recording 145 gross over two days to emerge the overall winner of the championship. Abdulsalam Shehu also of Zaria Golf Club scored 146 gross to emerge the runners-up while J. Sunday from the Rhino Golf Club, Jos won the best nett after grossing a score of 140. Top prize for the ladies’ category was won by Racheal Danjuma from Kano Golf Club while Amina Wilfred finished as runners-up. Also in the veteran’s category, Major General A.C. Akoju scored 166 gross to

Bankers Games: Skye, Union Bank in winner takes all fixtures ANDREW EKEJIUBA

S Public Affairs Manager North, NB Plc Kaduna, Danjuma John-Ekele (left) presenting a refrigerator and plaque to the overall winner Jaji open golf tournament, Ahmed Jibrin.

emerge the champion while Audu John who grossed 173 emerged as the runners-up with Frank Onotu winning the best nett after grossing a score of 143. In the special prizes category, Colonel Israel Akpan won the nearest-to-the-pin on hole 9; longest drive on hole six was picked by Corporal Timothy Ogbe while Major General Usara was adequately rewarded after

winning the hole-in-one on the NB Plc hole 7. In his remarks while presenting prizes to the winners, Captain of Jaji Golf Club, Navy Captain H.D. Zakariya commended Nigerian Breweries for its continuous sponsorship of the tournament. The two-day tournament attracted 124 golfers from 26 clubs, who played 36 holes over two days.

kye Bank returns to action today in a topof-the-table winnertakes-the-lead clash with closest rivals, Union Bank as First Bank seeks to topple Standard Chartered Bank and UBA from the pole positions in Group B of the 2012 Nigeria Bankers Games. For Skye Bank, the only team with maximum points from their outings so far, the match-up with Union Bank is the first of a double header today which may see them stretching their lead atop Group A Stallion Boys. Following last week’s draw against Fidelity

Bank, Chima Uzomah of Union Bank said they were happy to have earned a draw against last year’s runners-up and described the fixture against Skye Bank as the key to their qualifying for the knockout stage. In the second match of the day, Sterling Bank and Enterprise Bank will battle for a possible place in the top four as they continue the search for their first full points of the tournament. Tied on two points, victory for either side will propel the winner to challenge Fidelity Bank for the third place. In the remaining fixtures for the group, Fidelity Bank will also be on the prowl for their first maximum points and rekindle championship

ambitions when they file out against Stanbic-IBTC, the team that brings up the rear in Group A. Stanbic lost all two previous games and might as well regain their groove against the Reginald Ihejiani boys who are yet to re-enact the form that took them to last year’s finals. The only Group B match of the day is between First Bank and bottom-placed Ecobank. Ecobank players believe they have been undone by luck in previous games and would want a shift in their circumstance against a First Bank that also needs the win to take to the top of the table above Standard Chartered Bank. The clash between Skye Bank and Enterprise Bank comes up on Sunday at 3pm.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SPORT

October 13, 2012

I HAD ALWAYS WANTED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND I BELIEVE THAT AS A SPORTSMAN THE BEST THING FOR ME TO DO WAS TO EMBRACE ANOTHER BRAND OF SPORT DIFFERENT FROM WHAT NIGERIANS ARE USED TO.

Arosanyin

My race walk, my life! IFEANYI EDUZOR

atching him trekking from one part of the city to the other could make one think that Charles Olatunde Aronsanyin is deranged, frustrated, penniless or psychologically traumatized; but all these are not correct about the man who introduced a new brand of sports known as “Race Walk” in the country. Charles, decision to trek most of the time is borne out of the fact that he wants to always be in top shape ahead of any major championship as well as show Nigerians that the sport of race walking has come to stay, especially with the planned introduction of race walking in 2016 Olympics in Rio. His dexterity to ensure that the sport receives recognition not only in Nigeria but on the entire African continent, has made him popular among the youths who nicknamed him “Walker Man”. Explaining how he came in contact with the sport, Aronsanya, who has represented Nigeria in all the continents of the world, in race walk, noted that his zeal to do things different from what others are doing led him to embrace the sport, which he introduced to his fellow students at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in 1993. “I had always wanted to do something different from other people and I believe that as a sportsman the best thing for me to do was to embrace another brand of sport different from what Nigerians are used to. So, when I became a student of National Institute of Sports (NIS) in 1993, I introduced the game to some of my fellow students and from there, the sport has been growing,” he began. Going down memory lane, he relished with nostalgia his experiences at the Lon-

don 2001 race-walk where he had the privilege of being awarded a medal by Queen Elizabeth 11 at the Buckingham Palace. “I have represented Nigeria in many race walking events all over the world. I participated in 50km race walk at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. I have also participated in other competitions held in Ghana, Wales, Australia, France, Isles of Man, Scotland, Czech Republic and Guinsey Island; but the most memorable one was in 2001 in London where I had the privilege of being awarded a medal by Queen Elizabeth 11 at the Buckingham Palace,” Aronsanyin said. The former physical trainer of Ashanti Kotoko Football Club of Ghana stated that although he has not emerged the

overall winner in the competitions he participated, but he has always done the country proud by giving stiff contest to the best athletes in the world which has helped Nigeria get recognition as a potential force in the sport. “Actually, I have not emerged the overall champion in most of the competitions to show for my efforts. And it must be noted that sports is not all about winning, but participation is key. “I want to tell you that at the 2nd Penang International Race walk held in Malaysia in 2005, I came second in 12 hours after covering a distance of 50 km. I also finished 7th in 2001 in the 100 miles London walk in a time of 21 hrs, 40mins and 44 sec. “At Rotterdam, in 2006, I finished the 5000 Km race under 32 hrs, 16min and 7 seconds and at the Australian Centurion in 2003, I finished the 100 miles in a time of 23 hours, 38 minutes and 56 seconds while at the great Scottish walk in 2004, I came 5th under 28 hours”. “Apart from this, I also came second at the 2001 Isles of Man race where I finished 85 miles under 18 hours, 10 minutes and capped it up with a 4th position at Guinsey Island which is an Island between France and England. In that walk we covered the whole Island and it was organized by Sarnia Walking Club,” he added. As part of his efforts to acquire more training and exposure on his adopted sport, Aronsanyin relocated to London where he was attached to Sores Walking Club, one of the oldest clubs in London and later settled in Australia after the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. It was in Melbourne that he took up a coaching job with Australian aborigines’ in the northern territory to impact basic

Charles Olatunde Aronsanyin (right) at the flag off of one of the national competitions he featured in.

walk race knowledge to the aborigines who hitherto were not interested in the sport. This made him to relocate back to Nigeria, believing that his services will be better appreciated in his country. Casting his mind back to when he muted the idea of introducing the sport in the country, he recounted that a lot of people never took him serious with some of his best friends even discouraging him from embracing the sport, but expressed delight that the sport he introduced 19 years ago has received recognition from the National Sports Commission which approved it as one of the sports at the National Sports Festival. He stated that apart from the NSC embracing the sport, concerted efforts has also been made to introduce it in all states of the Federation which has led him to about 17 states in the country. The race walk maestro who will turn 49 in 2016, dispelled insinuations in some quarters that he will be too old to represent Nigeria at the Olympics in that year, arguing that the older one gets, the better experience he acquires in the game. He noted that he has already started preparations towards representing the country in Rio de Janerio. “Age has never been a problem in race walk. In 2016, I will be 49 years old and it will not affect my performance because if you go to London or Australia, you will see 56-year-old and 87-year-old participating in the sport. “The man who took the first position in one of the championships I participated in London was 45 years old and that time I was, 33. They are still doing it because it is a veteran sport that has no age barrier and of course the older you are the better. It is better at old age because it helps to strengthen the bones and muscles and prevent such sicknesses as arthritis, joint pains and heart attack. “It will interest you to note that since I arrived the country, I have been training. The other day I walked 20 kilometers and there was even a day I walked from 6am to 6pm and people were ignorantly asking me whether I have psychiatric problem, but they came to appreciate me more when they found out the type of sport I am into,” Aronsanyin enthused. Although, Aronsanyin is happy that the sport he introduced more than two decades ago, has grown and received attention from the NSC, but he is not happy with the neglect the sport is getting from relevant authorities coupled with lack of sponsorship by corporate organizations whom he accused of paying lip service to the development of the game. According to him, there is the need for the National Sports Commission to sponsor him to some international tournaments, which he has over the years used his meager resources to attend, especially now that the country no longer wins medals at the short-distant races.

SPORT

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

We must stop using fire-brigade approach to prepare athletes –Aretola Mrs Chizotam Aretola is the Acting Director of Sports in the Imo State Sports Council and the first woman to hold such a position in the state. In this interview with ANDREW EKEJIUBA, she speaks on her career rise, challenges and the way forward for sport development in the country. Excerpts:

an you share with us your experience since coming into office? I have had good experiences to relish and share with people since I came into office on September 2, 2011 following the retirement of my predecessor. Though, I have had several challenges since I came into office, just as it is in life which is full of challenges itself. But, I am happy that those challenges has toughened me and brought out the best from me in terms of discharging my duties. The entire staff in the sports council has been cooperative in terms of working with me and understanding the aspirations of the state government in moving sports forward. I am also grateful to His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha who deemed it necessary that I should be at the helm of affairs here and our amiable Sports Commissioner, Comrade Kenneth Emelu who supported the idea of our governor that I have what it takes to turn this place around for good. What are the major impediments you have so far witnessed since coming into office? When I assumed office, it was not an easy task because this is the first time a woman is being made an Acting Director in this sports council. As I noted earlier, things were made easier for me because on assumption of office the entire staff here was supportive and queued into the vision of moving the council from good to great. I’m happy that both the athletes and the staff in the council hearkened onto my candid appeal to them for us to work as a team because I’m a team player. We have achieved a lot together and it has remained so till today. On the challenges, immediately when I came on board we had issues with our training facilities which later received the attention of government, as we began the

renovation of these facilities for our athletes to use. The athletes believed in my capabilities because I came from their fold and since I’m one of them they had to support me to lift sports to greater heights in the state. Remember I grew up here in Imo State as a coach and I was once the state and national captain of Nigeria’s female volleyball team. Aside that, I read Physical and Health Education and majoring in Sports Administration which prepared me for the tasks ahead in the sports council. What are your major achievements since coming into office? Firstly, I want to give God the glory for the achievements we have recorded since I came into office. Like I said before, we achieved all these as a team. When I came on board on September 2, 2011, the first task before us was the Heartland Flickers Hockey Team which were billed to defend the continental trophy they won in 2010. I thank God that the team was successfully flown to Lusaka, Zambia where they defended the trophy successfully. I am proud to state that the team is Africa’s best female hockey clubside and the records are there for all to see. In other sporting associations like that of the Darts, they had a competition around the time I took over, where they came back with a gold, 2 silver and a bronze medal. We also had some of our athletes that represented the country at the just concluded London 2012 Olympics. In Special Sports, we had lots of our athletes too that represented the country in the Paralympics and won medals for Nigeria. And it might impress you to hear that recently our Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha rewarded the Imo State-born London 2012 Paralympics gold medalist, Miss Lovelyn Obiji, with a piece of land

Aretola

and a new car. He also extended the gesture to her coach, Luke Onwumeribe, with a piece of land, showing the amount of importance the present government in the state attaches to sports development. And to add to that, all our coaches in various sports are doing well in the training of athletes. How is Team Imo preparing for the Eko 2012 National Sports Festival in Lagos next month? We are preparing well because this is Nigeria’s version of Olympics where every state comes out with what they have in their sporting armoury. You remember that Imo is the home of sports and we are proud of being Imolites. Coming to your question, we are building up for ‘Eko 2012’ because we believe in the philosophy of ‘early to bed, and early to rise’. Here, we began our preparations for the sports festival early with a weekend programme, whereby every Friday we had sport-by-sport competitions where they gave us what they have in stock. Also we extended our search for more talents by inviting athletes from different local government areas with their coaches for competitions and the results have been spectacular. We did all these competitions for basketball, boxing, powerlifting, wrestling, football, volleyball, chess and other sports to discover athletes that will represent us in future sporting events. In chess for example the WAUG champion is from the state and we trained her in line with our sport development policy in

schools and she will be there for us at Eko 2012. Even the national champion in chess, is from Imo State and we are doing our best in seeing that they do well at ‘EKO 2012’. What are your targets for ‘EKO 2012’ in terms of medals and how many sports is Team Imo going to feature in? We have many events we are going to feature in at the National Sports Festival in Lagos, but we shall lay emphasis on those sports that will fetch us medals more. You know Imo is very good in Karate, but the host, Lagos State, has excluded it from the festival because they have the right to chose the sports they can comfortably provide the facilities. Also we are good in weightlifting, powerlifting, hockey, chess, darts, traditional sports, handball and track and field events which we are going to exploit at the sports festival. And I know by God’s grace we shall excel at ‘Eko 2012’ with the aforementioned events and some others we are going to feature in. How is the council going to check the exodus of your athletes to other states ahead of the National Sports Festival? Imo State is the home of sportsmen and women, where we groom athletes from their tender ages and other states envy us for this. They envy us so much so that when we groom our athletes, they will quickly come and lure them away from us; yet that has not discouraged us because we will continue to groom athletes for our great country. CONTINUED ON PAGE 45

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SPORT

October 13, 2012

AYC qualifier: Nigeria, Guinea clash gets new kick-off time

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed that the 2013 African Youth Championship (AYC) U-17 qualifier between the Golden Eaglets and their Guinean counterparts would kick off at 2.00 p.m. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the second round first leg match was originally scheduled for 4.00 p.m on Sunday at the U.J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar. NAN, however, reports that the match was shifted backward at the instance of the Guinean delegation, who wanted to return to Lagos immediately after the match on Sunday. Golden Eaglets Media Officer, Morakinyo Abodunrin, told NAN on Friday in Calabar that this was to enable the team to connect their early Monday morning’s flight in Lagos back to Conakry.

Oshaniwa

Oshaniwa explains Liberia snub SAYO OGUNDEJI

igerian international and Ashdod of Israeli FC defender, Juwon Oshaniwa, says his omission from the Super Eagles squad to face the Lone Stars of Liberia in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier billed for today by the coaching crew was to allow him settle down properly with his new club. The former Sharks of Port Harcourt left-back has been a regular starter under Coach Stephen Keshi despite plying his trade on the domestic front, but was not listed for the game against the visiting Liberians. The former Kwara United

player, who has been in good form for his new club, says he has no problem with the decision, adding that all he wants is the team’s success during the make-or-mar encounter. “My non-inclusion in the team that will face Liberia in Calabar should not be seen in bad light because I just moved abroad and the coaching crew felt it will do me a lot of good if I am left out in order to settle down well to serious business in Israel. “But I am in constant touch with the team and I believe my colleagues will finish up what we started in Monrovia by defeating the Liberians and qualify for the tournament holding in South Africa next year,” Oshaniwa said.

“The NFA granted the request of the Guinean delegation since they would have to wait till next Friday if they miss their already scheduled flight,” Abodunrin said. Eaglets’ Head Coach, Manu Garba, however, said that he was not disturbed over changes in kick-off time, adding he had prepared his team for any eventuality. “Even if they say we should play on Friday, we are ready for this match. We are not worried about when this match will be played. “We have adequately prepared for any possible occurrence and I can say with assurance that we are ready to play Guinea anytime,” he said. Meanwhile, CAF has appointed Chadian match officials for the match with Mahamat Tahir Oumar as the centre referee.

CONTINUED FROM 44

As an ex-international, how best can we prepare our athletes for major sporting events, so as to avoid the kind of flop we witnessed at the London

Oputeh wins 100m men’s gold at Media Games

icheal Oputeh of Lagos Information on Friday won the 100 metres men’s event at the 2012 Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Media Games, in Lagos. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oputeh finished the race in 11.7 secs, to win the gold. Otiede Dominic of Sportsday returned a time of 12.2 secs to win the silver, while Abraham Michael of `The Sun,’ won the bronze in 12.3 secs. The `Lagos Information’ quartet also won the gold medal in the 4x100m relay race in 24.9 secs, `The Sun’ won the silver in 25.9 secs and Supersport, got the bronze in 26.0 secs. Michael Akinboye of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) won the gold in the marathon event with a time of 10 mins, 53.17 secs.

SPDC/Gov. Cup: Ogolo vows to end Obio-akpor’s title chase IFEANYI EDUZOR

s the SPDC/Rivers State Governor’s Cup enters the quarter-final stage, Opobo-nkoro’s hitman, Evans Ogolo, said his side will end the title ambition of cup holders, Obio-akpor when both sides clash on Monday at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt. Ogolo has been in fine shape in the matchup against champions, Obio-akpor having done excellently well in his side’s win against Eleme and Akuku-toru. Their opponents, Obio-akpor showed strength in previous encounters against Andoni, Ogubolo, Omuma and Onelga. The Opobo-nkoro hitman said though bookmakers favoured their opponents to go through, they would stun them.

Action recorded during a match between Ahoada East and Okirika at the ongoing Rivers State Governor’s Cup.

“We’ll shock them; I think they’ve come to the end of the road as far as this year’s game is concerned. “For us to have come this far, our focus is targeted at the trophy and we’re determined to emerge champions at the end of the day,” he said. In the other quarterfinals matches, Oyigbo will confront Ahoada West at the training pitch of the Liberation Stadium, Port

‘We must stop using fire-brigade approach to prepare athletes’ Frankly, on this issue of poaching, every athlete often wants to go for greener pastures which we have discovered are responsible for their movement. But we have devised a strategy in line with our governor’s vision of supporting sports development in the state by ensuring that these athletes are returned back to the state with our welfare packages.

2012 Olympics? We must start early preparations for our athletes, if we must excel in sports worldwide. And I have also noticed that we have problems in the administration of sports in the country which has hindered our progress in sports generally. It is not that we do not have good athletes, but we tend to apply fire-brigade approach in preparing them for major sporting events because we don’t give priority to early preparations. We must stop this because fire-brigade approach in preparing athletes only leads to athletes burning out during competitions.

Finally, what’s the way forward for our sports development? The way forward is for government to continue to give priority to sports development in the country and see to it that our athletes attend meets, Olympic qualifiers and other major sporting competitions around the world for exposure. The gains of participating and supporting sports development are many because it removes the minds of youths away from restiveness or crimes. Sport gives them hope, a future and makes them more useful to the society.

Aretola

Harcourt, while Last year’s finalists, Okrika will face much-improved Abua-odua with Akukutoru squaring up against Onelga. Meanwhile facilitators of the competition, Deportivo Vandyke International has assured through its director, Stella Osayame-Ebohon that the aim of the biggest grassroots football competition in the state would be realized when the curtain falls on the competition on October 19.

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘What govt needs do to address 15m housing deficit’ Developers of the Palmton Green Villa, the first eco-friendly residential community located in Lagos, Humsford Realties Limited, said real estate done with integrity will greatly reduce Nigeria’s housing and socio-economic challenges. The company’s Managing Director, Mr. Daniel Iseghohimeh Cole, spoke to some journalists in Lagos on what government needs to do to address the N15 million housing deficit. MESHACK IDEHEN was there.

hy do you believe and advocate that Nigeria should embrace eco friendly building-development practices? In other parts of the world, eco friendly construction has become the practice, which translates to mean, according to evolving turns in global economy, that government and the private sector must partner to harness opportunities in the real estate by adopting global best practices. Do you think Nigeria is ready to adopt methods that make building eco friendly in a way that is sustainable? Technologies are being developed on a daily basis that make not just building, but all aspects of living friendly to the environment. The Ecobeam building technology for example, is a versatile and eco-friendly timber frame building system that involves the construction of structures using Ecobeams as well as Ecobags (sandbags), which research has found out to offers superior benefits when compared to conventional buildings including up to 40 per cent cost savings, bullet proof and earthquake resistant walls, which offer excellent thermal and acoustic properties. More so, it is easy to deploy and allows for rapid construction, which helps deliver additional savings to its users. It is also ideal for the construction of quality affordable houses in a sustainable way. Your company said it seeks to do real estate with integrity, and that profits should not be the driving force, what is responsible for that type of business approach? Humsford Realties Limited was first incorporated in 2006 as Humsford Investment Limited but did not start development until May 2011 when it

changed to Humsford Realties Limited by the Corporate Affairs Commission, under the Companies and Allied Matters 1990, to reflect our core area of business. As a real estate housing development, investment and allied services company, we simply believe we should do real estate differently, reinventing the way real estate business is managed in Nigeria and giving customer service delivery a new outlook. Most importantly however, the company was set up in fulfilment of a divine mandate of providing shelter for families, empowering the people through employment opportunities, putting food on the tables of families and d e l ive r i n g return on in-

vestment for our shareholders. Our products are mission critical, so we give our clients the assurance that we shall be there when they need us. What are the new and ongoing projects that your company is involved in that are geared towards meeting your objective as a real estate developer Humsford Realties is currently engaged with the development of Palmton Green Villa, which is the first ecofriendly residential community located at Alapoti - Agbara 2 Axis, which has easy access to the Light Rail, and 10 lane Lagos-Badagry Expressway. The estate is going to be developed with the health and economics of the investors in mind. Only eco-friendly concepts and materials shall be deployed for the health and safety of all including visitors to the estate. Futhermore, because of our guiding principles and supporting behaviours of our mission as a company, and which flow from our purpose and values, innovation would continually be the cornerstone of our success, because we are conscious of the fact that we want to build a great and enduring company that by virtue of its value, practice, and success will have a tremendous impact on the way companies in around Africa. It is important for stakeholders; by that I mean government and the private sector to understand that the real sector is as old as mankind, and that all through the centuries, the issue of housing and habitation has remained the primary issues that generations have had to deal with. Can you be more specific concerning areas the sector can contribute to economic growth, especially concerning empowering people and creating em-

Cole

ployment? Look at the production and distribution of cement from the limestone quarries to the retail outlets and see how cement production alone can get millions of people employed. As production of cement currently stands in the country, demand can barely meet up with supply. The cement industry on its own is based primarily on the fact that the volume of construction work going on in the country is almost totally that of the West African sub region and is enough to create sustainable employment for millions of people the country, particularly the unemployed youth. Then there are architects, engineers, builders and the other involved in construction that will have to be employed or engaged in their numbers. When fully tapped into, the real estate sector, if allowed to rotate on the pivot of integrity, can beat others in making millions of Nigerians gainfully and sustainably employed. How do you think the housing deficit in Nigeria can be addressed? To the best of my knowledge, it is safe to say that there is about a 15 million housing deficit in Nigeria based on the statistics of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, meaning in the first place, that the economy is short by the supposed income accruable from the construction of these numbers of houses. Many workers and individuals want to have their own houses or apartments, but there are great odds against it. Documentation of land is a big challenge that the government must really look into if housing shortage is to be properly addressed. The Land Use Act of 1978, which was created to regulate the acquisition of land because of its importance, should be reviewed. The government should not deregulate other sectors leaving the real estate sector to be strangulated by the Land Use Act. The dearth of housing finance is also a major challenge that developers are grappling with, and it’s a factor that aids housing shortage in the country. In the same vein, real encouragement should be extended to private initiatives rather than overburdening them with taxes, fees and policies that are antidevelopment.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

Cassava as cash-cow export of cassava as this will afford better competitiveness. Cassava pellets are usually cheaper to transport and handle than other exportable processed cassava products like industrial starch. The standard of the product is very important.

Quality

he Federal Government is working towards development of agricultural products in Nigeria with the intention of generating employment and diversifying the economy. Amongst the targeted crops are cassava, cotton, cocoa, rice and sorghum. The government is also providing incentives to investors and prospective investors in the development of these crops. The Ministry of Agriculture is working towards creating international contacts for the sale of these agricultural products including cassava. It is the intention of the government to create many jobs through this policy. At the same time, the government aims at encouraging those interested in export to develop the local production of those exportable products and also encourages self-reliance on local food consumption. Cassava is tuberous and has the ability to thrive in poor soils and has considerable resistance to drought. It is also used to refer to the root of this tropical plant. It is botanically called manihot esculenta and also called maniac or tapioca. Cassava is seen as a readily available raw material for the establishment of small- and mediumscale industries in Nigeria. Nigeria’s staple food, garri, is produced from the root of this crop.

Uses Cassava is used mainly for producing animal feed. The dry roots chips and pellets are usually preferred by industrial animal feed producers in America and Europe. Alcohol is also extracted from cassava. Textile industries and food industries need starch.

Production Nigeria is a major producer of this tropical crops with output conservatively put at over 60, 000 metric tonnes.

However, until 1996, cassava and its allied products were on the export prohibition list. From 1996, its ban was lifted. With this policy action, Nigerian exporters were given the opportunity to develop export markets for this product. Apart from Nigeria other major tropical developing countries that produce cassava include Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia and Zaire. Nigeria’s over 60,000 metric tonnes are almost totally processed and consumed locally.

Export types Cassava for export includes dry cassava leaves, chips, pellets, cassava meal, flour and starch and ethanol. All these products can be exported. Globally, only 15 per cent of total production of cassava is exported with Thailand being the major exporter of cassava products. Cassava export is now encouraged among other food crops for which Nigeria is a major producer by the present administration.

Europe market overview

The principal buyer of cassava in Europe is Netherlands (accounting for over 40 per cent of total Europe imports); Germany (about 20 per cent), Belgium and Luxembourg (about 13 per cent), France (eight per cent), U.K (10 per cent) and Italy (two per cent). Apart from the export markets, the Federal Government has been encouraging the production of cassava flour. President Goodluck Jonathan has maintained that Nigeria flour milling companies should continue applying cassava flour in production of flour in the country. Therefore, prospective investors have an immediate market for their cassava flour products within the country.

Transport and handling Transportation and handling constitute high levels of cost of inputs in preparation of cassava for export. This is due to the bulky nature of the product. This cost could be as high as 50 per cent of total cost. Proper management of cost reduction programme is therefore recommended for those who wish to venture into the

Feed millers are very critical about quality. Consistency of quality is very important for them to maintain the standards of their products. Quality is usually in terms of nutritive value. Minimum standard specifications are as follows 70 per cent, 70 per cent and 62 per cent stand for chips, flour and pellets, respectively while moisture content is 14 per cent, fibre - five per cent and ash - three per cent content for all the three products. Details would be given to prospective investors on contacting the writer. Chips are normally white or near white, clean, free of mould, foreign matter insect damage and without off odours. Length of chips should be 4-5mm. It should be noted that if quality standard is not maintained, the export project is bound to collapse. Therefore, this must be worked out carefully.

Processing plants The plants and machinery for setting up the cassava chips and pellets, industrial starch and flour are locally available. However, arrangements can be made for foreign machines on request. There are foreign machines from Brazil, South Korea, Japan, India, etc. The raw materials, labour and all other required inputs are locally available.

Financial Implications as at January 2012: Cassava chips & pellets Preliminary Expenses

Industrial starch

Ethanol

Flour

(N’000)

500

Accommodation (varies)

2,000

Plant & machinery

5,000

10,000

25,000

12,500

W/C (raw material & labour)

12,800

15,800

Operating expenses

5,500

Contingencies/packaging

2000

2,000

20,000

Total

27,800

35,800

50,800

38,300

Courtesy: Uba Godwin, ubagodwin@yahoo.com

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Branding business is for creative minds FUNMI SALOME JOHNSON

usiness thrives more when it is in the lime light and that is where branding plays a vital role in any kind of business. Branding works hand in hand with advertising. Adedayo Adejobi, who has been into the business of branding for almost five years, here tells the potential investor what to look out for when going into this area of business. A young and versatile entrepreneur making giant strides in the area of brand communications and media consulting services, Adedayo, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer, Zigma Communications Limited, has been up and doing in his chosen line of business. Out of the desire to help clients create an iconic visual “stamp”, one that reflects the identity, style and color of their unique brand persona to their prospective and existing target audience, Adedayo came up with the brand Zigma Communications. “The need to stand out of the crowd was what actually gave birth to Zigma. I had always had the entrepreneurial drive in me since my school days. When I look at my family, almost all my elder siblings are self employed, though they’d worked for others at some point. And so, I think I also took a cue from my siblings,” explains Adedayo. The business of branding is an interesting one but very challenging in the sense that you must have a very creative mind to stand out in the crowd. It has to be from within; it is not something you make up, you have to genuinely love the job, he asserts. “Brand communications is not like every other business; it is one that requires a lot of attention, a creative mind, and most of all you must have passion for the job; you must be very absorbed in it,” notes Adedayo. Talking about the challenges of the brand communications business, Adedayo warns that the business is not ‘business as usual’ because the clients don’t come easy. You have to work very hard to get your clients. “Getting the clients is not an easy thing at all and even when you get the clients, you must put your power of persuasion into serious use and must be able to psychologi-

WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY GET THE CLIENTS,

YOU MUST PUT YOUR POWER OF PERSUASION INTO SERIOUS USE AND YOU MUST BE ABLE TO PSYCHOLOGICALLY Adejobi

cally read your clients. Some of them may not even see the need to patronize you even when those reasons are very conspicuous. You as a professional must therefore be able to give them all the reason they need to patronize you. “Again for me, because of my age, some still cannot corroborate my status with the depth of professionalism in my conversations with them and this in turn makes some of them weary and skeptical about giving me the patronage but in the long run, they eventually do.” But how would the necessities of brand communication be explained to a lame man? Adedayo responded thus: “The first thing to recognize when we talk about brands is that they are not just names, terms, symbols, designs or combinations of these, although it is true to say that such things can and differentiate certain products and companies from others. The additional ingredient that makes a successful brand is personality and that is why today’s leading brands are personali-

READ THEM ties in their own right and are well known in all societies and cultures as film heroes, cartoon characters, sporting stars, great leaders, and a host of others.” Brand communication involves a lot because it entails advertising; outdoor, press, online and experiential marketing, explains Adejobui, while adding that it takes a lot and this simply explains why it is a very capital intensive business. “For instance, when I started off some five years ago with about N400, 000, which I got from a deal I made in music entrepreneurship, I had my first major professional deal with Data Pro, a private firm that consults for over sixteen banks in Nigeria. They are specialized in trainings on anti money laundering, terrorists financing and due diligence, amongst other things. I was involved in handling their media and public relations campaign here in Nigeria. It was one of the best deals I made because the clients were willing and ready and they were prompt as well,” recalls Adedayo.

As a way of advice for potential investors, Adedayo further states thus: “The secret to successful branding is to influence the way in which people perceive the company or product, which will in turn affect the minds of customers by appealing to those four mind functions, which include brands appeal to the elements of logic and good sense (the thinking dimension) such as toothpaste, which prevents decay, and cholesterolfree foods. Others appeal to the senses of smell, taste, sight and sound such as fashion and cosmetic products. Furthermore, brands generally influence consumer’s decisions to buy in any of the above ways, or through a combination of these, sometimes with tremendous persuasive appeal. Time and again, research has shown that the real driving force behind market leadership is perceived value - not price or inherent product attributes. As long as a brand seeks to offer its customers superior perceived value, then good market performance will follow, which makes consistency a highly important feature of brand behavior,” submitted Adedayo.

Crime Watch Crime Watch

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

October 13, 2012

P. 51

Woman kidnaps baby at church vigil

BRIEFS Woman, 20, arraigned over alleged theft of blackberry phone

he police on Friday arraigned a 20-year-old-woman, Gift Edema of the Federal Housing Authority, Phase 2, Karu, before a Karu Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing a BlackBerry cell phone. Police prosecutor Francis Udofia told the court that Edema accompanied her mother to a hair dressing saloon belonging to one Eze Nkechi at No. 20, Itsekiri Way, Karu, on Oct. 3. Udofia said that as soon as Edema and her mother left the saloon, a blackberry cell phone with SIM No.08184368970 and valued at N83,000, belonging to Nkechi was declared missing. The prosecutor said that all efforts to contact Edema after several phone calls proved abortive as she refused to answer the calls. Udofia said that during investigations, Edema’s mother wrote an undertaking, accepting to pay for the cell phone, but she never did. According to him, the offence contravened the provisions of Section 288 of the Penal Code Law. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, and the defence counsel, Mr Francis Ellu, asked the court to grant the accused bail.

Police arraign man, 33, for alleged criminal intimidation

he Police on Friday arraigned one James Enyi of Kapwa Village, Lugbe, before an Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court for alleged criminal intimidation. The Police Prosecutor, Mr Jeremiah Elijah, told the court that the case was reported at the Lugbe Police Station by one Joy Johnson of the same address on October 11. He said that sometime in January this year, Johnson had a misunderstanding with Enyi who threatened to deal with her. Elijah said that after the incident, some unknown hoodlums broke into Johnson’s house and stole some valuable items from the house. He said that on October 11, Enyi also repeatedly threatened to deal with Johnson and accused her of killing her husband. The prosecutor said that Enyi’s offence contravened the provisions of section 397 of the Penal Code but Enyi pleaded not guilty to the allegations.

Sureties arrested as house help flees with employer’s N15m jewellery Guy Kouton Oni, 45, and Edmond Zankilan, 31, said they thought they were doing a fellow citizen a mere favour when they agreed to stand surety for him at his new job. Now, the Beninoise know better. They are currently cooling their heels in Police custody. SEGUN ADIO

aw enforcement agents have launched a manhunt for a house help, Jeorge Josu, who allegedly carted away his mistress’s jewellery said to be worth about N15 million. Thirty four years old Josu and father of two is a national of neighbouring Republic of Benin. Josu, after arriving in Nigeria, got employment as a house help with one Mrs Philips, a resident of Berla Visita Street, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos. But Josu was asked to produce two sureties before he could start work. The Beninoise vowed never to allow the golden opportunity of working in the highbrow locality skipped past him. He reportedly dashed back to his country to get people to act as sureties for him. They are: Guy Kouton Oni, 45, and Edmond Zankilan, 31. They put pen to paper and the deal was signed for Josu to begin work. However, unknown to Mrs Philips, and perhaps his guarantors, Josu had other plans in mind. Philips, it was reported, opened all her house to the new found house help and even promised to help him learn a trade of his choice providing Josu was

upright in his work. This Josu promised his mistress he would do, but unfortunately, Josu did not take long before he reneged on his promise to his mistress. It was also reported that Philips paid Josu on the day the month ended. The third day after Josu collected the second salary was September 26, 2012 and his employer, Mrs Philips, was away as usual in the early hours of the day. Now two months in the employ of the woman, Josu was in a better position to know her itinerary, and this knowledge he explored to the fullest. On that fateful day, Philips reportedly left home quite early leaving Josu alone. She had hoped to return to meet Josu but her hope was dashed. Philips reportedly returned home and alas, her entire house was left widely open and her yell for Josu round the wide expanse of land did not yield any fruitful result. Sensing trouble, the hapless woman ran upstairs to discover that her rooms, which was under lock and keys by the time she was going out, was wide open. She hurriedly went for her jewellery case, but what she found out sent her crashing to the floor: all her gold and expensive jewelleries’ were gone. After recovering from temporary state of coma, Philips raced to the Ikoyi Police Station to report the theft. The woman

claimed she suspected that Josu’s two guarantors were privy to the theft. The two guarantors were immediately apprehended by policemen and subjected to stern interrogation. First guarantor, Oni, denied knowledge of the theft of Philip’s jewelry. During interrogation, Oni was quoted to have said, “It was true I stood as guarantor for Jeorge but it is unthinkable to imagine that I would have connived with him to steal his mistress’s jewellery. I only knew the man back home but I never thought he would come here and do such a thing,” claimed Oni. On his part, Zankilan told investigators that Jeorge was introduced to him by a friend back in the Republic of Benin. Zankilan maintained that Josu begged his friend in Cotonou to talk to him (Zankilan) to stand surety for him which he did and that he had never set his eyes on him since then, until he was invited by the police on the theft case. Mrs Philips was not available for comments, but a guard working beside the house where the incident occurred said that the matter caused uproar when it was announced. Frank, the guard, says, “We were all baffled that day the madam came up with the story that her house help made away with her jewellery because the boy just came there newly. The boy used to come into the street here to walk round when the madam was away, but one never knew that he had such intent.” A police source at the Ikoyi Divisional Police Headquarters who pleaded anonymity, said that a manhunt had been launched for the fleeing house help, adding that his two sureties have already been arrested in connection with the crime. His words, “I think the two men (sureties) would be charged for conspiracy and stealing for them to have stand surety for the fleeing thief,” the source said

Do you have a story for us? Contact 08138773277 or crimewatchmirror@yahoo.com

CRIME WATCH

SEGUN ADIO

uspected hoodlums recently went on rampage in two communities of Lagos State, looting and breaking people’s houses and shops. The rampaging hoodlums, numbering about 15, reportedly seized innocent people’s phones, snatched wallets, broke into shops and looted them. The cutlasseswielding hoodlums also reportedly attacked anyone who dared stand on their way. They are alleged to be members of a notorious cult group. Saturday Mirror’s investigations revealed that the suspected hoodlums were on a vengeful mission over a colleague of theirs who could not secure a court release early that day. The attack on the community reportedly took place around 11:00pm when most of the residents had gone to bed. It was alleged that the hoodlums were in search of a public affairs commentator and a community leader in the area identified as Oladipo, who they claimed influenced the judge not to release their colleague. Apparently in a bid to vent their grievance against the said community leader, the hoodlums stormed the community at that hour, chanting war songs at the top of their voices. The sad event occurred on Tuesday, October 2, 2012, at Anifowoshe Street, bordering Bariga and Shomolu areas of the state. The suspected hoodlums also carried out their acts to the Abule Oja end of Akoka. The suspects, all masked, reportedly first went to Craig Street where their alleged target resides. It was reported that when they got to the man’s house and did not meet him at home, they shot at his locked door several times and also smashed many bottles against his widows. From Craig Street, the hoodlums reportedly ran towards Moshalasi Street, damaging all things on their path. At No7, Odunlade Street, a three-storey building, the hoodlums threw and smashed bottles at the basement of the house, causing tenants of the house to run out of their apartments and run for dear lives. As the hoodlums continued in their rampage, they came face to face with some Hausas resident at Mary Bamgboye Street, beside the Bariga canal in the area. The Hausas, about four of them, were reportedly eating in front of their thatched house when the hoodlums swooped on them. The hoodlums

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Cult members sack community, rob passersby

Yahaya

reportedly succeeded in carting away N28, 500 belonging to one Shamsudeen, while another Adamu Yahaya, an exmobile policeman, but who now rides commercial motorcycle to eke a living, lost N2, 500 and his mobile phone to the hoodlums. But the Hausas would not watch their valuables taken away from them without giving a fight. Barely two minutes after the rampaging hoodlums had left their area; the Hausas reportedly armed themselves and gave the hoodlums a chase. Luck, however, smiled on the Hausas as they were able to seize three of the fleeing hoodlums. The seized hoodlums were reportedly handed over to law enforcement agents attached to the Alade Police Station in the area.

One of the Hausa men, Yahaya, who spoke with Saturday Mirror said: “It was around 11:00 in the night. We were in front of our house just having our dinner. Suddenly we heard a huge yell from afar and saw people running helter-skelter. Before we knew it, some men numbering about a dozen or more, swooped on us wielding dangerous weapons. We told them that we were not Yorubas, but we were Hausas but we later realized that they were there to rob us of our valuables. “In the process they collected N2, 00 from me being my deliver of Okada that day and my Nokia mobile phone. They also collected N28, 500 from Shamsudeen, who was the son of my nephew living with us. The thieves hurriedly

left but we all gathered our daggers and gave them a chase. Eventually, we seized three of them and took them to Alade Police Station.” Yahaya, claimed to have once served in Mopol 9, Kano State before he left service. Oladipo, the community leader said to have been the prime target of the suspects also told Saturday Mirror that he escaped death by the whiskers that fateful day. Oladipo claimed he had already sent a petition to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, on the alleged harassment being meted out to him by the suspected hoodlums, whom he claimed he identified. A police source at Alade Police Station but who preferred not to be mentioned, claimed that the seized three hoodlums were rescued from the hands of the mob and were immediately transferred to the State Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja. The source however denied insinuations that the criminals were being shielded. His words, “I can tell you that our DPO does not condone any act of criminality in this area. Let me tell you, what is happening here is a case of rivalry among acclaimed cult leaders. It is a complex case when you realise that they all live in the same area. But the DPO has made it clear to all of us that he would not tolerate any act of criminality in his area of jurisdiction and that is what he I doing,” the source said. A woman community leader in the area, Mrs Dawodu, told Saturday Mirror that appeals have been sent to police authorities in the community to help get rid of the cultists and hoodlums that continually carry out heinous crimes in the area. Her words, “I am just from a PCRC meeting at Igbobi where we appealed to police authorities in the area to do more in the security of our lives and that of our children as well as our property. We are no longer safe in Shomolu in the hands of these hoodlums, but we have confidence in the new Commissioner of Police in the state that he would rid our state of criminals as he had promised.”

Police arrest robbery suspects on Lagos/Ibadan expressway FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

gun State Police Command yesterday said it has arrested two armed robbery suspects with some locally made pistols and live cartridges on the long bridge along Lagos/ Ibadan Express way. A statement issued yesterday in Abeokuta, the state capital by the

command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi said the armed robbery suspects were arrested at around 11am on Friday by the police patrol team at Kara area on the long bridge who conducted a search on them that led to the recovery of the weapons. Adejobi, who stressed that men of the Ogun Police Command had since intensified patrol along the long bridge on Lagos/ Ibadan Express as

a way to tackle the problems of robbery attacks on motorists, further explained that the suspects could not explain their mission in the area, particularly with the weapons found on them hence, their arrest. The PPRO also stated that the Command, on the order of the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Ikhemefuna Okoye, had deployed four patrol teams along the area. He also said that the CP has ordered

a full scale investigation into the arrest of the two suspects “and directed the area commander in charge of Shagamu area and the divisional police officers of both Ibafo and Ojodu Abiodun, whose jurisdictions cover the area to maintain safety and protection of lives and property on the bridge and in the area generally to boost good service delivery in Ogun State”.

Crime Extra

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SEGUN ADIO

I SAW THE BABY

or Florence Adeyemi, an Ibadanbased housewife, her belief in the Lord quadrupled recently when her toddler was rescued from a suspected kidnapper. Adeyemi is reputed to be very religious, an avid lover of vigil and prayer meetings. Recently, Florence joined scores of worshippers at a Pentecostal church at Sanyo Area of Ibadan, Oyo State. She had reportedly arrived at the church around 8:30 pm that fateful day. She had come to the vigil with her baby, unsure of what lied in wait for her. All through the night before the vigil commenced proper, Adeyemi was noticed cuddling and playing with her baby to the admiration of other women worshippers in the church. But among the stream of heads at the vigil was a 28-year-old woman, identified as Kemi Adeoye. Events later showed that Adeoye had her own mission. Rather she was there on a mission to kidnap any child that comes her way, and she found Adeyemi’s baby perfectly fitting into her plans. Adeoye reportedly had a kid for a man she married immediately after graduation from the University of Ado Ekiti where she studied Social Studies. But when Adeoye and her husband could not get along well after their first child, the couple was separated and she took to learning fashion designing to be able to eke out a living. It later turned out that Adeoye’s income from her tailoring work was not sufficient for her. She then resorted to snatching babies and selling them to those in need of them. On that fateful day, while Florence prepared her baby for sleep shortly before the vigil began, Adeoye was watching the woman’s movements. When the bell was rung for members to gather inside the church for the vigil service, Adeyemi reportedly laid her baby at the entrance of the vicarage in the church premises. After the baby had been fast asleep, Adeyemi left the baby there and went straight inside into the church. By that time, all entrance into the church compound had been securely locked. Several minutes after Adeyemi had joined the programme, Adeoye reportedly tiptoed to where the baby was and using a handkerchief to cover its mouth, she whisked the baby into one of the many rooms of the vicarage. Because the gates to the compound had been locked, Adeoye could not take the baby outside the premises. Instead, she chose to hide with the baby inside a room until such a time that worshippers would be ready to go home. She intended to use that opportunity to take the baby out of the compound. About an hour after Adeyemi had laid her baby at the entrance of the vicarage, she came out to check on her but was alarmed when she could not find her baby where she laid her. The hapless woman soon went wild shout-

October 13, 2012

SLEEPING AND WALKED UP TO HER AND CARRIED HER. I TIED HER TO MY BACK AND LEFT THE PLACE. I THEN SAW A ROOM WHERE I WAS WHEN THEY SAW ME WITH THE BABY

Adeoye

Woman kidnaps baby at church vigil Worshippers at a Pentecostal church in Ibadan, Oyo State were held spellbound recently when they discovered a baby they had all been searching for with a woman in another section of the church. What could have made a woman who supposedly came for prayer steal another’s child? ing at the top of her voice. Adeyemi’s shout was said to have drawn the attention of the congregation and that brought the vigil service to an abrupt end as virtually everyone in the church joined the search party for the missing child. One of the officiating ministers soon found a room locked from behind and from where he had left for the church when the prayer session was to commence. Apparently

not locking the door when he was going out, the man became curious and banged at the door repeatedly but no response came from within. The curious pastor had to seek an iron rod to break open the door and after he had broken the door, there he was face to face with Adeoye and the baby they were all looking for. The resulting shouting match between the pastor and Adeoye soon

drew the attention of other worshippers at the church. The leadership of the church immediately contacted the Sanyo Divisional Police Headquarters from where a team effected Adeoye’s arrest and had her detained, albeit briefly, after which she was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku, Ibadan. Speaking with reporters at the police station, Adeyemi claimed her joy knew no bounds when her baby was found alive in the hands of the kidnapper. “My mood was too bad that day. I felt like hitting her. I could have hit her and bit her ear off if not for the people that prevented me to move closer with her. Upon all the noise over her, she did not look as if she realised what she did was a crime. I give glory to God for not allowing her to take my baby out of the premises before we caught her,” Adeyemi said. Upon her arrest, Adeoye confessed to her crime but claimed that she was sent to kidnap the baby by one Funmilayo Akande. Giving an insight into how she kidnapped the baby, Adeoye said: “I saw the baby sleeping and walked up to her and carried her. I tied her at my back and left the place. I then saw a room where I was when they saw me with the baby.” Police investigations though revealed a link between Adeoye and Akande, yet the police said they have no evidence of the duo’s recent contact. Akande was consequently allowed to go home. In the words of a police source, “It is not proper to hold an innocent person for offence she did not commit. The parlance is that it is better a policeman allows 100 criminals to escape than punishing one innocent person. Before we went after the woman, we had gathered some information about her from her area. This helped us to quickly resolve the matter.” Acting Police Public Relations Officer of Oyo State Police Command, Daniel Oboyi, confirmed the development and said that the law enforcement agents were on top of the situation.

October 13, 2012

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REGIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

NORTH

PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

iger State Governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu Aliyu, has revealed that the proactive measures taken by the state as well as the assistance it got from the Federal Government, saved the state from becoming the center of operation of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, in the country. It would be recalled that the group then known as the Darul-Islam fundamentalist sect operating in Mokwa, local government area was dislocated by the security operatives from the state in 2009. The duo of Abubakar Shekau, believed to be the leader of the sect and Abubakar Kaka, the spokesman alleged to have been killed by men of the Joint Task Force

Why Boko Haram shuns Niger –Gov Aliyu

L-R: Chairman, Board of Trustees, National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria,(NAFN) Sen. Abdullahi Adamu; Seminar Committee chairman, Prof. Victor Chude and his Senate Committee chairman on agriculture, Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha during the agricultural show seminar in Keffi, Nasarawa State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

(JTF) in Maiduguri were also leaders of the Darul Islam. Aliyu, who made the revelation during a soli-

darity visit by the Minna Market Traders Association, said the series of pictures posted on the net and published in papers

of Abubakar Shekau and Abu Kaka are the same faces dislodged from the state, where their ‘ministry’ commenced, years

ago. He stressed the need for all hands to be on deck and resist theirs activities, saying their actions has

Insecurity: Shehu summons Borno elders INUSA NDAHI MAIDUGURI

ollowing the spate of killings, bombing and destruction of properties which have continued unabated in Maiduguri and Jere council areas, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn- Garbai ElKanemi has summoned a meeting with Borno elders. The meeting which was held yesterday at the Shehu’s palace was attended by stakeholders, politicians from different political parties including the former governors during the Second Republic, Alhaji Mohammed Goni and Asheikh Jarma. The monarch used the occasion to seek for their effort on how best to tackle the menace of Boko Haram insurgency in the state. Briefing Journalists after the meeting, the Secretary of the Borno Elders Forum, Bulama Mali Gubio said the meeting extensively discussed on how to bring peace to the troubled state. He said, the Shehu during the meeting called on all and sundry to offer prayers in their places of worship and at their

respective homes for the restoration of peace and unity among the diverse people of the state. Gubio also stated that the Shehu who felt disturbed by the spate of destruction of lives and property, especially innocent ones as a result of the crisis calls for serious concern and prayers, as

according to him, the over three years insurgency had impacted negatively on the economy of the state. “I summon this important meeting to call on you elders to please offer your own contribution in one way or the other and through prayers for peace to be restored in our dear

state and the country at large. All our major markets have been closed down, and if this problem persist, it will definitely ruin our socio- economic co-existence,” the Shehu said. The Shehu also used the opportunity to appeal to willing individuals to donate or contribute to-

wards the completion of the multi- billion Maiduguri Central Mosque. He equally thanked the men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in their effort in tackling the security challenges, and advised them to always perform their duties according to the “rules of engagement”. Stressing that by

not only impacted negatively on the economy of the northern region, the whole nation as well. The governor also stated that his administration came under series of attacks recently for his continued refusal to share state funds, stressing that, “ My administration will not share money, what is uppermost in my mind is the development of the state.” Speaking on behalf of members of the association earlier, the leaders Alhaji Mohammed Umaru and Alhaji Dandere pleaded with the governor to assist in reducing the levies members are made to pay on daily bases, while assuring him of the associations’ s continued loyalty to his administration. doing so, the lives of innocent people would not be lost. Others who also attended the meeting are the Chairman of the Borno Elders Forum, Ambassador Gaji Galtimari, the Secretary, Bulama Mali Gubio, Alhaji Garba Satomi, Alhaji Mohammed Rijiya, Waziri of Borno and Wali of Borno among other elders.

Kaduna Christians hold special prayer session for flood victims A ZA MSUE KADUNA

hristians from the Ark of God Prayer Network have concluded plans to conduct special prayers for the victims of flood disaster across the country, which displaced thousands of people. In a statement issued yesterday in Kaduna, the host pastor, L. I. Ezeugo, said the special prayers for the flood victims in Kaduna and other affected states would form part of its second anniversary of its yearly crusade with the theme “in a time like this”. Ezeugo also decried the current insecurity challenges and urged all Christians to join in mourning the dead and

to pray for normalcy in the country. He said the crusade would hold from Tuesday 16th-Thursday 18th October 2012 on its prayer ground at H52 , Shagari Road by Narayi Bus-Stop

Kaduna. The prayer anniversary is expected to feature notable anointed men of God among who are Prophet Stephen Ani and Pastor Mokwua as guest speakers.

According to Pastor Ezeugo, “This year’s topic was prompted by the current political, religious and most importantly the flooding being experienced in most of Nigerian states. We also use this op-

portunity to invite the general public to come and join us in praying for the state, for Nigeria and for the world in general. Let us pray for ourselves out of our problems,” he stressed.

Gombe to rehabilitate 6,800 physcially challenged DANJUMA WILIAMS GOMBE

ombe State government has embarked on the construction of two rehabilitation centres that would rehabilitate 6,800 neglected people with disabilities, teach them trades to be self dependent. The state Commissioner for women Affairs, Hajiya Fatima Abubakar stated this while briefing the press on the outcome

of the State Executive Council meeting. She said the decision was reached as part of efforts to correct the previous administration’s insensitivity towards the 6,800 neglected people after taking a comprehensive. She also disclosed that the immediate past administration in the state earmarked on some employment slots for physically challenged people but later diverted same to the able bodied

members of the public. The Women Affairs Commissioner said government is now planning to absorb the qualified ones into the civil service structure while the others would be deployed to learn trades at the centres being constructed in Gombe and Balanga local governments in Gombe North and South respectively. In the same vein, three ultramodern Women Development Centres have been ear-

marked for construction at the three senatorial districts. The decision followed the unacceptable level of dilapidation, decay and in some cases, disappearance of supposed existing centres. Plans according to the Commissioner have also reached advanced stage for the construction of an orphanage and an amusement park in the state capital to cater for interest of the children.

REGIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NORTH

Security our major concern for 2015 elections –INEC commissioner DANJUMA WILLIAMS GOMBE

National Commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC), Engineer Nura Yakubu has described security challenges bedeviling the country as the major concern for the commission for the 2015 elections. Speaking to Journalists in Gombe during an interactive session with INEC senior staff from Adamawa, Gombe and Taraba States on the commission’s 20122016 strategic plans, the National Commissioner stated that the commission wants to improve and consolidate on measures taken in the build up to the 2011 general elections where a committee on election security comprising all security agencies with INEC

National Chairman and National Security Adviser heading the commitee. He said, security matters were discussed and implemented under the committee adding that “we also want to consolidate on this and expand on it so that security arrangements we had in Edo recently would be made permanent in the whole country”. “We also want to fine tune and improve on this existing structure by institutionalizing the interagency security committee on election security” the National Commissioner explained further. On the strategic plan, he said the commission wants to have a well defined plan on conducting free and fair elections with five objectives which include, operational process that are needed to ensure free and fair elections, legal framework,

constitutional and electoral act and bye laws that the commission is empowered to have. Other objective of the strategic plans according to the National Commis-

sioner includes the process of restructuring and monitoring of political parties, campaigns and finances and restructuring and repositioning the INEC itself.

Commenting on negative criticisms on the outcome of election results, Engineer Nura said, “It has been a political culture which we have to change gradually. There is

need for a sustained campaign, re-orientation by INEC itself until Nigeria stop being skeptical and accept that Nigeria can still hold a free and credible elections”.

L-R: Chairman, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Regachukwun Division, Kaduna State Chapter, Malam Shehu Lawal, President, Dr. Vincent Ogini and Secretary General, Malam Abdul Wahab, at the World NAPPS Day celebration in Kaduna , yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Kano police in manhunt for fleeing terrorists AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

ano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said yesterday that the Command had spread its dragnet for the arrest of

the fleeing leader of a suspected terror gang that shot and killed two policemen in the state capital on Tuesday. Idris told our correspondent that his men are on the trail of the sect leader who allegedly mas-

terminded Tuesday’s attack on Polio Immunization team, killing the two police officers while injuring a woman attached to the polio task force in the process. He said the eight suspects arrested by his men

shortly after the Dawanau attack have made conventional statement that provided clue on how to track down the kingpin, adding that his men are already hot on his trail. The Police boss recalled that the eight suspects

were picked up shortly after the attack, when Policemen cordoned off the area. According to him, some of the suspects hid inside an uncompleted building where they ran to when security men stormed

Yobe committed to security, welfare of residents –Gaidam D INUSA NDAHI AMATURU

overnor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State has reassured residents of Damaturu and other people around the state that his administration is committed to their welfare and security and would continue to do everything necessary to keep the State safe. Gaidam spoke yesterday when the new Assistant Inspector General of Police for Zone 12 Alhaji Ibrahim Abdu paid him a courtesy call at the Government House Damaturu during his official visit to the State. In the words of Gaidam, “I wish to re-assure the people of the State including nonindigenes that we will continue to do everything possible to ensure that normalcy returns.”

The governor said he would continue to partner the Federal Government and security agencies in the ongoing effort to restore normalcy in the State and the country in general. The governor also commended the Joint Securi-

ty Task Force (JTF) for its effort in restoring peace and security around Damaturu metropolis after recent clashes between security agents and suspected members of terrorists group. Gaidam said the state government would accord

security a high priority. He called on the security agencies not to relent in their efforts, saying security is the “bedrock for the survival and progress of any society”. The AIG Zone 12 Ibrahim Abdu expressed happiness that “Damaturu

is peaceful now”, saying people who left the State capital should return and continue with their normal activities. He said the police will sustain its ‘operation sanity’ to go after criminal elements and ensure peace and security.

School proprietors protest Kaduna govt’s fee hike A ZA MSUE KADUNA

School owners, under the auspices of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), yesterday protested Kaduna State government’s recent approval of their enewal fees, saying they should be motivated rather than being discouraged. The school proprietors , who stormed the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Kadu-

na for a world press conference over government decision of five per cent annual renewal fees, described the action as not only outrageous but unrealistic due to the current insecurity facing their schools. The Kaduna State chapter of the association president and general secretary, Dr. Vincent Ogini and Imran Abdul Wahab, respectively, who spoke on behalf of their colleagues, called on Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa to reverse the decision, stressing

that school proprietors were working tirelessly to complement government determination to provide quality education. According to the association, “It is the consensus opinion of the private stakeholders in the education sector of Kaduna State that the proposed approved five per cent annual renewal fees based on anticipated tuition fees collected by each private school in the state is not only outrageous but also unrealistic. It is a primary constitutional and

social responsibility of the government to encourage and give incentive to individual and group partakers in the education sector, and not to discourage their participation” It added: “Though we are not averse to the state government stabilizing its internal revenue generation, it is our considered opinion that there is no need for the state government not to maintain the status quo of categorizing the private schools in the state as A-E.”

the scene of the incident, pointing out that it was in one of the uncompleted buildings in Dawanu that three AK 47 rifles, including the two snatched from the slain officers were found. It will be recalled that gunmen suspected to be militants of the Boko Haram sect on Tuesday gunned down two police men in Kano. Police said the victims were on Polio Immunization assignment when they were ambushed by unknown gun men who shot at them The sad incident occurred at noon at the Kofar Dawanau area in the popular Dawanau grain market in the suburb of the state capital. Police the deceased officers were attached to the Immunization Task Force and were on that assignment when they received a distress call. “It was in response to the distress call that they were ambushed by their attackers who shot and killed the two police men instantly while a woman also identified as member of the immunization team sustained gunshot injury and is currently on admission for medical treatment.”

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

October 13, 2012

Suspected US drone strike kills 16 in Pakistan

US vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden (l) and Paul Ryan of the Republican Party after the debate ahead of the November, 2012 polls.

suspected U.S. drone strike killed 16 people and wounded six Thursday in one of Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal regions, two officials said. The attack, which included four missiles, targeted a compound on the border of Orakzai Agency and North Waziristan, a local government official and a military official said. The compound belonged to Maulvi Shakirullah, a militant affiliated with the Haqqani network, the officials said. Imran Khan takes on U.S. drones Halted drone

protesters vow more marches The network is widely viewed to be fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan Pakistan’s Geo TV, a CNN affiliate, also reported that the drone “fired four missiles at a madrasa,” or seminary, run by Shakirullah. A previous drone strike in the Orakzai agency in 2009 killed 11 suspected militants from a faction of the Pakistani Taliban. The United States carries out drone strikes in Pakistan aimed at dismantling terror operations, but generally does not comment on them.

he Botswana High Court has overturned a customary law which prevented women from inheriting the family home. The judge ruled that the law contravened the constitution, which guarantees equality for men and women. Edith Mmusi and her sisters have fought a fiveyear legal battle after their nephew said he was the rightful owner of their house. Correspondents say traditions which stop women from inheriting property exist in many African societies. Judge Key Dingake said that in the name of fairness and equality women should have the right to inherit property. “It seems to me that the

time has now arisen for the justices of this court to assume the role of the judicial midwife and assist in the birth of a new world struggling to be born,” AFP news agency quotes him as saying. This is a significant step forward for women’s rights not only in Botswana but in the southern Africa region” The BBC’s Letloghile Lucas in the capital, Gaborone, says Ms Mmusi, the only one of the sisters at the High Court in Gaborone, was very excited by the ruling. “It’s a great day for us,” she said. However, her nephew Molefi Ramantele said the court had undermined the country’s culture, reports the AFP news agency.

women now to Syrian rebels attack army Botswana inherit family homes base, kill 14 soldiers T

yrian rebels killed 14 soldiers in an attack on an army post in Daraa province on Friday, a watchdog said, a day after the army suffered 92 losses, its highest daily total in the conflict. Six rebels were also killed in the attack on the army checkpoint at Khirba in the southern province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that fighting also raged in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo. The Britain-based watchdog said on Thursday had marked one of the deadliest days since an anti-regime revolt erupted in March last year, with at least 240 people killed across Syria, including the 92 soldiers, 67 rebels and 81 civilians.

With an average of 20 deaths per day, the army has lost about 10 000 soldiers and had at least an equal number wounded in the conflict, a military hospital official said. In August, the same source reported more than 8 000 deaths. Of the soldiers killed on Thursday, 36 died in fighting in Idlib province, where many of the fiercest clashes have taken place over the past three months. Regime warplanes on Friday attacked two buildings in the Idlib town of Maaret al-Numan, where intense fighting has raged since rebels overran it on Tuesday after a fierce 48hour gunbattle, the Observatory said. Fighting was ongoing on the periphery of Maaret al-Numan, where troops

loyal to President Bashar Assad are still holding two key bases in Wadi Daif and Hamdiyeh, which they use to bombard the town. An AFP reporter said that the rebels, by gaining control of a stretch of highway near Maaret al-Numan, were on Thursday able to cut off the route linking Damascus to Aleppo, choking the flow of troops to battlefields in the north. According to the Observatory, the rebels intercepted a radio distress call on Friday from the Wadi Daif base commander, who said: “If our planes do not clean out the areas around the base, I will surrender by the end of the day.” The radio communication came as warplanes were bombarding areas around Wadi Daif and

Maaret al-Numan. Taliban planned to kill girl activist A spokesperson for the Taliban’s Swat Valley chapter says its leadership decided already two months ago to kill a 14-year-old activist, who was shot and seriously wounded this week - and then sent out a hit squad to carry out the job. A spokesperson, Sirajuddin Ahmad, says Malala Yousufzai was warned three times to stop her activities promoting “Western thinking”, but she did not. He said the last warning was conveyed a week ago. Ahmad said two of the attackers had expertise in shooting people in the head. The hit squad carefully examined the girl’s route from school to her home.

Uganda battles ‘ghost pensioners’

ore than 60,000 retired Ugandan teachers, civil servants and soldiers have had their payments halted after an audit exposed “ghost pensioners”. Pensioners have not received their September payment and treasury officials say it may be another two weeks before they do. The recent investigation found hundreds of pension payments were being made every month to non-existent people. But pensioners fear the

clean-up of the pension payroll may take much longer. The BBC’s Ignatius Bahizi in the capital, Kampala, says the failure to pay September’s pension is already making life difficult for thousands of people relying on the monthly money to buy food essentials and medication. According to Uganda’s private Daily Monitor newspaper, an audit exposed how the pension list included names that appear more than once

and people with different names but the same bank account number. Some names on the pensions payroll were revealed to be still in service and not retired, the paper says. Our correspondent says this is the latest move by the treasury to crack down on ghost workers, a problem that cuts across all public sectors. A few years ago, the system for paying salaries in the army - one of the worst offenders - was overhauled and all soldiers are now

paid via bank accounts. This year the teaching profession was audited to weed out non-existent workers. However, this led to complaints when some genuine teachers did not receive their salaries for up to six month, our reporter says. Margaret Rwabushaija from the Uganda National Teachers’ Union has told the BBC that some of the teachers affected by the payroll clean-up have yet to receive their money.

Germany evacuates 10,000 over WWII bomb scare

ore than 10, 000 people have been evacuated from a residential neighbourhood in the German city of Potsdam after the discovery of an unexploded 250kg bomb from World War II in the yard of a house. It was not immediately clear how long residents would have to stay away from the area after experts were brought in early on Friday to defuse the bomb. Even almost 70 years after the end of the war,

there are still estimated to be tens of thousands of unexploded bombs lying underground in Germany. In August, authorities in Munich were unable to defuse a 250kg bomb and had to detonate it in place. The explosion blew out the windows of many nearby buildings and caused several fires. Pakistani politician Imran Khan addresses a peace rally against drone strikes in Tank, Pakistan, on Sunday.

Quote

day

We are among the best teachers in the country. We are not incompetent, not responsible for the falling standard of education in Ekiti and not responsible for the mass failure recorded by Ekiti students in public examinations. Samuel Akosile, Chairman, Ekiti State National Union of Teachers

Saturday, October 13, 2012. www.nationalmirroronline.net

The Venezuela elections

had the honour of being one of the observers invited by the Venezuelan Electoral Council at their 2012 Presidential Election on Sunday, October 7, 2012. Apart from the African observers team which consisted of members from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and African Union, there were observers from Inter-Americas, Union of South America and Switzerland. Also there were many members from South America and Caribbean, the UK, the USA and Canada. The focus of the world on elections, as a culmination of the electoral process of choosing executive or legislative leaders and as an aspect of democracy which is visible and monitorable, is understandable. Although democrats all over the world agree that election by itself is just a little aspect of the whole exercise of the practice of democracy, the Venezuela election, this time around, attracted global attention for a number of reasons. In the thirteen years of Hugo Chavez’s ruling of his country, some section of the opposition had, on two occasions, tried to remove him unconstitutionally. One, by instigating a paralyzing national strike to force him out of office. It failed and, by its eventual failure, Chavez’s position and hold on power were strengthened. Secondly, some section of the opposition tried to instigate a military coup. Again, it failed. On these two occasions, Chavez took resort to the people and was able to strengthen his hold on power through pro-people and pro-poor social policies. Whether or not he labeled himself as such, he is perceived at home and within the region as president of the poor and spokesperson and actor in favour of the poor. The 2012 Presidential Election where the opposition was fairly united behind

the

with President Olusegun Obasanjo hexcellency2011@yahoo.com a young man, Henrique Capriles, who could muster support across diverse social and ethnic sectors of the country, gave hope that Chavez would get his match during the election. The polls also indicated, according to the pollsters during the campaign, that the results would be too close to call. The campaign was free, unhindered and undisturbed for any of the candidates. But what greatly impressed almost all observers was the preparation of the National Electoral Council which left no stone unturned in terms of efficient organization including logistics. The electronic voting process is both state-of-the-art in technology and its integrity and reliability was strengthened with physical counting of the ballot papers that came out of the voting machine. Most impressive for me, as I went round the polling stations in three municipalities in the Region of Barlovento, a substantial Afro-American region, was when I was welcome by a Sango worshipper chanting incantation that I hardly understood. In addition, we were thrilled to cultural dances which were unmistakably African with the accompaniment of drums of different sizes by

a school children group. Noticeable for commendation was the enthusiasm, patience, commitment and desire of electorate to perform their civic duties and responsibility of voting. In the end, everything went very well almost without any hitch. Where a voting machine malfunctioned, it was immediately repaired by the technician on site. Also, where stamp marked ‘voted’ was left out in the materials sent to a polling station, complaint was made and a stamp was sent immediately. The closing of voting, transmission, counting and collation of the voting results were done openly and transparently, leaving no room for doubts or controversies. Within four hours of the close of the polls, the results of the whole election was ready and the Director-General of National Electoral Council, a lady of stern outlook, formally declared the results – 54% for President Hugo Chavez and 44% for the main opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles, a former City Mayor and Regional Governor - regarded as moderate. The reactions from the winner, Chavez, and the runner-up, Capriles, were so sportman-like, conciliatory and re-assuring for peace, stability and har-

mony for binding the wounds of the campaign. Capriles said, “the choice and the decision of the people must be sacred”. He accepted the result and would work for the progress of the country. Chavez, apparently re-invigorated by his victory, called it “a perfect victory” and declared that he would bring efficiency into governance while promising to do more for the poor and appealing to the middleclass to join him in the struggle ahead for the next six years. From his campaign promises and victory speech on the night of the election, there would be no doubt that, while not forsaking the major socialist content of his administration, President Chavez would reach out to more people of Venezuela such that he would be perceived as president of all Venezuelans as he continues to make the poor have a sense of inclusion, participation and stake in the country. Chavez must advocate and help to provide the quality of electoral process that is so free, open, fair, transparent, reliable, uncontroversial and thereby easily acceptable to other countries within the region and beyond to Africa where we still need to establish electoral systems that could not be manipulated and subject to the whims and caprices of officials and interested candidates and parties and absolutely reliable and can enjoy full confidence and trust of all concerned. If it can be achieved in Venezuela, it can be achieved anywhere. The glory, the honour and the pride of hitch-free and absolutely reliable electronic voting system, verifiable by over 50% physical counting, must go to all the people of Venezuela whose 81% registered electorate turned out voluntarily to vote. It was political education, motivation and sense of civic duty and responsibility at work.

SPORT EXTRA

ACN: Fatusi, fans confident of Nigeria’s victory over Liberia

eslim Fatusi, member of the Atlanta 96’ Olympic team, on Friday expressed optimism that the Super Eagles would prevail over Liberia today, to qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (ACN) finals to be hosted by South Africa in January. Fatusi, one of the ’96 Atlanta Olympic

soccer gold medalists, told NAN in Lagos that the players had the ability and techniques needed to defeat their Liberian counterparts. And from Calabar, soccer fans say they were confident the Eagles would overcome the Lone Stars of Liberia in the 2nd leg Nations Cup qualifying

match to hold at U. J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar. In separate interviews with NAN on Friday, some of the fans noted that the Eagles were good enough to pick the lone group ticket for South Africa 2013. Ambrose Ibe, a Calabar-based businessman told NAN that the Eagles were

far better than the Liberians, and the presence of the foreign-based players in the Eagles squad would be a big boost to the team. Another fan, Christopher Effiong, a student, said with the likes Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Vincent Enyeama and Emmanuel Emenike the team would triumph against the Liberians.

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