Saturday, August 11, 2012

Cold weather

Hospitals record increase in patients

Vol. 02 No. 35

P. 8

Fraudsters have hacked my phone P. 7

–Fashola

WAEC: 38.9% pass May/June exams •Withholds 112,000 results

Saturday, August 11, 2012

P. 8

N150

Ghanaian president, Atta-Mills, buried

• Immortalise him –ECOWAS

P. 55

L-R: President Goodluck Jonathan; President Alassane Quattara of Cote d’Ivoire and representative of the President of Republic of Suriname, Mr. Henk Herrenberg, signing the condolence register for the late President John Atta Mills during the final burial ceremony in Accra, Ghana, yesterday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

Appointment of Defence Minister

Jonathan consults OBJ, IBB 700 Nigerian troops deployed in Liberia

P. 7

P. 12

Living

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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August 11, 2012

INSIDE

Kidnappers kill surgeon over unpaid ransom

•Some people pocketed the ransom, associate alleges Dr. Canice Omeziri was 62 years old and in love with his people. But when the time came for them to return the gesture, something happened. Now, he is dead and the ransom meant for his kidnappers is hanging somewhere.

P.54

Okonkwo

Test-tube baby set to become Miss World

P.25

I can identify five of my attackers –Okonkwo, shot union leader NWABUEZE OKONKWO ONITSHA

T How 20 worshippers were massacred in Kogi church P.36

‘Their leader ordered my execution’ P.39 •Pregnant woman recounts ordeal at the hands of kidnappers

he Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Motorcycle Transport Union of Nigeria, MTUN and the Autobike Owners Association of Nigeria, AOWAN, Chief Jimmy Okonkwo, narrowly escaped death few days ago when gunmen suspected to be members of a rival group attacked him at Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The union leader, speaking from his hospital bed, has said that he can easily identify five of his attackers.

Still nursing his bandaged deep machete cuts and bullet-riddled body, Okonkwo, who reeled out the names to newsmen yesterday in an interview at his hospital bed, disclosed that his attackers were the same armed bandits who attacked him and some other motorists about three weeks ago at Oba Junction in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State when they mounted a robbery operation along the Onitsha/Owerri dual carriage way.

He said he would soon go to the state police headquarters, Awka to give the names of those he could identify to the state Commissioner of Police, Ballah Nassarawa, for prompt action, after taking a medical x-ray to ascertain whether or not he still has internal bleeding .

He therefore urged the InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed, and the state CP, Nassarawa, to come to his rescue by ensuring that

those gunmen who are bent on terminating his life for no just cause are arrested and prosecuted, no matter how highly placed.

The gunmen, numbering about 10, had on Monday, August 6, shot and robbed Okonkwo about two poles away from one of the new generation banks (Ecobank Plc) shortly after he withdrew the sum of N3 million cash from the bank.

According to eye witnesses, as soon as Okonkwo withdrew the cash from the bank and was escorted to his redcoloured Chrysler car and drove off up to two poles from the bank premises, two Mitsubishi buses carrying about 10 armed men allegedly blocked his vehicle, one in front and the other at the rear.

It was gathered that as soon as they succeeded in blocking him, they jumped down and some of them started firing gunshots at him, while others forced the car doors open and allegedly used axes and cutlasses on him, while one of his staff who was with him in the vehicle managed to escape.

The source further hinted that while the attacks lasted, the hoodlums allegedly took N362,000 from his car door mat and were still struggling to open the car boot to take the N3 miilion, which he had just withdrawn before they got wind of a fast-approaching police van and they quickly abandoned him and his vehicle, jumped into their two buses and zoomed off.

The police team arrived the scene, took him and his vehicle to Ekwulobia Police Station and recovered the N3

million still intact inside the car boot before he collapsed and became unconscious as a result of the severe attacks on him.

It was also gathered that while the police rushed him to a nearby hospital where he is currently recuperating, the bank officials who just paid him the N3 million cash he had just withdrawn before the attack rushed to the police station, confirmed the withdrawal to the police who in turn, remitted the money back to the bank.

Confirming the incident yesterday in a telephone chat, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO-in-charge of Ekwulobia Police Division, Mr. Sunday Adama, said the police were waiting for his recovery so that he could come forward and make an official statement to enable them commence investigations, adding that already, the matter had been transferred to the police headquarters at Awka.

Also speaking to newsmen over the incident, the member representing Anaocha I Constituency in Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Ebele Ejiofor, who also visited him at the hospital, condemned the dastardly act and warned criminals to retrace their steps.

The Ogirishi Igbo, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, and the National Director of Information of the Movement for Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Comrade Uchenna Madu, who also spoke on the incident, warned criminals to steer clear of Igbo land or be fished out and dealt with accordingly.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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August 11, 2012

Saturday Starter

Fanning the embers of

self determination

N

igeria is big. Yes, very big. It is the world’s biggest concentration of black people. Made up of quite a number of ethnic nationalities, it is blessed with a very rich cultural base.

With its estimated population of about 170 million people, there is no doubt that its big size has become its strength.

Previous governments and the current one have seen the benefits of the unity of the different nationalities that make up the entity called Nigeria, and defended it very well. They have guarded it jealously such that to advocate for a breaking away of any of the nationalities would be tantamount to committing a heinous crime against the state.

The constitution even abhors such with a passion.

Many Nigerians agree too that the

advantages in the oneness of the ethnic nationalities cannot be overemphasised. That is perhaps why the Nigerian government would do everything possible to make sure that the whole is not shattered into pieces.

Despite the advantages, there have been different attempts by some of the nationalities to go their separate ways.

The reasons are often not far-fetched.

Among other things, they point out the marginalization of their people; they complain about the violation of the rights.

And to get the emancipation of their people, they have resolved to go their own way, but the attempts have been resisted.

The example that readily comes to mind is the declaration of the State of Biafra by Chukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu for the Igbo people on 30th May

1967. The declaration led to a 30-month war which was declared by Nigeria on July 6 of the same year.

Although unequal to the declaration of a State of Biafra in any way, only last week, a faction of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), led by former president of the National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP), Goodluck Diigbo, declared self government for the people of Ogoni in Rivers State.

Of course, the government has expressed its execration for the abomination. According to the governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, the declaration was equal in effect to treason, and that comes with an unpalatable consequence.

But the question is: Should such a declaration of self-rule be taken with any ounce of seriousness?

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August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Saturday Starter

A MASSOB demonstration

‘Our right to autonomy’ TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

“B

y this declaration of political autonomy, we, the Ogoni people are determined to enforce the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, without fear or retreat,” droned the voice of Dr. Goodluck Diigbo, President and spokesman of a faction of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in a live broadcast on a newly established radio station Voice of Ogoni.

It was Thursday, 2 August, 2012. Finally, a faction of MOSOP had actualised the thoughts and probably hopes of some leaders and people of Ogoni land.

The Ogoni people are one of the many indigenous peoples of the oil rich Niger-Delta region of the country.

They share common oil-related environmental problems with the Ijaw and otherpeople of Niger Delta, but Ogonis are not listed in the list of people historically belonging to Niger Delta. They number about 1.5 million people and live in a 1,050 km2 homeland which they also refer to as Ogoni.

It is also the home land of the late environmentalist and writer, Kenule Saro Wiwa.

Diigbo, in the broadcast, affirmed that self-government within Nigeria would secure for the Ogoni people, their indigenous rights, enable them to meet their needs and interests and finally end internal colonialism.

He said that self-government became

urgent recognising the need to arrive at a consensus to collectively review the disputed UNEP Ogoniland Oil Assessment report, as any dialogue must be with the genuinely elected representatives of the people expected to enforce indigenous rights without dictation.

The Ogoni rose to international attention after a massive public protest campaign against Shell Oil, led by MOSOP.

Among other things, MOSOP in its 1990 Ogoni Bill of Rights had demanded political autonomy to participate in the affairs of Nigeria as a distinct and separate indigenous unit, provided that this autonomy guarantees political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people; the right to control and use a fair proportion of Ogoni economic resources for Ogoni development; adequate represen-

tations, as of right, in all Nigerian national institutions, and the right to protect the Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation as recognised under international law.

This proclamation by a faction of MOSOP has, however, been greeted by kudos, knocks and indifference.

First to react is the governor of the state directly involved: Rivers.

It is not the wish of all Ogoni people –Uranta

H

ow do you see the recent declaration of political autonomy of the Ogoni people?

We all know that the United Nations has given minority or ethnic groups the right to self autonomy. We are all aware that there have been moves in Nigeria in the past, even after the Biafran War by different groups to obtain autonomy.

The groups include: Oodua Peoples’ Congress, Ijaw Youth Councils, MASSOB and even at one time some northern groups including the Middle Belts Forum. However, we do not believe that this is the wish of all the Ogoni people at this time. Although we do not begrudge whoever has come up with this proposal or motion of their right to express themselves, associate and seek whatever they wish, provided they do so within the bounds of the law and the constitution existing at the moment in Nigeria.

We feel strongly so that this shows more than ever before the need for dialogue on state, regional and national levels. You will also notice that even the Bayelsa State government has recently

announced its state flag, state anthem and possible state constitution, which really are the fundamental rights of every component units in a federal state. All these obtain since 1966 in Nigeria, when all regions have their anthems, constitutions and flags. We need to return to the discussion table to address things and the abnormally of our so-called federal system and coming to an understanding that it is all encompassing and acceptable to all component units of Nigeria.

Don’t you see other ethnic groups following suit?

I think the more people that follow the Ogoni move to announce unilateral declaration of autonomy, the more we would find ourselves forced to come to a negotiating table in Nigeria. It is all well and good for anybody to call it treason but truly it is not treason provided it is within the bounds of treaties, statues or decisions that Nigeria is party to in the United Nations.

Mr. Tony Uranta, Executive Secretary of National Summit Group

Uranta

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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August 11, 2012

Saturday Starter

Ogoni student demonstrating for self determination

The embers of self determination Governor Rotimi Amaechi described the declaration of as treasonable felony.

Amaechi, said Diigbo’s aim is not achievable adding that the man would flee at the slightest attempt to question him by the security agencies.

“On Ogoni autonomy, I wish them well. Ogoni autonomy is not achievable.

The man (Diigbo) who declared Ogoni autonomy will run into the bush tomorrow morning.

“What Diigbo is doing is treasonable felony. You do not declare autonomy on the pages of newspapers and magazines or on radio and television,” Amaechi said.

It is not only Amaechi who descended hard on Diigbo and his declaration, the other faction of his group did too. It immediately dissociated itself from it.

The faction, managed by a Provisional Council with Professor Ben Naanen as chairman and Dr. Meshach Karanwi as secretary said Diigbo is on his own.

Naanen and Karanwi said they received “the purported declaration of “Ogoni Autonomy Day” by Diigbo “with dismay”.

In statement signed by both of them, they said Diigbo’s claim of Ogoni people voting for autonomy via a referendum was false.

“At no time did the Ogoni people take any decision to establish a sovereign nationhood. The Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR) is clear on the aspiration of Ogoni people in Nigeria. The Ogoni, according to OBR, want adequate representation in all the institutions of the Nigerian state as a matter of right. They want their economic, social and political rights to be protected in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A people aspiring to sovereignty cannot also be asking for representation at the same time,” the other faction of MOSOP declared.

The statement from Naanen MOSOP also accused Diigbo’s MOSOP of putting Bori, the headquarters of Ogoni people under tension since Tuesday July 31, 2012 through the use of groups of young men armed with automatic and other dangerous weapons.

“These young men are connected to Mr Diigbo. They attacked the Peace and Freedom Centre (MOSOP Complex) in Bori, causing considerable destruction while the staff of the centre suffered various degrees of injury. The attack was a prelude to their celebration of the so-called “Ogoni Autonomy Day” on Thursday August 2.

“MOSOP is calling on the government to take lawful measures to check Goodluck Diigbo’s anti-state activities and protect lives and property in Ogoni as these cult

boys remain an enduring threat to peace in the Bori area and other parts of Ogoni.”

MOSOP, as the case may be, is in fact one of the self actualisation groups in the country. Others include: the Odua People’s Congress (OPC), Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Arewa Peoples’ Congress (APC). None of the other group has, however, gone the length which it (MOSOP) has.

The OPC is a militant Yoruba nationalist organisation situated in the SouthWest geo-political zone of the country.

It was formed when a group of Yoruba elite, including Dr. Frederick Fasehun decided to form an organisation to actualise the annulled mandate of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, a Yor-

uba who won the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election but was barred from office.

The group along other major ethnic groups in the country fought tirelessly during the June 12 annulment struggle to regain Abiola’s mandate. During the struggle, several leaders of the group, such as Fasehun, Otunba Gani Adams, among others were arrested and detained by the military government. But OPC never relented in defending the cause of the Yorubas, especially on issues bordering on the region’s interest.

The APC is a group in the northern part of the country established to protect the interests of the Hausa and FuCONTINUED ON PAGE 6

No govt can force unity on the people –Yerima

W

hat is your take on the MOSOP declaration?

They are entitled to their opinion because under the international law by United Nations, which Nigeria is a member, any region or tribe has the right to declare its political autonomy and it is left for the government to either accept it or not. For as long as we remain a member of the UN, we are part and parcel of that agreement so it is binding on us. So, there is nothing special about it.

Yerima

Don’t you think it could create confusion in the country?

Nigerians would have loved to stay together but what is the need of staying together in a country where there are a

lot of injustices in the system. Nigerian leaders are sick upstairs; they are sick and they cannot move the country to another level. All you see daily is threat to life, insecurity, lack of sincerity of purpose and political will and inability to address issues. What is important in staying as a nation without any answer to some of our problems? So, if people are tired and they decided that they don’t want to be together, you can’t force unity on people. So, the day we are tired, we in other ethnic groups will declare that we need our autonomy and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

Comrade Shetima Yerima, President Arewa Youth Consultative Forum

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August 11, 2012

Saturday Starter It is not a constitutional matter –Aturu

W

hat can you say about the declaration?

The truth of the matter is that I don’t know whether that declaration is by the people themselves. I don’t know whether it is a decision process by the people of Ogoni. But if it is, then I think it is a very great challenge in the sense that government must have to deal with it. The government cannot just dismiss them and say they are not serious minded people. What the government has to do is to find a way of engaging them. I belong to that school of thought that says that people have right to self determination under international law.

So, if the people of Ogoni have decided to go, they have the right. But I think the right attitude is to say; “Look what are the issues, let us discuss,” but not just to

Aturu

It should be done at National Conference –Fasehun

H

ow would you react to the declaration for political autonomy of the Ogoni people by MOSOP? I am of the view that such unilateral action is not called for. If anybody is interested in showing grievances, they should wait till we meet at the National Conference. It is only the National Conference that can persuade people to stay in the federation or allow people to go. After all, we have such a thing in Ethiopia and the government that is involved became so enticing that people who had withdrawn from the federation applied to return and they did.

I do not subscribe to unilateral action. Nigeria should now begin to dispense social justice to all its constituents so that we may desire national unity.

Fasehun

lani. It has been described as a militant wing of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).

The group was formally launched on December 13, 1999. It was chaired by a retired army officer, Brigadier General Sagir Muhammed, who had been an operative in the Directorate of Military Intelligence. The APC has a motto ‘to preserve the indivisibility of the country.’

The group was believed to have been established then for full self-defence training for northern residents in some parts of the country, especially in reaction to attacks on the Hausas by the OPC. Another group is MASSOB. It is the Igbo militant group. The group since its inception has been championing the cause of the of the Igbo nation. It is believed to be working towards the actualisation of the Biafra, which was first declared by the late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu in 1967 for session of the Igbo

he leadership of Pro National Conference Organization, PRONACO backs the declaration of the Ogoni people for political autonomy and self determination of their people and territory within Nigeria. We are of the view that the time has come for the indigenous peoples and federating units in Nigeria to deliver their peoples and territories from the pilfering and violent centralized structure operating in the country.

The Ogoni peoples’ declaration for self determination and political autonomy is long awaited and the only way to go for the Nigerian federating peoples since the predatory political cartel in the country is not willing to allow the Nigerian people negotiate and agree the terms of their well being at a national conference.

Comrade Wale Okunniyi, spokesman of Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO)

What is the implication of the MOSOP action to national unity?

The nation cannot condone such unilateral action. The nation of course can take steps to repair any damage that has been done.

Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, President Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC)

‘Our right to autonomy’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

‘Peaceful method better than violence’

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say, “They can go to hell.” All these show that people are dissatisfied with our system and federation.

Do you think the action of MOSOP is constitutional?

Nigerians did not come together constitutionally. In 1914 they were different people, so when people want to go you can be using constitution. Whether or not they have right to self determination under international law is what is important. The constitution is a document and we cannot be using constitution to discuss an extra-constitutional matter.

This issue is political, social, cultural, socio-economic issue; it is not constitutional matter alone.

Mr. Bamidele Aturu, human rights activist and lawyer.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

from Nigeria. MASSOB is under the leadership of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.

While there is yet to be a move by the Federal Government to either castigate or recognise the declaration by the faction of MOSOP, Nigerians have not been silent in their reaction to the action.

Mr. Tony Uranta is the Executive Secretary of the National Summit Group. To him, though the action of Diigbo is permitted under the provision of the United Nations, however, it should not be a unilateral action carried out by a group or a group of people rather it should be approved by all Ogoni.

“We all know that the United Nations has given minority or ethnic groups the right to self autonomy. However, we do not believe that this is the wish of all the Ogoni people at this time,” he added.

To Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, founder of OPC, Diigbo’s action if at all necessary, should have been ratified by a bigger body, the National Conference.

“I am of the view that such unilateral action is not called for. If anybody is in-

terested in showing any grievance, they should wait till we meet at the National Conference. It is only the National Conference that can persuade people to stay in the federation or allow people to go,” he stressed.

Comrade Shetima Yerima, President Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, is, however, indifferent. His take: if it is accepted by the Federal Government, so be it.

“They are entitled to their opinion because under the International law of the United Nations, which Nigeria is a member, any region or tribe has the right to declare its political autonomy and it is left for the government to either accept or not,” he stated.

Mr. Bamidele Aturu is a human rights activist and lawyer. To him, there should be a process and procedure. If it was the decision of the people, it could hold.

“I belong to that school of thought that says that people have right to self determination under international law.

So, if the people of Ogoni have decided

Okunniyi

to go, they have right to that under the international law,” he pointed out.

The leadership of Pro National Conference Organisation, (PRONACO) has, however, thrown its weight behind the declaration of the faction of MOSOP. Its spokesman, Comrade Wale Okunniyi, expressed the stance of the group when he said: “The leadership of Pro National Conference Organisation, (PRONACO) backs the declaration of the Ogoni people for political autonomy and self determination of their people and territory within Nigeria. We are of the view that the time has come for the indigenous people and federating units in Nigeria to deliver their people and territories from the pilfering and violent centralised structure operating in the country.”

The question on the lips of many a Nigerian and the international community now is: will the self determination and autonomy of the Ogoni people as declared by Diigbo and his group hold or not?

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

National News

August 11, 2012

7

Appointment of defence minister: Jonathan consults OBJ, IBB OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

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early two months after the Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed was sacked as the nation’s Minister of Defence, the Presidency may have relaxed the urgency in appointing another one until the consultation between President Goodluck Jonathan and two former leaders, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida is concluded.

Until now, the media have been awashed with several names as possible replacement for the former minister who was relieved of his post alongside the National Security Adviser, Major General Patrick Aziza, by President Jonathan.

While Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) was announced as Aziza’s replacement as NSA,

the Presidency kept the public guessing on the likely successor of Mohammed.

Although President Jonathan would have wanted the new Defence Minister to be announced before the recent visit of the United States Secretary of States, Hilary Clinton, the consultation between the president and the former heads of state which has reached advanced stage, it was gathered, stalled the announcement.

A source told Saturday Mirror that Chief Obasanjo did not feel comfortable with President Jonathan surrounding himself with former loyalists of IBB as security aides and would prefer the Defence Minister coming from the South.

While Colonel Dasuki, a former ADC to IBB has since resumed as President Jonathan’s security adviser, the favoured candidacy of Lt-Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd), a

former NSA and close associate of IBB has continued to elicit some concern in some quarters.

According to the source, “the next defence minister will be announced soon after the consultation that is going on presently between the president and the former leaders.

“I can confirm that notable names who have served this country in several capacities are being considered but the Presidency is also aware that the slot became vacant only because the minister from one of the northern states was dropped and it is only proper that the state or the zone be accommodated in the executive council.”

Another source told Saturday Mirror that although the president was not in a haste to make the final choice, some interest groups were lobbying that a particu-

lar political zone produce the next defence minister.

The source claimed that because of the sensitive nature of the defence sector, the president reportedly favoured a military technocrat to head the ministry instead of a politician again.

Stakeholders from the South-South geo-political zone are contending that the positions of NSA and defence minister should not both go to the north.

Former governorship aspirant in Rivers State, Chief Sergeant Awuse, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint somebody from the South-south region as the new Minister of Defence.

Awuse said since Azazi came from the South-South zone of the country, if the Presidency was to maintain a balance in appointments, it was only natural to give the defence portfolio to somebody from the region since the new NSA comes from Sokoto State in the North-West

of Nigeria.

He noted that for Azazi to be given the NSA position in the first instance, the SouthSouth region had to give up other positions.

According to him, it would be unfair to the region if the defence portfolio is not given to the South-South.

“I am saying that the NSA to be given to the SouthSouth, Bayelsa specifically; other positions had been given to other sections of the country. President Jonathan has to give the position of Minister of Defence to the South-South.”

Two former military chiefs, General Alexander Ogomudia and Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, are among two notable Nigerians being projected from the zone as possible choice of the government as the next Minister of Defence.

Ogomudia is a former Chief of Defence Staff, a similar post once occupied

by Dike, who was also the first Air Force officer to at-

tain the rank of an Air Chief Marshall.

From the North, beside Gen. Gusau, other prominent retired officers being considered for the top security assignment are Col. Abubarkar Umar; a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Abdurrahman Dambazau (rtd); Gen. Bitrus Boka Ushe (rtd) from Kebbi State and a former Director of Military Intelligence, Col. Halilu Akilu.

Though highly favoured, however, Gen. Gusau is said to have given three conditions for accepting the offer which include being given free hand to operate; a waiver to do whatever he can to salvage the security challenges facing the nation; and opportunity to resign anytime, if he is displeased with the situation or if he feels that he has fulfilled his mission in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The conditions, it was gathered, is not likely to be granted by the president.

Fraudsters have hacked my phone –Fashola • Orders investigation of battered photojournalist MURITALA AYINLA

L L-R: Representative of Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Alhaji Alhassan Magaji; Director of Logistics, Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Commodore Olutayo Adetomiwa, and representative, Ministry of Defence, Procurement Department, Echowo Peter, at the open public bidding for college library project at the AFCSC in Jaji, Kaduna State, yesterday.

JTF arrests terrorists, recovers arms in Maiduguri

• Gunmen kill banker INUSA NDAHI MAIDUGURI

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he Joint Task Force in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, has arrested some suspected members of the terrorists group, Boko Haram, and recovered a large amount of arms and ammunitions from their hideout.

The arrest and recovery yesterday followed the adoption of a new tactics which is tagged “Humanitarian Line of Operation.”

With the tactics, raids are carried out within the metropolis.

Briefing newsmen at the JTF headquarters along Pompomari by- pass in Maiduguri, the Field Operations Commander, Colonel Victor Ebheleme, commended the efforts of residents who are now cooperating with the security agencies in providing information on the hideouts of members of the sect.

According to him, the assistance of the members of the public led to the recovery

of the arms and ammunitions from one house in Maiduguri metropolis.

Ebheleme said some good Samaritans provided information on the hideouts of some suspected members of the sect, in which the JTF swung into action and arrested them at their hideouts.

He said after interrogation, the suspects revealed the house of someone where the four AK47 rifles; one set of GpMG; 9 RPG bombs and 11 chargers were recovered.

He added that other weapons of mass destruction recovered from the

house include 1,032 rounds of ammunition, three AK47 magazines and three wooden butts.

In another development, some gunmen laid ambush in Gwange Ward of Maiduguri metropolis and shot dead a banker, injuring one of his friends.

The third person in the company of the other two escaped unhurt.

The incident, it was gathered, took place at about 6:45pm when the deceased along side his two friends were breaking their fast in front of his house.

agos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday raised alarm that his phone number has been hacked by some fraudsters to extort money from members of the state cabinet and permanent secretary.

He said the fraudsters had opened an account in Skye Bank and used his phone number to send text messages to members of his cabinet to pay some specified amount of money into it.

“I must use this opportunity to appeal to all citizens and all of those who have received text messages purportedly being sent in my name. Apparently my phone has been cloned by some internet fraudsters, they sent messages round to my commissioners and permanent secretaries asking them to come and pay money into one Skye Bank account.

“Please ignore those messages, they are not from us. It apparently shows the

desperation to make money by all means. These are the small crimes, those are the corrupt tendencies that we must all as a nation put to bed. They are the ones that lead to the bigger crimes. If we focus our attention on the bigger crimes, we will lose the larger picture. All of these speak to the need for increasing compliance with law and order in every state, every local government, every ward, every home. All of us must rise up and reclaim our country back from this lawlessness.”

Fashola bemoaned the development, adding that making money through cheap means could halt the nation’s value system .

Meanwhile, the governor has ordered a full –scale investigation into the circumstances that led to the battering of a photojournalist of Leadership newspaper, Benedict Uwalaka , by mortuary attendants at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) on the allegation that he had photographs of one of the corpses of Dana plane crash.

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National News

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

WAEC: 38.81% pass May/June exam • Withholds 112,000 results

TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

A

total of 649,156 candidates representing 38.81 per cent of 1, 695878 who wrote this year’s May/June Senior Secondary School Examination (SSSE) conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) obtained credits in five subjects and above

including English and Mathematics.

Another total of 112, 000 candidates representing 6.70 per cent have their results withheld over various alleged examination malpractice while 46 schools have their results pending for failure of their schools to have submitted their candidates’ assessment scores which form 30 per cent of the to-

tal score for the results to the council.

The Head of National Office in Nigeria, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, disclosed this yesterday in Lagos while announcing the results barely three months after the exam was conducted.

Giving the statistics, Uwadiae said out of the total candidates, minus 16, 654, who registered but did not sit the exam, 1, 545,004 can-

didates representing 91.10 per cent, had their results fully released, while 150, 874 candidates representing 8.90 per cent had a few other results still being processed due to some errors mainly traceable to them.

The WAEC boss further gave the breakdown of the results saying: 771, 731 candidates, representing 46. 14 per cent, obtained six credits and above and

952, 156 candidates, representing 56. 93 per cent, obtained five credits and above.

He also disclosed that 114 blind candidates registered for the exam out of which 95 sat the exam and 21 representing 22.11 per cent obtained credits in five subjects including English Language.

He noted that blind candidates did not take Mathematics and Science practical in WASSCE diets.

On the general performance, Uwadie said there was significant improvement in this year’s results over the past two years in both council’s May/June and November/December exams.

He said it was 23. 71 per cent and 25.16 per cent of candidates in 2010 May/

June and November/December exams that passed in five subjects including English and Mathematics at credit level and above, while it was 30.91 per cent and 36.07 per cent last year.

He noted that while the council would have preferred better performance, Uwadiae said the council also recognised the significant interventions of various state governments in their education sector which had led to the improvement in students’ performance in exams and the results.

He, however, said the candidates who sat the exam would be able to check details of their performance on the council’s website within 48 hours after the announcement.

Bring attackers of photojournalist to book –IPC TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

L-R: Ambassador of South Korea to Nigeria, Mr. Choi Jong Hyun; Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, and Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, during the signing of agreement on cultural and educational co-operation between Nigeria and the Republic of South Korea, in Abuja, recently.

PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

Cold weather: Hospitals record increase in patients • Asthmatic, sickle cell attacks rise TOBORE OVUORIE

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ollowing the intense cold weather in some states of the country, there has been an increase in the number of patients, particularly those suffering from asthma and sickle cell.

Dr. Abimbola Abiodun a physician with the General Hospital, Agege, Lagos disclosed this in an interview with Saturday Mirror yesterday.

“The number of patients attended to has increased while most of the ailments, I believe are as a result of the weather condition” she stated.

Although she couldn’t give statistics of the number of such patients, she emphatically told our correspondent that there had been an increase in the number of patients. “ I cannot really tell you the exact figures of cold-related ailments we have had

to treat here but I can say that there’s been an alarming increase which should call for attention,” she said.

According to her, there have been an upshoot of cases of feverish conditions which were triggered by severe cold.

“There have equally been unusual number of people coming in with prolonged cough, catarrh, fevers”.

She however disclosed that “the elderly are not having the best of times because they are not only battling with the cold but the fact that it is affecting their bones.

On what could be done to manage the prevailing situation, she stated that “I’m afraid that there isn’t much we can do to stop the prevailing weather condition, but like I’ve been telling patients, we can control the extent we expose ourselves to the weather by doing the needful such as digging into our closets for warm cloth-

ing instead of trendy ones.

“This is no season for us to try being fashionable because we must think less of fashion and more of our health thus we must wear clothes that cover our bodies in totality.

“I believe we can still look good even while fighting off the cold. It is worthy to also state that people living with asthma, other respiratory conditions such as bronchitis and even sickle cell patients must be extra careful this season.

They must guard their bodies jealously with very thick clothes from head to toe.

They must befriend warm water this season both in drinking and bathing and should expose themselves less to the weather and stay away from air conditioners and even fans at night”.

Like Lagos, other Southern states of the country are having their share of the weather, as well as large turn

outs of patients in hospitals.

According to a senior nurse in the clinic of the University of Ibadan which is popularly known as “Jaji”, there have been more incidences of asthmatic students being rushed to the health institution.

The nurse who pleaded anonymity on the grounds that she is a civil servant told Saturday Mirror that “I believe you can hear someone coughing uncontrolled at the background; that is another student who is asthmatic that has been rushed here. Until this sudden change in our weather, I never knew we had so many students who are either asthmatic or living with sickle cell. Since the cold weather, they are either rushed in at any time of the day, particularly at night when the weather goes too cold or they voluntarily walk in for medical consultations.

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he International Press Centre (IPC) yesterday called on the Lagos State Government to ensure a thorough investigation into the vicious attack on the Leadership newspaper photojournalist, Mr. Benedict Uwalaka, on Thursday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

In a statement made available to Saturday Mirror yesterday, the Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said the perpetrators should be made to face justice as the

use of brute force on a journalist while on legitimate duty cannot be justified under any circumstances.

“The media has suffered a lot in recent times through bombings and kidnapping. We want an immediate probe into this matter and the culprits brought to book,” Arogundade said.

IPC said the assault was condemnable and called for the re-orientation and education of government agencies and personnel on how to relate with journalists, who apparently, some of them see as ‘enemies’ as was the situation during military rule.

Islam is against killings –Don

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renowned Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies, Prof. Alani Seriki, has stressed that Islam is a religion of peace that does not allow incessant killings of innocent people.

Seriki who is the Dean, College of Humanities, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State, made this assertion at the 2012 Ramadan lecture organised by Ijebu-Ode Club held recently at the club’s premises.

He noted that the Boko Haram sect did not follow the doctrine of Allah.

According to him, Islam is a religion of peace, knowl-

edge, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

Prophet Mohammed (SAW), he said, is a man of peace and so are his followers.

The university don urged Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray extensively for peace in Nigeria.

He said it was unfortunate that Nigeria is now rated as one of the terrorists nations of the world.

He urged the federal government to be more security conscious and find a lasting solution to the menace which had claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Nigerians.

Politics

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

2015: Strategising ahead of battle

Bisi Akande, ACN chairman

Tony Momoh, CPC chairman

Bamanga Tukur, PDP chairman

TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

F

rom the look of things, the political battle in 2015 promises to be tough. The major opposition parties, particularly, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), seem not to be leaving anything to chance. They are already working underground on how best to wrest power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) come 2015.

They seem to be a little more determined this time around than their last effort.

The ruling party, PDP, is apparently conscious of the danger of pretending that it would be business as usual in 2015, and it is not taking the threat by the opposition parties with levity. At

least, going by its reaction recently, it would counter any move by the opposition parties and remain in power in 2015 and beyond. But how possible is it for the PDP to successfully counter the proposed onslaught by the opposition? That is the question that begs for answer.

It would be recalled that in the last few months there have been several moves by the opposition parties to form a formidable platform to seize power from the PDP. To that effect, merger talks have been going on between the ACN and the CPC. To many people, with a new and strong platform as being planned by the opposition, the PDP may be in for a tough time during the next general elections.

PDP has, since May 29, 1999, dominated the political scene, especially at the federal level. The opposition parties

have, in the last three general elections, found it difficult to change the tide despite their threat to do that. The farthest they have gone, has been to retain just a part of the state where they have their base.

For example, ACN has become the ruling party in the South-West, while All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is regarded as a strong party in the SouthEast. CPC is also believed to be gaining popularity in the North.

It is with the success recorded by some of the parties in the different parts of the country that many are today becoming optimistic that PDP may be in for a big trouble come 2015. But PDP is seeing the issue differently. As far as the party is concerned, nothing would stop it from enjoying its position as the leading party.

August 11, 2012

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In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, on Sunday, the party declared that no alliance against PDP would survive. He said PDP is not threatened by the proposed alliance between some major opposition parties, since it (PDP) remained the only national political party that was committed to the continued existence of Nigeria and its transformation.

His words: “We hear of alliance and mergers every day. That is not new. Let us wait for 2015. Do you think Nigerians are fools? Do you think that Nigerians do not take notice of the character and tendency of individuals and political parties? The PDP is the only party that is committed to the continued existence of Nigeria and the welfare of its people.

At the appropriate time, they will decide whether to entrust their great nation to the hands of regionalists, doomsday prophets and pro-anarchists or to the safe hands of the PDP….

“Our party has shown enormous capacity and has achieved significant manifest benefits in national growth drivers as in freedom, which is at the heart of civilisation, in terms of free and fair elections, which is the livewire of democracy and in real infrastructural growth at the federal and in the states under our control. We can only continue to improve.”

However, PDP may have prided itself as the ruling party and vowed to remain so, some political analysts would still believe that all would not likely be well with the party in the next general elections.

The reasons for their position are obvious. They believe that at present, PDP is currently having crises in virtually all its state chapters following its inability to manage some of its internal problems. The problems emanated from the last congresses and national convention.

It is also believed that the call for change in government by many Nigerians, considering the security challenges in the country, high rate of corruption and some of the perceived anti-peoples’ policies of the present administration may affect the popularity of the ruling party.

On the other hand, it is not as though the opposition would find it easy to unseat the PDP as the major party. Many are of the belief that the coming together of the opposition parties may not be easy at all.

Although the proposed ACN-CPC merger talks are in top gear many feel strongly that the merger may not see the light of the day considering similar efforts in that respect in the past.

During the April 1999 general election, for example, the then All Peoples Party (APP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) formed an alliance to compete against the PDP. The two parties presented a common candidate in the person of former Minister of Finance, Chief Olu Falae, to contest against PDP’s Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. At the end of the election Obasanjo became president.

In 2007, several efforts by the opposition parties to unite failed. Even the CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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POLITICS

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Corrupt officials must be

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ormer presidents, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida, recently reviewed the security situation in the country and called for a dialogue with Boko Haram. Do you support this idea as a way out of the state of insecurity?

We need to dialogue and there is no doubt about that. In fact we need a constitutional conference; Nigerians need to sit down and plan the way forward for Nigeria. We need to find answers to some basic questions. Are we satisfied with the present state of the economy of the country? Do we want to continue with a central government or do we want a parliamentary system? There are so many things to discuss. The constitution needs some amendments if we are to continue in this country. So, I think they are right that there must be dialogue.

What is your view about the move by the House of Representatives to kick-start an impeachment process against President Goodluck Jonathan over poor implementation of the budget?

Impeachment is not a new thing. If the president is not performing his duty, the National Assembly has the right to caution him. If he refuses to get cautioned then there would be an impeachment. It is a normal democratic system.

There is nothing extra ordinary in impeachment provided it is done properly and not for any trivial reason. For impeachment to occur, the reason must be genuine and it must be in the interest of the people. If you make a budget, you must execute it. There is no need deceiving the people presenting a budget and then not backing it up with money. The budget must be executed because the lives of the people depend on it.

In the last few weeks, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has been arraigning many oil cartels due to the outcome of the report of the Hon. Farouk Lawanled House of Representatives’ ad-hoc committee on management of fuel subsidy. Do you see the cabal being brought to book considering how many high profile corruption cases have been swept under the carpet?

It is always very difficult to fight a cabal but the justice system will catch up with them sooner or later. If they have stolen people’s money and the court is there then justice will prevail. We only hope that the court this time would be ready to give justice. Honestly, the situation of the country is very bad. Everywhere is corrupt and you don’t even know where to go. The whole system is very corrupt and that is the problem we have. Many people have even stolen pension funds. That is one of the corrupt cases that have been discovered. Who knows other things that have been stolen? Pension fund is the last thing that is expected of anybody to steal. It is the money of the aged and they still steal them. Who knows many other things that have been stolen but have not been

Senator Anthony Adefuye was a member of the Senate in the Third Republic in the country. He is today the national secretary of the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF) and a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In this interview with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, he speaks on the effect of corruption on the nation’s system. He also speaks on the threat by the House of Representatives to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan on issues bordering on the implementation of the 2012 budget. Excerpts:

Adefuye

discovered? Many funds have been stolen; petroleum fund, pension fund, police funds and many other funds have been stolen and grabbed by some cabals.

So, we must look at all those funds; there must be security for them so that people don’t just take them as easy money that can easily be stolen.

Again, when you put people who are not qualified in charge of certain things, you will find out at the end of the day that you have introduced virus into the system. Those people would only bring about corruption galore. We must therefore start sanitising the system by putting round a peg in a round hole. Once we can do that from the beginning, we can save ourselves. When you begin to put corrupt people into places that must not be corrupted there is going to be problem. When you begin to swear in people who should not be judges, then you have corrupted the place and you cannot get justice through the judicial system.

When you begin to make nurses, doctors, then you have corrupted the place and you cannot get a good healing from such

an arrangement. That is the kind of situation we have now. Quite a lot of wrong people have been put into the system and they must all be flushed out.

Is there a possibility that they would be flushed out, considering the Nigerian system?

We must be determined to do so. Nobody has made any attempt to do so. If you look at the local government for instance, you will find out that the council officials are all corrupt from the top to the bottom. Even if you are appointed as a saint as council chairman today before the next day they would have corrupted you. So, we must find a way to ensure that we put good people in the right places.

But many Nigerians don’t care about who governs them, but what they can benefit from him as individuals.

Before, the belief was: What can I get?

But now, people know that once they put wrong people in government they suffer.

So, people must now be determined to ensure that they only vote the right people

into the government. If people are forced on them they must reject them; they must freely choose those they consider to be good and credible as their leaders.

Once we start that, then the problem is over.

Many Nigerians seem to be losing interest in some politicians considered to be credible in view of the alleged involvement of Hon. Farouk Lawan in a bribery scandal with Femi Otedola. Are you not worried?

The whole system is corrupt. I was shocked by the Farouk Lawan’s action because I thought we had begun to make a headway in the fight against corruption. I did not know that it was corruption fighting corruption. That is where the problem is. When corruption fights corruption what you will get at the end of the day is corruption. We must do something quickly if Nigeria is to stand.

The greatest enemy we have now is corruption; even when you put your money in the bank, it is not safe.

Why did you think so?

Because of corruption. In Europe,

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

POLITICS

August 11, 2012

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flushed out –Senator Adefuye you can put your money in a bank and go to sleep but in Nigeria we are not yet there. Central Bank of Nigeria still has to do a lot of things to ensure that our money is safe and money is made available to the people. If you don’t make the money available to the people, then it is a waste of time putting our money in the bank. It is unfair to put your money in a bank where the banker starts trading with your money. It is no more banking and that is why so many banks collapsed in Nigeria. We need to put our system in order. Up till now we are being told that some people still deep their hands into the purse of the Central Bank and spend the money anyhow. We cannot run a country like this. The country must be put in a proper order and the only way we can start that is by ensuring that we vote for good people. And when we have made

mistakes by voting wrong people into offices, we must not be shy to remove them.

Do you think that one is possible in Nigeria?

Yes, it is very possible. Anywhere in the world when the damage is being done they want change and they would revolt.

What’s your view about the plan to oust PDP from the centre come 2015?

One of the beauties of democracy is that every four years, you have opportunity to change every government. But the fact is that things don’t even depend on peoples’ votes any more. There is what we call rigging. The whole system is corrupt and many people are rigged into office. So, we must ensure that our future elections are credible, free and fair. If we have elections where there is no rigging then that would be the first step toward cleansing Nigeria. We can-

not be sure now that if we hold election that it would not be rigged because all the returning officers are from the ruling party. Even in the local government elections, all the returning officers are members of the ruling party in that state too. So, this is where our problem is and it is only God who can save us. We too can save ourselves by doing the right thing.

What is your view about the ongoing merger talk between the ACN and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)?

It is a good move if it would work.

More parties must come together if they are to be relevant. I believe that the coalition of the CPC and ACN is a good move. But honestly speaking, just like ACN cleared the South-West, so also the CPC cleared the North. But of course,

some of them were rigged out during last election. If they are together this time, they would be strong enough to defend and protect their votes.

The agitation for the establishment of state police is on. Are you in support of this?

The whole thing is still about corruption. Whether state or federal police; police is police. The advantage of state police is that the state is able to manage its own security, whichever way it wanted.

And the people who are managing the security are from that state. So, they know one another and therefore it is very easy to secure the state. That is why people are calling for state police. But the fact is that the people themselves must not be corrupt and the police must not be corrupt. Whether state or national police, if they are corrupt, it is not good.

2015: Strategising ahead of battle CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 coming together of some AD chieftains and disgruntled members of the PDP led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to send PDP out of government also failed as PDP’s candidate, Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua became victorious in the presidential election of that year.

Again, prior to the 2011 general elections, many people looked forward to a possible merger between CPC and ACN considering their popularity in the North and South-West respectively, but the efforts did not yield any fruit. The talks collapsed owing to irreconcilable differences among the party leaders.

The two political parties presented different candidates at the election and came second and third respectively. The inability of the two parties to work together gave President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP a smooth ride to Aso Rock Villa at the end of the election.

It is against the backdrop of the futility of the efforts then that made many to give up hope on the renewed merger talk.

As far as many people are concerned, the personal ambition of the respective leaders would, as in the past, work against the overall ambition to sack the PDP from dominating the political atmosphere.

Some analysts are of the view that the refusal of some of the opposition parties to join the CPC and ACN in the merger talks may affect the success of efforts.

Speaking to Saturday Mirror, ACN chieftain, Senator Anthony Adefuye, said that the coming together of the opposition parties would give them the opportunity to defend and protect their votes in their quest to sent PDP packing from the Aso Rock come 2015.

His words: “The merger talks between CPC and ACN is a good move if it would work. More parties must come together if they are to be relevant. I believe that the coalition of the CPC and ACN is a good move. But honestly speaking, just like ACN cleared the South-West, so also CPC cleared the North. But of course,

some of them were rigged out during last election. So, if they are together this time, they would be strong enough to defend and protect their votes.”

The spokesman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and CPC chieftain, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said the opposition, having learnt their lessons in the past would do everything possible to ensure that the merger talks work this time around.

“We have learnt a lot of lessons from our failure to consummate the merger before the 2011 elections. We are doing all we can to make sure that there is no miscarriage any more. One can safely say that we cannot repeat the mistake we made before. As luck will have it, we have time on our side unlike in 2011.

“We also know that Nigerians are tired of the vice-like grip of the PDP; so we can’t afford to fail to unite all the progressive forces. Barring any unintended obstacle, the merger will be concluded before March 2013, which provides us time to market the name and the manifesto of the new baby,” he said.

While many see the alliance talks bringing about a major force, former Zamfara State governor, who is currently the Senate Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, said the proposed merger of ACN and CPC ahead of the 2015 presidential election may not produce a fruitful result.

He said the personal interests of personalities involved in the proposed merger overrides national interest. He stressed that unless politicians can take national interest to be above their personal interests, it would be difficult to have a successful merger of the two political parties.

“The recent crises in the CPC that led to its factionalisation are the beginning of the merger’s obstacles and this may not allow that merger to become reality,” he added.

ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, believes that the merger of political parties is the only

weapon that the opposition can use to rescue the country from the grip of the PDP. “The merger of our party, ACN, with the CPC, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a splinter group of disenchanted members of the PDP will come into being very soon. I can assure you, the leaders of the parties have been

meeting to consider the proposal, as the only way through which we can rescue this country from the PDP,” he said.

With the possibility of attacks against the PDP by the opposition parties, and the likelihood of a strong defence by the former, it would be appropriate to wait till 2015 when the battle would have been declared open.

In your refreshingly different Ex-governors: Prosecution in limbo?

It was Ijaw leader and former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, that stirred a hornet’s nest last week. It was at a lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) when he took on the anti-corruption agencies and the Federal Government on the fight against corruption. He wondered why there had not been any conclusion on the prosecution of exgovernors accused of misappropriating their people’s wealth.

In this week’s report, we take a look at the issue; the accusations and why it has been difficult to prosecute these former governors.

2015: Again, the Igbo presidency debate

The 2015 general election is still about three years away, but political permutation, especially in the South East geo-political zone, has started. The Igbo have begun moves to actualise their plans for a President of Igbo extraction. Will they succeed? Will they achieve their aim in view of rumbles from the North for the same office? Though President Goodluck Jonathan has not signified his intention to contest for a second term, his body language indicates this to be a possibility. So, can the Igbo achieve their aim? What is their strategy? We serve you this tomorrow.

Kogi’s tales of deaths

Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, had a bitter pill of insurgents’ attacks during the week. While gunmen invaded the camp of Deeper Christian Life Bible Church members on a retreat, killing no fewer than 20 worshippers in one fell swoop, another set of insurgents invaded a local mosque where it detonated explosives. There, two soldiers lay dead while many worshippers were fatally wounded. We reached out to survivors of the attacks, among them, the injured. It is a gripping episode that you cannot but read.

Ify’s If ’ passion i

Ifeoma Okeke, a Nollywood act, is a graduate of Business Administration of the Lagos State University (LASU). Ify, as she is fondly called by her friends, also studied Nursing. But she neither took a career in her course of study nor practised the Nursing profession. Her reason? “I don’t want to be caged”. Ify tells of her passion, her fashion preference and the challenges in Nollywood, among others. Meet her tomorrow.

These and many more available tomorrow in your

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National News

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

ANPP may disappear before 2015 –Tofa AUGUSTINE MADU WEST KANO

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ormer chairman of the elders committee of the All Nigerian People’s Party ( ANPP), Alhaji Bashir Tofa has expressed doubt over the possible survival of his party beyond 2015, citing exodus of key members and factional crisis

rocking the opposition party as reasons.

He told Saturday Mirror in an interview that the once leading opposition party in the country is now in a serious problem with leadership crisis tearing it apart.

“As it is now, ANPP is in a serious problem; that is just my opinion. The party is not in some states, especially in the South East; it is not even in the North; key party mem-

bers are leaving for other parties,” he said.

The party’s former Contact and Alliance Committee chairman also recalled that “in recent months we have lost many leaders in the North and also in the South.

These are leaders who are strategic to the survival of the party and this is a serious problem for the party”.

According to him, another major factor militating

against the party’s growth is the attitude of most of its elected officials such as National Assembly members and governors.

“Our governors and senators are not always forthcoming to assist the party and they are not even serious with the party’s activities.

“Recently a meeting was held in Abuja, it was a caucus meeting, I think only one governor out of the three

attended that meeting with just a few senators. So, this kind of disenchantment with the party is a very serious development and set back to the party”.

The former presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in the aborted Third Republic said the most disturbing scenario in all these is the party’s appalling status in Kano State where

it hitherto enjoyed tremendous patronage.

“The party’s situation in Kano is disturbing with the emergence of no fewer than six factions, each angling for power, fighting one another with unity eluding the party. So, the party is virtually crippled in Kano because the leadership is lacking and I think if we are not careful we may disappear before 2015.”

Dana plane crash: LASUTH explains delay in collection of corpses • Apologises over brutalisation of photojournalist

TOBORE OVUORIE

T L-R: Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, congratulating the Group Managing Director of Nest Oil Plc., Dr. Ernest Azudialu, after being conferred with the West Africa Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Lagos, while the Managing Director, ABN Group, Roberta Nadoo watches, recently.

700 Nigerian troops deployed in Liberia A ZA MSUE KADUNA

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bout 700 officers and men of 195 Battalion, Nigerian Army, have been deployed in Liberia on peace keeping mission just as authorities warned against sexual misconduct.

The army troops were also warned against being disarmed by criminal in the unpredictable mission area.

General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Ibadan, Major General Mohammed D. Abubakar, gave the

warning yesterday at the graduation ceremony of the troops after a four-week pre-deployment training at the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre, Jaji, Kaduna State.

Represented by the Commander, 22 Armoured Brigade, Ilorin, Brigadier General Saidu Bello, the GOC told the troop to be resolute in dealing with operational matters in line with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNAMIL)’s rule of engagement and force protection measures.

Said he: “It is important to bring to your attention,

the unpredicted brewing violent situation in Liberia which is the fallout of the just concluded general election. You must exercise utmost care, considering the nature and lifestyle of Liberian women.”

“I will equally highlight the cultural sensitivity related to the Liberia environment, which requires caution and respect from deployed peacekeepers. In this regard, I urge you to abide by the mission’s dos and don’ts.”

In his address, the Commandant of the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre

(NAPKC), Major General John Samuel Zaruwa, said the troop had adequate level of training to ensure effective performance in any peace-keeping operation theatre.

General Zaruwa who spoke through his deputy, Brigadier General Abubakar A. Tarfa, said the specialised training was in tandem with Army headquarters’ desire to ensure that troops receive the much needed robust and theatre-specific peace support operation training prior to induction into peacekeeping missions.

Projects in aviation to be contractor-financed –Minister OLUSEGUN KOIKI

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he Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, has said that all projects in the country’s sector will henceforth be under contractor-financed business model.

The minister stated this yesterday in China during her business meeting with

the Chinese business community.

Oduah is currently on tour of China, United States and Canada to woo foreign investors to the country’s aviation industry.

According to Oduah, every project contained in the investment baskets currently being marketed through the Investors’ Road show would not be through con-

cessioning or Public Private Partnership (PPP) business model as was the case in the past.

Speaking through her Special Assistant, Media, Mr. Joe Obi, the minister emphasised that the ministry was looking for investors who were interested in investing in the Nigeria Aerotropolis Cities and the aviation sector in general, to partner with

Nigerian indigenous investors in growing the aviation industry in the country.

“What the government is actually looking for is contractor-financed investors who can finance the projects while the government provides the enabling environment; we are looking for investors that can have joint ventures with our local, indigenous companies.

he Chief Medical Director of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Prof. David Wale Oke, has explained that the delay in the collection of the bodies of Dana plane crash victims is partly because some of their next-of-kin are outside the country.

Oke also officially appologised on behalf of the hospital for the beating of a photojournalist, Mr. Benedict Uwalaka at LASUTH mortuary on Thursday.

He disclosed that the hospital had received calls from next-of-kins in United States , United Kingdom , China , Lebanon and other parts of the world and even within the country, requesting that the bodies of their loved ones be preserved for them pending their arrival.

“Some said they will be available in two weeks time, others pleaded for more time; but one thing is sure, we are not going to charge a dime for any extra time the corpses spend in the mortuary.

“If we have kept the corpses at no expense for the relatives since June that the plane crash occurred, why should we charge money for just a few days.

“Lagos State government has spent so much money on this matter, and doing it free for the victims’ families,” he said.

“Another reason, it was

gathered, why families are not in a hurry to pick their corpses is because the Lekan Ogunsola Memorial Mortuary, LASUTH, reputedly has one of the modern, state-of-the- art facilities for corpse preservation in the country.

“Therefore some victims’ relatives have decided to leave their corpse there till they are ready to collect them”.

A victim’s relative who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity explained that even though it was their utmost desire to claim their bodies for burial, how to further preserve the bodies till the time for burial was a major force militating against the process as most of them were not ready for burial.

He questioned the logic behind further exposing the corpses of which most are devoid of one part of the body or another.

According to him, some mortuary attendants confided in them that the chemical used in preserving the corpses were likely to expire within 24/48 hours after being taken away from LASUTH mortuary which would make the corpse to further decay just as he expressed fear over the availability of the chemical in other morgues.

For these reasons, he stressed, relatives who would have to convey their corpses to other parts of the country for burial have decided to wait for about one or two days to the set dates for burial before they come for their corpses.

Sport

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

August 11, 2012

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Flying Eagles line up before an encounter. INSET: Coach John Obuh.

AYC qualifier: We are ready for Tanzania’s challenge –Obuh SAYO OGUNDEJI

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s Nigeria’s U-20 national team, known as the Flying Eagles, take on their Tanzanian counterparts in tomorrow’s second leg of their African Youth Championship qualifier at the Ilorin Township Stadium, coach of the team, John Obuh, says his team is battle ready and will fight to get the three maximum points.

The Flying Eagles defeated the Ngorongoro Heroes 2-1 during the first leg at the National Stadium in Dar-esSalam, Tanzania, a fortnight ago and stands a better chance of booking the final ticket with at least a draw.

Enugu Rangers forward, Alhaji Gero, was Nigeria’s hero as he got a brace scoring in the 5th and 46th minutes to

bring coach Obuh-led b i h Ob h l d tteam closer l tto qualifying for the tournament, while Tanzania only managed to pull one back in the second half.

Also, despite the Flying Eagles, failure to impress at the Cape Town International Challenge earlier in May and their woeful performance in a friendly match against Rwanda prior to the first leg, the team has churned out good results in friendly matches ahead of tomorrow’s encounter.

The Flying Eagles who are the defending champions of the AYC, defeated Nigeria Premier League (NPL) side, Kwara United, 2-1 on Sunday and hit Federation Cup semi finalists, Prime FC, 3-0 on Tuesday in the matches played at the Ilorin Township Stadium, venue of Sunday’s showdown.

According to Obuh, who was obviously excited over his side’s change of fortune,

NSC needs complete overhauling –Eseka P. 16

the tteam h has llearntt greatt lessons from th l f those defeats, adding that the players are in to shape going into Sunday’s clash.

“We had some disappointments earlier on, which cast doubts on our ability to qualify, but those poor results made us stronger and you will surely see a muchimproved team against the Tanzanians come Sunday.

“It is not always easy putting a team together especially when you have a pool to draw from, but we have had a couple of weeks to train and that has helped the players understand themselves, and our style of play has improved the team in so many ways.

“Nigerians expect positive results from us anytime we play and as the defending champions, the players have all promised to raise their game in order to get the desired result,” Obuh who also

We never planned to win Olympic medals –Popoola P. 42

doubles Sharks Portt H Harcourtt hand bl as Sh k off P dler, stated confidently.

The winner of the Nigeria/Tanzania tie will play the winner of the Congo/ South Africa fixture, for a place at the 8-Nation tournament, and Obuh believes a positive result over the visitors will increase his side’s chances of qualifying for the 18th African Youth Championship scheduled to hold in Algeria next year.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has named Liberian referees for the match between Nigeria and Tanzania. Jerry Yekeh will be the Centre Referee, with compatriots Anthony Dopoh, Elisha Johnson and Emmanuel Neewon as 1st Assistant, 2nd Assistant and Reserve Referees, respectively while Moucharaf Anjorin from Benin Republic will be the Match Commissioner.

I don’t respect Carl Lewis – Bolt P. 43

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SPORT

August 11, 2012

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Embracing NSSF’s sports development programme F HARD TACKLE ollowing the dismal performance of Team Nigeria at the ongoing London 2012 Olympics, it is imperative at this time of our country’s sports development to take a retrospective view on how best we can churn out athletes that can challenge the best in the world and win laurels. It is because of this fact that we need to embrace school sports to salvage our sports development, which is on a free fall.

As kicker, it is shameful that a nation of more than 150 million inhabitants cannot muster the will to discover her best potentials in various sports from the grassroots, talk less of training and nurturing them to stardom.

Therefore, it is important we begin to plan early on how best we can get it right before the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

In our recent interview with the President of the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), Mallam Ibrahim Muhammad, he threw light on the need for our sports administrators to go back to the basics, in order to rediscover our laudable prowess in sports development.

According to records, NSSF was founded in 1976, and since then, the sporting body has been actively involved in the organisation of National School Sports Festival, All Nigeria Secondary School Football Championship (NNPC/Shell Cup) and Nestle

with

Andrew Ekejiuba anelsports@yahoo.com Milo National Secondary Schools Basketball Championship to mention but a few. Yet, NSSF does not receive any subvention from government or anywhere to compliment their efforts even many decades after.

Thus, it is the opinion of HT that all the sporting bodies (National Sports Commission and the Nigeria Football Federation inclusive), alongside members of Corporate Nigeria should as a matter of urgency compliment NSSF’s effort to help the country discover more budding athletes (at their right ages) and nurture them to stardom as they did in the past.

Using a fire-brigade approach in preparing our athletes for major competitions like the Olympics is never the best and quoting the NSSF President’s reaction in this regard, “it is not the right thing to do, but situation forces our sports administrators to do so. For example, if money meant for the development of sports or

08034343377

for the prosecution of a major competition is not released on time from the budget, what do you expect the sports administrator, to do? Take a look at what happened prior to the Olympics in London where at the last minute, the entire funds meant for the prosecution of the competition where not fully released.

So, government’s bureaucracy is a major problem militating against sports development in our country.”

From the foregoing, one can see that there is a fundamental problem from government who has remained the sole financier of sports development in the country. Our sports administrators have an arduous task of working ahead in seeing that athletes discovered from schools are nurtured to stardom, rather than allowing them to rot away with their enormous God-given talents.

School sports competitions

are the best place to catch a possible future Olympic gold medallist and that is why attention is always given to students who are inclined to sports in most of the developed sporting nations across the globe.

In the National School Sports Festival being organised by NSSF annually, more than 22 events are featured and since the commencement of the festival in 2008, 17 out of the 22 sporting events are medal scoring, while 5 are non-scoring. This figure goes to show the importance, which NSSF attaches to the development of other sports aside from football.

Today, we are glad to celebrate the prowess of the captain of D’Tigers, Olumide Oyedeji, who led the national basketball team for the first time to the London Olympics and was a product of the Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship, also organised by the NSSF. To say the least, the basketball event is in its 14th edition and will be concluded today at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos with lots of future Oyedejis on parade. But this cannot happen on a platter because lots of corporate bodies and individuals are needed to come forward and bankroll other sports begging for resuscitation under the auspices of the NSSF. In the 2008 edition of the basketball competition for example,

a total of 3,500 schools nationwide participated in the event from the preliminary stage in states, to the national finals and today the number of schools competing has increased.

Aside the aforementioned, Nigeria, with lots of her inhabitants living in riverine areas, can take up the gauntlet by producing great swimmers that can beat the best in the world and this can only come to fruition if the corporate bodies are willing to sponsor these grassroots competitions, which are aimed at exposing hidden talents even from schools.

Another advantage of discovering athletes from schools is that it helps to catch them young especially at their right ages; thereby eliminating the age-cheat syndrome, which has rubbished the image of Nigerian sports, especially in football.

HT discovered in NSSF’s competitions, that they have zero tolerance for age cheats as athletes featured in their competitions are screened thoroughly in an attempt to curb this cankerworm.

Therefore, if the National Sports Commission (NSC), Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and other sporting bodies should rally round NSSF, the issue of using over-aged players in youth competitions would be a thing of the past, as athletes discovered would remain long in the sporting terrain; competing and winning laurels for our dear country.

SPORT NEWS

Ijeomah hails Nestle Milo for supporting basketball development

I

ANDREW EKEJIUBA

T

he coach of International School, Lagos (ISL), Ernest Ijeomah, has commended the efforts of Nestle Milo Nigeria PLC for supporting the growth and development of basketball in the country.

Ijeomah, who did not hide his emotions because of the quality of officiating and players on parade from the different schools that made it to ongoing national finals of the Nestle Milo National Secondary Schools Basketball Championship said the country will benefit immensely from the products of the competition.

“I think Nestle Milo has remained children friendly with this initiative of supporting basketball for the past 14 years. Today, most of their products from the championship are already

Flamingoes tackle State House FC, as Dedevbo drops five players

Ahmadiyah College, Kano (white) defeated Government Secondary School, Minna (blue) by 49-33 during the ongoing 14th MILO Secondary Schools Basketball Championship at the National Stadium, Lagos.

making it to the national team which is commendable.

“This year, the company has shown its sincerity to sports development with the laying of new floor at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos; the floor is world class equipment, which is the first in the country,” he enthused.

Ijeomah, whose school is one of those participating in the ongoing national finals in Lagos, believes that claiming the coveted trophy of the 14th Nestle Milo Secondary

School Basketball Championship by his school remains their greatest priority.

“We were unfortunate to have lost the title last year and this year we are eager to redeem our image by ensuring that we are on top of things during the final. We believe we will scale through to the final even as we continue to work hard to achieve our dream of lifting the trophy come Saturday,” Ijeomah said.

However, ISL has crashed out at the semi-finals of the competition.

n tandem with preparations for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan in September, the national U-17 team, The Flamingoes, will be having a training match with State House Football Club of Abuja today.

The coaching crew feels this match will ascertain properly the fitness level of the players’ vis-à-vis playing to instructions and tactics.

The team will also take on Ghana’s U-17 ladies team, The Black Maidens, in two friendly matches later this month to test their might.

Ghana are drawn in Group D with Uruguay, China PR and Germany while The Flamingoes are drawn with hosts, Azerbaijan, Colombia and Canada in Group A.

Meanwhile, five players were on Friday dropped from the team.

These players are Okafor Lovina, Waheed Aminat, Kehinde Akinwade, Jennifer Ajuwah and Maryam Abdulrashid.

Flamingoes in training.

Thirty players are therefore left in camp as the training match with State House Football Club of Abuja will be played at the FIFA Goal Project, National Stadium, Abuja by 3:00pm.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

August 11, 2012

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August 11, 2012

NSC needs complete overhauling –Eseka

C

hris Eseka, a veteran sports journalist, on Friday called for a complete overhauling of the National Sports Commission (NSC) in order to ensure the development of sports in the country.

Eseka made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, against the backdrop of Team Nigeria’s dismal performance at the London 2012 Olympics.

“The problem facing

sports development in Nigeria is from the administrators and not the athletes training with scarce facilities. And it’s only an overhauling of the personnel involved in running sports that can ensure a positive change.

“There are so many old hands that must leave for new ideas to emerge,” he said.

According to him, if the necessary changes are not effected the trend will con-

tinue until it dwindles to a state where changes will be difficult.

“I do not expect any welcome programme whenever Team Nigeria arrives the country, instead, we will only raise our voices against their poor showing without asking for changes,” Eseka said.

The analyst then called for four-year sustenance of the Innocent Egbunikeled technical team in athletics, to ensure stability.

Adulrahaman charges NBBF to build on D’Tigers Olympic feat SAYO OGUNDEJI

D

espite their failure to make it to the quarter-final stage of the men’s basketball event of the ongoing London 2012, a former international and Technical Adviser of Kano Pillars Basketball Club, Abdulrahman Mohammed, says Nigeria Basketball Federation should build on the performance of the country’s senior basketball team otherwise known as D’Tigers.

The current D’Tigers team made history as they qualified for the quadrennial event for the first time ever, but failed to make it

out of their group which has super powers like the United States, France and Russia.

The coach Ayo Bakareled team made a bright start to the championship beating their Tunisian counterparts, but succumbed to France in their last match to confirm the team’s early exit from the basketball tournament, having lost five out of there six matches.

Abdulrahman who has also represented the country at the senior level believes the team has done the country proud, but charged the basketball authorities to ensure the current squad is kept for the sake of continuity and development.

A

fter helping his team qualify for this year’s Federation Cup semi final, Heartland FC of Owerri midfielder, Kingsley Salami, says his dream is to help his side reach the final of the yearly competition.

The Nazi Millionaires, who are the defending champions, defeated Crown FC of Ogbomoso 2-0 to book the semi final ticket and will face the surprise entrants of the tournament, Prime FC of Oshogbo.

Heartland beat former champions Enyimba FC to lift the competition last year and Salami who played a major role in that victory believes his side

has the quality to make the final and retain the trophy.

“We have come far in this tournament, but our focus is now on the match against Prime FC of Oshogbo who have also proved everybody wrong with their performance and we hope to beat them

D

Chief Patrick Ekeji, Director General, National Sports Commission.

Kano, Kwara clash as Milo Basketball Championship ends in Lagos

K

Salami dreams Federation Cup final with Heartland SAYO OGUNDEJI

London 2012: Amuzie blames government over Team Nigeria’s poor show

ANDREW EKEJIUBA

D’ Tigers Ike Diogu

so that we can make the final again.

“Most of our players are still very available and with the experience we have garnered over the years, I strongly believe we are on course for another final if we play to our full potential,” he concluded.

ano’s Ahmadiyyah College will be aiming to defend its title in the boys event of the 14th Milo National Secondary School Basketball Championship, as the Coach Shuaibu Maitama-tutored team confront Kwara’s Government Secondary School in today’s epic final holding at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Lagos.

Our correspondent gathered that plans are underway by Nestle Nigeria Plc to make today’s final glamorous as top artiste, Davido, will spice up the atmosphere during the event scheduled to kick off at 10am.

Kano team’s unbeaten streak was not halted yesterday in the semi-final match, as the northern team overwhelmed their Lagos State counterpart, International School, Lagos (ISL) 52-27 to berth in the final.

Western Conference champion, Kwara managed to beat Ebonyi’s St Augustine’s School 40-36 in the second semi-final tie to set up a final clash against Kano.

In the girls’ event, it will be a fight between two Niger Delta States, as Delta and Bayelsa tango in today’s girls’ final.

RESULTS OF MILO SECONDARY SCHOOLS BASKETBALL CH’SHIP

Semi finals – Girls Benue 24-29 Delta Heartland FC of Owerri.

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Lagos 14-28 Bayelsa

r Cyprian Amuzie, Anambra State Director of Sports and acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports, has taken a swipe at the Federal Government over the dismal performance of Team Nigeria at the ongoing London 2012 Olympics. He blamed Nigeria’s medal drought at the ongoing Olympics on poor preparations and the delay in the release of funds by the government for sporting activities in the country.

He revealed that athletes should not be blamed for the poor outing, pointing out that their performance was only a reflection of the country’s level of preparedness for the Games.

“You will not blame

the athletes so much because they are not magicians; because some countries started camping and training for the London Olympics immediately after the Beijing Games.

“We cannot expect to get the same results as those countries that have trained elaborately for the Games,” Amuzie said.

He regretted that funds were not released on time for the games, stressing that any delay in the release of government funds usually resulted in wastages.

Amuzie, however, commended the national basketball team, D’Tigers, for doing Nigeria proud as the first African basketball team to win a match at the Olympics.

Taekwondo coach blames Mohammed’s ouster on poor coaching

T

he Chief Coach of Kano State Taekwondo Association, Ibrahim Yahuza, has blamed Isah Mohammed’s ouster from the Olympic Games on poor communication and sub-standard coaching from Nigeria’s Korea-born coach.

The Korean, Kaum Sihwan, was employed by the National Sports Commission (NSC) earlier this year to prepare taekwondoists Chika Chukwumerije and Moham-

med for the London 2012 Games.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mohammed lost to Jordan’s Mohammad Aabulibdeh in the 68kg category at the preliminary stage on Thursday in the Summer Olympic Games.

Yahuza told NAN on telephone that it was wrong to employ a foreign coach who did not know the Nigerian taekwondoist to prepare him for the Games.

Nasarawa signs N130 million sports contract with Australia

N

asarawa state government has signed a N130 million sports contract with an Australian firm, Basri Sports & Equipment Company, for the supply of sports equipment and kits to the sports sector of the state.

The state commissioner for information and orientation, Mrs. Titi Monde, disclosed this yesterday while briefing journalists on decisions taken at this week’s state executive council meeting.

She said, as part of the contract agreement between the government and the firm was for the firm to sponsor and train the state-owned football team, Nasarawa United FC, for a period of one year.

Monde continued that a team of Australian sports investors are already in the state collecting technical data to determine on how to assume a perfect partnership with the Nasarawa State government in the sporting industry.

MAGAZ INE Fashion •If you must wear a hat •Inspiring your black

Sex talk •How much sex is too much or too little?

Relationships •When love clashes with infidelity

Isabella

MBGN 2012

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August 11, 2012

Isabella Ayuk currently occupies a position that most Nigerian women would do anything for. She is the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. And luckily for her, she is also the 25th MBGN, a milestone for her. She tells OSEYIZA OOGBODO about her plans and other related issues. Excerpts:

Celebrity

who are envious of your status?

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. It comes with the office. Being MBGN is big, envious people are everywhere, especially when they are afraid of your rising. It’s not new to me. I love every moment as MBGN though.

How do you deal with those envious ones?

Dealing with envious people is like dealing with the devil. I simply ask God to deal with them while I focus on my projects.

You are the 25th queen. How do you intend to make your reign a truly memorable one?

God who gave me this crown will make it memorable. I can’t move faster than God. Just watch and see what God will do for I am the Bible’s Queen Esther of our time.

H

ow does it feel to be MBGN? It feels great. It’s a dream come true.

Would you say it’s your intelligence and beauty that won you the crown?

I would say besides my beauty and intelligence, God designed the year, 2012, as a year he kept aside to fulfil His promises.

What plans does the Silverbird Group have for you since you are a milestone queen?

Silverbird Group has got a lot for me, I’m already enjoying all my packages, Silverbird Group is the best and I’m glad I emerged their milestone queen.

When did you first nurse the idea of attempting to become MBGN? 2009.

Is it really worth it to be MBGN? It is really worth it. Words alone can’t describe it. It’s a lifetime opportunity and I will live to remember it.

Why? I desired to be MBGN since 2009 because I have always wanted to use the platform to campaign against typhoid fever and also to help the widows, the needy and the less privileged and I believe MBGN is the most prestigious beauty pageant in Nigeria on which platform I can do this. And to get to the peak whereby I can say I am fulfilled in pageantry, then, it has to be MBGN. It takes a determined soul to stay on track, so all thanks to God. What were the obstacles in your path to becoming a queen?

There were really no obstacles. All I needed was the support of my family and they gave it to me fully.

How prepared are you to cope with the pressure of being a public figure?

I don’t think anyone can ever be fully prepared. I just look up to God. What project are you embarking on as queen?

I tagged my project Sustainable Charity Project. When I was crowned MBGN 2012, I said I was going to campaign against typhoid fever and distribute free typhoid vaccines to my target group and also educate the public on the impacts and dangers of typhoid fever and how it could be prevented. That’s exactly what I’m doing. I am also empowering widows by creating small scale businesses for them. I am also awarding scholarships to primary and secondary school less privileged children. I am renovating widows’ houses, health care centres, schools, equipping libraries and providing healthcare facilities. I also provide food items to widows and the needy. All I’m doing is in line with the millennium development goals.

What are your plans for after your reign?

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How exactly is it worthwhile to you?

It has opened doors I never thought of. It has afforded me the opportunity to campaign against typhoid fever, to help the widows/needy and the less privileged.

, N G B M h t i W ’ ‘ d e l l fi l u f m I’ It is to be a fashion designer and also continue with the good work God has sent me to do which is the sustainable charity project.

bassador, a well known fashion designer around the world, a philanthropist, a politician and many more. Being MBGN is just the first step.

How would you describe yourself ?

I am just a small town lady with big dreams, determined and down to earth.

Do you feel fulfilled?

I am fulfilled and blessed because I am not just MBGN 2012, I am Silverbird’s Silver Jubilee Queen.

Tell us more about your big dreams.

To be Miss Universe 2012, a UN Am-

How do you feel about the people

What else don’t people know about you?

Going to NYSC camp was the best thing that ever happened to me because my future is very important to me, not mindful of what people are saying about me and I’m looking forward to the Miss Universe competition in December.

What are your plans for Miss Universe?

My plan is to go there as a determined Nigerian lady who believes you can do, be whoever you want to be in life and make Nigeria proud by bringing the crown to Nigeria and becoming the first Nigerian to be Miss Universe and the fifth African to win it since 1952.

Do you really think you can win it?

I have got all it takes. Yes I can.

How are you preparing for it?

By losing more weight, taking good care of my skin, reading and learning more, knowledge is never enough, and staying positive.

What is your beauty routine?

I really don’t have any.

How intelligent would you rate yourself ?

To be MBGN you have to be intelligent, so I am intelligent, even if I say so myself.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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August 11, 2012

Entervaganza

With OSEYIZA OOGBODO

08023755142

kingseiza@gmail.com

Maheeda confirms born-again status W hen the news filtered into town about a couple of weeks ago that sexy and raunchy singer-performer, Maheeda, had turned a new leaf to the extent of giving her life to God, many people were sceptical, believing it to be a publicity stunt.

Even though she released three gospel songs and also announced her evangelism project, Maheeda Youths For Christ, the opinion of the sceptics still remained that the Maheeda who used to release nude pictures of herself onto the internet couldn’t have become born again and that she was only making noticeme noise again.

But probably in a bid to convince the doubting Thomases once and for all that she is no longer the bad girl they used to know, Maheeda held a press conference to announce her new status to the world.

“I’m now born again. I’ve given my life wholly to Christ. I was walking the path of darkness before but now I’ve seen the light and I’m saved,” she said.

It is not unusual for people to become born again and then backslide back into their previous wayward lifestyles. “I’m born again forever,” Maheeda said. “It’s only by His grace that one can be born again and I believe that His grace will keep me born again forever.”

Like most new converts, she is so dedicated and committed to her newfound faith that she now has her own ministry, Maheeda Youths for Christ Intercessory and Evangelical Ministry, and also wants to erase her naughty past.

“I regret my past secular songs. They were lewd and meaningless and of no value to the world. I am contemplating banning them from airplay.”

Her new gospel songs are The Message, Halleluyah and The Way of Christ.

Some of her secular songs that she wants to ban are her breakthrough hit, Oko Yanpia, Mo Gbono, Panpangolo.

Even if we have to give her time to discover how serious she is or otherwise about living a righteous life, one thing is certain. She will be a successful gospel musician. Just like her secular songs were critical and commercial successes, her gospel songs too are hot and will definitely take over the airwaves.

KSA lauds anniversary committee

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Maheeda

s plans to mark the 35th anniversary of the crowning of Sunny Ade as King of Music progress, KSA has praised the efforts of the Akogun Lekan Alabi-led planning committee so far.

S p e a k i n g through Clement Ige, one of his top associates, he expressed profound appreciation to the s eve n - m e m b e r committee for the lofty plans already put in place for his crowing anniversary, adding that reports are continually reaching him as well on the support some of his fans have promised over the landmark anniversary.

“KSA is beside himself with joy on what your committee has done so far. He will meet you all soon so that plans can be harmonised to suit all stakeholders,” Ige disclosed.

Two weeks ago, a seven-member committee was set up to oversee the planning and activation of the proposed KSA 35th Crowning Anniversary later in the year and Alabi was made the committee’s chairman, following his successful packaging of Evangelist Ebenezer Obey’s 70th birthday party in Lagos two months ago.

It was unanimously agreed that the former Corporate Affairs Manager of O’odua Group of Companies be made the committee’s head so his experience could bear on the successful activation of the anniversary.

In the letter confirming Alabi’s appointment as Chairman, and signed

by Olutade Makinde, the anniversary’s coordinator, Akogun was invested “with full powers and authority to direct the affairs leading to the successful implementation of the crowning anniversary later this year.”

Reacting, Akogun said it was an honour and privilege to chair the planning committees of historic events for the two juju icons.

“I remember that in my weekly column in Sunday Sketch, I described Obey and Sunny as champions of their trade. How prophetic! I derive great pleasure in celebrating creativity and excellence. Obey and KSA are models and one cannot but be proud to be associated with them.

My appointment, in a lighter mood, can be regarded as payback. May God enable my committee to achieve equal success for KSA as we did for Obey last April,” he said.

Other members of the committee are Clement Ige (Vice Chairman); Chief Bunmi Adesanya, Asewa Iyalode of Ibadanland (member); Aare M.A. Latosa; Mr Akin Olaiya (Director of Operations) and Barrister Gbenga Makinde (Secretary).

Teacher aims for writing glory A n English language lecturer at the Institute of Management and Technology, Ifeoma Okoye, is aiming for glory in the world of international bestsellers with her new book, Chimere. It is a work that can be easily adapted into a movie.

Astutely, Okoye plotted Chimere on the theme that is tested, tried, trusted and guarantees success: tragic romance.

And pundits are already saying that it deserves to be made into a movie, a trend which is gradually seeping into Nigeria but is already the norm in America’s Hollywood.

Sunny Ade

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ENTERVAGANZA

August 11, 2012

CLASSICAL RYHMES

AIRWAVES LINK

Project Fame West Africa back again

Fe Nu So

F

or the next 10 weeks, Project Fame West Africa (PFWA), one of the hottest shows in the Nigerian TV calendar, will be back again to thrill numerous viewers who will have no choice but to experience the emotional ups and downs and suspense that are its hallmark.

A music talent contest, PFWA plays on viewers’ emotions by eliminating its contestants in stages until the winner emerges. Now in its fifth season, the 15 finalists who made it into the PFWA Academy have been announced.

They were chosen from 18 contestants who performed at its opening gala last weekend and the show immediately began living up to its billing by eliminating three of the hopefuls just at that point when they had one leg in.

The remaining 15 are however not out of the woods themselves. Now that they are in the show’s academy, they will have to work very hard to remain there.

Didi

Mercy

Joshua Sonia Some of the contestants

‘I was shocked when I won StarGame’

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any people are still surprised that Keagan Petersen was the eventual winner of the 90-day Big Brother StarGame which ended last Sunday with a $300,000 monetary prize. The news for such people however is that Keagan himself is shocked.

“I was extremely shocked when I was announced as the winner,” says Keagan.

“I wasn’t sure what Africa wanted, I wasn’t sure how the voting was actually going to go and I didn’t know where I stood, so that’s why I was extremely surprised when my

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

name was called out to be the winner.”

Keagan was noted for being the most troublesome housemate but he explained his attitude in the house was exactly how he behaves. “I was always at the centre of mischief, always doing crazy random and spontaneous things.”

Another high point in Keagan’s stay in the reality show was his relationship with Zambian housemate Talia.

He described the relationship as one of “a mutual understanding.”

The relationship, he hint-

ed, may lead to a union between the two but quickly added that the final decision, however, rested with her.

A night before the finale, the two lovebirds were captured by the cameras in a very intimate position. Keagan confirmed that they – Talia and himself – had sex in the Big Brother house and does not hold any regrets for the affair.

Touching on what he plans to do with the prize money, Keagan, who entered the reality show with a male partner, Lee, said he may share the money with his mate.

Talia, after her eviction on Sunday night, told IK, the host of the Big Brother StarGame, that the last six housemates, Prezzo (Kenya), Lady May (Namibia), Kyle (Uganda) and Wati (Malawi), Keagan and herself had agreed to share the prize money between themselves irrespective of who won.

Quizzed whether there was such an agreement, Keagan hinted that there is a possibility that the other housemates could also get a share of the money but stressed they were yet to extensively discuss that.

Artist: Lord Of Ajasa Intro: Lord of Ajasa ID Cabasa Chorus: Nkan to ba wu anybody lo le fenu won so Omo o ran yan, omo ti waka Omo ma ti jeun lo Efi won si le E je kan ma so lo Orin yin ni o E ma ko lo Verse 1: Won so pe mo tun ti lo Won so pe mo tun ti de Talo mo bi to tun ti gbo Won so pe mo tun ti se Lola oluwa Mo tun tin sere Another surprise Mo tun ti de, bi mon se n de Mo jeun lo from coast to coast Wetin dey happen for home These days I no dey know I just dey go Ma so pe mi o so fun e tele Gbemu to wa ninu game yi Men a ti n je n be Kani po ya ni mi ni, mati ka nle Lowo yi mo ti sign Nothing concern me with won so pe Kin so pe..oro jaga jaga Repeat chorus: Verse 2: Ola baba lo modo san Ola baba lo n mo mo yan Ola oluwa lo mumi yan gan Adigun, ki ni won so Chi, gongo aso, ku tu awu Lo mumi ranti Ojo ojo kan Lori railway Adigun o ba ti lo Temi tope O jo pe lo Adigun, alapomeji, meji All my enemies E ko ja eni ibawi Segun j’a won si Adigun alapomeji Ma fa ta si Repeat chorus:

Yeancah moves against domestic violence Yeancah

S

oundcity on-air personality, Yeancah, is advocating hard against domestic violence.

She has initiated Lady With the Zoom Effect (LWTZE) for this purpose and is currently ironing out the modalities for a TV show that will wage war against domestic abuse.

Yeancah’s moving against domestic abuse is as a re-

sult of the widely reported recent numerous cases of abuses, especially those of couples who are supposed to be in love but end up with a spouse killing his or the other.

Yeancah is a wife and mother herself so it’s obvious why she’s very concerned with the rising incidences of the ugly trend.

Lord of Ajasa

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

ENTERVAGANZA

August 11, 2012

21

BOX-OFFICE HITS

BRAIN BEHIND THE SCENE

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Adesunloye

Joseph Adesunloye …

Writer, director, producer

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orn in Lagos, Nigeria, Joseph Adesunloye, who is now based in the United Kingdom (UK), is a top-notch writer, director and producer. Being as talented as they come, he is not one to rest on his oars so he founded his own company, Dreamcoat Productions, to make a reality of his creative aspirations in the film industry.

“My goal is to merge my African and European film interests through Dreamcoat. Dreamcoat is involved in every aspect of film production. We specialise in high quality film and video productions services for creative industries, corporate companies and NGOs.” Quite recently, Dreamcoat took on a major production, Labalaba, a tragic stage play based on different cultures and religions of Nigeria.

Set in Nigeria’s north, Labalaba, which was co-written and directed

by Adesunloye, is about Atikah, a Muslim girl who falls madly in love with a southern Nigerian, Colonel Fashola, whilst he falls in lust with her. She rejects her family and religion to become one with her husband only to find herself destitute, fighting desperately to save a love that was never really there.

Adesunloye is definitely riding high behind the scenes dictating how movies, short films, plays and other productions actually turn out.

He is fulfilled behind the scenes and intends to remain there. But how did he end up there where it’s all

about technicalities and it’s more difficult to survive than in front of the camera?

Education, education and more education is the answer. Though he is naturally talented, he keeps acquiring film education in order to keep up with the constant development in the sector. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a Masters of Arts in English Literature and Film Studies and still went on to the London Film Academy where he also worked on the Filmmaking Foundation Courses after completing his year-long Filmmaking Diploma.

His success is also as a result of hard work. He has been building solid industry experience in the past several years working on varied projects as a freelance filmmaker both as a director and in the production department on a variety of films, television series, social documentaries, commercials and music videos. His diverse experience in film has led him to film and television work both in Africa and the UK over the past four years.

The city of Aberdeen was also of enormous inspiration to him in getting his creative juices flowing. “As an English and Film Studies student I enjoyed the performing arts and cinema venues that Aberdeen offers, plus an excellent nightlife, and they too motivated me to want to make an impact in the production world.”

h e n t h e film opens, we meet super soldier Aaron Cross in the wilds of Alaska, completing a solo training mission. We know he’s a super soldier because he can swim in freezing cold water and punch out a big grey wolf with his bare hands.

But before you start envying Cross’s s u p e r powers, you might want to know that in order for him to stay ... super, he needs a daily dose of pills - one blue to keep his brain enhanced and one green to keep his biceps from deflating. And his supply of drugs is rapidly dwindling.

Too make matters worse, the CIA wants him dead.

It seems their little secret programme, Outcome, which was designed to create super soldiers, has become infected by the arrival of Jason Bourne in New York City.

The guy in charge of Outcome, Eric Byers, decides that it’s best to kill everyone associated with this clandestine operation.

The CIA being the CIA has no

trouble knocking off all of Outcome’s participants, except of course for Aaron and Dr. Marta Shearing, a genetic scientist who worked on developing the drugs that turned these everyday dudes into supermen. One notable scene is when Dr. Marta gets a visit from some not so friendly peeps at her home.

Naturally, how could you have an action film without the male and female leads hooking up? So of course, soldier meets doctor and together they evade the CIA, while at the same time figure out a way for Aaron to keep his super powers.

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t’s the story of a guy, Tommy, who has become infertile, but who, years before, during his fertile years, had sold his sperm - quarts of it, apparently - to a sperm bank.

Now he wants a test-tube of it back, but no one wants to give it to him. Terrified that his marriage may fall apart, he recruits his friends and an Indian ex-mobster to rob the sperm bank.

As with any halfbaked scheme, everything can and does go wrong, testing the limits of his marriage. A hilarious twist on the heist film genre, The Babymakers is a laughout-loud comedy showing how far one

couple will go in hopes of creating a new life.

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ENTERVAGANZA

CELEBRITY FAVOURITES

August 11, 2012

SHOWBIZ SNOOPS

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Send your views and comments as SMS to 08023755142

Cocoa asks Why S

aying that musicians are a dime a dozen is nothing but the truth. They emerge on a daily basis with different concepts to gain acceptance from the public.

Sometimes they make headway, most times they don’t. For every successful artiste, there are tens of thousands who will never make the limelight.

Cocoa, a rising singer-songwriter, intends to make the coveted limelight, though. And her approach is by deviating from the norm. While most aspiring musicians opt for dancehall records, she prefers to stand out from the crowd by releasing a ballad instead.

Titled Why, Cocoa says it narrates “the emotional turmoil of being in the wrong kind of relationship. A lot of women out there share similar experiences so this track lets them know that they are not alone and hopefully they gather strength from that.”

A music prodigy, she started performing solos in church at the age of six, won her first-ever talent show at 14 and started leading solos backed by an entire mass choir at 17.

Explaining how she came to have such enormous talent at an early age, she said, “My father used to be a DJ and my mother has always been in the choir so my music abilities were always encouraged but it was never an option as a serious career choice.”

Cocoa Hence, she studied Psychology but shortly after graduating, she finally chose to pursue music and enrolled in The cians and gain a broader perspective of the music industry.

British Academy of New Music in London to develop her And now as she asks why, we can only hope her question will musical skills further, be mentored by professional musi- be answered.

Nigerian DJs (UK) host yearly Green and White Industry Party

She Baby Favourite Food CHICKEN AND CHIPS WITH KETCHUP Favourite Drink ORANGE JUICE Favourite Designer (Intl) DOLCE AND GABBANA Favourite Restaurant/Bar CHINESE RESTAURANTS Favourite Day Of The Week FRIDAY Favourite Perfume BLUE JEAN Favourite Fashion Item RINGS Favourite Movie THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Favourite Brand Of Telephone Handset BLACKBERRY Favourite Quote DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF HAND WORK

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he Nigerian DJs (UK) is set to host its 2nd Annual Green and White Industry Party on Thursday 23rd August 2012.

This year’s party promises to be even bigger. Last year’s event saw a number of celebrities such as D’Banj, Don Jazzy, Wande Coal, D’Prince, JJC Skillz, Storm’s DJ Neptune, Omo Akin, Bayoz Music, May7ven, Julius Agwu and others gracing the event.

The aim of the party is to create awareness of the Nigerian DJs (UK) and also highlight the important role that DJs play within the entertainment industry.

The event serves as a trendsetter through the network opportunity it provides. Producers, artistes, promoters and even budding artistes as well as fans get to meet their favourite DJs all under one roof.

Attendees also get a firsthand glimpse of the direction of travel in the world of UK entertainment. The Nigerian DJs (UK) uses this platform to promote upcoming music from artistes from Nigeria, UK and around Africa.

The event itself has earned the name ‘Opening Ceremony’ as it’s the event that kick starts all other events happening over the Bank holiday weekend in the UK.

GOMAN attains three decades, honours Obey

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espite the unending intricacies of the Nigerian entertainment sector which don’t aid the longevity of its professional bodies, the Gospel Musicians Association of Nigeria (GOMAN) has attained the milestone of30 years of existence.

Consequently, GOMAN celebrated the milestone at LTV’s popular Blue Roof recently with many notable personalities including Sir Michael AdeOjo, Chairman, Evangelist (Dr) Ebenezer Obey, Rev. Ekpenyong Bassey, Pastor J.I. Kalejaiye, Bishop Kayode Odulaja, Papa Solomon Akinpelu (GOMAN’s first president) and legendary Mama Deborah Fasoyin in attendance.

As expected, performances were the order of the day and some of those who took to the stage were Funmi Aragbaye, Bukola Akinade aka Senwele Jesu, Benita Okojie and Oshadipe twins.

In his welcome address, Evangelist Rotimi Orokoya (Telemi), the National President of GOMAN, called for unity among Nigerian gospel musicians and Christians. He reminded gospel musicians that their calling is not only for making melody to increase their pay

Obey

pocket. but they should be concerned with correcting the ills in the society with their music.

He implored gospel musicians to make music that would send corrective message even in the political set up and stop sitting on the fence when all is not well with the nation.

In his thought provoking sermon,

Pastor J.T. Kalejaiye admonished gospel musicians to jettison the craze for bogus titles and make more powerful soul winning music. He also urged them to dig deep into the word of God for the revelation of the kind of songs that will draw unbelievers to God’s kingdom. He also warned them that it is very dangerous to become musicians of revenue without revelation at this end time.

It would be called the GOMAN began as an initiative of Dr. Ebenezer Obey and was supported by Pastor Akinlade in 1976 in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Then it was known as Gospel Musicians Association. In 1988 when it was formally inaugurated at CAC Agbara Olorun Kii Bati, Lagos its name was changed to Gospel Musicians Association of Nigeria (GOMAN).

The highlight of the august gathering was the honouring of Evangelist Obey who is visionary and the pillar of the body for the past 30 years. GOMAN celebrated him by marking his 70th birthday with lots and lots of tributes to him and a specially designed birthday cake.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

ENTERVAGANZA

August 11, 2012

23

SHOWBIZ SNOOPS

Benue wins international culture contest

‘Men are afraid of me’ TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

HENRY IYORKASE

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atherine Daniels is savvy, pleasant, sexy and witty. Without any iota of doubt her emergence is set to alter the pop and dancehall music flavour in the entertainment circle as she takes the industry with storm with her songs and stylish dance steps.

Now, Daniels, a graduate of Human Kinetic and Health of the University of Lagos, is having none to do with her field of study. She is today a dancer.

“Music and dance is my life. I only went to school to broaden my knowledge but my passion resides in music,” she disclosed.

Sharing more light on her passion for music and her new dance hall single, Talomojo (who knows how to dance), which is currently enjoying maximum air attention on several radio and television stations, Catherine said Talomojo is a tip of the iceberg.

“This is just a glimpse of things to come from me because and I am coming out to blow the minds of lovers of pop and dance hall music. I like to shake my ass because it is very big and that is one of the attractions that get my fans entertained and I intend to always keep them in good mood.”

Speaking on her adventure into the entertainment industry, the busty diva, who is fondly called Cathrina, on stage, said she has been a singer and dancer since she was in primary school, adding that people are always amazed at her performance on stage owing to her big frame stature.

“I am still single though some men get intimidated by my frame, I know the right man will come at God’s time. My present focus is on my career and if marriage comes along the way, then I will pick it up,” she said.

MAKURDI

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Daniels

On the growing trends of music reality show, the funky 25-years old diva that hails from Akwa-Ibom, applaused the development but urged for more investment into the entertainment sector as numerous talents abound in the country.

Gospel acts pay tributes to Connie Madubuko

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ributes continue to pour in for Mrs Connie Madubuko, Apostle Anselm Madubuko’s wife who died recently. Gospel musicians who are still finding it hard to get over the reality of her sudden death as she was a pillar of support in their lives, careers and ministries keep reacting to her demise “I regret that you have gone so early. I wish you have stayed much longer. Anyway, heaven is a place of rest for all believers. I hope to see you in heaven,” said Dupe Olulana.

“Your leaving so soon reminds us that sooner or later we will have to answer the call too to give report of this assignment that has been given to us all,” Pastor Kola

Olulana, her husband and producer added.

In their tribute, Igwe crooners, Midnight Crew said, “The reality of Mama Connie’s demise was received with great empathy. We salute her courage in leadership and honour her through companionship as a partner.

May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace.”

Kora awards nominee, Hope Davies, who described Connie as a true woman of God, added that she was a powerhouse beside her husband. “I am so saddened by her death because you know how you think you will always have someone with you and you keep procrastinating. I was not as close as I wanted to be to her. That makes me so sad. But being a child of God, I know we will meet to part no more on the other side of the Jordan. Adieu Woman of God.” In her tribute, Rosemary Chukwu submitted that “since the second life is eternal, it should be the dream of all. We would have loved your company here, but the joy of life eternal took you. May your father whom you believe in welcome you in His Kingdom. Sleep in peace woman of God.” The late Pastor Connie Madubuko was a native of Umodo in Ezi, Oshimilli local government area of Delta State. She was a Computer Science graduate. Late Connie who would have been 52 by July 25 worked for some years before answering the pastoral call for full time ministry with her husband. They founded the Revival Assembly, with branches within Nigeria. She left behind three children.

She died on July 6th and has since been laid to rest at the Ikoyi Cemetery.

igeria may have had a poor outing at the London Olympics Games but that is not to say that the country cannot excel in other global contest, as the Benue State Arts Council Cultural Troupe with its swange dance came second in an international cultural fiesta in Kota-Kinabalu Malaysia.

The event was the Sabah international Folklore festival (SIFF) held in the state of Sabah Kota-Kinabalu in Malaysia.

The Benue State governor’s wife, Arc. Yemisi Suswam, who led the delegation, explained that the troupe was chosen by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Chief Edem Duke, to represent Nigeria based on its previous excellent performances.

No fewer than 20 countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean participated in the one week cultural fiesta.

At the start of the fiesta two countries lost out in the first round leaving the remaining 18 in the contest which major features included folk tales, folk arts, painting, traditional foods and touristic outing to the National Park (Mount Kinabalu) as well as Manukan Island.

The troupe emerged as the second best performing troupe with a distinct dance called ‘tsuwe tsele’, behind Peoples Republic of China which came tops in the cultural contest.

The dance segment of ‘tsuwe tsele’ which won the hearts of the judges is a unique dance steps that literally interprets dance of wisdom, in the Tiv parlance, where the dancers are dressed in wild animal skins.

“What this means is that the history of Nigeria has also been written in gold in the area of excellent cultural values and also showcase the rich cultural heritage in Nigeria to the outside world,” an elated Mrs Suswam explained.

The governor’s wife who presented the second place award to women at the banquet hall of Makurdi Government House remarked that until now, Nigeria was only popularly known in the comity of nations for football.

The Artistic Director of troupe, Mr. Denen Gondo, added: “Our dance troupe is known to have unique dance steps and skills that is culturally innovated”.

The state Commissioner of Culture and tourism, Mrs. Comfort Ajene, also on the delegation, commended the feat of the dance troupe for making the state and Nigeria proud.

Mrs Suswam with the troupe

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August 11, 2012

Woman

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

sides, I am a pastor and a pastor’s wife, there are lots of people looking up unto me within and outside. So, I had to admit my fate and keep up the good work, which is serving God, living His taste and being grateful to Him for all things. It was tough and appeared endless but I thank God, it all ended well.

This wouldn’t have been so without the kind of husband I have and I thank God for this.

How would you describe his role at those trying times?

He was a rare gem; he was loving, patient, kind and very supportive. He was there for me with all encouraging and soothing words. This really helped me a great deal.

‘How I survived 17 years of childlessness’ For a decade and seven years, Pastor (Mrs.) Victoria Olayiwola was married without a child. However, when the babies finally came, they came in multitude and at once. The joyous mother of a set of quadruplets spoke with YEMISI ADENIRAN on her experience during the tough years of waiting. She also offered advice to women seeking the fruit of the womb.

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hat were your expectations when you were getting married some years

ago?

My expectations were high, just like that of any young woman or spinster going into marriage. I was expecting joy and peace in my home. I looked forward to a loving home; a place where

people would come and long to stay; an enviable home to other homes, a Godfearing home where Christ is the head of the home and of course, a home blessed with wonderful children to show as gifts from God. I had a lot of expectations and I thank God, I have all fulfilled.

When the babies did not come as expected, how did you feel?

It wasn’t funny, but it was not any big deal at first. I did not think I was going to wait for this long, but when the wait was becoming almost endless, I thought that was the plan of God for me and I had no other choice than to wait for His time. As a Christian who believes strongly in God and His words, I had no other consolation than His words. Yes, I was anxious but there was nothing I could do. I prayed and waited until God finally answered me.

It was not a funny period as any woman would attest to. There were pressure everywhere, even from within myself.

But as long as one has no other short cut than Christ’s way, I had to wait. Be-

Were you expecting anything short of this especially as he is a pastor?

I was not, but if anything contrary had happened, would the world have come to an end? Would he have been killed or sent on exile? He is a human being like every other man and the devil could have taken hold of the situation if God had not helped us. There are stories of men and women of God all over the place found in one adulterous act or the other and the world has continued to move on. There are women of God who have passed through the same road I passed and they have fallen off by the way side. So, that I have a man who stood by me throughout those trying times is no joke and I won’t take it for granted. What if he had decided to abandon me or eloped with another woman or have a child by one woman? You know, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I am grateful to God for the kind of man He gave me. I will forever treasure him.

I thank God for His ever present help in time of need as He has promised in Psalm 46. His presence, in all, made the pains, the anxieties, easier to bear.

It was 17 long years of pain and joy.

As a scientist, didn’t you feel you should not try child-bearing when you were already above 40?

It is popularly believed that having children after age 40 is risky. That may be right but that is talking medically. How do you now counsel people like us who are above 40 and are hoping to have a child? It is hard to tell or advise us to give up the hope; you can only join us to pray for a safe delivery whenever it is time. I wasn’t ready to give up trying, age or no age and to the glory of God, I had no problem having my children.

How did you feel when you finally missed your period?

It was like a dream and I really did not know how to express my joy when the pregnancy began to grow. I was excited. There is nothing like feeling your kids moving and kicking within

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WOMAN

August 11, 2012

you. It is one experience that every woman should have. It cannot be compared with anything and I am glad that I can finally tell the same story.

Were you aware of the number of children coming?

I was aware. You know we are in an advanced level of technology now, so, it was very easy to determine. At the initial stage, I was curious and apprehensive but as a child of God, I became bolder and reassured that God that had started a thing will surely end it perfectly. He did not disappoint me; I give Him all the glory.

Would you have preferred them in another variety of sex?

I am happy with what God has given me. What else would I have asked for? I asked for a child and He gave me four.

This is just what we call blessing in abundance. The years that seemed lost to the enemies, the Lord restored them to me. I am more than grateful; God has put my enemies to shame. I am happy.

I am a fulfilled woman. If a woman is yet to have a child, even a man, the society sees them as unfulfilled. The man or woman will even see himself or herself as unfulfilled. By the grace of God, I am fulfilled today. I have a complete blessing and I owe everything to God. What is your advice to women waiting on the Lord for babies?

They should know that God is never too late and that the delay in the coming of their babies is never denial.

The ways of God are never our ways, they should therefore not be discouraged, and their joy is definitely on the way. When I was getting married 17 years ago, I never thought my babies wouldn’t come until now. They should trust in God who is the owner of children. They should avoid friends who will advise them against the will of God. There are times some friends and even relatives will come with all kinds of suggestions, they should be good listeners but be slow to take steps that can lead them out of their homes.

Advice like trying other men, visiting herbalists or some shady spiritualists is against God and His words, they should be wary of them. They should also find something to keep them busy because an idle mind and hand is the devil’s workshop. They should find time to study and meditate on the word of God, through it, God will speak and give a direction. They should again take their time to read up people who had gone through the same path one time or the other and others who are currently going through similar path; they will find strength to go on and happily too. They should seek medical advice too; it is always good to do so. Rather than patronising people that will take their advantage, they should seek medical help and listen to their instructions.

What if their husbands are not as understanding and supportive as yours?

They should find solace in God who is always constant. They should be committed to God and service. They should be prayerful and God will touch

the man’s mind. They should not report their husbands to people or make his attitude a topic with their friends and relatives. They should pray and be watchful. They should respect him and his people as much as they can. God that answered Hannah and Sarah will answer them.

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Keeping ABREAST

How do you relate with your persecutors during your trying times?

Like you just said, those times were my trying times and at such times, anything can happen. No doubt, they were periods of pain and anxiety but thank God He saw me through. What if I am still unable to sail through? I hold no grudge against anybody; it was meant to be that way and I thank God that He has given me the last laugh that is the best one now. I wouldn’t blame them for anything; I believe they all acted in whichever way they might have, out of concern. It is well, that’s all that is there to say.

How do you presently cope with playing your roles as a wife, mother and minister among others?

I am grateful to God for the privilege to be all of these and I have learnt to prioritise. I am first a Christian, that is a child of God, and my day must start with Him. I try to maintain quality times of praying and fasting. Once I have that sorted out, my next priority is my husband. I am conscious that I am his help mate. My vision is to do him good all the days of our lives. I am also available and sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, in order to help my husband and I pray for him daily to fulfil God’s counsel on earth. Next are my children. God commits children into our lives to raise them up in His fear, paying attention to their spiritual, physical, material, academic and feeding needs. So, I position myself to be a praying, loving mother, being used by God to raise godly offspring. I have looked forward to becoming a mother and I am not going to be a disappointment by His grace. Besides, I have people around me all the time to help in one way or the other.

What advice do you have for nursing mothers who are also ministers of God? They should be faithful to their calling, first by being faithful to their husbands. If you are faithful to your husband, you are faithful to God and that is what God will reward. He doesn’t give us the home to take away the ministry from us or give you the ministry to take away the home from you. I see both together. If you are a nursing mother and you cannot go for ministration, don’t feel sad because what you are doing is still a ministration. God gave you the baby, so you are ministering to God through the baby and the baby needs you. As a minster, I just flow freely by the leading of God. I don’t struggle to prove any point. I allow God to operate freely in my life and so results have been spontaneous. And I am just myself, I don’t have two dispositions. Whether at home, on the stage or any other place, I am myself all the time.This is how they should handle it too.

Charlotte was named the new Miss England in June. (Inset) Charlotte pictured at six months old

Test-tube baby set to become Miss World  “I want to be the first IVF Miss World,” says Charlotte Holmes, one of Britain’s first test-tube babies.

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iss England 2012 winner Charlotte Holmes has revealed that she hopes to make history by becoming the first Miss World to be conceived by IVF. The 23-year-old recently revealed how she was one of the first children to be conceived by the procedure with the help of Professor Robert Winston.

The brunette, who was born in Plymouth, said her parents opted for a trial test-tube baby programme after trying to conceive a child naturally for eight years to no avail.

“It is amazing to think that without the help of someone like Professor Winston neither me or my sister would be here today,” says Charlotte.

“I essentially owe him my life and would love to make history by becoming the first Miss World conceived by IVF.” Charlotte’s mother Vonnie, now 60, is thought to have been around 35 when she and her husband Ken decided to try IVF. They were treated by Professor Winston, who appears in the BBC series

The Human Body and Child Of Our Time, in 1988. “…When the opportunity came up to trial a new drug for IVF treatment, I jumped at the chance and was extremely lucky that the egg implanted first time, resulting in Charlotte,” says Mrs Holmes.

“We have pictures of when Charlotte was just five cells old and we felt so blessed. I wanted to wrap myself up in cotton wool throughout the pregnancy so that I didn’t miscarry’ “When Charlotte was eventually born she was just 5lb 5oz but she was perfect. Just 18 months later we repeated the process to have our second daughter, Lucy.”

Charlotte was crowned the new Miss England in June, taking over from Alize Mounter, 23, from Kensington.

It came two years after she came fourth in the sixth series of Sky Living’s Britain’s Next Top Model.

She is currently competing for the Miss World crown in Mongolia and has already secured a place in the Miss World Top Model final.

If she triumphs in this section, she will secure herself a place in the top 15 competitors at the Miss World grand final in Mongolia on August 18th.

Culled from www.mailonline.com

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August 11 , 2012

Parenting

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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

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very parent has been there. The baby in your arms is crying and miserable and you just wish they could tell you exactly what is wrong.

But what if they have actually been trying to tell you all along — but you just haven’t known how to listen?

An extraordinary new book claims that every baby uses signals to communicate. It is simply up to parents to learn how to interpret every gurgle, giggle and facial expression.

In the Blossom Method, psychotherapist and body language expert, Vivien Sabel, claims that every expression an infant makes can be interpreted so parents can tell if their baby is hungry, happy, upset, windy, wants to play or needs a cuddle.

“All those adorable little shapes a baby makes with her mouth, tongue, lips, eyes and brows are far more than something for us to coo over, it’s their way of trying to tell us what they need,” she explains.

Vivien observed hundreds of babies during six years of research for the book — including her own daughter, the Blossom whom the book is named after — during which time she developed a three-pronged principle: observe your baby’s facial expression, mirror it back to them to show them that you understand what they’re saying, then respond by providing what it is they’re telling you they need.

While her ideas may sound a little far-fetched, there may be something behind them.

Child development experts believe that babies start to communicate long before they try to

Hey mum! I’m trying to tell you something

z The faces babies pull aren’t just for nothing.

They are trying to communicate erything from the furrow in her form their first words, which is typically from seven months old.

According to Claire Bolton, a child development expert, “A child is ready to communicate from birth. They will amaze you with how quickly they use movement, facial expressions and noises to try to communicate; it’s simply a case of reading the signs.”

Vivien Sabel says her own non-verbal communication skills were strongly developed in child-

Parenting

A

new study found that applying vaginal progesterone to women who are at a high risk of preterm birth significantly decreased the odds of a

A preterm baby

hood. Her mum was born deaf, so even as a toddler, Vivien had to read the subtle variations in her body language and facial expressions.

While everyone can read emotions in other peoples faces or body language — to varying degrees — Vivien says that we don’t fully utilise these signs, whereas she has had to in order to ‘talk’ to her Mum. “Within days of having Blossom in 2004, I realised that ev-

brow to the little shapes she made with her mouth and the different ways she moved her tongue were actually her way of trying to tell me what she needed,” says Vivien.

“I watched Blossom closely and began to see patterns to these movements that linked to whether she was hungry, about to fill her nappy, was tired, windy or needed affection. I knew not just if Blossom was hungry, but how

hungry she was simply by how far and how fast she moved her tongue. When she was going to have a wee or a poo, her tongue would protrude in a pointed fashion, so I’d get a clean nappy ready.

“If she had wind, I’d see it in the fullness of her bottom lip. As soon as I saw the signs, I could get straight on with winding her rather than her becoming distressed, mirroring her expressions so she understood that I was going to help her.”

Vivien adds: “The mirroring back part came through instinct.

I wanted to tell her that I knew what she was saying by speaking her language, just as I always have with Mum. “You don’t need a degree to read these signs, just the capacity to study your baby’s face.”

•Culled from www.mailonline.com

New study shows promise for Update preventing premature births

premature delivery.

The new study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, described a two-prong strategy used by doc-

tors: participating pregnant women underwent a measurement of the cervical length via transvaginal cervical ultrasound to define risk for preterm birth; and those found to have a short cervix were successfully treated with vaginal progesterone. A short cervix -- defined as a length of 25 millimeters or less -- is a major risk factor for preterm birth.

Approximately 12.9 million births worldwide are preterm which is defined as less than 37 weeks of gestation. “Early” preterm births -- those less than 32 weeks are associated with a high rate of neonatal complications and long-term neurologic disability. Late preterm births (between 34 and 36-6/7 weeks) represent 70 percent of all preterm births; and

although they have a lower rate of complications than early preterm births, they are still a major health care problem.

The study showed that the vaginal application of progesterone gel significantly reduces the rate of preterm birth in women at less than 33 weeks of gestation, but also is effective at less than 28, 32 and 35 weeks. This means that vaginal progesterone reduces both “early” and “late” preterm births.

Vaginal progesterone administered to women with a short cervix detected via ultrasound also reduced the rate of admissions to the newborn intensive care unit; respiratory distress syndrome; the need for mechanical ventilation; and a composite score of

complications that included intracranial haemorrhage, bowel problems, respiratory difficulties, infection and death.

According to the lead researcher,the progesterone treatment is safe because the natural pregnancy hormone is made by the placenta and the ovaries during pregnancy.

“For too long, little progress has been made in the prevention of premature births,” he said.

“However, this new large study shows that it’s possible to both help women determine if they are at risk for preterm birth, and provide a safe and effective treatment to help prevent preterm births.”

•Culled from www.newswise.com

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

27

August 11, 2012

le StyGlam and

with Yemisi Adeniran

(08037801158) ydiran@yahoo.com

W

heth e host r atten ding i n ga you don ric com fest of a red ’ carp it w es h you t ha it a r v e man h other e to do ndy. Fo own, th t event c r a y de e olou a w c han black f or you sign rs. W hole b ge h r a e owe bit on choice rs aroun ith the lack or ver, c or a j d u r e t s , h a t pa e ne tive area com you m irin m ck s b prom of choi line, h ination ay get a inds of g n a th c n o e y p agai tly giv just a dtip, w f print colou e r of s th nst s e a s t i o s em you the And insp od t line gl a i blue if you a oomy s chic an els here and ot re her igna d ap re in or a h a ve i ture sexy peal rain a ro t. i b o A m neckline ow col mantic f the b ng look It o l atch m a u as a c nd r, s ood kc any day with be you wil ew a hu , just p olour. . auti l ful a be plea ggy styl ick the e s cces sorie ing you with a r sp s is ir also a bo it. ost

28

STYLE & GLAM

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Fashion Frenzy

BEAUTY

Q&A

Your candid response to all fashion questions Evening beauty tips (II) Apply eye cream For refreshed-looking peepers, eye cream is a must. The skin around the eyes is thinner than elsewhere on the body, and as you age it becomes even thinner, which can result in under-eye circles and

hollowing. It is best to look for an eye cream or serum with vitamins A, C, E, or K, which help repair the skin and lighten dark circles. If you use a serum, you’ll need a light eye cream on top of that to keep the skin hydrated.

Switch up your sleep sides It is easy to tell what side a patient sleeps on once that half of her

face has m lows, but you don’t sleep -- wh of your fa Be hap

y

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

August 11, 2012

YEMISI ADENIRAN

T

he hat is as beautifying as the hair-dos, the dresses and other accessories that we wear. If you must therefore wear one, you need to be careful not to wear it wrong. These tips will help:

Make it right with your face and body:

If you’ve fallen in love with a hat with a brim, make sure that it is scaled just right for your face and body. Let it flatter your skin and body frame as much as brings focus to your face.

STYLE & GLAM

29

Facelift

Don’t wear matchy-matchy hat

Leather hat with leather jacket for instance can only give you an odd look. A little contrast will give your appearance a little lift.

Wear a print hat on a plain dress.

This will give you a simple but metropolitan look.

Leave hair showing with a knit cap

Even chunky knit caps aren’t meant to stuff every strand of hair inside. Leave bangs or wisps showing around the face. Also, position the knit beret back far enough on the head that it doesn’t look crammed on.

Don’t use a hat to save a bad outfit

A hat should complete a look, not save it, so be careful.

Use hats to polish up your denim

A great way to dress up your denim is to add a hat. But not just any hat will do. It must be the type to elevate your whole look to casual perfection.

Don’t wear a baseball cap

Reach for a baseball cap (or even worse, trucker hat) as a last resort. It won’t dress up your look; in fact, it usually downgrades everything a notch or two.

Play up the masculine-feminine vibe

Just because you are wearing a fedora doesn’t mean you should skimp on makeup and jewelry. In fact, by playing up the contrast (feminine woman wearing masculine hat) you’ll look sexy like any of these models.

Don’t try exaggerated shapes

If you’re new to hat wearing, know that a well-scaled hat is your most flattering option. Many women break this rule quite successfully. An oversized hats can only give you a negative nod.

more fine lines. Some experts recommend anti-wrinkle pilbefore you go to the expense, Start out the night on the side usually sleep on. Even if you end up flipping over in your hich you probably will -- you’ll spend less time with one side ace smooshed into the pillow. Or try sleeping on your back. ppy

It must be emphasized that to look good, you need to feel good. A happy face is not with lines. Just take time to enjoy life. What’s going on on the inside is surely going to reflect on the outside, so spend a few minutes reading a funny book or watching a humorous movie, go for a walk, call a friend, or enjoy a piece of exquisite dark chocolate. All in the name of beauty!

Hairless

wonder

Not everyone can pull off baldness regardless of the sex. For men it is very cheap to be bald; for women its a different kettle of fish all together. Although, men are not meant to be bald only, ladies can be especially when the situation dictates so.

Baldness is fashionable. Besides its ability to make you look some ten years younger at least, once your hair is falling off; you will be doing yourself lots of good if you will take a bold step of considering going bald.

Before you can be desirable as a bald chic, you must follow these guidelines: •Do not have it cheap: Allow a seasoned beautician to check the state of the hair, make right recommendation and handle it expertly.

•Employ a good makeup artist: You need a total new face colour for this unusual look. A good makeup expert will re-shape your eyebrow, eyelashes and recommend the right accessories to carry on with the bold look. You must wear a flawless makeup 24/7-If you are a woman of colour then apply double more layers •You must be a nubile chick •You must be prepared to change your dress sense to suit your look. And you must dress damn good- No excuses.

•Walking upright is a must. If you try to do, you will get used to your new look and carry the people around you along too.

•Ooze confidence. This is very important because in this part of the world people think you are bald for a reason, either chemotherapy or mental illness. But when they look closely and sense your boldness, they will appreciate your look.

•If you don’t have a partner before then, THINK HARD, be prepared to be single for the first couple of months- men like women with hair and for all they care, you might have cancer or worse still they might think you are a miserable dyke.

•You must be slim. Live on a diet of lettuce and water.

30

STYLE & GLAM

August 11, 2012

Model

Trendz

Purple dreams

‘I am a golden fish’

YEMISI ADENIRAN

B

eautiful and very womanly, the purple colour is the royalty colour with a rich hue that suits different skin tones. It can be worn in various shades and friendly with almost other colours, from plum to lilac. It connotes seriousness and so, is right for any formal dates and events. Match with statement accessories in its minimal form and you will be speaking very expressly. The purple look is all about the details - oversized clutch, layered necklace, cocktail ring and studded cuff. Ever classy and chic, the trick to wearing this colour is to keep makeup very sheer and light; avoid dark purple eye shadow too and you will be keeping it fun, flirty and sexy.

Adelakun Ayodeji Phillips (a.ka.De’philz) is a model and musician. Born some 22 years ago to Prophet R.A Adelakun, he tells YEMISI ADENIRAN how he combines being a model and a musician.

He also talks about his exploits so far.

W

hen did your journey into this career start and what do you wish to achieve?

I have been into this career since 2009 and my aim is to stand out like every other achiever in the whole world. All through my school days, right from the primary to the tertiary level, I had always known that I would be a golden fish in some kind of way. I am not a noise maker but definitely, I am not a quiet boy.

I don’t disturb people, but I know I can entertain people. I make people around me laugh and excited even when I did not know that a career was likely to emanate from it. I can sing; I can catwalk; I mean I can pose, (not nude), I can also excite people through some jokes. So, many people always want to have me around. That’s why I say, right from cradle, I have known myself as a golden fish and a golden fish can never hide. It is always a desire of many.

Why did you say you cannot pose nude?

I can never do that. Why should I? I am a prophet’s son; I am a child of God who wants to live on the gift of God that is in me. I am not desperate to have a face or money, so, I won’t go into that. If indeed there is a gift of God in me, I must make a headway because the gift of God in a man always makes a way to the top for him. I will never pose nude for anything.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

How rewarding is the job so far?

So far, I would say it has been good, but definitely, it can be better.

Talking about your music career.

How many albums do you have to your credit?

Just recently I released three singles, ‘Baby I love you’, ‘Kiss yeah’ and ‘Owo ojo pipe’. After those ones, I went into a collaboration with Graham, my brother, to release ‘Beremole.’

How do you combine the two careers?

I am a young man of good health and strength. Besides, I have a passion for what I am doing. So, it’s easy. Nothing good comes easy and hardwork from what I have seen and heard pays with God’s backing.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

31

August 11, 2012

Male Essentials

W

earing a nerd glass g is one of the easiest ways to make statement. ake e a fashion f Nerd glasses a are re not your regular glasses, whether recommended mended or otherwise.

They are distinctive because cause of their big lenses that bestow not just st a sophisticated look but an academic, serious erious look as well.

They are therefore very ry fashionable and lots of celebrities like ike Jim Iyke, Jaywon, D’Banj, Naeto C, Sexy Steel and many others sport them hem constantly. Wearing them will definitely finitely make you more attractive and appealing to the opposite sex and even n your associates, colleagues and business usiness partners.

Why not go for them too? oo?

08036961187

with Oseyiza Oogbodo kingseiza@yahoo.com w

Nerd

mode

Shoe basics 1

. Pay attention to your shoes. Everyone else does. It’s hard for the nonfashion-maven to tell a more expensive suit from a less expensive one, a highquality shirt from a medium-quality one, and so on. But everyone can tell cheap or poorly cared-for shoes. Buy the best ones you can afford, and take care of them.

Polish them regularly (a few swipes with a wax-infused polishing cloth is often all it takes) and store them covered if you won’t be wearing them for a long time.

Shoe trees, it turns out, are important: they not only hold the shape of the shoe but the cedar ones absorb moisture (and thus odours) which helps preserve the

leather. (Aside: de: women tend to pay a lot of attention to men’s men s shoes. Keep that in mind when a) dating, and b) interviewing for a job.) .) . Shoes es are made of leather (besides sneakers). Anything not made of leather her you can consider a nonshoe. Leatherr breathes and adapts to the shape of your foot. The soles don’t have to be leather, but the uppers do. (True story: as a young g man, my brother was a car salesman in Las Vegas. In the summer, the tarmac could ld get well over 150 degrees F. Standing out there with leather-soled shoes could give you seconddegree burns! So they wore rubberr soles,

2

after which melted afte ter a month or two o and replaced.) had to be replace p ed.)) . You Y need d more than one pairr of but more. shoes, es, bu ut not too much h mo ore. or (lace-up black Black oxfords (la ace-up d dress shoes), bla ack loafers (slip-on sshoes), brown oxfordss or you’re loafers, and you’r re set (not counting y your athletic shoes, off course). A pair off ankle-high boots in bl black or brown can an subloafers. (burgunstitute for the loafer ers. Ox-blood (bu burgundy) shoes are harder to find but in theory go with everything. You u can pretty pre safely ignore white shoes. . The shinier the sho shoe, the dressier. shoes – nubuck Matte-finish sho uck (that pebbly leather), suede, and distressed ed

3

4

compatleather her shoes are automatically compa or khakis;; shinier shoes ible ble with jeans j shoe might still go with jeans but it depends depend on the rest of your outfit, the dressier you are the shinier your shoes can be. If probyou can wear them with a suit, you prob vice ably can’t wear them with jeans, and vic versa. . Shoes should be the same tone or darker than your pants. This iis all the rule you need to know when ttrying to figure out what shoes to wear. This is shoes with why you never wear brown sh black trousers, but you can usually wear black shoes with brown trousers. When black. in doubt, wear bla

5

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August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Relationships

When love clashes Women forgive more

I

nfidelity, ty that monster that creeps into the best of relationships unawares all because one of the partners may knowingly or unknowingly have strayed from the sanctity of the relationship is something that is very common these days even though we all pretend nothing is amiss until it is almost too late to rectify and do something about.

No one wants to share their better half with someone else especially when the sharing is something sexual and who can blame them. Not me in any case.

I wouldn’t want that happening to me either. To say the feeling the victim gets is just that of being hurt is an understatement.

Honestly, trust is perhaps one of the feelings that get broken and it may never be repaired or gotten anew again. The innocent partner may never believe anything that the culprit says again.

The question of whether a relationship can survive infidelity depends on so many factors, the major being the foundation upon which the relationship is built on.

Infidelity is a major blow to trust as I’ve already pointed out, but that doesn’t mean a relationship can’t survive it if the culprit is a man. I know it is never easy and will never be easy because a lot of hard work will have to be put into rebuilding trust within the relationship.

As the culprit, there are certain things that you can do to help heal the wound you may have caused.

One is to come out clean and as the victim, if you really can, keep open a line of communication as far as you are sure that your partner is genuine about reconciliation and moving forward.

The culprit has to show integrity.

Integrity is the distance between the thoughts of our heart, the words spoken by our mouth and finally, our acts (both in the closet and in the open). Integrity is the duration during which a promise is converted to reality by showing sincerity. Keep talking and listening, no matter how long it takes.

You can’t speed up your partner’s healing. Both partners must be committed to the healing process.

Both of you must be committed to repairing the damage and recon-

necting. necting But if the culprit is the woman, the reverse will be the case.

Why should I as a man take back a woman who’s directly told me through her acts that I’m not the ‘special one’ to her. My ego is also wounded as a man. Okay here it is, before you say I’m using double standards, I’ll like to tell you that “it’s a man’s world” in this part of the world.

The issues involved makes most men in this part of the world to believe that infidelity is the gravest of all marital offences and I quite agree with that because of the trust and ego issues involved. Most women start cheating as an isolated event that after a while will become a pattern. And the common excuses given by the woman may be from the mundane to the very serious.

I once had a girlfriend in the university who was cheating on me while I thought we had a sizzling romance. For me, the relationship seemed destined for the altar until we broke up. I didn’t tell her that I knew about her cheating on me until years later even though we had remained friends. When I confronted her on the rumours I’d heard about her having numerous older lovers when we dated, the shock on her face even then was priceless and I knew that I’d only escaped being trapped in a marriage that’d have been faulty by whiskers.

Thank God I have a beautiful relationship now.

Finally, when it comes to the survival of a relationship after infidelity, no matter what, your gender in most cases will determine whether it will or not. Women are more forgiving because they have been preconditioned to accept it as a way of life for men. The society, even as it is still changing, is more permissive of men cheating than women. In fact a woman has no business cheating is society’s position on infidelity and I quite support that position too. For me personally, I do not see any reason why it should survive after my ego has been wounded and my trust betrayed. Trust is like an inflated balloon, one prick and it’s gone forever.

SEX TALK

This column is x-rated

The great sex debate

How much sex is too much or too little?

•Ladies, when men tell you they feel like they are dying from lack of sex, it’s partially true. The choked up emotions and lack of connection can cause a man to suffer liver stagnation -Dr. Robert Chu

Q

UESTION: Is making love every night bad for my health? My partner and I are two extremes as far as sex is concerned. His libido is super high and mine is super low. I keep wondering how much sex is too much and how much sex is too little -Linda, 35, wife and mother.

A

NSWER: (The Chinese perspective) Sex feels good. And the proper amount of sex can help maintain your physical and emotional health. But balance is the key. Both having too little or too much sex can lead to unhealthy conditions.

According to Dr. Robert Chu, Ph.D., a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, maintaining balance in all life’s activities is important.

Dr. Chu invites you to look at the effects of too much sex, too little sex, and what the proper amounts should be, based on your age and health condition.

How much sex is too much?

The theories of Chinese medicine warn of the dangers of having too much sex. A person

could become what is called, in Chinese medicine, kidney jing deficient. Jing refers to the main essence fluids of the body, distilled from what we eat and drink. Jing is stored in the kidneys – the batteries of the body. It gives us energy and healthy internal systems. In fact, we are born with enough essence to ensure a lifespan of 120 years. Problem is, we exhaust it through our poor eating, poor rest, lack of exercise, unstable emotions, stress, disease and by having an unhealthy amount of sex!

Signs and symptoms of kidney jing deficiency include a weakening of the bones, loss of hair, a graying of the face, loosening or loss of teeth, low back soreness, weakness of the legs (particularly behind the knees), poor memory, loss of libido, impotence and a general lack of sexual desire. If you are suffering from any of these signs and symptoms, perhaps you should consider if too much sex is killing you, or at least weakening you.

With too much ejaculation, jing is depleted from the body. As a man ages past his middle years, the excessive loss of jing (semen) can have the disastrous effects described above.

The young can engage in frequent copulation, but the middle aged and elderly should only release semen infrequently.

There is a classic text on Chinese medicine called Su Nu Jing. It was published almost 2,000 years ago and suggests that to maintain health, a man should have a certain amount of ejaculations according to his age and health. At the age of 20, if a person is in good health, it is suggested that two ejaculations a day is reasonable. Moreover, having one ejaculation every four days is the minimum necessary to maintain health.

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RELATIONSHIPS

August 11, 2012

33

CHINWE ANNIE AMAECHI 07028684481 chinweamaechi@gmail.com

with infidelity

Love wins

P

This column is x-rated

This column is x-rated

The chart below suggests the guidelines from that classic text:

Age 20

Good health 2x Day

Average Health 1X Day

30

1x Day

40

Every 3 days Every 5 days Every 10 days

Every other day Every 4 days Every 10 days Every 20 days

50 60

Of course, these are rough guidelines and should not be strictly adhered to. At least it gives you an idea of the frequency a man should have sex in order to maintain good health and balanced emotions. Of course, the converse is true, that no sex at all can cause resentment, depression and anxiety... which could possibly lead to long term disease.

Now, the average 20-year-old male who is ejaculating three times a day is probably overdoing it. This could possibly affect his grades (poor memory) or affect his physical stamina (with weak knees and sore low back).

The 40 year old executive thinking of having that affair with the nice 24 year old intern might want to consider if he is in good enough health to survive an extramarital affair. He could wind up suffering from hair loss, aging of the face, low back soreness, weak legs, poor memory, loss of libido, impotence, and lack of sexual desire that could cost him his career and his health... not to mention his marriage!

How much sex is too little?

Sex is important for relationships, not just emotionally, but for the organ systems as well. Ladies, when men tell you they feel like

they are dying from lack of sex, it’s partially true. In reality, the choked up emotions and lack of connection can cause him to suffer the Minimum Chinese Medicine syndrome known as liver Every 4 qi stagnation.

According to Chidays nese medicine theory, Every 8 the liver functions to days move the qi (life energy) Every 16 freely in the body. Liver qi stagnation, then, is days when there is a pathoEvery 21 genic flow of the cordays rect qi manifesting in Every 30 some of the following signs and symptoms: days feeling of distension in the chest and hypochondrium, sighing, hiccup, melancholy, depression, moodiness, unhappiness and feeling of a lump in the throat. Often the etiology of this syndrome includes emotional problems, a state of anger, frustration or resentment.

If this condition persists, it can grow into what is called liver fire. The signs and symptoms associated with liver fire include irritability, anger, shouting, ringing in the ears, temporal headache, bitter taste in the mouth, dream disturbed sleep, a red face and red eyes.

This is the result of long-standing emotional states of anger, resentment or frustration.

This can cause problems like high blood pressure, tinnitis, insomnia, migraine headache and the like.

Good sexual relations are a part of good health. Overdoing it can be detrimental to health, and we have found that too little sex can also have a negative effect on health. My advice: Be happy and be wise in the ways of lovemaking.

Culled from www.losethebackpain.com Next Week…The Western perspective

eople e seem to be able to forgive any other offence in relationships, but infidelity stands as the unpardonable sin. It is easier to accept the fact that your partner embarked on some “escapades” before you came into the picture, than for you to remain sweethearts knowing that he/she cheated on you right under your nose. Infidelity is so heart-breaking that one cannot imagine that things can be the same again.

So what do you do when you find out that your partner has committed the unpardonable sin? Do you take a walk for good or do you find it in your heart to forgive him/her and continue the relationship on a clean slate?

Relationships are built and sustained by love and trust; they go hand-in-hand. Can one really remain in love with someone he/she does not trust? I doubt it.

I need to rest assured that when we are not together, my partner is not getting intimate with another woman. I want to be able to beat my chest, and proudly say that I am the only woman in my partner’s life. However, should I reject the one I love because he erred? Should I throw away what I held so dear on account of a wrong act? I think my decision should depend on the peculiar facts. But one thing remains a fact: to err is human, to forgive is divine. Forgiving infidelity is no child’s play, but if we cannot forgive the one we love, how true is our love?

I believe that the people that have remained our friends the longest are those we have forgiven the most and vice versa.

Friendship grows stronger after a fight/misunderstanding when friends choose to forgive and move on. I can hear you say that friendship is different; and that infidelity cannot be grouped along with other offences which friends commit. I understand your reasoning, but the truth is that the true test of love and commitment is forgiveness. Of course, this should not give one’s partner the liberty to err to infinity.

The painful part of infidelity is the fact that one always has

enough time to decide against it. All those “suddenly” stories of infidelity are typical crap!

In the same vein, blaming it on the devil is arrant nonsense! If you have indulged in infidelity, be responsible enough to admit that you walked into it wilfully, with your eyes open. Sex is not a reflex action; it is an act which takes a number of steps to complete. This is why infidelity is very difficult to forgive. It takes the aggrieved partner on a mind journey with so many puzzles and questions which are seldom answered.

The truth is that one act of infidelity would be easier to pardon than several acts of infidelity. Also, forgiveness is easier when your partner confesses his errors on his own rather than when he begs for forgiveness in the event of being caught. In the latter, you would wonder whether the “begging” is just the aftermath of being caught as against the apology of a repentant sinner.

Also, it seems easier to walk away from your partner if the infidelity occurred before marriage, because after you have vowed to remain together “till death do us part”, different considerations apply.

People are quick to say that even the Bible allows Christians to get divorced on account of infidelity, but what will the plan be after the divorce? Get married to another person and hope he does not cheat on you or stay single for life? The point here is not that you should remain with a partner who erred just because you do not want to be single for life; not at all! I just want us to decide whether infidelity is a permanent relationship-breaker or whether a couple can move on after it.

There is a huge difference between an unrepentant unfaithful partner and a partner who is remorseful about infidelity.

In any case, I do not think any offence is unpardonable, particularly where it is clear that the erring partner is willing to ensure that he does no repeat the error.

So can a couple remain together after infidelity? It is possible.

34

August 11, 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 aspect of your life? Help is at hand with TOBORE IGHO OVUORIE

Help! Can I still love again?

Dear Igho, Help! Why does love make me cry?

Friendliness, loving, faithfulness, care, understanding, kind-heartedness, trust.... All these I gave to my love, yet he made me cry. I gave him all my heart, loved him more than words can say, but still he left me in a twinkle of an eye. Can I still love because I have lost my love? What can I do?

0706—9---5 Dear 0706—9---5, Though you didn’t state exactly what led to the break up, I can boldly say a big yes to your question: you can love again if you choose to welcome it with your entire being. To be candid, love doesn’t make us cry, rather, wrong choices do. We, especially ladies, have a flair for choosing wrong relationships and staying in it even when it is oozing. We are fond of sticking in the kind of relationships that could only be likened to a faulty, rumbling, moving train heading for destruction.

Should I forget about her?

Dear Igho, My name is Nweke from Anambra State. There is a girl I love so much and she loves me too. I believe she can never cheat on me and I have never cheated on her and will never. But sometimes, she takes little things into her court without hearing from me and she has done this several time. Please Igho, tell me what to do. Should I forget about her?

Nweke, Anambra State.

Dear Nweke,

If you’ll be honest with yourself, you’ll agree with me that there were obvious red flags about the guy and the relationship which you ignored. Just as I will tell my daughter, my sincere prayers and kind words to you is: don’t lose hope of loving again because his exit could be the only way that you will meet that man who will treat you as the queen which you are.

We often grieve when jilted by someone who is actually not worthy of us, thus become oblivious of that which the Lord has in store for us. Sweet heart, his leaving could be God’s own way of preventing a great disaster that would have occurred in the nearest future had he remained. You ought to be thanking the lord he is gone because it’s only glaring that he can’t identify a ruby.

Rather, redefine your person; set standards for yourself, look good, hang out with friends and have good times. Get involved in activities that add value to you and will make you come in contact with people. This way, time will fly fast; your heart will heal in a laser style without leaving scars that will call for pity-party.

It’s good to know that you are both in love and faithful to yourselves but I really don’t understand what you mean by she takes little things into her court without hearing from you. I want to assume that what you mean is that she listens and believes to hearsays about you.

If that is really what you mean, I will advise you don’t leave, rather, have a heart-to-heart talk with her.

Make sure the discussion is held during one of those days both of you are very happy; possibly, after an interesting outing together. Pour your heart to her; let her know how much her action hurts you but do tell her you would appreciate she always confirms from you whatever she is told before drawing her conclusions.

Nweke, do make sure you talk to her with a loving tone of voice, not with an accusing one. And you must also make sure you are straightforward in your dealings with her and other people, lest the rumour mills continue.

I need a modelling agency Dear Igho, I am interested in events ushering and commercials. Please, can you link me up with any agency?

Thanks.

Anonymous.

Dear Anonymous, Since you need a link that is as important as your text message indicates,

it would have been better if you had included at least some features about you. Since you didn’t indicate how any agent that reads this piece can get in touch with you, I’ll advise you browse through Google using ‘modelling agencies in Nigeria’ as your key words.

From there, you can decide on what next to do. Wishing you the best in your pursuit.

honourable and tested man from the crowd. Spice all these with a sweet and committed relationship with the Lord.

Do keep in touch and let me know how you fair.

I can assure you that while enjoying being you and beaming joy, love and happiness, unending queues of suitors will be on their kneels in before you but remember to be virtuous to pick only one Dear Igho, Please, does age matter in a genuine relationship?

Taiwo, Lagos.

Does age matter in a relationship?

Dear Taiwo, Ideally, love, not age, should matter because the latter is but a number.

But as Africans, it tends to matter due to our cultural values. It is generally accepted here that the man must be older than the woman in a relationship. One of the reasons for this is on the grounds that women mature faster than men. Sincerely, I know some couples who are very happy to the extent

that except you are told that the wives are older than the husbands, you will never think in that direction. My dear, if you’re currently in such a situation in which age difference seems to be the only issue at stake, I will advise you go for her.

HIV positive lady needed for serious relationship Dear Igho, I’m 28, a graduate and working class living with HIV. In order not to spread the virus, I need a fellow HIV victim for a relationship. She must be working and devoted.

08101780613 Dear 08101780613, I commend your thoughtfulness and being very responsible because were it to be some other persons, they would have long commenced a revenge mission

by sleeping with every woman who comes their way.

However, let me state that you are living with HIV which is a condition; a manageable one at that, hence, you’re not a victim. Please, stop seeing or referring to yourself as HIV victim. You’re just like every other person, in short, you’re better off because you know your status. It would have been worse had you not known, unfortunately, the latter is the situation among so many Nigerians.

Don’t worry; I will get across to you with contacts of several groups of people living positively notwithstanding the condition. But medically, you can date and marry someone who is HIV negative. Just continue to be the thoughtful person whom you are, the Lord who considers the heart of men, not their actions, will abundantly bless you for your kind-hearted course.

Living How 20 worshippers were massacred in Kogi church 35

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

August 11 , 2012

Some suspected attackers of the Deeper Life Bible Church

For residents of Kogi State, the week has not been a pleasant one. Armed men had stormed a church at the close of an evening service killing no fewer than 20 members among whom were children and women. As they were still smarting from the effect of the massacre, a mosque in the state capital was also attacked by gunmen. Suddenly, the state residents had had terrorism dropped on their laps.

ADEMU IDAKWO LOKOJA

W

hen some members of the Deeper Life Bible Church at Ottite in Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State woke up on Monday 6 August, 2012, hale and hearty to pursue their daily activities, hardly did they know that the day marked their last on earth. Few hours into a night service in their church, no fewer than 20 of them were dead. They were shot to death.

When the news, which was difficult to believe, filtered into the town, many were aghast as to what might be responsible for the gruesome death of the innocent worshippers.

Minds became agitated until the whole matter became clear that unidentified gunmen had broken into the church killing about 20 of them in cold blood and wounding a number of others.

Worshippers drawn from various communities in Ottite including the academia, students from the Federal Col-

Scene of the massacre

lege of Education, Okene as well as some lecturers from Osara Campus of the state polytechnic and indigenes had trooped

into the Deeper Life Bible Church on that fateful day for a service.

The programme which supposed to be

brief dragged into the night due to one activity or the other.

According to one of the survivors, Samuel Ayodele who lost his wife and a son in the carnage, armed men invaded the church when the programme was being rounded off.

Ayodele on his hospital bed told journalists that immediately the gunmen entered, they shut all the doors and other out-lets leaving only one entrance where they stood and started firing at the hapless crowd of worshippers.

Ayodele said the operation that lasted for over 20 minutes left the pastor and other many people dead including his own wife and the child.

He said while he was lying in the pool of his own blood reeling with pain, he saw the lifeless body of his wife and as he attempted to struggle to his feet he discovered that the gunmen were still lurking around in the dark trying to ensure that everybody died.

However, Saturday Mirror’s investigation further revealed that more than eight kids were said to have been killed by the gunmen while women rated highest among the casualties.

Another victim of the attack, Mr. Lawal Yusuf Itokpa, said the worshippers were taken by surprise as there was no prior sign or premonition of any before the killings.

According to him neither the church nor its leadership had any friction with anybody or group of people to warrant such.

As the people of the state were trying to reconcile themselves with the reality of the deaths, another tragedy struck the following day (Tuesday) at Okene.

Shortly after the state governor, Captain Idris Wada, and the security chiefs in the state left the town where he held a meeting with the traditional rulers in the area over the issue and on his way from the General Hospital where he had visited the wounded members of the church, the news of another attack filtered in.

In the fresh attack, two soldiers who were drafted to guard the Okene Central Mosque had been gunned down by gunmen who came in a Toyota Hilux Van pretending to be worshippers.

The suspected terrorists wore white clothes and were chanting Islamic songs to brow beat the security agents and the onlookers before they struck.

The suspected terrorists lost one of their own but the attack aggravated the already tensed situation in the state.

Even before the governor and the members of his entourage departed from Lokoja, the state capital, early in morning on Tuesday for Ottite, another explosive device was said to have been discovered in one of the churches in the town.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

LIVING

36

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘I am not a bad guy’ z z z z

Internet fraudster apologises after conning British bride out of £300 wedding dress Tricks mother-of-four with fake Paypal email She spent £105 on posting the dress to Nigeria He promises to return it, claiming he has a ‘conscience’

S

arah-Jane Green, from Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, was left devastated after a Nigerian Yahoo guy conned her out of her wedding dress. He has since emailed her to apologise The devastated mother-of-four has received an apology from the online fraudster who conned her out of her £300 wedding dress. The new bride had wanted to keep her dress after marrying fiancee David last month, but decided to sell it because she needed money to pay household bills.

After she realised the conman had used a fake PayPal account and she had wasted £100 on postage, Mrs Green emailed him to express her fury.

The 33-year-old was amazed when she received an apology from the bad guy for tricking her into giving away the handmade dress.

He wrote: “Am sorry, (I) am not a bad guy. I don’t know why am doing all this and I want to change, but it’s difficult to do... who is gonna feed me?

“I have a conscience for what am

doing and I fear God. “I know if I don’t stop I will end up in hell.”

Mrs Green had posted her dress on the Gumtree website and was then contacted by the conman who claimed he wanted to buy it.

He sent a fake Paypal email saying the money had been deposited and would be released into Mrs Green’s account once the item had been posted.

It was only after paying more than £100 to post the dress overseas that the mother-of-four realised she had been conned.

The wronged woman says: “I feel absolutely heartbroken.

“It was such a hard decision to sell it in the first place and now I have got no dress and have spent £105 on postage.

In frustration, Mrs Green emailed the fraudster telling him what she thought of him.

The conman has said he will return the dress, although Mrs Green is not hopeful the pledge is genuine.

•Culled from wwwmailonline.com

The stolen wedding gown

How 20 worshippers were massacred in Kogi church CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 The situation caused another round of panic as residents of Lokoja ran helterskelter.

Banks as well as government offices and business centres in the town were hurriedly shut as workers took to their heels.

The governor’s convoy on its way out of the town ran into the gridlock caused by the panic over the rumoured explosives.

Many people were injured in the pandemonium that greeted the rumoured discovered explosives, until the police authority police authority which later dispatched an anti-bomb squad to the scene discovered it was just a false alarm raised by the passersby around the church premises.

Wada who looked visibly troubled after the renewed hostility that led to the death of the two soldiers at the central mosque in Okene immediately addressed the state in a broadcast.

The governor quickly ordered a dusk to dawn curfew in Okene while movement of commercial motorcyclists was restricted from 6am to 6pm in Lokoja.

The governor described the act as barbaric and uncalled for adding that “it is very sad that indigenes of the state who were worshipping in the church were brutally murdered by unknown gunmen and one cannot truly understand their motive when this people did not provoke them.”

Others who earlier reacted to the situ-

ation included the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Senator Nurrudeen Abatemi, followed by the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The senator condemned the act and called on security agents to intensify their fight against terrorist activities in the country.

In a statement signed by his media aide, Mr. Micheal Jegede, Abatemi urged ordinary citizens to be more vigilant and security conscious to help weed out the perpetrators of evil in their communities.

He commiserated with the families of those that lost their lives and the Nigeria Army.

The state branch of CAN in a press conference the third day after the incident, declared a three-day fasting and prayer to solicit divine intervention in the security situation of the country.

Its chairman, Arch-Bishop Emmanuel Egbunu, said while the attack was not an isolated one against Christians at worship in recent times, it was a new and dangerous dimension in Kogi State.

“Our hearts are heavy over the coldblooded murder. This unprovoked attack against unarmed, innocent citizens right in the place of worship leaves us in no doubt that it was a premeditated, calculated and clearly targeted attack”, he said.

He called on Christians to observe prayer and fasting in their assemblies between Wednesday and Friday of this week to implore divine intervention in the na-

tion and state.

The CAN chairman reminded the perpetrators of the act that “God will call everyone to account for every unprovoked bloodshed in times of peace and His justice cannot be escaped however long it takes”.

The Arch-Bishop called on all Nigerians to turn to God in true repentance saying sin and wickedness constituted a reproach that could only lead to more darkness.

Egbunu urged the people of goodwill to join in the campaign against ethical and moral bankruptcy in the country.

He commended the governor and the security chiefs in the state for their prompt response to the situation just as he decried the increasing surge of insecurity and “the abuse of Christian grace and forbearance.”

As the waiting game continued between the law enforcement agencies in the state and the suspected terrorists who have put the people in the state in a distressed situation, the police authority in the state later came to the rescue of the already traumatised residents of the Lokoja as it announced the arrest of three in connection with the killings.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Alhaji Muhammed Musa Katsina, who paraded the three suspects before reporters at the police headquarters in Lokoja said his men apprehended the armed terrorists at Ibilo in Edo State after a tipoff.

Among the three suspects was a middle aged woman, whom the police said the preliminary investigation revealed that she was an accessory before the fact.

He disclosed that the woman said to have assisted the wounded terrorists under the cover of darkness to Ibilo in Edo State after the exchanged of fire with police during the attack on the Deeper Live Church.

Katsina said the arrest did not come very easy as the hoodlums engaged the policemen in a fierce gun battle until they fell to the superior power of the law enforcement agents.

He said many of them escaped with various degrees of injuries but two were arrested by the police on the spot.

The commissioner, who also confirmed the arrest of some politicians in connection to the dastardly acts in the area, stated that they were using general approach syndrome to uncover the mystery that surrounded the killings.

He called on medical centres within the state and Edo not to admit anybody with bullet wounds to their hospitals as patients without a written permission from the police authority as he stated that some of the hoodlums had run away with their wounds to different locations during the raid on their hide out in Ibilo.

However, peace has relatively returned to the trouble zones in the state as heavily armed security agents were deployed in Okene to forestall any uprising.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

LIVING

August 11, 2012

37

For some time now, attention has shifted to Yobe State in the attacks of the Boko Haram sect on the Nigerian State. The once serene state has now become a theatre of war. Residents who had earlier thronged there for safety now flee in droves. When did the table turn against the state?

INUSA NDAHI MAIDUGURI

D

amaturu, capital of Yobe State, was the first headquarters of the Jama’atul Ahlis- Sunnah Liddaawti –Wal Jihad, otherwise called Boko Haram. Its leader, the late Mohammed Yusuf, had settled there before he moved to Maiduguri, the Bornu State capital with his family and some of his followers.

Maiduguri, upon the relocation of Yusuff, then became the headquarters of the sect. And it has been the centre stage of attacks since the 2009 insurgency of the sect which claimed the life of its leader.

Then, Damaturu was devoid of violence. It even served as a safe haven for thousands of people who fled there at the onset of the 2009 hostilities between the government and the sect.

Last year when the members of the sect clashed with the Joint Task Force (JTF) operatives in Kaleri Ward of Maiduguri metropolis and over 60 people were killed, many who felt the Bornu state capital was no longer safe relocated to Damaturu. The exodus was said to have increased the population Damaturu by 10 percent.

Unfortunately, Damauru, is now a danger zone. That the same Damaturu would one day become a theatre of war was unthinkable to most residents but not to security operatives.

Sources revealed to Saturday Mirror that, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam had been severally advised by security agencies on the possibility of a “spill over effect of Boko Haram to Damaturu” because of its proximity to Maiduguri. These, he was said to have largely ignored.

The first incident which probably proved right the fears of security agencies was that of November last year.

Barely two days to the Eid –El Kabir celebrations some suspected members of the sect laid ambush on Damaturu and Potiskum towns, killing more than 100 people who mostly policemen, while several churches were bombed.

Prior to this attack, the then Borno State Police Commissioner, Mr. Simeone Midenda now retired, while parading some suspects arrested by his men who revealed their sponsors in Damaturu, explained that, his command acted immediately and stormed the town. He added that after a search conducted in the house of the alleged sponsors in Damaturu metropolis, one SMG rifle, (French

Cherubim and Serahpim Church torched by the by the suspected sect.

Yobe:

A state under seige made) with 104 rounds of live ammunition, empty ammunition chain, two Improvised explosive devices, two pairs of military uniform, three empty ammunition boxes and three gallons of highly inflammable ABRO liquid were recovered.

He noted that with the arrest and recovery, the Command had averted what could have been a major disaster that was to befall Maiduguri residents and mar peaceful celebration of the Sallah festivities. How wrong, he was later proved to be. Days after, the coordinated attacks were launched in Damaturu.

Saturday Mirror learnt that the multiple attacks suspected to have been masterminded by the Islamic sect in Damaturu, came barely after three hours after some parts of the Joint Task Force, JTF buildings in Maiduguri were destroyed by three suicide bombers who detonated the explosive in their SUV at Pompari bypass around 1:20pm.

Mallam Mohammed Shaibu who witnessed the deadly attacks last year and had visited Damaturu Government Hospital in search of a missing friend said he counted 60 bodies in the morgue. But investigations later revealed that those who were seriously injured and taken to various hospitals for treatment could not survive. Most of them died.

Already, the Boko Haram sect has claimed responsibility for most of the coordinated attacks in Damaturu. It has also vowed to actualise its dream of islamising the Northern sub region of the country.

In a mainly Christian neighbourhood called Jerusalem within Damaturu, more than 15 churches were bombed since the insurgency started last year to date.

Amongst them were the branches of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church Movement, Catholic Church in addition to a police station.

“A police station and a mechanical workshop of the police were attacked. Six churches in the area were also bombed,” said a resident, who does not want his name in the print, adding: “The whole city is traumatised.”

Apparently disturbed by the situation, Governor Gaidam, after he had met with security chiefs in the state early this year, banned the use of motorcycles in Damaturu and Postiskum towns.

To serve as palliative measures, his administration procured a hundred tri-cycles also known as Keke NAPEP and buses which were distributed at a subsidised rate to beneficiaries. All these were done in order to curtail the security challenges in the state. They, however, seem not to have achieved the desired objectives.

Ramadan deadly encounter in Dama-

turu At the onset of the holy month of Ramadan, the sect was said to have declared a cease fire in honour of the revered period. Most residents, on hearing this, heaved a sigh of relief. This, sadly, was not to last. Hostilities have since been resumed by the sect.

Soldiers and policemen including the JTF operatives have continued to mount checkpoints in parts of Damaturu and Potiskum towns, searching vehicles and carrying out pat-downs on drivers and passengers, particularly a day to the commencement of the Ramadan fasting, after the state government had reviewed the curfew which is now from 6am to 10pm.

This too was to prove ineffective as the state is now witnessing a series of bomb attacks in its two major towns.

Last week Friday, the Emir of Fika and Chairman of the Yobe State Council of Chiefs, Dr. Muhammadu Abali Ibn Muhammadu Idrissa, narrowly escaped death. A suicide bomber had approached the monarch and detonated an explosive maerial while the royal father was coming out from a mosque after the Jumat prayers.

An eyewitness, Salisu Musa, recounted the event. “During our Friday prayers at the Central Mosque located in front of the Emir’s Palace, an unknown person CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

38

LIVING

August 11, 2012

‘We need government assistance to pick the pieces of our lives’

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Eburowanshi

Despite a four-year notice, residents and business owners affected by the demolition of structures along the planned 12-lane Mile 2 - Badagry Expressway insist that they were caught unawares. They are crying out for government assistance to relocate and rebuild their lives TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE Enoh

T

he people of Mazamaza and Agboju communities in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State have since Monday been experiencing demolition of structures along the Mile 2-Badagry Expressway.

The affected buildings fell to the efforts of Lagos State government to construct a 10-lane Mile 2 to Badagry Expressway to ease the stress that commuters usually pass through on the road. The demolition majorly affected many the transportation companies along the axis, especially those in Mazamaza. Some residential homes, hotels and firms along the expressway were also affected.

While the demolition was embraced by many people, considering that the government gave people about two to four years notice before carrying out the action, some were not happy with the action. Supporters of the demolition see it as an inevitable fallout of the development process in the state and also commend the state government’s action, especially since many of the landlords have been adequately compensated before the exercise. Many are, however, bitter about the demolition and condemned it in strong terms. They argue that they were not adequately prepared for the demolition. This is despite the long notice given to them by the government.

The plight of those who are unprepared for the exercise is aptly illustrated by the case of the Chairman of Promise Land Hotel, which occupies a three story building located in Mazamaza. He collapsed immediately he heard that his hotel has been demolished.

A resident who pleaded anonymity said, “The demolition affected a lot of people. Where do they want those people to go? In fact how do they want many of

A stranded family after the demolition

those whose buildings were demolished to start? I heard that the owner of Promise Land Hotel collapsed immediately he heard about the demolition of his hotel.”

The Manager of Good Shepherd Motors, Mr. Mike Owuntiata, however has a different view on the demolition. He asserts that the demolition is a welcome development, which will bring development to people living in the neighbourhood.

His words: “Generally we are happy with the demolition because it connotes development and Lagos State has to move forward. I believe that the construction of the expressway will enhance our business the more. I believe the government has also done its part by settling the owners of the structures that are being demolished. The owners of the structures have been adequately settled and that is why there was no protest against the demolition.

“The demolition affected us in a way but somehow we are going to adjust and move our vehicles backward. We are going to adjust to the situation.”

Another transporter, Mr. Matthias Nwankwo, believes that the demolition exercise has inflicted more pains on the poor masses. He therefore called on the govern-

Photos: OLUFEMI AJASA

ment to intervene and provide alternative places of business and abodes for those who are affected by the demolition exercise.

His words: “We were informed about the demolition about four years ago but many people, especially the transporters have found it difficult to leave because they don’t have any other place to go. The demolition that started on Monday caught many people unaware. The next things is for us is to leave this place.

“We lost huge amount of money in the demolition and N4million would not be enough if I decide to rebuild my office and also fix many materials that were damaged during the demolition. Before the demolition, we were only able to pick few things.

Majority of the government policies have always been affecting the poor. We want to appeal to the government to look at the poor masses and give them another place to stay.”

Mrs. Enoh Joseph, a trader provides another angle to the demolition debate.

She says, “If care is not taken, the demolition will lead many people to go into crime.

The crime rate will definitely increase. The government must do something urgently to provide alternative for the affected people.”

Nwankwo

Onyebuchi

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

LIVING

August 11, 2012

39

TONY ANICHEBE UYO.

T

he Rapid Response and Anti-Kidnap Squad in Akwa Ibom State on Thursday rescued the kidnapped pregnant wife of a former Special Adviser on Economic Development in Oron Local Government Area of the State, Hon. Ben Esin Uwe. The pregnant woman, Mrs. Agnes Ben Esin was kidnapped by a notorious six member kidnapping gang operating in the area.

The gun duel between men of the rapid response squad and the hoodlums in the Uya Oron mangrove forest where they had taken their victim hostage, however, led to the death of one of the kidnappers, who has been identified as Bassey alias Carton from Uya-Oron.

Before his death Bassey was well known as a kerosene dealer. He is also known to have gone into gravel excavation business at the Micava river bank in Uya-Oron. But unknown to his people, he was also into this heinous kidnapping crime.

Narrating his family’s ordeal, the husband of the victim Hon. Ben Esin Uwe said they were awoken at midnight by a loud bang that sounded like an explosion. Before they could figure where the noise was coming from, the wall of their bedroom had caved in and they were faced with a large hole on the wall directly opposite their bed. While they were still wondering what the problem was, somebody pointed a gun at them through the hole ordering them to open the main door or risk everyone in the house being killed.

Frightened by the threat, the woman of the house quickly obeyed so as not to incur the wrath of the criminals. The assailants, after inflicting series of injuries on Hon. Ben Uwe, made away with his pregnant wife, while slamming a ransom of N15m for her freedom.

While the beleaguered husband was busy trying to gather money to go and pay the kidnappers, some concerned friends, unknown to him, had reported the kidnapping to various security agencies. These efforts were soon to yield fruit. He got a call that his wife had been rescued by men of the anti-kidnapping squad.

The victim tells a horrid story of her trauma in the forest to which the kidnappers took her. “I was starved and made to sit in the rain for two days. I also got several machete cuts despite the fact that I am heavily pregnant. I thank God, the men of the anti-kidnapping squad and men of the Nigeria Police for working assiduously to save my life. If not for God, I would have been killed by my abductors.

But they were intercepted by men of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad at the point that Bassey (the dead gang member) ordered

Leader of the gang...gunned down during the rescue operation

‘Their leader ordered my execution’

•Pregnant

woman recounts ordeal in the hands of kidnappers my execution.”

The Divisional Police Officer, Oron Command, Mr. Ejike Ochiabutor lauded the efforts of the anti-kidnapping squad while calling on the people of the community to assist the police by always giving useful information to senior police officers who can manage the information very well, so as to help the police apprehend criminals.

The DPO stressed that the people can complement the efforts of the police by belonging to the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and by forming vigilante groups in every street.

He further called on members of the public to always give the police useful information that will lead to the arrest of cult members, adding that it is such information that the police need in order to help them exterminate miscreants from the community.

Meanwhile, the Chief Security Officer to Oron Local Government Area, Hon.

Murphy Esin, whose intelligence network made the rescue and subsequent arrest of the criminals possible, said the second kidnapper, who has been arrested in OtiekeOfi in Okobo Local Government Area where he took refuge, was found with Hon. Ben Esin’s handset. The kidnappers took the handset from him on the night of the operation.

The Security Chief who expressed satisfaction with the feat accomplished by the security operatives lauded the effort of the council chairman, Hon. Orman Esin, who dedicated time and energy to monitor the rescue operation from the first day of the incidence.

He also applauded the effort of the youth leader of Eyoabasi group of villages, Mr. Asuquo Enwene aka Leville.

He reiterated the need for the government to provide his office with the necessary tools and incentive to further enhance his team’s movement into every nook and

cranny of Oro creek to fish out the criminals terrorizing Oro, adding that as the investment hub of the state, Oro nation should be rid of criminals to encourage investors.

A top businessman in the area, who pleaded anonymity, lamented that for some time now, residents of Oron have been living in perpetual fear of the unknown, as men of the underworld continue to be on rampage. He described the rescue of the kidnapped pregnant woman as a sign of good things to come, as this was the first time kidnappers had been apprehended in Oro. Unlike Mrs. Agnes Ben Esin, whose freedom was secured without payment of ransom following the intervention of the anti-kidnapping squad, Mrs. Mary Okon, the proprietress of Backons Hotel, who was also kidnapped by another kidnap gang a night after Mrs. Uwe’s kidnap was released only after a huge ransom was paid by her family.

Mob beats baby trafficker to stupor CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

A

notorious child syndicate who is alleged to be in the business of kidnapping babies and subsequently selling them to prospective buyers was beaten to a coma while attempting to kidnap a five-year-old boy in Owerri on Monday.

The suspect, a 40 year old woman, was caught in the act when she had already stolen the baby from where she was kept by her mother, Mrs. Grace Onyeanu at Naze, Owerri North Local Government area of the state.

Although the victim’s name was not immediately known as she could not coherently speak after being beaten mercilessly, an eyewitness, who is the baby’s

aunt narrated how she actually caught the woman when she was carrying out the act.

“I saw the woman with the baby and immediately alerted the mother who was said to be busy inside the kitchen cooking.

The mother raised the alarm on seeing her baby. This attracted her neigbours, who descended on the kidnapper and beat her within an inch of her life.

By the time help came for the baby kidnapper, she had been beaten beyond recognition with blood all over her body.

Mrs. Onyeanu after regaining the custody of her child disclosed that she left the baby in her room while she attended to other chores in the kitchen.

The state Police Public Relation Officer, Vitalis Onugu, told National Mirror that he was yet to be briefed on the matter.

40

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Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Yobe: A state under seige CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 was initially sighted sitting among the monarch’s entourage and he was asked to leave the place. But immediately after the prayer, the same person was sighted again, now rushing towards the Emir. The Emir’s police orderly quickly pushed the man aside just as a bomb exploded tearing off the policeman’s arm and injuring dozens of other people”, he added.

Sympathisers and worshippers at the scene were asked to leave the place to allow security operatives made up of policemen and soldiers do their work but they refused to leave. A soldier, in order to disperse them, fired into the air. This led to a peaceful protest against the soldier. Some elders of the Emirate Council, however, intervened to calm the situation.

The victims were all rushed to the emergency unit of the General Hospital, Potiskum, for treatment; about 15 people were seen being dressed while others went home with minor injuries.

Since then many had fled the town and tension has risen.

Adamu Abdullahi, an Islamic cleric condemned the attack saying: “it is very unfortunate for a suicide bomber to attack his fellow faithful on a worship ground in the month of Ramadan. This is a devilish act and God will punish the perpetrators.”

Security has since been intensified in the town with thorough checking at military road blocks. One of the major roads passing in front of the Divisional Police Office was even blocked to avoid further attacks on the Police, a source within the agency revealed.

Condemning the attack on his person, the Emir of Fika described it as devilish and not Islamic.

The Emir, at his Potiskum palace, while speaking to reporters on how to end the Boko Haram insurgency said: “We should live in peace without resorting to any violence, as without peace and

Geidam

harmony among the various ethnic and religious groups in this state, no meaningful development could take place.”

The monarch added that: “What happened on Friday while we were coming out from the mosque was unfortunate

especially in the holy month of Ramadan when all are fasting. We thank God that no life was lost.”

He therefore, appealed to the people to remain calm and continue to pray fervently until peace and security of lives

and property are restored in the state and the country at large.

The chairman of the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Garba Idi, also expressed shock over the wanton killings of his members by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect, without government doing anything possible to address the situation.

Idi stated this recently at his residence in Jerusalem ward, one of the Christian dominated areas with different church denominations in Damaturu that suffered serious attacks and killings in the past.

The cleric noted with dismay the rate of killing and burning of churches where many Christians were killed and injured.

Idi while lamenting the increase in the number of his members fleeing the state capital and Potiskum in particular, said, Christians have lost confidence in the government and security.

He advised President Goodluck Jonathan to use his position for the immediate deployment of additional security personnel to guard all churches in the state, so as to protect them from further attacks.

The latest attack in Damaturu was on Sunday. A JTF patrol team at a checkpoint was attacked by a suicide bomber. Six soldiers and two civilians were killed while nine people were critically injured.

The attack which started at about 11am sparked off exchange of gun fire between security agents and suspected members of the sect which lasted many hours. As the gun battle raged, many Christians who had earlier gone to church for the Sunday service were trapped and some of them were forced to seek refuge in nearby houses of their friends until normalcy was returned.

The Boko Haram sect through its spokesman Abu Qaqa has since claimed responsibility for the attack.

Female banker crushes LASTMA official to death SEGUN ADIO

A

n official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Hammed Balogun, 33, was yesterday crushed to death by a female banker, while on duty. The sad incident occurred at Mega City, in Ajah area of the state.

Eyewitnesses told Saturday Mirror that the banker, identified as Mrs. Johnson, was driving a Green Land Rover with registration number CY 276 LSD. Mrs. Johnson was reported to work for one of the new generation bank operating on Victoria Island, in Lagos. Mrs. Johnson was reported to be driving against traffic from Mega Chicken inward toll Plaza two on Victoria Island, and was intercepted by three officials of LASTMA led by the

Head of Operations, Quayum Asafa, apparently for traffic violation.

Eye witnesses say in a bid to escape justice for the offence committed, Mrs. Johnson, rather than alight from the car and answer questions being asked her, instead drove recklessly and in the process ran over the late Balogun.

The deceased was immediately rushed to Germaine Hospital where he later died as a result of injury sustained from the accident. His corpse has been deposited at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, Ikeja for autopsy.

Realizing what she has done, Mrs. Johnson reportedly left her car and ran into Ikota Estate, Ajah, while security men guarding the estate, reportedly shut the gate behind her.

The situation became riotous as the security me refused all entries to open the gate for the mob to descend on Mrs

Johnson. It took the intervention of the Area Commander, Area J, MR. Felix Uwamli, who mobilized and called for backup before access could be gained into the Estate.

The suspect was finally arrested and taken to Ajiwe Police station from where she was transferred to the Criminal Investigative Department, Panti for further interrogations.

Confirming the incident, the General Manager LASTMA, Engr. Babatunde Edu lamented the callous killings of two of his officers within a month and attributed this to the impatient and indiscipline acts often demonstrated by reckless drivers in the State. Eng. Edu recalled that governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, had, on Thursday, August 2, 2012, signed into law the New Road Traffic Law in the state that provides for Road Traffic Administration

to sanitize the Centre of Excellence of bad driving culture and also maintain law and order on Lagos roads.

Edu regretted that despite the efforts of the State government, the nonchalant attitude of some motorists had resulted into loss of lives or maiming of innocent citizens. He thereby appealed once again to members of the public to desist from attacking the traffic officers and to see them as dedicated Nigerians who work under the sun and inside the rain to ensure that everybody gets home on time. He said that whenever the public is aggrieved about LASTMA activities, they should not hesitate to complain at LASTMA Headquarters rather than taking the laws into their hands and assured all and sundry of justice and fairness whenever such complaint is made.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SPORT

August 11, 2012

41

London 2012 and Nigeria’s “Team Diaspora” Team Nigeria’s performance at the ongoing London 2012 Olympics has been described as the worst since Nigeria began featuring at the quadrennial global showpiece.

Today, it is no longer news that athletes compete at the Olympics not for money but for national pride.

The number of medals a nation gathers reveals the level of national pride, but in Nigeria, the discovery of oil and the unprecedented corruption that came with it has gradually led to a massive loss of national focus, dignity and pride, while our political leaders scramble for our collective resources and plan only for the next election.

Other key areas of national development like sports have been left to rot as evident in the 2012 Olympics following the inability

Christine Ohuruogu-Great Britain (400m)

C

hristine Ijeoma Ohuruogu, MBE (born 17 May 1984) is a British athlete, who specialises in the 400 metres; the event for which she is the former Olympic, World and Commonwealth Champion.

Her victory in the Beijing Games was the 50th gold medal for Great Britain in athletics at Olympic Games.

She also won the 400

metres at the 2007 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Ohuruogu’s personal best time of 49.61s ranks her third amongst British women 400 m runners, behind Kathy Cook and Katharine Merry. She is coached by Lloyd Cowan and represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics.

of our athletes to garner medals.

Yet, those in government are never worried over the fact that a country with a population of over 160 million inhabitants and the 6th largest producer of oil in the world did not produce a single medal in London.

To say the least, our athletes did their personal best for a country that cared less for their preparations, while the wiser ones among them have moved on to countries with national dignity and value to win laurels for them.

Below is a list of athletes of Nigerian descent who competed for other nations at the London 2012 Olympics. as compiled by ANDREW EKEJIUBA.

Ezinne Okparaebo – Norway (100m)

E

zinne Okparaebo is a Nigerian-born athlete who has been living in Norway since she was nine and competes in track and field internationally for the European country. She was born in 1988, and hails from Imo State.

She has represented Norway at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in the 100 metres where she placed second in her heat with a time of 11.32 seconds and also qualified for the second round, but failed to make it to the semis.

At the ongoing London 2012 Olympics, Okparaebo finished fourth in the Heats of the women’s 100m with another national record of 11.14 secs. She further improved on her time to 11.10 secs in the semi-finals, but failed to advance to the final.

Marilyn Okoro-Great Britain (800m)

M

arilyn Chinwenwa Okoro (born 23 September 1984 in London) is a British athlete of Igbo ancestry.

She was part of the British athletics team at the London 2012 Olympics and it could be remembered that she represented Great Britain at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and finished sixth (1:59.53) in the semifinals.

Okparaebo

Danielle Alakija – Fiji Islands (400m)

D Ohuruogu

Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu-Great Britain (Triple jump)

P

hillips Olaosebikan Idowu, (MBE) is a British triple jumper and a thorough Nigerian, who was born into the family of Late Chief Nathaniel Idowu.

The 2008 World Indoor champion and reigning 2010 EAA European Champion represented Great Britain at the ongoing London Olympic Games.

Idowu is a member of the London-based Belgrave Harriers Athletics Club and despite his successes he

Idowu

has at times been accused of inconsistency and of failing to fulfil his potential, including his disappointing failure at the London Olympics 2012.

Prior to the Olympics, Idowu was battling for fitness and had not competed competitively for near on 3 months as he struggled and couldn’t make it past the qualifying round of the triple jump event; thus ending his hopes of a medal at the London Olympics 2012.

anielle Alakija is a Britishborn Fijian athlete of Nigerian descent and she has been described as the youngest athlete taking part at the ongoing Olympic Games in London.

The 16-year old trains and schools in the United States and was part of the silver-medal winning 4x400m relay team at the 2011 Pacific Games.

Born in London to a mother from Nigeria and a father who has roots in Brazil and England, she has spent most of her life in Fiji. The young athlete competed in the women’s 400m though she didn’t make it beyond the heats in the 400m where she finished Alakija with a time of 56.77 seconds.

Eniola Aluko – Great Britain (Football)

E

niola Aluko is the younger sister of Sone Aluko who played for Nigeria’s U-20 football team during the 2009 FIFA World Cup in Egypt, but has chosen to pitch her tent with Great Britain.

She was born in Lagos in 1987, but her parents moved to Birmingham when she was one-year-old.

The First Class Law graduate from Brunel University represented England at the U-17 and U-19 national levels and currently a member of Great Britain’s female national football team at the ongoing London Olympic Games.

The team won their Group E matches against New Zealand and Cameroon and also beat favourites Brazil 1-0, but was sent packing from the competition in the quarterfinals as they were defeated 2-0 by Canada.

Okoro

DETAILED LIST OF NIGERIA’S “TEAM DIASPORA” 1. Margaret Adeoye-Great Britain (200m) 2. Foluke Akinradewo- USA (Volleyball) 3. Danielle Alakija- Fiji (400m) 4. Anthony Alozie- Australia (4X100m) 5. Eniola Aluko- Great Britain (Football) 6. Oluwadamilola Bakare-Great Britain (Volleyball) 7. Peter Bakare- Great Britain (Volleyball) 8. Ifeoma Dieke- Great Britain (Football) 9. Innocent Emeghara- Switzerland (Football) 10. Temi Fagbenle- Great Britain (Basketball) 11. Haynes Akeem- Canada (4X100m) 12. Phillips Idowu-Great Britain (Triple Jump) 13. Saheed Idowu-Congo (Table Tennis) 14. Ayodele Ikuesan- France (4X100m) 15. Oluwasegun Makinde- Canada (4X100m) 16. Marilyn Okoro- Great Britain (4X400m) 17. Lawrence Okoye- Great Britain (Discus) 18. Ezinne Okparaebo- Norway (100/200m) 19. Anyika Onuora- Great Britain (100/200m) 20. Andrew Osagie- Great Britain (800m) 21. Abiodun Oyepitan- Great Britain (100m) 22. Chinyere Pigot- Suriname (Swimming) 23. Oluseyi Smith- Canada (4X100m)

Aluko

24. Christine Ohuruogu- Great Britain (100m)

42

SPORT

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

We never planned to win Olympic medals –Popoola Secretary-General of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Mr. Tunde Popoola, is a former national hockey team player and has been in the administration of sports for a while. He spoke with our Sport Editor, EVEREST ONYEWUCHI, in London at the ongoing Olympic Games, where he disclosed why Team Nigeria has performed miserably.

H

ow is the 30th Olympiad going so far?

Well, it’s been a very impressive one, considering that Britain wanted to live up to its name when it comes to timing, keeping to record and keeping to the rules and guidelines. It’s been wonderful right from the opening ceremony, which I want to say is perfect, though no human endeavour is perfect, in terms of organisation. After that, all the events were on time to schedule – the security, transportation, name it. You can’t beat it; so far I think it is well. You can compare it with Beijing 2008, if not technology that was over-played in China. This is one of the best organised competitions with people attending the events.

The opening of the athletics events was extremely wonderful; it can’t be described.

It has made a good show of this Olympics. I think it has set standards and a benchmark for others to follow.

How do you assess the atmosphere in the Games Village, generally?

It’s all part of the package, very cool, serene. Everybody goes about his or her business. Talking about the cafeteria and cuisine available, the range of foods offered, nobody can honestly complain about that.

The rooms are good, beddings alright. Let me say it, it’s all beautiful.

Let’s come home now, how do you rate Nigeria’s preparations for this London 2012 Olympics, with regards to the NOC relationship with the NSC? I have been saying it and I will continue to say it; our preparations are not the best.

We leave it till the last minute and this one is not much of an exception, but it’s just a little better than it used to be. It’s still the same thing and I think that by the end of this London Olympics, we should have learnt our lessons. And we must start planning from the day this one ends for the next one.

Some countries prepare four and eight years. Some prepare 12 years ahead. But after here, we will start thinking that next

Olympics in Brazil is four years away, but that’s not the way to go. You have to programme people. I give you one example, canoeing. Our athlete we felt would do well, but he failed. For me, he did his best despite the penalty. For anybody going into canoeing and swimming that is natural to a whole lot of Nigerians, we do not plan to win medals in just four years. It has to take up to 12 years planning.

The question I’m asking is, ‘which threeyear-old, four-year-olds do we have to win medals in the next two Olympics?’ We had a wildcard in swimming this year, but we couldn’t come and I think it was better we didn’t bother to fill it. Look at the records being broken in swimming here; it would have been outright disgrace from Day One in the pool.

What we’re saying is that we should plan ahead. The events we’re good in, we should continue to make them. Look at our athletics this time; we didn’t do much with the men because our programme was not right.

It’s not that we don’t have the athletes, we have in some areas. It’s like in table tennis, where they’re all old and no succession.

The next Olympics we would be there, but I’ve not seen those who will represent us in table tennis. We need eight years to revive table tennis, but I have not seen those who will do it. Sincerely, our preparations are not what I would say were aimed at winning medals based on the quantum of athletes we have in Nigeria. It’s not good enough.

Let’s take water polo for example, if we can’t do normal swimming, what is in water polo that Nigeria can’t participate and compete in? This is what we do in our streams and rivers in our villages, with people throwing balls to play...

I think the aspect of facility management and facility maintenance is zero. For now, it’s mainly a government issue, but I think the private sector has a whole lot to do in this direction. There are so many ways they can assist government in this

Dashed dream! Nigeria’s medal hopeful, Blessing Okagbare, failed to win a medal at the London 2012 Olympics despite qualifying for the women’s 100m final.

wise. Clubs should be able to build their swimming pools and maintain them. For now, those of the Federal Government are a shame; look at the National Stadiums in Lagos and Abuja, these are serious international facilities that are rotting away.

What then is our problem, and where do we get the athletes to train on standard facilities?

No, it’s a complete package, a complete programme. As we speak, people are thinking of the 16-year-old Chinese girl that broke swimming record. I know the Chinese will present another prodigy in Rio de Janeiro. They have focus and we need to have a lot of re-orientation about the way to run our sports in Nigeria. Most of these things are not about money; it’s about dedication, about showing direction, about getting the right people as well. We should stop playing politics with sports. That’s one area we need to look into. If you’re not competent you should not be appointed.

People may lampoon me, but I don’t care, we should stop politicising our fed-

Popoola

erations’ elections. Somebody loses in athletics; he moves over to gymnastics or goes elsewhere to contest. Where is the passion, where is the commitment? People just want to belong, get in for personal interest.

I was a hockey player; I can’t go into another sport to contest its leadership. Look at basketball; it is in this Olympics because the NBBF president is so committed. Take AFN president, Solomon Ogba, he is very, very committed. In these people, you see passion and commitment for the sports they manage. You must be known within your own community. That is part of the problem because leadership is key to success. It’s unfortunate that we’re not winning medals, whereas we have more innate physical attributes than those winning.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SPORT

August 11, 2012

43

XXXTH OLYMPIC SUMMER GAMES

London 2012

EVEREST ONYEWUCHI REPORTING

July 27 - August 12, 2012

TIT BITS

I don’t respect Carl Lewis – Bolt N ewly-crowned “g reatest-ever sprinter” Usain Bolt has said he had lost all respect for Carl Lewis, the man whose on-track exploits he has surpassed with his unique Olympic double-double, but who still leads the way in selfregard.

American Lewis is the only other man to win two Olympic 100m gold medals, the second coming in 1988 when he was promoted from second place after the disqualification of Ben Johnson.

He won the 200m in 1984, but managed only silver four years later. He did, however, have a remarkable run of success in the long jump, winning that event in four successive Games for a tally of nine gold medals in all.

In the wake of Bolt’s triple-gold record success in Beijing, Lewis was quick to point the finger of suspicion at him and Jamaica in general.

“I think there are some issues. Countries like Jamaica do not have a random (drugs testing)

program, so they can go months without being tested. I’m not saying anyone is on anything, but everyone needs to be on a level playing field,” Lewis said.

He added, “I’m not saying they’ve done anything for certain. I don’t know.

But how dare anybody feel that there shouldn’t be scrutiny, especially in our sport?”

He has continued to fire broadsides ever since but Bolt, now with his sprinting record unquestionably superior, hit back.

“I’m going to say some-

Rudisha delighted with new world record

K

enya’s David Rudisha capped four years of dominance in the 800 metres by storming to gold in a world record time with a dazzling run at the London Olympics.

As the 80,000 crowd roared him on, the world champion scorched around the Olympic Stadium in one minute 40.91secs to beat the mark of 1.41.01secs he set two years ago in Italy.

“I had no doubt about winning, but I was waiting for perfect conditions to break the record. When I woke up this morning, I saw the weather was great and I knew I could do something special.

“I am happy. I’ve waited for this moment for a long time. To come here and set a new world record is unbelievable,” the 23-yearold said.

Rudisha

London 2012 inspires future rugby Olympians

I

nternational Rugby Board Chairman Bernard Lapasset is confident that the success of the London 2012 Olympic Games will inspire Rugby Sevens players hoping to participate in the world’s largest sporting event in four years’ time.

Rugby Sevens will make its Games debut at Rio 2016 and Lapasset, in London for International Olympic Committee (IOC) planning and preparation meetings and an event to mark the

four-year countdown to Rio, believes that there is already palpable excitement within the global rugby family.

“London is the first Olympic Games since the IOC voted Rugby Sevens onto the summer programme. It is therefore a significant milestone for the IRB and our players around the world as we continue to prepare for our Games debut in Rio de Janeiro.

“In four years’ time the world’s best men’s and

women’s Sevens players will compete on the biggest sporting stage and rub shoulders with the world’s top athletes from other disciplines in the Olympic Village. It is incredibly exciting and for aspiring Olympian rugby players it will be the realisation of a dream.

“The players and coaches are telling me that they can’t wait, that they are proud and honoured by the opportunity they have to showcase our sport to the world,” Lapasset said.

thing controversial right now, Carl Lewis - I have no respect for him,” Bolt said, having cited 1936 quadruple champion Jesse Owens as a man he held in the highest regard.

“The things he (Lewis) says about the track athletes, it’s really downgrading for another athlete to be saying something like that about other athletes.

So, for me, I’ve lost all respect for him, all respect,” the Jamaican double champion, said.

Dog cheers, as owner wins boxing gold

Swimming: Mellouli triumphs in 10km Marathon

T

unisia’s Oussama Mellouli won the men’s 10km marathon gold in the open water of the Serpentine yesterday. Mellouli, who took bronze in the 1500m Free-

style in the pool last week, was followed home by the German Thomas Lurz who took silver, while the bronze medallist was Richard Weinberger of Canada.

Oussama Mellouli celebrates with his gold medal.

Montenegro aiming for handball final upset

M

ontenegro women’s handball team have created history by guaranteeing their country’s first ever Olympic medal and they will be gunning for gold when they meet Norway in today’s final.

The eastern Europeans were tipped as dark horses in the competition at the start of the Games but not expected to challenge in the gold medal match ahead of the likes of France, Spain and Russia.

B

ritish gold-medal winners love their dogs and want them to share the Olympic spirit.

Days after Andy Murray festooned his two border terriers, Maggie May and Rusty, with his gold and silver medals, it was learnt Thursday that British female boxer, Nicola Adams, paid for her dog, Dexter, to watch her Olympic bouts while he was boarded at a kennel.

The Morley Observer and Advertiser, reports that Adams paid a small fee so that the Doberman would be able to view her event. The manager at MyPetShop said that while it’s not uncommon for owners to pay for little amenities for their dog, it’s never been quite like this.

“This will certainly be a first where the dog can watch their owner - especially in the Olympics - so I’m sure Dexter will be excited,” Sheli Dobbie told the paper.

Adams won her flyweight event on Thursday, becoming the first woman to ever win a gold medal in the new Olympic sport.

Jovanka Radicevic celebrates following their victory over Spain.

LONDON 2012 MEDALS TABLE Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

1. United States of America

39

25

26

90

2. People’s Rep. of China

37

24

19

80

3. Great Britain

25

15

14

54

4. Russian Federation

12

21

24

57

5. Republic of Korea

12

7

6

25

6. Germany

10

17

11

38

7. France

8

9

12

29

8. Hungary

8

4

3

15

9. Australia

7

13

10

30

10. Italy

7

6

6

19

11. Kazakhstan

6

0

3

9

12. Japan

5

14

14

33

13. Netherlands

5

5

7

17

14. Islamic Rep. of Iran

4

4

1

9

15. New Zealand

4

2

5

11

16. People’s Rep. of Korea

4

0

1

5

17. Belarus

3

3

4

10

18. Cuba

3

3

3

9

18. Jamaica

3

3

3

9

20. Ukraine

3

1

6

10

44

LEISURE

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

45

August 11, 2012

Tapeworm T

apeworm infection is caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with tapeworm eggs or larvae. If you ingest certain tapeworm eggs, they can migrate outside your intestines and form larval cysts in body tissues and organs (invasive infection). If you ingest tapeworm larvae, however, they develop into adult tapeworms in your intestines (intestinal infection).

An adult tapeworm consists of a head, neck and chain of segments called proglottids. When you have an intestinal tapeworm infection, the tapeworm head adheres to the intestine wall, and the proglottids grow and produce eggs. Adult tapeworms can live for up to 20 years in a host.

Intestinal tapeworm infections are usually mild, but invasive larval infections can cause serious complications.

Symptoms Many people with intestinal tapeworm infection have no symptoms. If you do feel the effects, your symptoms will depend on the type of tapeworm you have and its location. Invasive tapeworm infection symptoms vary depending on where the larvae have migrated.

Intestinal infection Signs and symptoms of intestinal infection include:  Nausea  Weakness  Loss of appetite  Abdominal pain  Diarrhoea  Weight loss and inadequate absorption of nutrients from food

Invasive infection If tapeworm larvae have migrated out of your intestines and formed cysts in other tissues, they can eventually cause organ and tissue damage,

resulting in:  Fever  Cystic masses or lumps  Allergic reactions to the larvae  Bacterial infections  Neurological symptoms, including seizures.

If you experience any of the signs or symptoms of tapeworm infection, seek medical attention.

Causes A tapeworm infection starts after ingestion of tapeworm eggs or larvae.  Ingestion of eggs. If you eat food or drink water contaminated with faeces from a person or animal with tapeworm, you ingest microscopic tapeworm eggs.

For example, a pig infected with tapeworm will pass tapeworm eggs in its faeces, which gets into the soil. If this same soil comes in contact with a food or water source, it becomes contaminated.

You can then be infected when you eat or drink something from the contaminated source. Once inside your intestines, the eggs develop into larvae. At this stage, the larvae become mobile. If they migrate out of your intestines, they

form cysts in other tissues, such as your lungs, central nervous system or liver.  Ingestion of larvae cysts in meat or muscle tissue. When an animal has a tapeworm infection, it has tapeworm larvae in its muscle tissue. If you eat raw or undercooked meat from an infected animal, you ingest the larvae, which then develop into adult tapeworms in your intestines. Adult tapeworms can measure up to 50 feet (15.2 meters) long and can survive as long as 20 years in a host.

Some tapeworms attach themselves to the walls of the intestines, where they cause irritation or mild inflammation, while others may pass through to your stool and exit your body.

Risk factors Factors that may put you at greater risk of tapeworm infection include:  Poor hygiene. Infrequent washing and bathing, with poor sanitation practices increases the risk of accidental transfer of contaminated matter to your mouth.  Exposure to livestock. This is especially problematic in areas where human and animal faeces are not disposed of properly.

 Eating raw or undercooked meats.

Improper cooking may fail to kill tapeworm eggs and larvae contained in contaminated pork or beef.  Living in endemic areas. In certain parts of the world, exposure to tapeworm eggs is more likely.

Complications Intestinal tapeworm infections usually aren’t complicated. The complications that do sometimes develop include:  Digestive blockage. If tapeworms grow large enough, they can block your appendix, leading to infection (appendicitis); your bile ducts, which carry bile from your liver and gallbladder to your intestine; or your pancreatic duct, which carries digestive fluids from your pancreas to your intestine.  Brain and central nervous system impairment. Called neurocysticercosis, this dangerous complication of invasive pork tapeworm infection can result in headaches and visual impairment, as well as seizures, meningitis, hydrocephalus or dementia. Death can occur in severe cases of infection.

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

LETTER

‘His sperm count is low’ Dear Doctor, I am 25 years old and in love with a man of 31. We have been courting for three years and plan to marry soon but I’ve never missed my period. My fiancé once visited a gynaecologist and was told, after some tests, that his sperm count was low. He was given some antibiotics. We have since then been expecting a change in the situation but nothing has happened yet. He once confided in me that only three out of his former numerous girlfriends had ever told him they missed their periods and they were

those he didn’t quite trust and was not deeply involved with.

Since he was once a flirt, I’m beginning to think that he must have had gonorrhea which was not fully treated. He often squeezes his face as if he is in pain each time he wants to ejaculate while we are making love.

Please Doctor, I will like you to tell me if there is something wrong with him and what can we do to solve the problem. I’m really in love with him and I’m bothered about the problem.

I haven’t been to a specialist myself because I don’t think there is anything wrong with me. Although I

have done D&C three times for someone else, it was done by a specialist and there was no problem afterwards.

Mirror Doctor replies: The information contained in your letter is quite insufficient for a meaningful appraisal of the problems. To be able to advise you on your fiancé, I need to have a full picture of the seminal fluid analysis.

I need to know the following facts: Sperm Volume Time sample was produced.

Time sample was examined.

Count Motility General morphology Culture and sensitivity These results will enable me to have a

complete picture of the area of problem. It might be at the level of the testes, around or inside the tubes which conducts sperm to the penis for ejaculation.

The thought of a gonorrhea infection is not out of place as a causation of male infertility (Low sperm count). You need to get your partner thoroughly investigated before you commit yourself to a marriage. The problem may not be real now but later on, you will have the pains of having to be blamed for his problems.

Of course, your choice will be to love your partner and forget about his problem of low sperm count. However, I believe this will not be a realistic sacrifice for love.

Get him to see an urologist (a specialist doctor that deals with such problems). I reckon he will derive positive benefit in the form of improving his deposits.

46

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘Roofing sheet business has no season’ FUNMI SALOME JOHNSON

A

re you an investor looking for what to invest your money in that could give you returns without much challenge especially as it relates with power supply? Then you may give the roofing sheet business a thought admonished Moroof Olanrewaju the managing director of Bolmark Nigeria Enterprises located in the Ikeja area of Lagos who has been into the business of roofing sheets distribution for over 20 years.

According to this Yoruba entrepreneur, the business of roofing sheet is quite an interesting and lucrative one. “It is a business that you could gradually build into an empire if you properly plan the business and make a good account of it,” he noted.

“In the last 20 years that I have been into the business, it had improved sporadically and there have been new developments in the area of product quality. I have been dealing in Nigerite products, which quite a lot of people consider the best in Nigeria because of its varied types of sizes and quality,” stated Olanrewaju.

Although the business is quite capital intensive, it is a business that is worth investing in, says Olanrewaju. It is not a business you invest in and have to wait for ‘an eternity’ to make returns on it as long as you are making sales.

You start getting returns on your investment immediately sales are made. The bottom line is to make

ANOTHER UNIQUE THING ABOUT THIS NATURE OF BUSINESS IS THE FACT THAT

PRIMARILY, ANYONE INTO IT IS NOT TO BOTHER ABOUT POWER BECAUSE IT HAS NOTHING TO DO

WITH POWER USAGE.

ALL YOU NEED IS

SPACE TO SELL AND THE PATRONAGE sales, he added.

He further disclosed to Saturday Mirror how he started his business 20 years ago with a capital of N200, 000 and today the business is worth millions. However, Olanrewaju noted that to commence the business today, one would need between N1 million and N1.5 million because “you have to be able to buy a lorry of roofing sheets of different types and sizes and then you will also think of the space where you will stay to make the sales. You will need to rent a shop or a space where people will come to, to make patronage.”

Another unique thing to this nature of business is the fact that primarily, anyone into it is not to bother about power because it has nothing to do with power usage. All you need is your space

Olanrewaju

to sell and the patronage. You don’t have to use power for anything unless you want to enjoy the comfort of your inner office, for example the use of fan or air conditioner.

However, Olanrewaju warned that what could create a setback in the business is not getting the right persons to work with in area of work assistants.

“You need to get a person that is passionate about what you do and who will handle the product with care and diligence. This is important because some assistants who are not committed may become careless and

overload a customer or under load them when they come for patronage and such deficit bounces back to the business owner. Care is also needed when carrying the sheets because they are made of cement and, if not carefully carried, could brake and that will become a shortage at the end of the day. Apart from that, the business is almost a risk-free one,” enthused Olanrewaju.

Another important factor, according to the merchant, is also being nice and polite to customers as they come to make them come back to you the next time.

Olanrewaju also warned that it is very essential for any would-beinvestor to first of all learn all the intricacies of the business from people who have been in the business for a while before going into it to ensure further success of the business.

“You know that every business has its own intricacies and if you do not formally learn from experienced people, you may get stuck in between or get defrauded at the end of it, so it is very vital to get training and proper tutorials from those who have been in that line for a while,” he counselled.

Talking about the peak period of the business, Olanrewaju noted that business comes in at any time but it is more when the festive periods are approaching, which is between the months of September and December when people will want to work on one building project or the other. This period is around the corner now,” he says.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

47

August 11, 2012

Making money from instant noodles production

I

ntroduction Nigeria has a very big market, with estimated population of over 160 million people as at the end of 2011.

This figure will continue to rise, creating further increase in consumption.

Therefore, the market for any daily consumable products such as Instant noodles will not be a problem. The Nigerian products are acceptable in the international market if well processed according to international standards.

The major challenge for now is power supply, which has not been regular.

However, with the efforts of the government and present reforms by President Goodluck Jonathan in the power sector, improvement is expected in the year 2013.

The project An instant noodle is a food item consumed on daily basis by many homes in both urban and rural areas. It is one of the affordable foods in the market today with increase in the price of bread.

Due to rapid increase in demand for the product, any investor into this area with well prepared feasibility studies/business plan will be successful.

It is a meal that can be prepared just in a few minutes. The high food demand, due principally to the increasing population and urbanization, the severe shortage of time on the part of bachelors, spinsters and working mothers, and the change in feeding habits and way of life have all combined to make the eating of instant noodles very popular.

Instant noodles have great repeat sales tendencies and the transportation cost per naira value of the product is low. So apart from producing to satisfy local demand, one can also embark on export to earn foreign exchange. Cur-

rently in Nigeria, there are still a few producers, so there is more than enough room for new entrants to make a decent living.

Raw materials The major raw material is wheat powder having ash content of between 0.5 and 0.4%. Others are carbonic salt, common salt and lard (oil). Carbonic salt water gives the noodles special stickiness, elasticity, smoothness and taste while lard is for frying. Common slat helps make the noodles homogeneous, regulates the stickiness and adds salty test.

Other flavoring or seasoning additives include onion powder, MSG, Hydrolised vegetable protein (preferably soybean-based), chili powder, phosphoric acid salt, starch powder, etc. The noodles can be fortified by adding industryapproved quantities of such vitamins as B and D. The flavors (called soup) are usually packed separately in small cellophane before being enclosed in the packaged fried noodles.

For packing, one needs poly-cellophane (300 mm x 190 mm), carton boxes (which may contain about 30 pieces) and packing tape. One can see that virtually all the raw materials required can be obtained locally.

Equipment The machinery and equipment needed are noodles-making machine, measuring and cutting equipment, fryer, cooling equipment, accessories including steam boiler, edible and heavy oil tanks, kneader base, chimney and furnace materials. A standby generator of appropriate capacity is a must to ensure power supply.

Production process Nine distinct processes are involved in the production of noodles and these

are briefly described here. Wheat powder and additives are dissolved in carbonic salt solution for about 10 to 15 minutes making sure that the quantity of water and salt is such that the required viscosity is maintained as this is influenced by atmospheric temperature.

The noodles are now cut and the weight calculated bearing in mind the dough thickness, weight and the conditions under which the dough was made. The cut-measured noodles are now steamed. During this process, the protein in the dough changes to alphaprotein because of heat. This makes the dough strips stickier and smoother in just one minute and under the steam pressure of 1.5-2.5kg/cm3.

On getting out of the cut machine, the noodles curl and are now put in cases in order to prevent deformation during frying. The cased noodles are fried. This process eliminates moisture, secures a permanent form for the noodles and promotes the process of alphanisation.

This takes 1 to 1.5 minutes at a temperature of 140oC to 150oC. The fried noodles are cooled by air in order to solidify the lard (oil) used in frying, which is now fixed on the surface of the strip noodles. After this, they are packaged in poly-cellophane bags measuring 300cm x 190cm before being packed in carton boxes containing 30 packs of noodles. The cartons are cellotaped and the instant noodles are ready for the market after they have been inspected as to form, quality, colour and weight.

Project cost It is estimated that the sum of N38 million will be adequate to set up the project. This comprises of

N’000 Pre-investment 750 expenses Land and 9,900 buildings Machinery and 13,782 equipment Utilities 7,250 (transformer, vehicles, gensets etc) Working 3,500 capital Contingency 2,388 Total 37, 570 Implementation Implementing this project will take the following steps: Commissioning for the preparation of a comprehensive feasibility study, acquisition and development of the project site, erection of the factory and buildings, sourcing for funds, purchasing project vehicles, recruitment and training the relevant staff, purchasing and installing the machinery, equipment and necessary utilities, test running and commissioning of the factory for commercial operation.

Food processing is the industry of the future, particularly in a country where the relevant raw materials are abundant. This project is highly recommended to serious industrialists as it will attract financing from the industrial development banks for its establishment because of its profitability, innovativeness, value added advantages, future prospects and overall effects in the development of the economy.

Courtesy: Uba Godwin, 08034494437, E-mail: ubagodwin@yahoo.com

48

People

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

August 11, 2012

Bayo Ibitayo: Economist turned educationist FUNMI SALOME JOHNSON

B

ayo Ibitayo, holds a first degree in Economics and a master’s degree in International Relations, but he has chosen helping others to secure their future in education as his career.

This is probably born out of the current educational pursuit among the Nigerian affluent. It is common knowledge now that for the nation’s affluent, studying abroad is fast becoming a fad especially so because of the decline in the country’s educational system as well as various interruptions in its calendar. Now, a lot of people who have the wherewithal seek overseas education.

For over eight years Ibitayo, who is the Managing Director of Franice-Forte and Associates, has assisted several students in gaining admission into overseas’ schools of their choice that are also suitable for their circumstance.

According to Ibitayo, it is not just enough to say one wants to study in the Americas or Europe when one’s financial capacity is in doubt. Overseas study, he stressed, is expensive, however, if properly planned;

someone could manage their resources and see themselves through school.

“Some would come to tell me that they want to study in America or Europe. The first questions I ask them are: how financially enabled are you, who is sponsoring you, are your parents able and ready to give you the support or are you self sponsored?

I also give them the many options available at different parts of the world and help them in choosing one that best suits their circumstance,” Ibitayo explained.

He further disclosed that the decline in the educational sector is one of the propelling factors that make overseas study a choice for many.

“A lot of these students who come to us seeking admission have tried severally to secure admission in Nigerian schools with little or no positive results. Thus for such who could afford studying abroad, they quickly opt for it” he added.

Another factor for the choice according to Ibitayo is that admissions in Nigeria are only done once in a year while in many of the schools abroad, there are two or three admissions within the same period and so more students are admitted into their

schools” On the challenges of being a recruitment agent, Ibitayo noted that there is no structure yet on ground for school recruitment agencies in Nigeria.

“I belong to the International Association and Conference on Foreign Education which has its headquarters in Germany.

We have conferences on a yearly basis at different locations in the world. I am just trying to get some of my contemporaries to come together so we can form an association for the Nigerian body so that it will be easy to tell who is a fake agent and who is not. This is very important because some are coming in with the mindset of duping people and not getting anything done for them” he said.

For Ibitayo, fulfilment is when he looks back to the numerous people he has assisted in securing admission into various schools abroad and who are now graduates and doing well in the society.

“I have a lot of my students who are already graduates and are doing really well in the society today and each time I see them or get calls from them, I feel much fulfilled.”

Owolabi Salis: Grassroots’ advocate OSEYIZA OOGBODO

C

hief Owolabi Salis is a man with a lot on his mind and he doesn’t mince words in saying them. A lawyer, chartered accountant and politician, it is not surprising that the subject dearest to his heart is Nigeria’s misfortunes.

“The only way you can measure how successful a government is, is by how well it has been able to bridge the divide between the rich and the poor,” he says emphatically.

“That’s the only yardstick for the measurement.”

A former Lagos State governorship candidate, he actually points an accusing finger. “I’m a grassroots advocate, I work and associate with the grassroots very closely so I know the problems they have. The major problem is that lots of people are working against the interests of the poor people.”

Salis is a prominent member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Candidly, he said, “Government’s insensitivity doesn’t really affect the rich who can afford private healthcare, education, suitable accommodation, etc, but the poor people need the government’s support and the government is failing them.”

Considering his voluble attack on the opposition, it is only natural to ask him if he feels his own party (PDP) is doing the right thing.

“If I say PDP is doing well, I’ll be lying. Some of their governors, like those of Cross River and Akwa Ibom, are doing very well and others are not. Though PDP has not met expectations, they are still better than ACN.” Buttressing his point, he said the fact that PDP’s national chairman’s son is in hot soup over the ongoing fuel subsidy probe is enough indication that PDP is better than ACN. “PDP is the only party whose members have to account for their actions. That is because we challenge one another. We are a conglomerate of super personalities so we challenge one another. ACN is however a one-man conglomerate, a one-man show that doesn’t tolerate challenges. They cover up their problems but we clean up our own home making us more credible than they are.”

And on if he can perform if he becomes Lagos State governor, he is very emphatic.

“I will definitely. I will focus on the less privileged and task the rich to take care of the poor. And I will certainly succeed be-

cause I will be focused.”

Reaffirming his commitment to grassroots advocacy, he said, “If I was governor, I would have a grassroots governance scheme in place. The scheme is simply about putting government in the hands of the grassroots people. I will give them the necessary resources, train them adequately and invest extensively on them.

“Vulcanisers for example are important to the economy but they are still using outdated equipments. I have attended thousands of trade shows so I will introduce the latest equipment to them so they can drop the old ways all for the sake of the economy. The latest equipment will make them work better and be more productive for the economy. Likewise for bricklayers, welders and so on.”

Analytically, he said, “Democracy will soon be an individual thing. It will no longer be about the party. Oshiomhole for instance won the Edo State Governorship based on his individual achievements.

If he had run on any party’s platform, he would have won all the same so he didn’t win because he was with ACN. Don’t forget that he was formerly with Labour Party and he only left them for ACN because of funding.”

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

REGIONAL NEWS

August 11, 2012

49

PDP wants tribunal to withdraw petition against Oshiomhole SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN

Lawyers divided over Bakassi self declaration

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ome Lagos-based lawyers have expressed mixed feelings on the declaration of self determination by the indigenes of the Bakassi peninsula.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Federal Government ceded the area to Cameroon on Oct. 10, 2002, following the judgment of the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

However, the Federal Government did not formally hand over Bakassi to the Cameroonian government until Augugust 14, 2008.

But on Thursday the inhabitants of the area, under the aegis of Bakassi Self Determination Front, declared Bakassi an independent territory, hoisting a blue, white and red flag with stars on the blue surface.

BENIN-CITY

T

he People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has formally approached the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal for Edo State on Friday seeking to withdraw from the petition that the party’s candidate, Major-General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd), filed against the winner and re-elected Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole.

To this effect, the party has filed a motion on notice at the tribunal seeking to sever its participation in the pre-hearing conference that the court will announce as soon as it gets the reply of all the respondents. The party, which is the second petitioner, is also seeking by the motion on notice to strike out its name from the list of petitioners of the petition.

Filed on behalf of the party by Mr. K.O Obamogie, the motion specifically sought: “An order granting leave to the sec-

ond petitioner to argue this motion outside the pre-hearing session and “An order striking out the name of the second petitioner from the instant (that it) is not desirous of prosecuting and/or maintaining the said petition.”

In a written address supporting the motion, the party’s lawyer stated, “On the 2nd of august 2012, the petitioner filled petition No EPT/ ED/G/01/2012 at this hon-

orable tribunal against respondents seeking relief with respect to the governorship election held in Edo State on 14 July 2012.

The second petitioner has now brought a motion seeking an order of this tribunal striking out its name from the petition.”

The PDP also filled a notice of change of counsel. In the same motion papers, the party had announced that it was replacing its former lawyer,

Mr. S.O. Agwinede with Barr. K.O Obamogie.

It will be recalled that on Monday, 6th August, 2012, the Edo State PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, issued a release to journalists in Benin City stating that the PDP has decided not to be party to Airhiavbere’s petition at the tribunal. The tribunal Secretary, Mrs. Josephine Aliu, had stated, however, during an enquiry by our correspondent during the

week that it would still serve the party unless it receives a formal notice intimating it of the party’s withdrawal from the petition.

The tribunal secretary’s reaction was sequel to the decision of Airhiavbere to pursue his petition all the same contrary to the directive of his political party that he should withdraw his petition and acknowledge the victory of the winner.

Kidnapped woman hotelier regains freedom in Oron TONY ANICHEBE UYO

A

widow and renowned hotelier in Oron, AkwaIbom State, Mrs. Mary Abia Okon, who was allegedly kidnapped from her business location at Etienam Street, Oron by a group of gunmen and taken to an unknown destination, has regain her freedom after parting with an undisclosed amount of money.

Saturday Mirror gathered that Okon, popu-

larly known by her business associates as “Mma Bakon” was kidnapped from her hotel premises at about 10pm last Sunday by gun-touting men and taken to an unknown place.

Family sources told Saturday Mirror that Mma Bakons reportedly suffered severe beatings from her uninvited guests during her period of captivity.

The source told Saturday Mirror that the hoodlums, who disguised as customers, were served

the drinks they demanded for, but on finishing the first bottles asked for another brand of drinks, which was also served.

At the end, the family source said the visitors decided to go without paying for what the had consumed and were moving out from the Hotel when “Mma Bakon’ accosted them to pay their bills but they threatened her with a gun.

And while she was struggling with the kidnapper to collect the gun, one of the kidnap-

pers kicked her from the back and bundled her into their waiting vehicle.

In a chat with the victim after her release, Mrs. Abia Okon said she was taken to a place outside Oron town after she received severe beatings from the kidnappers.

At press time, the victim who complained of severe pains in her ears and nose, attributed her prompt release to God, security agents and the goodwill of members of the public.

Ondo oil communities cry out over toxic substances OJO OYEWAMIDE

Group demands removal of Ondo dep police boss OJO OYEWAMIDE AKURE

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group, Ondo Youth Movement (OSYM) has urged the authorities of the Nigeria Police to redeploy the state Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bayo Fadairo, in the interest of peace. The group accused Fadairo of partisanship, saying he is romancing with the ruling Labour Party (LP) and Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

A statement signed by its chairman, Mr. Tunji Orioke, said the Deputy Commissioner had been transferred out of the state on several occasions but later brought back into the State through the influence of Governor Mimiko.

AKURE

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he people of Mahin Kingdom in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State have called on the state government and the Federal Ministry of Environment to come to their aid over strange toxic substances that have polluted their waterways.

The Paramount Ruler of Mahin Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Oba Lawrence Omowole, who spoke on behalf of the communities, told journalists in Akure that over one hundred towns and villages in his domain were affected as a result of oil exploration.

The royal father expressed dismay over the development, attributing it to leakages of oil pipelines that traverse the entire kingdom through the sea.

Oba Omowole said the toxic substances had rendered many fishermen in the area incapacitated as their fishing equipments had been damaged and

their waterways polluted.

The monarch stated that over forty thousand fishermen in their coastal line had been affected by the ugly development, which now calls for attention from all quarters.

Oba Omowole, who was a former Chairman of the Ondo State Council of Obas, accused oil companies operating in the area of insensitivity. He lamented that the waste

products of the oil companies discharged into the sea often resulted to incessant oil spillage in his kingdom, killing the fishes in the waterways.

He called on the Federal Government to take interest in their plight and prevail on the oil companies to replace all rusted oil pipelines as this would serve as a lasting solution to the problems.

He said: “The toxic

weeds are very strange to us. They have rendered the fishermen in my kingdom jobless. Over one hundred towns and villages are affected by this ugly development. The toxic substances are like weeds. They emanated from rusted and slippery nature of some of the oil pipelines that traverse our sea and waterways.

“They have destroyed our fishing equipments

such as speed boats, fishing nets, and trawlers.

They also polluted our water. The oil companies operating in these areas should come to our aid urgently in the interest of peace. We no longer have drinkable water in our land. My people are passing through unwarranted economic hardship caused by the activities of the oil companies,” Oba Omowole lamented.

Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, flanked by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi (l) and Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin (r), during the IFTAR breaking of fast with top government Muslim leaders, at the Government House Mosque, in Ado-Ekiti, recently.

50

REGIONAL NEWS

August 11, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Senator raises the alarm as JTF clamps down on Okene residents C donates relief Cop i f materials to Plateau community JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

A serving police officer, Inspector Usman Dimka, has donated relief materials to indigent citizens of Kagbwir in the Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State. The materials, worth thousands of naira, included among other things, items of clothing for men, women and children in the community.

In addition, the community has donated land to him for the construction of a primary school and health centre.

Speaking while handing over the items to the community through the district head of Kagbwir, Nde Maurice Danbaba, on Tuesday in Kagbwir, Dimka said that the donation was one of the numerous assistance to the community and other less privileged persons he had come across in his service as a police officer.

ADEMU IDAKWO LOKOJA

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s the Joint Task Force (JTF) intensifies its effort in search of suspected terrorists in the Central Senatorial District of Kogi State, Senator Nurrudeen Abatemi-Usman has raised the alarm over harsh treatments allegedly being meted out on the residents of Okene by stern-looking military men.

The JTF, which has embarked on a house to house search since they were drafted to the area by the Federal Government following the mass killing of two soldiers and worshippers in a church, were said to have subjected people to physical torture and humiliation in an apparent retaliation for the death of their colleagues.

Abatemi-Usman, who is representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, has called on residents of the area to continue to remain calm and law-abiding saying

he had reported the matter to the heads of various security organisations drafted to prevail on their troop to restrain from molesting the innocent citizens .

In a statement signed

by Michael Jegede, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Abatemi-Usman, and made available to journalists

in Lokoja, the Senator disclosed that he had discussed with the leadership of the security agencies and he had been assured that they had been duly cautioned to concentrate on fishing out the criminals and not to punish innocent citizens.

“In line with the information reaching me

concerning the activities of some security agents in my district, I have spoken with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

The Army chief said he had cautioned the commandant of the men on ground against harassing innocent people.

Their rule of engage-

ment is to fish out criminals only, so they assured me. We appeal that our people should remain calm and law-abiding, as we pray for God’s relief and intervention,” Abatemi-Usman stated.

The Senator, however, commiserated with the families of the two soldiers killed and the entire Nigerian Army.

Benue House Speaker urges loyalty among Nigerians HENRY IYORKASE MAKURDI

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n the wake of security challenges beclouding the nation, the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Dave Iorhemba, has enjoined Nigerians to put the unity of Nigeria uppermost in their minds, and also work towards the continued existence of the nation.

Iorhemba made the assertion yesterday at the Assembly Complex in Makurdi, while playing host to officials of Rebuild Nigeria Initiative (RNI) led by its coordinator, Mr. Hope Rex Lawson, when the latter paid him a courtesy visit.

Iorhemba told his visitors that in spite of the challenges currently facing the nation, Nigerians had to be proud because “our great grand fathers in their wisdom co-founded what is today Nigeria”, insisting that under no circumstance should anybody attempt to cause disaffection that may lead to dis-membership of its confederating unit.”

He was optimistic that, in spite of enormous problems confronting the country, the country will eventually get over the quagmire and expressed the desire that all hands should be on deck to put to an end the situation ravaging the nation.

Iorhemba further observed that the initiative of the organizers of the programme was worth promoting and pledged that efforts should be geared toward sustaining the goals of the project.

According to the speaker, “this reconciliation process can not start in any better part of the country but Benue State, which is to host the first programme on the 25th of August 2012” and also commended the foresight for deeming it fit to kick-start the programme in the state.

In his remark, Rex Lawson said he was in the state to intimate

the entire membership of the Assembly of the group’s desire to flag off the campaign aimed at keeping Nigeria together as one indivisible entity and stressed the need for every one to participate.

Iorhemba

Gombe moves to provide potable water JTF displays weapons recovered in Maiduguri

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he Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order (ORO) on Friday displayed a large number of arms and ammunitions it recovered after an operation in Maiduguri.

JTF Field Commander, Col. Victor Ebhaleme told newsmen at the occasion that the recovery followed intelligence report savailable to the JTF from previous arrests.

“A raid was conducted in Maiduguri metropolis leading to the recovery of large arms,’’ Ebhaleme said, listing the arms as four AK 47 rifles, one General Purpose Machine Gun and nine Rapid Pump Guns.

T

he Gombe State Water Board has started the rehabilitation of water schemes, boreholes and hand pumps in the Gombe metropolis and other towns, to ensure sustainable water supply to the citizens of the state.

General Manager of the board, Alhaji Isa Muhammad, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Gombe.

He said that the repairs were part of the short-term measures to solve the water problem in the state.

Muhammad explained that out of the 47 boreholes in Gombe metropolis, only 10 per cent were functional before the board embarked on the rehabilitation, adding that about 70 per cent of the facilities had been rehabilitated.

According to the general manager, some of the boreholes had not

Medical personnel of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Adamawa State Command, conducting free medical check up on members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at Jambutu Central Motor Park in Yola, recently.

functioned for a period ranging from four to 10 years, adding that erratic power supply from the Power holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) had also affected the repairs.

He said that officials

of the board had spent one week in Kumo town, where all the boreholes had broken down.

The board, he said, was also travelling from village to village repairing hand pumps, even

though it was the duty of the Ministry of Rural Development.

He said that the board had also effected repairs on the Dukku Township Water Scheme following a directive by Gov. Ibra-

him Dankwambo.

According to him, the scheme has been providing water to residents of the town and its environs four times a week as against once a week before the repairs.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

REGIONAL NEWS

August 11, 2012

51

Katsina: Nigeriens lament extortion, detention by Nigerian officials JAMES DANJUMA

BUK students protest nonpayment of bursary AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

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ano State indigenous students in Bayero University, Kano (BUK) yesterday took to the streets over non-payment of their bursary, which they said runs into several millions of naira in arrears.

The protest, which was at the instance of the National Association of Kano State Students (NANS), Bayero University chapter, was staged in Kano City. The demonstrating students threatened to further hurt the peace of the state struggling over the effect of terrorist attacks on the commercial city if the state government fails to respond favourably to their demand.

KATSINA

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ome Nigerien nationals residing in Katsina have lamented the “unlawful detention and extortion” by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in the state.

Their lament followed a raid by officials of the NIS at the Layout Area of the state metropolis where five Nigeriens were bundled into a bus and detained for most part of yesterday.

Saturday Mirror learnt that those detained included Mallams Lawal, Rabe, Samaila, Adamu, and Inusa Ahmadu all of them water vendors with ages ranging from 32 to 45 years.

The development also followed allegations of extortions recently made by some Nigeriens that immigration officials were in the habit of collecting money from them at checkpoints while in public transports on the

way out of Katsina to other states.

Speaking with newsmen, the Nigerien nationals reiterated that some of their people were apprehended and detained, even after the fact that their immigration papers were intact and in order. They lamented

that during detention, their people were made to part with money, usually N1,000 or more and then given a small card with some information about them to serve as means of identification.

One of them, Abdulrahmon Abubakar, said he was also detained but

released shortly after parting with some money, and that before yesterday, they were occasionally made to part with smaller amounts by the immigration officials.

When newsmen tried to get reaction of the Comptroller of Immigration, Umar Bulama, on the is-

sue, he referred them to the organization’s spokesperson, Murtala Lawal.

Lawal confirmed that the service carried out a raid yesterday and that subsequent raids may follow.

He, however, declined to react on allegations of extortion and unlawful detention.

Fleeing Kano residents return as security improves AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

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nvestigations conducted in the commercial city of Kano at the weekend indicated that a substantial number of southerners who fled the city in the wake of the January 20, 2012 multiple bomb attacks that claimed several lives have returned to the state to commence their businesses.

This is even as residents in Kano are excited over the gradual return of peace in the state capital particularly as com-

mercial activities continue to pick up.

Most panic-stricken southerners particularly those from Igbo-speaking South East, who fled Kano following the exodus that characterized the attacks carried out on the city by suspected terrorists, are back in their shops for their normal business.

Our correspondent reports that in Sabon Gari area of the city, inhabited predominantly by non Muslims and non-natives with an estimated 2 million Igbo population, business is now in top gear as most shops shut by their

owners who fled for safety have now reopened, a development which has been attributed to improved security lately.

Chukwuemeka Ibeh and Ben Okoro, both spare part dealers, were among non natives who fled the city for safety, and they told Saturday Mirror that they were back for good, adding that they left the town in response to pressure from their relatives at home who feared for their safety.

“You don’t leave your place of business for home without making adequate arrangement

for such movement, it has been a hell of the sort during the period I was home doing nothing tangible,” Ibeh said as he admitted that most of the media reports on the conflict did not reflect substantially the situation on ground, thus generating fears in the minds of people outside Kano and the North generally.

For Ben, “We are happy that there is relative peace in the state now and we hope that the security agencies will sustain it, the people’s confidence is gradually being restored.”

Enugu NESREA sensitizes residents on safe environment DENNIS AGBO

Hotelier denies harbouring kidnappers NWABUEZE OKONKWO ONITSHA

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he management of Arthur Garden Hotel, Nkpor in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, has denied the allegation that kidnappers hide in the complex. This denial followed the order of closure of phase 1 of the hotel by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State last Sunday.

It will be recalled that Governor Obi, who was reportedly accompanied by the Transition Committee Chairman for Idemili North Area Council, Raphael Nnabuife, and some security agents to the Phase 1 of the hotel at Umusiome Village, Nkporlast Sunday afternoon, sealed the hotel on the allegation that the hotel was habouring kidnappers.

ENUGU

I

n a bid to establish a healthy, safe and clean environment that will create an atmosphere for enhanced living standards, the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcements Agency (NESREA),

Enugu, Enforcements Unit, has embarked on an awareness campaign to sensitize the general public of the dangers inherent in an unsafe environment.

The acting state cocoordinator, Babatunde Adigun, made this call while on an inspection tour to one of the facilities in Enugu. He stressed that

the public should always refrain from pollution activities, acts that cause ozone depletion, deforestation and harmful aquatic life practices, noting that we are now witnessing its cumulative effect results to climate change.

Adigun revealed that the agency had carried out several workshops, cam-

paigns and sensitization programmes targeted at informing the general public on the benefits derivable from practicing standards in environmental matters in our society. He further highlighted the health implications of such negative environmental practices adding that the longevity of human life is tied to op-

timal environmental standards.

Continuing, Adigun eulogized the efforts of the media in disseminating information, noting that NESREA’s objective would not have gotten to the audience without the media and called for closer cooperation and partnership with the media.

L-R: Archbishop of the Catholic Arch-Diocese of Onitsha, Archbishop Valerian Okeke; Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and chairman of the occasion, Dr. Obinna Uzor, at the Third Annual National Youth Day celebration in Onitsha recently.

PHOTO: NAN

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Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

August 11, 2012

Crime Watch

P. 53

Kidnappers kill surgeon over unpaid ransom

BRIEFS

Anambra police rescue 3 kidnap victims

Crime Watch

Salesgirl’s attempt to dupe employer ends in fiasco Chizoba Nnozrin is a salesgirl with the Ogbuchis. But one day she disappeared into thin air. A lot of dust was raised. Suddenly, she resurfaced. Where did she go? Where is the N500,000 she was asked to go and deposit in a bank?

CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

A

nambra State Police Command yesterday announced the rescue of three victims of kidnapping.

State Commissioner of Police, Bala Nasarawa, at a press briefing on Friday gave the names of the rescued victims as, Mr Emeka Augustine, an operations manager of Zenith Bank, Nkpor; Sir Vincent Ohiagwu and Osita Okafor, who were reportedly kidnapped on 29th July,2012.

Nasarawa said their rescue was made possible by the confessions made by four named suspected kidnappers who were arrested during a raid at the Arthur Garden Hotel,Nkpor on the 3rd day of this month.

Nasarawa had, in a press release, issued during the briefing further stated that the proprietor of the said hotel whose branches have been sealed off was arrested in Enugu on the 9th of August,2012.

The Commissioner of Police who promised that the Command is working hard to rid the State of all forms of criminality urged members of the public and indigenes of the state in particular to volunteer useful information that will aid the police in carrying out its duties of protecting lives and property efficiently.

Man, 37, arraigned for homicide

A

37-year-old man, Aondoaseer Lortile, was on Friday arraigned before a Makurdi Chief Magistrates’ Court charged with homicide.

The Police Prosecutor, Veronica Shaage, told the court that one Saaior Lorliamen reported at the Tse-agberegba Police Station that his 70-year-old father, Lorliamen Nungwa had been killed.

The complainant told the police that on July 12, the accused had a misunderstanding with the deceased which resulted to a heated argument.

The complainant reported that as the argument ensued the accused picked up a motorcycle exhaust pipe and hit the deceased on the head and his right ribs.

He further told the police that the deceased was injured as a result of the attack and was rushed to the clinic but died later.

The Prosecutor said the accused was arrested during police investigation and had allegedly confessed to the crime.

However, when the case came up for mention, no plea was taken for want of jurisdiction.

SEGUN ADIO

C

lement and Veronica Ogbuchi, are husband and wife and they reside in Lagos. The couple also own a business venture on the Lagos Island and have in their employ some young women as salesgirls.

One of them is 20-year-old Chizoba Nnozirim. Not long ago, Chizoba was reportedly given the sum of N500, 000 to deposit in a bank. She never returned.

Neither could her bosses trace what had become of their money.

Chizoba was not seen again until Sunday, 22 July, 2012. By the time Chizoba surfaced, the money she was asked to deposit in the bank was not with her. However, she did not return alone. She reportedly turned up with a man, Ben Udochukwu, who claimed to be an evangelist.

She claimed to have been abducted by some people and the money with her snatched. But Udochukwu was not one of the four men that Chizoba claimed abducted her.

When asked about the whereabouts of the money her bosses asked her to go and deposit in a bank, Chizoba claimed that just as she was about stepping into the bank, four men accosted her asking for a particular address by showing her a white piece of paper.

She also claimed that while she attempted to read the address, one of them blew a powdery substance into her face and she lost her senses.

It was from there that Chizoba claimed she was driven to an uncompleted building, at an unknown destination, where she was kept with the money.

She also claimed that she was informed by her abductors that she was not their target but her boss. She claimed they allowed her to make intermittent contacts on her phone to her mother, Cordelia, her relatives and her boss.

According to Chizoba on that Sunday, July 22, 2012, one of her abductors forcefully collected the money from her, while the others tied her face with a white handkerchief, pushed her into a waiting car and drove off.

She claimed she was dumped in a place which she later discovered to be around the Mile 2 area of the metropolis. According to her, it was while she was crying that Evangelist Udochukwu saw her, had pity on her and took her home to help explain that actually, she was truly dumped where he met her.

“My abductors claimed that they won’t release me until my madam came.

I begged them to let me go, that I was not

Nnozrin

in any way related to my madam and that I was only her sales girl. I even tried to explain to them that I am from Imo State while she is from Anambra. It was at that point that one of them slapped me across the face, ordering me to be quiet.

“The next day, they brought food and water for me but I did not touch it. All I needed was for them to release me because I knew the trauma my mum would be going through. While there, my madam called me and they asked me not to pick her calls.

Then, I overheard them saying they would release me on Sunday since my madam did not show up. But because I had lost count of the date and days, I did not know when Sunday would be,” she claimed.

The day Chizoba was sent to deposit the money into the bank and did not return, her boss already lodged a complaint with the Orile-Iganmu Police Station over the matter.

While the search for Chizoba was on, her mother had been a guest of the law enforcement agents but was later released with the aid of a lawyer. The case was reportedly moved from Orile-Iganmu Police Station to the State Criminal Investigations Department, and later to X-Squad at Ikeja, Lagos.

Thus, when the young woman eventually resurfaced, she was reportedly questioned by the X-Squad where a contrary account to how the money went was revealed.

In the first instance, it was discovered that while she claimed to have been abducted by some unknown men and kept in an un-

completed building, from where she spoke to her relatives on phone, she was actually having a nice time with her boyfriend, one Ikechukwu.

Second, the self-acclaimed evangelist, Udochukwu, was discovered to be an alleged accomplice in Chizoba’s disappearance. He was discovered to be a cousin of Chizoba’s boyfriend. Udochukwu was immediately arrested. It was also gathered that police detectives first discovered Chizoba’s pranks through her call logs before her “captivity.”

A police source working on the case, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “We started first by collecting her phone from her and when we checked the call log of the network she uses, we discovered that a particular person had been calling her before the day she was reported missing. And when we asked her, she opened up and told us that the money given to her was collected from her by conmen. She gave the name of the woman who collected the money from her as Iya Opeyemi.”

The police source continued: “In one of the telephone conversations, Chizoba asked when she would come for the N10 Million they (Iya Opeyemi and her gang) promised her. But rather than go back to her boss, Chizoba went to her boyfriend, one Ikechukwu where she remained for days. She fooled everyone by saying she was abducted by unknown persons. It was when we were making plans to check the call log that she resurfaced with the evangelist, who claimed he met her at Mile 2.”

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

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CRIME WATCH

August 11, 2012

53

Day robbers held Lagos communities by the jugular

z Shot security man, others; looted shops

Shomolu and Bariga are two of the popular and populous areas of Lagos State.

They are, however, bedevilled by bursts of violence. But last week’s incident was something else. SEGUN ADIO reports.

S

uspected hoodlums had a field day last Saturday at Shomolu and Bariga areas of Lagos State when they went on a looting and shooting spree.

Saturday, August 4, 2012 was just a day after the Lagos State government proclaimed a ban on activities of touts in motor parks throughout the state.

But before the day was over, suspected robbers in an operation that lasted nearly an hour, stormed Shomolu and Bariga and left in their trail, two men badly injured, several shops looted, a Bajaj motorcycle missing and thousands of naira stolen.

Indeed, it was a day that would take a long time to fade in the memory of the residents of the areas where the suspected robbers operated. About a dozen hooded and heavily built men stormed the area brandishing weapons.

The first port of call was Ore Ofero Street in Bariga. It was around 8:30 in the evening. At Ore Ofero, the suspected robbers were said to have headed for the house of one Taiye, whose twin brother was allegedly killed on March 12, 2012.

But Taiye was away when the robbers came. Eyewitnesses said the suspected robbers were about leaving Ore Ofero Street when they met someone alighting from a commercial motor cycle (okada) in front of a telecommunications mast.

The okada rider was well known to one of the suspected robbers as a friend of the Taiye they sought for. The leader of the group then reportedly accosted Jide, (for that is the name of the okada rider) demanding for the whereabouts of Taiye.

Jide tried to flee the scene but was reportedly stopped by a bullet from the gun fired by one of the suspected robbers. In the process, Jide was shot in the hand but he still managed to escape through a nearby footpath. From there, the suspected robbers reportedly started looting shops and shop owners abandoned their wares and fled for dear lives.

Before the suspected robbers left the area, they reportedly looted the shop of a food seller, popularly called Iya Ibeji.

And there they were said to have also removed N15, 000 from the wallet she abandoned. Also, another Bajaj motor cycle belonging to one Segun Awotubo was reportedly taken away.

As if the looting at Ore Ofero Street was not enough, the suspected robbers were said to have headed for Mary Bamigboye Street, off Ajisegbede Street.

The area is beside the carnal bordering Bariga and Shomolu.

At Mary Bamigboye Street, the suspected robbers reportedly shot a security man, identified as Dele Ajobiewe, said to be guarding the property of a

telecoms’ company. It was learnt that the suspected robbers had attempted to loot the facility and Ajobiewe had resisted them.

For daring to resist them, Ajobiewe received deep machete cuts all over his body, while he was also shot in the hand.

A colleague of Ajibiewe, Olumide Peters, was however lucky. Peters reportedly jumped into the canal to escape the onslaught of the attackers.

In the process, Ajobiewe lost his mobile phone set and some cash. He was later rushed to the General Hospital, Oguntolu, from where he was discharged last Tuesday. Saturday Mirror spoke with Ajobiewe’s wife on phone. According to the woman, her husband narrowly escaped death in the hands of the suspected robbers.

“I thank God that my husband is still alive today. Let me tell you, with the way these bad boys are operating now, Bariga and Shomolu areas have become uninhabitable. Imagine a man that was quietly carrying out his duties being treated that way. Would he have opened the door for them to steal the company’s property?” she asked.

After leaving Majiyagbe Street, the daredevil suspected robbers reportedly headed for Central Hotel in Adebiyi Street, shooting into the air as they went.

It was at this point that law enforcement

officers arrived and reportedly checked the suspected robbers.

The law enforcement agents were said to be alive to their responsibilities as they reportedly arrested Tola, said to be one of the suspected robbers, last Wednesday. He is said to be in the custody of the police as at press time.

Segun Awotubo, who lost his okada to the suspected robbers, told Saturday Mirror that he abandoned his okada and fled the area for safety for him to return and discover that his motorcycle had been taken away by the suspected robbers.

“What happened that day was unbelievable. I narrowly escaped death when their (suspected robbers’) bullets were flying from all angles. I had to leave the motor cycle and run for my life. When things had normalised, I returned to where I parked my okada and could not find it there. I was told by residents watching the scene that the robbers took it away,” he said.

Saturday Mirror could not reach the Divisional Police Officer on phone as his lines were unavailable. But a policeman attached to the Alade Police Station confirmed the incident. The police officer claimed that the arrested member of the gang is cooperating with the law enforcement agents to unravel those behind the raid.

54

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

August 11, 2012

Crime Extra

Dr. Canice Omeziri was 62 years old and in love with his people. But when the time came for them to return the gesture, something happened. Now, he is dead and the ransom meant for his kidnappers is hanging somewhere.

Kidnappers kill surgeon over unpaid ransom •Some people pocketed the ransom, associate alleges

SEGUN ADIO

S

ixty two years old Canice Onyemaechi Omeziri, a surgeon, loved three things dearly in his life: his family, work and ancestral roots.

Sadly, the love of the medical practitioner, an indigene of Umuanaekwe Umuduruaku Umuiheofor in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, for his roots at Amaraku later turned out to be his undoing. Omeziri was allegedly kidnapped and later murdered by the unidentified abductors, while in the service of his people.

His wife, also a medical doctor, children and extended family are currently asking the police authorities to get to the root causes of his death.

Omeziri, was the proprietor of Rikky Hospital, located along Ojoo Road, in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State. Omeziri ran the hospital together with his wife, Francesca, with some other employed young doctors. Rikky Hospital could be best described as a success. But Omeziri’s love for his people endeared him to establish another hospital in Amakpaka Umueli Amaruku, his ancestral roots.

Upon setting up the Amaruku hospital, Omeziri decided to relocate there to personally steer the new hospital to maturity and provide quality medical care to his people. His medical doctor wife then held the fort at the Lagos hospital.

But on Sunday, April 15, 2012, death knocked on the doors of Omeziri and neither his work, family nor the people he showed so much love came to his rescue.

Omeziri had had tea and bread for dinner in the office, cleared his table and was ready to leave for home when five heavily built men allegedly barged into his office. Before he knew what was happening, he was abducted and held incommunicado for the next 24 hours. He was reportedly whisked away in his own car.

The following day, the kidnappers reportedly made calls to Omeziri’s relatives demanding N5 million for his release.

However, the Omeziris initially did not want to yield to the kidnappers’ demands. Negotiations soon commenced and after days of intense pleadings, the kidnappers agreed to release the Canada-trained surgeon for N400, 000:00. The money was raised and reportedly wired to the abducted man’s brother’s account for express transfer to the kidnappers.

But the thread allegedly ended there as the transfer of the money was not done.

When the kidnappers realised that the money was not forthcoming, they chose to carry out their threat of killing Omeziri. He was allegedly tortured until he breathed his last and his lifeless body was reportedly found beside his car in a forest at Naze Owerri not far from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri junction.

On a visit to Rikky Hospital where the late Omeziri was Managing Director, the environment was not only pensive, but gloomy.

Dr Chris, one of the doctors working in Omeziri’s Lagos hospital, claimed that he first heard of the kidnap of his boss from the deceased’s elder brother who lives in Aba, Abia State.

“I could not tell my MD’s wife who is also a medical doctor of the incident when I first heard of it. It was a Sunday and I remember asking those that called the office what the kidnapers wanted and they said that they (the kidnappers) had not made their demand known at the time. I called those who live around my MD’s house to also find out what happened and was told that some people who arrived at

Omeziri

the place earlier said the kidnapers took him away in his own vehicle,” Chris added.

“They told me on phone that we should send an amount that is reasonable to them. I demanded to know what their definition of ‘reasonable’ was and at the end of the day we arrived at N400, 000:00. We raised the money and paid it into my MD’s elder brother’s account for onward transfer to the kidnappers,” he added.

Fighting back the tears that later cascaded down his face, Chris continued: “For me, I feel my boss would be saying at that time, ‘Oh my people, what have I done to merit being tortured to death in this jungle’”.

Dr. Francesca Omeziri, wife of the deceased, who was still in deep shock during Saturday Mirror’s visit, expressed disappointment over the handling of the matter by the police.

She alleged that a lot of money was extorted from her.

“When we demanded for the result of the autopsy conducted, the police requested I give them money. When I later went to ask for the mortuary tag number of my husband, they refused to let me have it, until I parted with some money,” she claimed.

The deceased’s son, Ugonna Omeziri, also charged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, to help fish out his father’s murderer, saying only by so doing would he be at peace with himself.

Saturday Mirror learnt that the police arrested one person in connection with the crime. It was also learnt that the

said man to whose account the N400, 000 ransom fee was sent was also quizzed by the police, but was later released.

It was also learnt from a police source in the state that the money that was supposed to have been paid to the kidnappers as alleged was not paid but was cornered by some people whose identities were not made known to the reporter.

The police source also said that the suspect arrested had conflicting accounts of what happened to the ransom money.

“At one breath, he (the arrested person) claimed that he paid that money after it had been handed over to him to the kidnappers, and at another breath, he said that the money was still with him and that he had not paid the money before the deceased’s corpse was found,” the police source added.

Another source at Amakpaka Umueli Amaraku, where the murdered man lived until his death, claimed that when some family members decided to accompany one of the deceased’s brothers to a meeting with the supposed kidnappers, the said brother refused saying it would not be good to go to them with a crowd.

According to the source, “He (the deceased’s brother) also told the person who went with him to alight from the vehicle so that he alone would meet with the hoodlums, a demand which some members found to be funny”.

It was learnt, however, that after much argument he allowed only one person to accompany him to meet with the hoodlums.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

August 11, 2012

55

John Evans Fifi Atta-Mills: 1944 - 2012

Ghana mourns departed Atta-Mills

John Dramani Mahama, who was sworn in as Ghana’s president after the death of Mills, and his wife was on hand to receive foreign guests

Former President John Kufuor at the burial

Former President Jerry Rawlings at the burial

Jonathan tasks African leaders to emulate Atta-Mills’ virtues

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan on Friday in Accra called on African leaders to emulate the exemplary leadership qualities of late Ghanaian President, John Atta Mills and his efforts at promoting the essence of democracy.

Jonathan also applauded and recommended to emerging democracies on the continent, the smooth and prompt transfer of presidential power to President Dramani Mahama following the death of Atta Mills on July 24.

He made the call in a tribute at the final funeral rites of Atta Mills at Accra Stadium.

Jonathan hailed the significant legacy of stable and enduring democratic institutions of governance established and nurtured since 1992 in Ghana.

He described the late Atta Mills as a ``dependable leader, an affable gentlemen, soft spoken but firm, a self assured man of honour and of intellect who loved his country, his continent, his race and who served hu-

manity with all his heart”. ``John Atta-Mills did his best as a leader and servant of his people. ``We honour him today as a great teacher, administrator and political leader who dedicated his entire life to the service of his country, Africa and humanity. ``The people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria join you in praying that God Almighty will grant him eternal rest from his earthly labours,” he said.

The President assured

Mahama and the people of Ghana of Nigeria’s continued brotherly solidarity and friendship.

The President said the late President was a great friend of Nigeria and an affirmed believer in the shared heritage and common destiny of all Africans.

A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in Accra for the burial, reports that 16 Heads of State, five Vice Presidents and other high-powered international dignitaries attended the funeral and burial service

Immortalise Atta-Mills, ECOWAS urges leaders

E

COWAS Commission President Kadré Ouedraogo, has said that the greatest tribute to the memory of Ghana’s late President, Prof. John Atta Mills, is for the regional leaders to immortalise his ideals. ``The greatest is to immortalise his ideals of peace building and demonstrate a passion for regional integration which he lived and died for.’’ ``We will miss his wis-

dom, his simplicity, tolerance and quality leadership, which contributed to the unity and stability of not only his country, Ghana, but our region and the African continent,” Ouedraogo told journalists in Accra.

The ECOWAS Commission president was in the Ghanaian capital, where he joined world leaders and other dignitaries in the funeral ceremonies for the departed Ghanaian leader

and African Statesman.

The ECOWAS chief described late President Mills as a great leader and democrat who led by example and from whom the region would draw great lessons in democratic governance. ``As a teacher, he trained many Ghanaians and a number of Africans,’’Ouedraogo recalled.

The ECOWAS president who had earlier sent a condolence message to the Government, people and immediate family of the late Prof. Mills, led a del-

egation of the Commission and other Community Institutions to pay their last respects to the departed leader.

Mills remains were laid in-State August 7 to 9, 2012, at designated locations in Accra, before burial on Friday.

Many ECOWAS leaders and their counterparts from outside the region were present to bid final farewell to the late Ghanaian President, while others sent high-ranking representations to the three-day funeral rites.

of the late President at Accra stadium.

Among the dignitaries were the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,

Chairman of AU and President Benin Republic, Boni Yayi, and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, who is also a Ghanaian.

Atta-Mills buried

T

he Late President John Atta Mills, who was the Commander-in -Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), was on Friday buried with full military honours at the Geese Park, now called Asomdwe (Peace) Park, adjacent to the Independence Square in Accra.

He was buried after a two-hour funeral service at the Independence Square attended by at least a dozen presidents and delegations from various parts of the world.

The dark casket was lowered into the tiled grave at 1515 hours.

The Most Rev. Emmanuel Asante, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, performed the committal.

Two minutes’ silence were observed for the late President.

The Right Reverend Francis Amenu, Moderator of the Evangelical Pres-

byterian Church of Ghana, then said the final prayer and benediction at 1600 hours.

President John Dramani Mahama, vice president Kwesi Bekoe AmissahArthur, former First Lady Ernestina Naadu Mills, family members, former President Jerry John Rawlings, ministers of state, politicians and thousands of people witnessed the burial.

President Mahama laid a wreath, decorated in national colours, on behalf of the government and people of Ghana. Other wreaths were laid by Mrs Naadu Mills, Dr Cadman Mills on behalf of the family, Dr (Mrs) Mary Grant on behalf of the Council of State, David Asumeng, MP for Shai Osudoku on behalf of parliament and Lt.-General Peter Blay, Chief of the Defence Staff on behalf of the Security Services.

Quote

of

the

day

The Federal Government controlling the police is a contradiction of democracy. How can less than 500,000 police look over 160 million people? The issue of security is very serious.

Former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana, while giving his backing to the call for state police.

Saturday, August 11, 2012. www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sudan: The broken bridge O

n July 9, 2011, Sudan became effectively and formally divided into two countries – Sudan and South Sudan. After one year, for those who believed that the separation is the answer, they may have started to rethink. And for those who did not want the country separated, they must have had to accept the inevitable as a result of the history of, and precedents in, Sudan. I belong to the later group. I believed that of all African countries, Sudan is unique and there is no other country like it. Sudan was the bridge between the Arab and the Negro races of Africa.

Those who believe strongly in African unity leading progressively to an African Union Government also believe that internal country by country unity is highly desirable as an harbinger of regional unity and finally continental unity. When President Gaafar Mohamed el-Nimeiri secured agreement on ceasefire and peace in 1972 with the South, every lover of peace and unity for Sudan took a deep sigh of relief. But what was thought to be an agreement to be scrupulously implemented was breached on the altar of bad faith, imposition of Sharia nationally and stack negligence of development of the South and upon seeming open and concealed

with President Olusegun Obasanjo hexcellency2011@yahoo.com

SUDAN IS UNIQUE AND THERE IS NO OTHER COUNTRY LIKE IT. SUDAN WAS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE ARAB AND THE NEGRO RACES OF AFRICA

discrimination against citizens from the South in public offices and appointments. Although I could not claim to be an eyewitness of these discriminatory actions and tendencies in Sudan, the re-

ports and uncomfortable reactions from the South were visible.

It was at this point that I took more than passing interest in salvaging Sudan as the great racial bridge of Africa. My

SPORT EXTRA

Falconets subdue Korean girls 4-1 in friendly

N

igeria’s women football team, the Falconets, on Friday continued their build up to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in a warm up match against Widek University female team in Korea.

A statement by the Falconets Press Officer, Ejiro Femi-Babafemi, said that the girls defeated the Koreans 4-1 in a friendly played at the Namhae Public Stadium in Korea.

The statement said that Nigeria’s goals were scored by Ebere Orji, Charity Adule, Chisom Henry and Asisat Oshoola in both halves of the encounter.

First Assistant Coach, Florence Omagbemi commended the level of opposition, saying “it was a good

game for our team and a good build up to the World Cup. “So far we are satisfied with the sides that we have played since coming to Korea,’’ Omagbemi said.

While comparing both matches, Omagbemi said the girls were good technically but not tactically better than the boys.

“Do not forget that all over the world, boys are better than girls in football.

“But they should be hailed. They had a good goal which could have beaten any keeper,” Omagbemi added.

The friendly produced a yellow card issued to the Korean side.

Nigeria’s next friendly is scheduled Ebere Orji opened scoring for the Falconets against for August 13. the Koreans.

attention and intervention were directed to the leaders of Sudan – President el-Nimeiri himself, his successor, Al Mahdi, and leaders like Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi. South Sudan leaders like Gen. Lagu and Mr. Bona Mawal. I also called on neighbours of Sudan like Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

Of course, to embark on my salvaging work, I secured the partnership and cooperation of a Sudanese intellectual, Francis Deng, who is a Dimka from the South but fiercely believe in the unity of his country and would only brood the idea of separation only if solution for unity could not be found on the basis of equity, equality, fairness and justice. Before our efforts could yield fruits, John Garang had broken rank with the Sudanese Army and went to bush with a substantial troops of South Sudan origin to resume the rebellion. But this time, Garang was seeking reform and restructuring to have a new Sudan. He believed passionately that he could secure such a new Sudan even though, with my limited knowledge of Sudan, I was skeptical. Separation was his absolute option if a new Sudan could not

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

Olympics 2012 Men’s Football Final Today’s Match

Brazil v Mexico 15:00

International Club Friendly Fixtures Today’s Matches Eintracht Frankfurt v Valencia15:30 Villarreal v Levante 19:45 Hannover v Manchester United 20:20 Siena v Real Sociedad 20:45 Mallorca v Hamburger SV 21:00 Zaragoza v Espanyol 21:15

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