March 19, 2016

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Vol. 6 No. 12

Saturday, March 19, 2016

CELEBRITY

We’re not scammers

—Alariwo, wife

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National Mirror Online

CRIME

Girl bites neighbour to death

Agatu killings:

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@NationalMirror

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WOMAN

‘I don’t mind being called Toyin Ashewo’P.28

Benue Reps accuse FG of complicity ...

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JAMES OCHOLI BURIED IN KOGI

Pallbearers with casket containing body of Minister of State for Labour and Employment, James Ocholi at the National Hospital in Abuja on the way to his home town in Kogi State yesterday.

Christian elders slam Buhari over Nigeria’s membership of Islamic coalition P. 8

Female bombers now disguise as men, says Military P. 6

Sealxk T

Who wants more casual sex?

erly Bev.19 P P. 34

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MARCH 19, 2016

Top Stories

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Court jails 14 foreigners for oil theft Wale Igbintade

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Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday convicted 14 foreigners of dealing in petroleum products in Nigeria without lawful authority.

Justice Ibrahim Buba in his judgement found them guilty of dealing in 1,738.087 metric tons of petroleum product in Nigeria without lawful authority or licence as alleged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Eleven out of the 14 convicted foreigners were sent to two years imprisonment with an option to a pay a fine of N1m each on each of the five counts levelled against them.

However, the remaining three convicts who had jumped bail and absconded were sentenced to five years imprisonment without an option of fine .However, Justice Buba said the sentence would run from last year March when they were apprehended by the Nigerian Navy and handed over to the EFCC. The three convicts who jumped bail are Russians.

The judge convicted and sentenced them in absentia and issued a warrant for their arrest, emphasising that their jail term would commence on whatever day they were re-arrested.

The judge ordered the forfeiture of the petroleum products and the vessel into which they were loaded to the Federal Government.

He ordered the two companies convicted alongside with the foreigners to pay N5m fine on each of the five counts levelled against them.

The EFCC had on June 10, 2015 arraigned the 14 convicts on four counts before Justice Buba.

The charge was later amended with the counts increased to five.

The convicts were ar-

raigned alongside their vessel - MT Anukt Emerald, and two companies - Monjasa DMCC, and Glencore Energy UK Ltd. Their names, as listed on the charge sheet, are Artur Pakhladzhian, Sergo Abbgarian, Vasily Shkundich, vitaliy Bilours, Hlarion Regipor, Laguta Oleksiy and Cadavis Gerarado.

Others are Kretov Andry, Badurian Benjamin, Chepikov Olksan, Naranjo Antero, Patro Christian, Alcayde Joel and Caratiquit Beyan.

They were identified as citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Philippine and Japan.

The prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, had told the court that the men were handed over to the EFCC by the Nigerian Navy which on March 27, 2015 intercepted them with their vessel, MT Anukpet Emerald, loaded with crude oil estimated at 1,738.087 metric tons.

The foreigners were equally said to have been found in unlawful possession of 1,500 metric tons of Automated Gas Oil as well as 3,035 metric tons of Low Pour Fuel Oil. They had pleaded not guilty and were granted bail at N50m bail each which was guaranteed by Zenith Bank Plc. Upon the disappearance of the three Russians, the court had subsequently ordered Zenith Bank to forfeit N150m to the federal government.

To prove the allegations against the convicts, Oyedepo called seven witnesses, while the defendants, through their lawyer, Mr. Babajide Koku (SAN), called three witnesses.

In his judgment, Justice Buba said he was satisfied that the prosecution proved its case against the defendants beyond reasonable doubts, adding that had no difficulty in convicting them on all the five counts preferred against them.

Upon their conviction, the defence counsel, Koku, urged the court to temper justice

with mercy, saying the convicts were young men in their prime, who had no previous records of conviction.

Koku said the 11 convicts who were in court were only employees carrying out the instruction of their employer and were not privy to the deal.

“We plead for mercy, my lord. Abraham Lincoln said, ‘I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.’ The convicts are young men in the prime of their lives. They have no family ties in Nigeria. In fact, the convicts here are not the ones in control of the ship.

They can at best be described as the laymen of the crew,” Koku said.

Quoting James 2:3 from the Bible and making reference

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to the Quran, Koku urged the judge to allow mercy to triumph over judgment.

On his own part, Oyedepo said the EFCC had found no previous conviction record

on the convicts.

He urged the judge to “invoke the spirit behind Section 1(17) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act,” in sentencing them.

Panic grips Benue as herdsmen strike again, killing seven

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merging reports suggest that many people have been killed and houses razed after suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded Tombo in Buruku local government area of Benue state.

According to a Benue-based journalist, the attack was really gruesome and many people

were left injured.

The journalist, identified only as Roseline, who is a native of Buruku, said that her family house was completely razed in Tombo during the attack.

“Right now I am in Aliede but the attackers have set my family house in Tombo ablaze. In fact, we don’t know the whereabouts of some of our family members

since yesterday afternoon,” she said.

The journalist said the heavily armed gunmen invaded the community while some residents were having their lunch, shooting and macheting anybody on sight.

“As we speak, my hometown, Tombo is a no-go-area. They came into our village on horses and were killing anybody on sight,” she said.

The police spokesman in the state, Moses Yamu, confirmed the attack. However, he said only seven people had been killed in the incident, which occurred at about 3pm on Thursday, March 17. He added that the commissioner of police, Paul Yakadi, had led a team to the area.

In a related development, marauding Fulani herdsmen have reportedly attacked Logo local government area of Benue state, killing two and sacking over 25 villages.

In their attack, the Fulani herdsmen rendered about 3,000 people homeless after several houses and huts were razed in the affected communities.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Starter

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New menace in town!

Ese Oruru’s riveting saga seems to have opened the floodgate of cases of abduction of teenage girls. Plucked from their families and loved ones under the guise that they desire to convert to Islam, only to show up in Hijab and with swollen tummies thereafter, the nation has reeled from scandalous cases and horrifying details in the last couple of weeks. MUDA OYENIRAN chronicles this sad development from newspaper reports

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erhaps the celebrated case of Ese Oruru, a 14-year-old girl who was taken from Bayelsa to Kano to be forcibly joined to one Yinusa Dahiru in marriage has encouraged many others with the same plights to speak up.

Mr. Siman Guje, from Guyuk LGA of Adamawa State is an example. He is currently begging Nigerians to stand up for his 19-year-old daughter, Blessing Nyimjir Siman who was abducted in 2010, when she was only 14 and forcibly joined in marriage with one Bilhadi Yakuba alias Dan Daura, her kidnapper.

According to Guje, the abduction was in connivance with the Chief Judge of Kuje Upper Area Court and Police Authorities who exhibited lackadaisical attitude towards his plight.

Like in the case of Ese, Blessing, then a JSS2 student of FHA Junior Secondary School Lugbe, Abuja was converted from Christianity to Islam and was renamed Kadijat by her abductors.

Guje said, “At height of the matter, to ensure the girl is kept as far away as possible from Yakuba, I took her to her grandparents in

Adamawa State but because she was hypnotized by the abductor, somehow he traced her to Adamawa and brought he back to Lugbe.

It was after retrieving the girl from Adamawa that Guje was summoned by a Chief Imam who informed him that Yakuba wanted his daughter’s hand in marriage and also wishes to Islamize her.

Guje said he reported the matter at the Lugbe Police Station, but the Police became helpless in the matter after the abductor got the Kuje Upper Area Court to work in his favour.

According to Guje, the Judge who was the abductors kinsman ordered the arrest of the girl’s father and five other relatives who accompanied him to Court.

They were incarcerated at the Court premises, the girl and her abductors, who are from Katsina State, left Abuja unchallenged.

Since October 2010 Guje and his family have not been allowed access to Blessing.

All attempts made to get help from Human Rights Commission and the Nigeria Police Force proved abortive.

“Imagine the mental torture and trauma of not seeing your

child for years and waking up every morning to the fact that your daughter is in the hands of wicked people,” Guje said.

Guje is appealing to volunteers, Girl Child NGOs and others to help him get his daughter back.

Meanwhile, a fresh controversy has broken out in Zaria, Kaduna State, over alleged ‘abduction’ of a ’15- year old’ school girl, Ifeoma Nicodemus.

Her teacher father, Nicodemus Odugusi, said she was ‘abducted’ on September 14, 2014, when she was 14 and had since been held against her will for the past 18 months by one Shehu Abdullahi, who runs an Islamic school in the Samaru area of Zaria.

But the police denied Ifeoma was abducted, saying her parents were merely twisting the story.

Mr. Abdullahi too said he did not abduct or marry Ifeoma, CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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4 ‘He was sleeping with me anytime he wanted’ Saturday Starter

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saying he was merely keeping custody of her based on the order of a court.

Ifeoma also said that she was never abducted by anyone, describing Mr. Abdullahi as a father figure to her.

Ifeoma is from Ebonyi State in SouthEast Nigeria, but her parents are resident in Zaria, and at the time of her alleged abduction, was a student of Total Child Bible Secondary School in Samaru, Zaria.

Speaking with journalists on telephone from Zaria, human rights lawyer, Ezekiel Dyagas, said Ifeoma has been held against her will for the past 18 months in the home of Mr. Abdullahi.

He said that when the girl was traced to the home of the Islamic teacher by her family, Mr. Abdullahi simply told them he had duly married the 14-year-old after converting her to Islam.

But Mr. Abdullahi denied ever making any such remark, saying he was already married and could not have claimed to have taken Ifeoma as wife.

In a telephone interview with journalists , Ifeoma’s father, Mr. Odugusi, said he had been in agony since his daughter was taken away from him.

Mr. Nicodemus, a schoolteacher, lamented that the most painful part of it all was “that he knows where his daughter is being kept but is powerless against the forces that are holding her hostage”.

Narrating his ordeal, Mr. Odugusi said on September 14, 2014 when his daughter did not return home, he searched everywhere for her.

He said the following day, September 15, 2014, he received a call from a school in Zaria informing him that his missing daughter was with them; that she had converted to Islam and was now married to Mr. Abdullahi.

The embattled father said for the last 18 months, he had been engaged in a lone fight with Mr. Abdullahi who he said mocked every attempt to free Ifeoma from his captive.

Mr. Nicodemus said Ifeoma was in SS2 at the time of her alleged abduction, and that he reported the matter to the Samaru Police Station in Zaria and subsequently got a lawyer to file a case of abduction in court.

“I am a schoolteacher, so you can imagine my pains at watching another

man truncates your child’s education,” Mr. Nicodemus said. “I have been to the Police; I have been to the Court and all the court said fell on deaf ears as far as Alhaji Shehu Abdullahi is concerned.”

The lawyer, Mr. Dyagas, said he suspected conspiracy in Ifeoma’s case, saying he had since found that the proceedings of the case against Mr. Abdullahi was not recorded.

But in his reaction, Mr. Abdullahi said it was Ifeoma herself who approached a Sharia court asking to be converted to Islam.

He said following her conversion, the court ordered him to keep custody of her after she stubbornly refused to return to her parents.

He said the police was called in to persuade her to return to her parents, but she refused especially after her father threatened that she would not be allowed to practice Islam in his home.

“We even engage people close to her family to persuade her to return to her parents, but stood her ground. So I pleaded with her parent to be patient while we continue to try to reconcile her with them.

‘I was kept as sex slave’ ….Kidnapped schoolgirl narrates 7-month ordeal with kidnappers

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eenager says she was not forced into marriage, but was made into a sex machine by her abductor – She adds that she was forcefully converted to Islam – She claims that she was kept as a sex slave for seven months at the house of the Sarkin Baki Patience Paul, 15-year-old schoolgirl who was abducted in Sokoto state, has explained her ordeal at the hands of her abductor. The teenager who was forcefully abducted and converted to Islam explained that she was held in captivity and sexually abused for seven months at the residence of Sarkin Baki (king of strangers). The Benue-born student had gone missing on August 12, 2015, but help came her way after Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state ordered an investigation into the matter, a directive which later led to her release.

Patience explained that her abductor and some Hisbah (Sharia police) personnel took her to an imam in Runjin Sambo area of Sokoto, claiming that she wished to convert to Islam. “I was sent to buy biscuits and on my way I saw him (her abductor) and he persuaded me to come to his bungalow,” the young girl said. On whether she was forced into marriage in Sokoto, the primary six pupil answered in the negative, stating however, that her abductor turned her into a sex slave at the house of the Sarkin Baki. She said: “Yes, he was forcefully making love to me any time he wanted. “They first took me to Sarkin Baki house, and kept me there for seven months before my parents came looking for me.

“They gave me something to drink, but I

refused to take the drink, and they took me to one room and locked me inside the room.

“In fact, the governor not only called, but he played a vital role towards the freeing of Patience. He acted as a father and

we appreciate his role. In short, he was instrumental to her eventual release. “As I am talking to you, those behind her abduction in Sokoto had been arrested and are going to face prosecution soon.” Meanwhile, the youngster’s elder brother, Isaac Paul, who had just graduated from the University of Sokoto and is awaiting NYSC call-up, was full of gratitude to Nigerians who came to the aid of their family in ensuring the recovery of his sister.

The 28-year-old said that their mother was dead and their father worked as a steward in Sokoto, adding that Patience is the sixth child of the nine in the family. The issue of teenage kidnap and forceful abduction reared its ugly head recently when the case of Ese Oruru, the Bayelsan girl who was kidnapped and taken to Kano became a household item in Nigeria. After the controversies surrounding her abduction and subsequent release, the young Oruru made stunning revelations about what transpired in the palace of the Emir of Kano, where she was reportedly housed for a while.

This news also comes after a 16-year-old student of Government Secondary School, Apo Resettlement, Ifesinachi Ani was abducted about six months ago and taken to an unknown destination. The missing girl is a native of Amaechi Awkunanaw in Enugu south local government area of Enugu state. According to Ifesinachi’s mother who is a widow with four children, neither the FCT police command nor other organisations have been able to offer any reasonable assistance to secure the release of the girl.

“I was the one who called the attention of her parent, and asked them to come and take her home, but she refused to follow them.”

The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Samaru, where the case was first reported, said the problem was not with Mr. Abdullahi, but with Ifeoma.

“She converted herself to Islam, and then refused to return home,” the DPO, who refused to give his name, said. “We intervened here, the commissioner of police intervened, and three times she ran away from her parents. The court then handed her over to Mallam Shehu and co. for custody.

“One day, we brought her to the station, and asked her parents to take her away.

She refused. She said she preferred to be detained in our station rather than go home with her parents. We couldn’t keep her in the station because if she disappears, the commissioner of police will hold us responsible.

Ifeoma corroborated the police’s version of the matter, insisting that she was not abducted.

Her parents said she is 15, but Ifeoma claimed she is almost 19.

“I’m married now, not to Mallam Shehu but to someone else,” she said. “My parents are aware, and my sister recently came to my house. I just don’t wan’t to go home because I can’t live with my parent anymore.”

She warned reporters not to refer to her as Ifeoma anymore.

“My name now is Aisha, and that’s what you should call me,” she said on telephone.

Patience Paul, the schoolgirl allegedly abducted in Sokoto state and converted to Islam, has been rescued and is to be reunited with her parents.

Her case has generated national interest after that of Ese Oruru, the Bayelsa teenager who was taken to Kano by her “lover” without her parents’ consent. Patience’s parents had reported her missing since August 12, 2015, with unconfirmed reports suggesting she was kidnapped and taken to the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto for forceful conversion.

The state governor, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, had ordered investigation into the saga after it became a media item during the week. Patience, who was 14 at the time of her abduction, was found on Friday night at the house of one Malam Ibrahim, who calls himself Sarkin Baki (“king of strangers”).

An insider said: “The Sokoto State Human Rights Commission, along with the team set up by the police, questioned suspects and detained three persons in connection with the issue.” Some hisbah (Sharia police) personnel had taken Patience to an imam in Runjin Sambo area of Sokoto with a claim that she wanted to convert to Islam.

The imam asked of her age and was told she was 14. He sought the opinion of the Sultanate Council who directed the imam not to proceed because she was underage and could not make such a “weighty decision” yet. He was instructed to let her CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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go, but the Imam then informed the hisbah.

Rather than let her return to her family house, they took her to the Sarkin Baki who claims he provides residence to indigent persons. The “king of strangers” then kept her in his house since September.

When investigators met with him Friday night, Patience was seen with his other children and family members. He claimed he adopted the girl because he didn’t want to let her be with the hisbah. He, however, allowed her to be attending both Islamic and government junior secondary school for her education.

A police source said Patience claimed she was afraid of returning home because of possible reprisal from her siblings. The alarmed Paul Isaac Adaji, father of the teenager, had raised the alarm about her daughter’s disappearance, but it did not gain traction until the case of Ese Oruru started playing out.

Adaji, an Idoma from Benue state, said his daughter was forcefully abducted by hisbah in Gidan Kukah, Runjin Sambo area Sokoto, on August 12, 2015. Tambuwal, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Imam Imam, directed that the matter be investigated. The inspector general of police then took up the matter.

Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have rescued three teenage girls, who were abducted in Bauchi State and forcefully converted to Islam.

The Prison Inmate Development Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, handling the matter, told one of our correspondents that the girls were handed over to the Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police, Zone 12, Bauchi, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, on Tuesday, by the Shari’ah Commission in the state.

It had reported on March 6, 2016, that Blessing Gopep, 13, was abducted by two men identified as Iliya and Umaru, both living in Alkaleri, Bauchi State.

Blessing and her friend, Mary, were on their way back to Jos after spending their holidays with Blessing’s uncle in Bauchi in August, 2015.

Her father had said Blessing and Mary had gone to the Alkaleri motor park, and while they waited on the bus for other passengers, two men, identified as Iliya and Umaru, arrived at the park on a motorcycle and abducted Blessing.

On November 19, Linda Christopher was abducted by one Mallam Shagari in Tarsha Durumi village, while Progress Jacob, 13, was abducted by Mallam Musa in the Yelwa, Sabon Kaura area, both in Bauchi State, on her way back from church on January 3.

According to Ms. Gobet, Progress’ aunt, the teenager went to church on the morning of January 3, 2016 and did not return when the church was presumed to have closed at about 10.30am.

She was allegedly abducted in the Yelwa, Sabon Kaura Area of Bauchi State by one Mallam Musa on her way back from church, which is said to be a few metres away from her aunt’s residence.

The distressed aunt said she reported the case to the traditional ruler (Seriki) of Sabon Kaura as well as the Yelwa Police Station, which only took her statement and directed her to inform them when she

found Progress.

She added that all efforts to locate the ‘missing’ girl proved abortive until a letter was delivered to her from the Bauchi State Shari’ah Commission, informing her of Progress’ conversion to Islam.

Sixteen-year-old Linda, a secondary school pupil in Enugu, was seen with one Mallam Shagari at Tarsha Durumi village in Bauchi State on November 19, 2015.

It was learnt that Linda had left Enugu four days earlier to join her parents, who lived in the Katanga Giwa village of Bauchi.

Her parents were notified of her whereabouts by a kinsman, who knew the family.

Just like the Jacobs, her parents got a letter from the Shari’a commission, notifying them of their daughter’s custody and her conversion to Islam.

They had reported the failure of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, to rescue the girls one week after the newspaper had reported the abduction.

The Commissioner of Police, Bauchi State Police Command, Mr. Baba Tijjani, confirmed the release of the girls in an interview with journalists Tijjani stated, “The girls have been released. They were not held by the Bauchi State Shari’ah Commission; they volunteered to become Muslims on their own and reported themselves to the Da’awah & Islamic Education Department, which took them to the Bauchi State Shari’ah Commission.

When asked if the case would be treated as a criminal case and the culprits prosecuted, the police commissioner said, “We just released the girls to their parents.

The investigations are still ongoing and we will come out with the details after the investigations.”

The Executive Director, PIDI, Mr. Mbami Sabka, who also confirmed the rescue, said he was glad that effort to rescue the girls was not wasted.

He added that this was the beginning of the release of more child brides.

Sabka said, We hope that other perpetrators would learn from this. We, as an NGO, won’t stop at this; we will continue the fight for the release of child brides. An end must be put to this illegal act.

“The police have asked the Shari’ah Commission to bring the abductors involved because the girls didn’t walk to the commission by themselves; someone brought them.”

Blessing’s father, who couldn’t contain his excitement while speaking on the telephone, said he was very happy to have his daughter back.

He said, “I have waited so long for this day to come; it has been my only wish. I just want to thank God for bringing my daughter back to us. I am extremely happy; words fail me to express myself. ” Blessing’s sister, Happiness, said since receiving the news, she had been restless.

“I’m boarding a bus first thing tomorrow to Bauchi. I can’t wait to see my sister,” she stated.

Jacob, who is Progress’ father, stated that he was happy to see his daughter again.

He thanked everyone that helped in his daughter’s release.

He added, “I have informed everyone in the village about her release; they are all expecting us. We are with the Commissioner of Police in Bauchi State.

My daughter, Progress, is fine but we are a bit worried about her condition.

“She was asked to identify us as her parents and she did so by pointing at us but she did not speak to us. She only shook her head or nodded to questions.

She confirmed she was not sexually molested by anyone. The commissioner said she would be released to us when the medical examination has been concluded.”

Linda’s mother, Mrs. Onah, added, “She looks fine but we have not spoken to each other yet, although we sat together today. We were told the girls were released because they were not up to 18 years old and could not make decisions on their own.

“They are undergoing medical examinations as we speak and we heard the results will be released after three days.

I am happy to see my daughter again.”

PIDI had written letters to the state Commissioner of Police and the National Human Rights Commission but got no response before taking the cases to Amnesty International.

Igbo teenager abducted in Abuja, converted to Islam. The web of teenage abductions ravaging the country has hit the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. This time, a 16-year old, SS-2 student of Government Secondary School, Apo Resettlement, Ifesinachi Ani, was abducted about six months ago and taken to unknown destination.

The missing girl is a native of Amaechi Awkunanaw in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State. The mother, a widowed mother of four, lamented that neither the FCT Police Command nor other organisations have been able to offer any reasonable assistance to secure the release of the girl and called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, to help rescue her child.

But the FCT Police Command through its spokesman, DSP Manza Anjurin, said even though it is aware of the woman’s complaints, her inability to bring up a petition as verbally advised, made it impossible for the Command to investigate the matter. “She came here with a journalist and made the complaint.

I advised her to write a petition so that it would be properly handled. Up till today, we have not seen her and we are stuck; we have nothing to work on. We don’t even have the woman’s contact otherwise, we would have called her,” the Police Public Relations Officer disclosed.

While the dust is still settling over the alleged kidnap of Ese Oruru, a 14-year-old teenager, Mrs. Funmi Falana, a human rights activist and chairperson of Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), has called on the Federal Government to rescue a 14 year old girl, Lucy Ejeh, who was allegedly abducted in Zamfara State.

“We have just received another report of the kidnap and conversion from Christianity to Islam of another 14-year old girl named Lucy Ejeh which occured in Zamfara State. .“Miss Ejeh was allegedly abducted by one Hajiya Zarau on the 31st day of October 2009 and taken to an Imam’s house for the purpose of conversion to Islam.

“All efforts made by her parents to secure her release have proved abortive. We use this opportunity to call on the government of Zamfara State to ensure that Miss Ejeh is reunited with her family without any further delay while her abductors are fished out and prosecuted”.

The WELA chairperson noted that the abduction saga of Ese has confirmed the level of insecurity of life and the inadequacy of legal protection for women and children throughout the nation.

She said her group has found that such gross infringement of the human rights of women and children are prevalent in the country due to the connivance of security agencies.

Lucy Ejeh,now 20, was abducted in Zamfara State when she was 15 years old.

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South West PDP caucus differs on national chairmanship position Ayo Esan

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caucus within the Lagos Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, known as Lagos Collectives has described the claim that the South West PDP was not interested in the office of the National Chairman of the party as most illogical and absurd.

In a statement made available to Saturday Mirror and signed by its chairman, Professor Tejumade Akitoye–Rhodes, Lagos Collectives said the claim that the South West is not interested in the national chairmanship of the party by some “non decrepit characters” does not represent the will of the Yoruba people.

“The Yoruba nation was inflicted with a monumental shame and ridicule yesterday when a few non decrepit characters basically mortgaged their conscience and dignity by claiming that the South West was not interested in the office of the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party.

“This is most illogical and patently absurd . It is absolute nonsense and irredeemably outrageous. This does not in any way represent the position or the will of the Yoruba people.”

The Group said the South West is the only region that has not occupied the prime office of the National Chairman of PDP since it came to power in 1999, saying it will be totally unacceptable, unfair, unjust and even destabilizing if the region is denied its rightful honor at this momentous period of party restructuring and rebuilding .

“To claim that the south west is not interested in the National Chairman position is delusional and wicked. We will fight with all legitimate tools to ensure that justice is duly served in this crucial matter. The present National Chairman should be wary of the few peripheral renegades pushing the unholy pipe dream,” Tejumade-Akitoye said.

It would be recalled that some leaders of the PDP in the South West had on Thursday endorsed the emergence of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman and recommended that the post should remain in the north as the party begins the process of electing a new chairman soon.

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MARCH 19, 2016

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Ocholi, wife, son buried amidst tears, encomiums Wale Ibrahim

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he remains of the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Chief James Eneojo Ocholi, his wife, Fatimah Blessing Ocholi and son, Joshua Ocholi have been laid to rest at his country home in Ogbabede -Abocho in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State amidst tears, encomiums and accolades.

The late Minister, wife and son were lowered into their graves at about 1.30 pm shortly after a homily from the Kogi State Chairman of the Christian Association Nigeria, Reverend John Ibenu.

In a message titled, “Invitation You cannot not

resist,” Reverend Ibenu questioned how prepared people are for the home calling and what legacies they would leave behind to be remembered for, saying the late Minister has lived a fulfilled life.

The Clergy pointed out that death is an invitation which no one can resist whenever it comes, saying every one must prepare because at the appropriate time, it will come one day.

The Vice President, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Executive Council at the burial ceremony, stated that the passage of Chief James Ocholi SAN, the Honourable Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Productivity is heart rending, stressing

that more so as the family lost at the same time his lovely wife Blessing, and their eldest son Joshua, there is no way of adequately expressing their sadness at the great loss.

Osinbajo commiserated with the children and family left behind, saying that there is nothing one can say to reduce the pain.

“Nothing that we say is going to change the fact they will miss their parents. But I think that at the end of the day, God himself, the Almighty God Himself, will uphold you and support you. Even if it does not seem so now, He will still give joy.”

Osinbajo stated that with death of Ocholi, Nigeria has lost a true patriot, stressing that he was one

who we all respected, not just for his personal integrity but also for his humility.

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, stated that, “The deaths on March 6, 2016 of James, the fearless Advocate, Blessing, his inseparable soul mate and Joshua the first-fruit of their loving union, is one of those sudden tragedies that try the hearts and faiths of men. I am yet to come to terms with it. I doubt I ever will.

“Without doubt, this is one harvest of deaths too many for Kogi State, which has again lost an illustrious son, a loving wife/mother and one of our youthful prospects in the most horrible circumstances possible.

“Today, after barely any respite from a similar sor-

Pallbearers with casket containing body of former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, late James Ocholi at the National Hospital in Abuja to his home town in Kogi State.

row in the recent past, Kogi State mourns again, greatly.

“James was a brother, in more ways than one, and a true Christian too. Though we squared off for our party’s ticket, and passions often ran wild, it was without bitterness. When James was made a Minister while some of us were still in the trenches, he remained gracious. When I emerged Governor, he immediately gave me the highest cooperation.

“One thing was of paramount importance to James Ocholi, SAN – the Greatness and Unity of Kogi State. A statement by Walter H. Capps summarises the position of our late Learned Silk on Nigeria in general and Kogi in particular: ‘We are strongest as a people when we are directed by that which unites us – rather than giving in to the fears, suspicions, innuendoes and paranoia that divide.’ This is the vision that we will continue to pursue,” Bello concluded.

Speaking on behalf of Ocholi’s wife’s family, Alhaji Ibrahim Yahaya Yusuf stated that the family has lost a promising daughter, and that only God can give the family strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Other dignitaries that attended the burial include Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, Senators and House of Representatives Members, Benue State Governor, Chief Samuel Othorm, Nasarawa State governor, Tanko Almakura, who was represented by his Deputy, Kogi State Deputy Governor, Chief Simon Achuba, Chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor, Edward Onoja.

Political associates, Legal practitioners, Local government Chairmen, All Progressive congress stalwarts and party faithful were also present.

Boko Haram: Female bombers now disguise as men —Military

Ubong Ukpong

T

he Nigerian Military yesterday said that it has discovered that female Boko Haram bombers now disguise in men’s clothing to perpetrate their bombings.

The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, in a statement through its Director of Defence Infor-

mation, DDI, Brig-Gen Rabe Abubakar, said that the discovery was part of its efforts to continue to uncover and sensitise citizens on the devilish strategies of the terrorists.

He regretted that in a determined effort in letting off bombs, Boko Haram terrorists were resorting to hiding their true identity.

“Female bombers now

dress in men’s attire to have access to mosques unhindered to detonate their bombs.

“The latest suicide attack in the mosque at Molai Umurari village in Borno State is instructive in this regard.

“Therefore, members of the public are hereby advised to be wary of suspicious persons, irrespective of sex at worship places, markets and

public entertainment centres.

“Having been effectively dislodged and decimated, the splinter cells of the remnant Boko Haram terror group still engage in some systematic isolated attacks, mainly on soft targets in their desperation to remain relevant”, Abubakar said.

The Defence Headquarters thus advised

the public to constantly be on alert to this latest terrorist tactic and to report promptly any suspicious persons or objects to the nearest security agency.

It urged local vigilante and communities to device more proactive measures to curtail such ugly happenings to complement security agencies, as security is everybody’s concern.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

NATIONAL NEWS

Nigeria’s trade declines Assets Declaration: by 30.6 Chidi Ugwu ABUJA

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he National Bureau of Statistics on Friday released the merchandise trade figures for the 2015 fiscal period, stating that Nigeria recorded a huge decline of N7.25tn in trade from N23.49tn in 2014 to N16.42tn.

It said the N7.25tn decline represents a drop of 30.6 per cent over what was recorded in the 2014 financial period.

The bureau in the report a copy of which was made available to our correspondent attributed the drop to a 40.3 per cent decline in the value of exports from N16.3tn in 2014 to N9.72tn.

It, however, said that a decrease of N676.4bn or 9.2 per cent in the total imports in 2015 helped to mitigate the declining trade balance.

The report said, “The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade during the fourth quarter of 2015 stood at N3.65tn or 9.2 per cent lower than the value of N4.02tn recorded in the preceding quarter.

“For the 2015 calendar year, the country’s total trade was recorded at N16.42tn, amounting to N7.25tn or 30.6 per cent less than the total trade value recorded for 2014.

“This development arose largely due to sharp decline the value of exports; from N16.3tn in 2014 to N9.72tn in 2015, a decline

of 40.3 per cent.

“A decrease of N676.4bn or 9.2 per cent in the total imports in 2015 helped to mitigate the declining trade balance, which stood at N3.03tn, N5.89tn less than the value in 2014.”

The NBS in the report said the crude oil component of total trade decreased by N4.94tn or 41.6 per cent as against the level recorded in 2014.

It said the country’s imports were dominated by the importation of Boilers, machinery and appliances, which accounted for N1.5tn or 23.6 per cent of the total value of imports in 2015.

Other commodities which contributed noticeably to the value of imports in 2015 were Mineral Products at N1.27tn (19 per cent), Vehicles, aircraft and associated parts at N608.5bn (9.1 per cent) and products of the chemical and allied industries at N578.9bn (8.6 per cent).

In terms of imports by region, the report revealed that the country consumed goods largely from Asia with an import value of N2.8tn or 42.3 per cent.

Nigeria also imported goods valued at N2.5tn or 37.3 per cent from Europe, and N871.3bn or 13 per cent from The Americas.

Imports from within the continent of Africa, it added, totaled N420.4bn or 6.3 per cent, while imports from the region of ECOWAS amounted to N213.8bn.

Kano will replace groundnut pyramids with rice pyramids —Ganduje

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ano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Friday said the state government is making concerted efforts to replace the famous groundnut pyramids with rice pyramids.

According to the governor, it is for this reason the state government is providing an environment that would encourage the mass production of rice, wheat and tomatoes.

Fielding questions from State House reporters after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Mr. Ganduje said his government would provide rice farmers with the incentives needed to increase the production of the product.

“Now, we are soon going to talk about rice pyramids, not groundnut pyramids because rice is the order of the day now.

“We have a lot of oil mills that consume the

groundnut. So, you will not expect to see the groundnut pyramids as you used to see because the economic situation has changed.

“The industrialisation is much better than those days.

“So, you better stop dreaming of groundnut pyramids now. But when you are talking of rice, that is where we need the pyramids now.

“So, we assure you that in Kano we are providing an enabling environment for the production of rice, wheat, and tomatoes,” he said.

The governor said during the meeting, he brought the president up to date with the security situation in the state, particularly the issues relating to cattle rustling and kidnapping.

According to him, cattle rustling and kidnapping had been brought under control.

(NAN)

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7

Saraki asks Tribunal to quash charges against him

Doosuur Iwambe

S

enate President Bukola Saraki, yesterday asked the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to quash the charges against him on the grounds that the charges are not competent in law Saraki is facing a 13-count charge bordering on corruption and alleged false declaration of assets.

He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges preferred against him.

The Tribunal had on March 11 adjourned sitting to hear the motion filed by Saraki through his counsel, Mr. Kanu Agabi, challenging the Jurisdiction of the Tribunal.

However, at the resumed hearing yesterday, counsel to Saraki appealed to the tribunal to quash the charges against his client on the ground that the charges

were not competent in law.

Agabi premised his argument on preliminary objection to the charge on the grounds that the conditions precedent for arraignment of Saraki by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) were not fulfilled.

Among others, Agabi claimed that Saraki was not invited by the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by law to deny or admit the alleged discrepancies in the asset declaration form submitted to the Bureau.

Agabi told the tribunal that up till now, Saraki, as a defendant, has not made any statement to the Bureau upon which he can be effectively put to trial.

Agabi said that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was wrong in law in initiating the charge against Saraki because the Code of Conduct Bureau Act vested power to accept asset declaration form, in-

vestigating assets form and prosecuting the offender on the Bureau and not on any external force like the AGF, ICPC or EFCC. He said the failure of the CCB to fulfill the conditions precedent of summoning Saraki to first make statement on discrepancies in his declared assets was fatal to the charge before the tribunal and cannot operate to the detriment of the defendant.

“CCB is a peculiar institution; it has the duty to accept, to examine, to keep custody of assets declaration forms submitted to it and also has power to accept complaints from the public on the discrepancies that may arise from any form submitted to it.

“In the instant case, there is no petition or complaint before the CCB and the power of the CCB to refer any offender to the CCT for trial cannot be delegated to the

AGF.” He urged the tribunal to dismiss the charge against Saraki for being incompetent, baseless and having been filed without observing the due process of the law.

However, in a vehement opposition to the application to quash the charge, counsel to the Federal Government, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), accused the defendant of engaging in abuse of court process and that what Saraki was asking for had been determined by various courts.

He said the Ministry of Justice referred the trial of Saraki to the CCB on the strength of joint investigation carried out by EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in which the defendant was found to have procured assets that were not declared in his form.

L-R: Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Francesco Angelone; Professor of Foreign Languages, LASU, Prof. Tunde Fatunde; shortlisted author for Etisalat Prize for Literature 2016, Penny Busetto; Patron, Etisalat Prize for Literature, Kole Omotosho and renowned Poet and author, Odia Ofeimun, during the Prize’s Book Reading in Lagos, yesterday.

Agatu killings: Benue Reps accuse FG, Buhari of complicity • Say attack is jihadist mission to depopulate and seize Benue State • Ask their people to prepare for self-defence

Ubong Ukpong

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he Benue State Caucus in the House of Representatives, yesterday accused the Federal government, FG, of conspiring with Fulani herdsmen to sustain the killings of the people of Agatu and other villages in the state.

The eleven representatives of the Benue people in the Green Chamber spoke with one voice, insisting that the act was genocide, and asked Benue people to

get ready to embark on self defence if the FG continues to look the other way while Benue people are being killed by Fulani people.

President Muhammadu Buhari had expressed shock over the killings and ordered an investigation, but the Reps said that was inconsequential as he ought to have ordered immediate action to address the sustained killings.

Speaking on behalf of the caucus, at a press briefing in Abuja, Hon. Orker Jev said that the attack was rather a jihadist mission to

depopulate and seize Benue state by the Fulani people.

He said that Buhari did not show interest in the plight of the Benue people as he kept mute watching the killings for that long before his belated statement.

“We decry the lukewarm attitude of the federal government towards this ‘jihad’ being waged against our people by the herdsmen. We condemn the belated reaction of President Muhammadu Buhari and his minister of Interior, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman

Dambazau, rtd, who broke their unholy silence a week after over 500 people were killed and 10 villages razed in Agatu area of the state.

It is curious that up till today, the investigative panel purportedly instituted by the federal government to inquire into the attacks has not been made public or inaugurated. Who are the members of this committee? When will they commence work? Must we wait for all the people of the State to be cleansed off the surface of the earth before we act?

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NATIONAL NEWS

8 Alleged N5bn fraud: Supreme Court orders Kalu’s prosecution

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he Supreme Court, Friday dismissed the appeal of Former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Kalu and ordered the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta to assign the case for expeditious trial.

Justice Suleiman Galadima who wrote the lead judgment that was delivered by Justice Sylvester Nwuta held that Kalu’s appeal lacked merit.

In addition, the apex court held that the ex-parte order of the Abia State High court relied upon by Kalu in asking the to quash the charge against him cannot stand.

The charge specifically borders on the alleged complicity of the erstwhile governor in money laundering and illegal diversion of public funds to the tune of N5.6billion.

According to the charge, the ex- Governor was alleged to have committed the fraud while in office between 1999 and 2007.

He was arraigned by the EFCC before a Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27, 2007 where he entered a plea of not guilty in all the charges.

The defendant firstly challenged the competence of the charge against him, as well as the jurisdiction of the High Court to hear and determine the case.

Meanwhile, following refusal by the trial court to quash the charge, Kalu, took the case before the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

The appellate court, in a unanimous judgment, upheld the competence of the charge, adding that the high court was constitutionally empowered to exercise jurisdiction on the trial. Dissatisfied with the verdict, Kalu

approached the Supreme Court, begging it to set-aside the concurrent findings of the two lower courts.

The former governor, through his lawyer Chief Awa Kalu, SAN, pleaded a five-man panel of Justices of the apex court, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to quash the criminal charge against him. He contended that the EFCC failed to establish a prima-facie nexus linking him to the ingredients of the offence contained in the charge. It was his contention that the proof of evidence the anti-graft agency adduced against him did not nail him to the commission of any crime.

Nevertheless, the apex court, in a unanimous judgment on Friday, dismissed the appeal, even as it ordered the appellant to go and face his trial before the high court. While upholding the Court of Appeal verdict, Justice Suleiman Galadima who delivered the lead verdict, said the apex court was satisfied that the former governor has a case to answer pertaining to allegations that were levelled against him by the EFCC. Besides, the apex court ordered the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, to re-assign the case to another Judge to enable the trial to commence de-novo (afresh). The apex court also ordered accelerated hearing of the matter.

The ex- Governor, in responding to the judgment, however, maintained his innocence, saying he was ready to go to court, face trial and prove his innocence on the 107-count corruption charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Oil heads towards $43 per barrel

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il rose above $42 a barrel on Friday, hitting its highest this year and extending a rally into a fourth week on expectations of a production freeze by major exporters.

Brent crude’s frontmonth contract LCOc1 was up at $42.44 a barrel while U.S. crude CLc1 gained 84 cents to $41.04 a barrel after rising as high as $41.13.

The benchmark had jumped by 4.5 per cent to close the previous session at $40.20.

Oil prices have surged by more than 50 per cent from 12-year lows reached in December.

The rise is bolstered as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, floated the idea of a production freeze, boosting brent from about $27 and U.S. crude from around $26.

Many analysts think there is still steam in the rally.

“We are leaving the period of low demand and starting to move toward

the period when demand increases over the summer,” said Olivier Jakob, oil market analyst at Petromatrix at Zug in Switzerland.

He added that the massive oil glut that had helped to hammer prices last year at last appears to be stabilising.

“We’re moving towards looking at an old surplus, rather than a new one being built up,” he said, adding that it is likely that Brent will stabilize around the mid-$40s.

Analysts said dollar weakness was also lifting oil. The dollar index is down 3.2 per cent so far this month.

A weaker dollar makes oil, which is priced in the U.S. currency, more affordable to holders of other currencies.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producers led by Russia will meet on April 17 in the Qatar capital, Doha in an effort to freeze supply.

(PREMIUM TIMES)

Electoral materials for the Rivers State re-run election being arranged for onward distribution at the INEC Headquarters in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Christian Elders slam Buhari over Nigeria’s membership of Islamic coalition

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group, the Nigerian Christian Elders Forum, has strongly condemned the recent inclusion of Nigeria in the Saudi Arabia-led coalition against terrorism.

The decision to join the group was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Addressing Journalists in Abuja, Friday, the NCEF chairman, Solomon Asemota, said the action was a clear negation of the rights of Nigerians as well as a lack of regard for the views of non-Muslim Nigerians who took part in bringing the new administration to power.

“Including Nigeria in the Saudi Arabia Military coalition of Muslims/ Arab nations would appear that the foreign policy thrust of the current administration is to make Nigeria a satellite state of Saudi Arabia,” the group said.

“Any nation in which Islamists believe that they

are sufficiently strong to exercise influence rarely experiences peace.

“Mr. President should kindly remember that over 50 per cent non-Muslims of Nigeria did not vote for the nation to become Sharia compliant,” the group said.

The NCEF said the inclusion of Nigeria in the Organisation of Islamic Conference, OIC, in 1975, as well as its recent inclusion in the Saudi-led coalition was an attempt

by Muslim leaders to dominate the country, with the teachings of Islam.

“While Islam is a religion; Islamism, otherwise called political Islam, is a set of ideologies that hold that Islam is not a religion, but a political system meant to dominate the environment in which it is practised,” it stated.

The group said some policies and decisions of the Buhari government has given Nigerians cause for concern.

“N900 billion was released as bailout to states without appropriation. International commitments are being made without resource to the National Assembly,” it pointed out.

The group also noted the, “Attempt to fund deficit in the 2016 budget through issuance of Sukkuk loan which is a Sharia compliant loan”.

The NCEF also said the decision by the Kaduna State government to enact a religious bill was a shocking.

“We wish to express tremendous shock at the proposed Kaduna state bill. The proposed bill contravenes section 38 (1) of the 1999 constitution,” the group stated.

The NCEF expressed dismay at what it described as the Federal Government’s inaction to the carnage and destruction perpetrated by the Fulani Herdsmen.

“According to media reports over 300 Nigerians

were allegedly massacred by the Fulani Herdsmen.

Till today, there has been no prosecution of any of them,” it stated.

The NCEF also decried the decision of government to establish grazing reserves across the nation, saying the proposal is a deceptive attempt to appropriate the land of indigenous ethnic groups for Fulani Herdsmen to spread terror across the nation.

The group called on the government to convene a Council of State meeting to enable past presidents of Nigeria assess the developments in the country, and make suggestions that will lead to the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

According to the group, the commission which should follow an enactment of law, should among other things, study the problem of terror in Nigeria and ensure the prosecution of culprits.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

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SOUTH WEST

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Babington School: Court remands six suspected kidnappers in prison Wale Igbintade

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n Ebute-metta Chief Magistrate’s court yesterday ordered six suspected kidnappers who allegedly kidnapped three pupils of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School Ikorodu to be remanded in prison custody.

The suspected kidnappers are; Emmanuel Arigidi, 37: Gift Pius, 30: Omoni Rufus Fred, 32: Owei Omobo Geofrey, 38: Akanji Seun, 38: and James Henry Segun, 29.

Chief Magistrate Adelaja-Chief gave the order following an application filed by the lawyer to the Police, Mr. Godwin Osuyi.

Arguing the application, Osuyi, said the application was brought pursu-

ant to section 264(1) and (2), of the administration of Criminal Justice of Lagos State, 2011.

Osuyi further informed the Court that the remand application was to enable the Directorate of Public Prosecution, DPP, to issue an advice on the matter.

He therefore urged the court to remand the suspects for the first 30 days, pending when the advice will be issued by the DPP. However, the six suspects who were represented by Mr. Ola Ogunbiyj did not oppose the police’s remand application.

Consequently, the presiding Chief Magistrate, Mrs. Adelaja, ordered that the six suspected kidnappers be remanded in prisons custody for the first 30 days. While

ordered the police to duplicate the case file and forward it to the DPP for an advice.

In the charge sheet marked D/13/16, attached with the remand application, police alleged that the suspected kidnappers had on February 29, 2016, at about 8p.m, while armed with AK 47, and offensive weapons, invaded Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School, Ikorodu, and unlawfully kidnapped and detained three students of the school.

The three students allegedly kidnapped by the suspects includes: Tofunmi Popo-Olaniyan, 15: Olusa Timilelun, 14 and Deborah Akintayo, 14: all girls.

The police alleged that the suspects took away the students to a creek be-

tween Imota and Igbokuta of Ikorodu, on February 29, before they were rescued by the police on March 6.

They were also alleged to have robbed the principal of the school, one Venerable Ola Oluwa Adeyemi the sum of N5.6 million.

Aside that, the first suspect, Emmanuel Arigidi, alleged to have be a member of the armed gang that robbed FCMB at Admiralty Way, Lekki, the sum of N24 million, on March 12, 2015.

The offences according to the Osuji yi, are contrary to punishable under sections 409, 269(1), and 295(2) of the Criminal laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011 Failures in public examination: Group backs Osun’s committee

L-R: Leader of mile 12 Market, Alhaji Haruna Muhammed; Head, Yam Sellers Association of Nigeria, Mile 12, Mohammed Yabo; Alhaji Abu Pakin and Baale Agiliti, Chief Atanda Onikosi, during a news conference by leaders of Mile 12 Market, Maidan and Agiliti Community on the opening of Mile 12 Market in Lagos.

NEMA warns boat operators, residents of coastal areas of turbulence Dare Akogun

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he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has advised beach revelers, boat operators and coastal area residents to be wary of the activities around the coastal lines as signals from the current winds and waves are turbulent.

This was contained in a press statement issued by the agency’s south west Zonal spokes man Ibrahim Farinloye in Lagos yesterday.

Farinloye noted the warning is coming on the heels of recovery of a body of unidentified baby boy that was swept onto the shore between old Kuramo and Oniru beaches in Lagos.

According to him “Last week, there were

reports on the drowning of a man called Rastaman. Therefore, NEMA is calling upon Nigerians to heed to early warning for their safety.

“Boats’ Operators are particularly counseled to exercise utmost caution across the country as raining season in oncoming in their operations. They are to ensure that irrespective

of ages, effective and functional life-jackets are worn by adults and children, boats that would operate at night must have brighter headlights to send signals to other sea users and they must have a standby search and rescue team at each jetties for prompt response in case of any incident before the arrival of statutory responders, “ he added.

Boladale Bamigbola, Osogbo.

A group within Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Osun state chapter, The Integrity Group, yesterday applauded the committee set up by Governor Rauf Aregbesola to look into the mass failure of students in public examinations in the state.

In a statement signed by the chairman and secretary of the group, Hon. Bimbo Oyedele and Bamidele Adeniyi respectively, it claimed Osun PDP, with the latest development, is vindicated that Prof. Wole Soyinka chaired Education Summit held to fashion out ways to improve education standard in the state was a waste of resources.

The statement reads: “What we are witnessing in education sector

in Osun now is similar to the failures and education backwardness of 1999 to 2003.

“It is on record that during the PDP era, the state was at a time in the top 10 in academics, the state university was ranked high and also LAUTECH ranked the best state university.

“That Governor Aregbesola saw the need to make an amend is note worthy and condemnable, but we still see it as part of means to waste already depleted resources of the state.”

The group then called on Prof. Wole Soyinka to apologize to the people of Osun who he bequeathed “a retrogressive educational system that has now made the state one of the poorest in terms of academics performance.”

he African Women Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Network (AWWASHN) on Friday told the Lagos State Government to evolve strategies to ensure adequate supply of portable water in the state.

The Chairperson of AWWASHN, Mrs Victoria Nwanya, made the call while speaking to NAN on the sidelines of a Lagos rally against privatization of water.

She pleaded with Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode to rethink the plans by the State Government to privatize water under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.

AWWASHN is a group of women advocates, voicing their concerns on issues bothering on water, sanitation and hygiene.

The body held a rally with other civil society organisations at the Alausa Secretariat in Ikeja to call on the State Government not to privatize water. ``We will continue to plead with the LASG to ensure that Lagos citizens have access to potable water. ``We also plead that any plan by the Lagos State Water Corporation

with the support of the World Bank and private water corporations on privatization of water in Lagos should be stopped. ``We urge the government to stop any form of water privatization in Lagos, including PPPs that are based on models that fail to uphold human right to water.’’ ``Failures in water PPP models have been recorded in Manila, Philippines and India.

Nwanya said: ``the rave today as espoused by the UN in 2010 is collective investment in water infrastructure and democratic decisionmaking prioritizing the human right to water above profits. ``We are ready to stand in solidarity with you and any leader who shows strong commitment to investing in a public water system that aims for universal access,’’ she added.

Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, Deputy Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, said ``the importance of water cannot be overemphasized and that is why we are calling for access to clean water.”

Group pleads with Lagos not to privatise water T

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Ashaka Cement begins construction of N700m community road project Williams Attah GOMBE

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shaka Cement Plc has began the construction of an eight kilometer road project to its coal mine site in Maiganga community, Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State.

Maiganga is the village where Ashaka Cement Plc recently discovered coal which the company uses to generate power for its cement production.

Flagging off the road construction yesterday, Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo assured the company of his government’s support in executing all its Corporate Social Responsibility projects in all parts of the state.

He commended Ashaka Cement Plc for its foresight, which he said is aimed at helping and developing the people of Gombe State.

The Governor, who called on neighbouring communities to co-operate with the company also appealed to company to always ensure that it carries its host communities along.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman, Board of Directors of Ashaka Cement Plc, Mallam Suleiman Yahya, said the project is an initiative of the company that is aimed at contributing towards the socio-economic development of Gombe State in the area of infrastructure.

He said the project is first of its kind by any corporate firm in Northern Nigeria, as it was initiated based on the recognition of the impact of touching the lives of the people.

According to him, the road is capable of boosting economic, agricultural and social activities in the area.

He said the company which has remained undeterred in efforts aimed at improving the livelihood of its host communities through provision of basic amenities and infrastructure despite the challenges posed by terrorist activities in the region, was able to expend the sum of N156 million on projects in its host communities in Ashaka and Maiganga in the areas of education, health care and economic empowerment.

NORTH

MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Presidential committee moves for reconstruction, rebuilding of North-east Ezekiel Titus BAUCHI

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he Vice Chairman, Presidential Committee on Northeast Initiative/Victims Support Funds, Tijjani Musa Tumsa, has assured that FG has put all the necessary arrangement to kick start the reconstruction and rebuilding of the region.

He made the statement while addressing newsmen in Bauchi, saying that the Federal Government, in collaboration with European Union, including various initiative groups and associations, indicated interest for resettlement of victims of insurgents through cash

and kind.

Tumsa urge Nigerians to exercise patience as efforts are being intensified by the committee to commence the reconstruction and rebuilding of the region, and soon, President Buhari will inaugurate the main presidential committee.

According to Tumsa, the North- east initiative is currently sensitizing youths to compress the existing rays of plans under TY Danjuma Presidential Committee being the umbrella body put in place by FG in the interest of the victims of insurgents.

“Currently, millions of the victims of insurgents have so far benefited from the victims support

funds through health programmes, skill acquisition and agricultural programmes for food production in our renewed commitment to rekindle the hope of the victims of the insurgents,” Tumsa added Similarly, Tumsa stressed that efforts are being made by development partners such as World Bank, United Nations and European Union to carry out an assessment in the ravaged areas in the North-east, including Ministry of Defence, to serve as a guide The vice chairman pointed out that the six states of the North-east have their peculiarities of needs related to recon-

struction, rehabilitation and reintegration, pointing out that youths must be prepared to actively participate in all jobs intended to be created during the exercise.

He maintain that the future of the Norh-east and Nigeria lies in the minds and hands of the youths, suggesting that FG need to improve and develop the youths beyond the interest of North-east to ensure good relationship.

Tumsa, therefore, reiterated that the change mantra can be achieved only when the youths are actively allowed to play a role by working closely with stakeholders.

Casket carrying the body of former Minister of state for Labour and Employment, late James Ocholi; his wife and son and other family members before leaving National Hospital Abuja to their home town in Kogi state

NUP threatens show-down as Bauchi accountant general escapes Comrade Yakubu Muhammed, the NUP secretary, BAUCHI Bauchi State, who made the he National Union statement in a chat with newsof Pensioners (NUP) men said enough is enough has threaten show- when government no longer down with the Bauchi State prioritize the plights of penGovernment over what it sioners in spite of their contridescribed as insensitivity on butions while in active Mohammed added that the non-payment of monthly pension to its members across NUP was left with no any other option than demand their the state.

This was just as the state’s members’ right, and explains Accountant-General was al- why they had to lock the state’s leged to have escape through treasury office.

He added that pensioners’ the back door of his office when thousands of pension- unpaid gratuity is N17.6 billion ers threatened to raid the for both state and local governtreasury office complex de- ment workers, yet government manding immediate payment appears unserious to settle same. of their pension.

Ezekiel Titus

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According to the secretary, quite a number of pensioners across the state have died within the shortest time due to delayed payment of their monthly pension.

He describe as laughable to attributed the delay in payment to lack of Bank Verification Number even when they were given forms to undertake the exercise just last week despite the fact most of them leave in remote areas and outside the state.

Similarly, it was alleged that the state’s accountant general was forced to escape through the bar following match protest by thousands of pensioners at the treasury

department demanding immediate payment of the pension.

It took the quick intervention of armed security operatives to disperse the angry pensioneers with their leaders summoned for dialogue When Saturday Mirror visited the scene, it was discovered that even staff and visitors were denied access to the office to avoid any break down of law and order.

It could be recalled that Bauchi State government said it has unearthed over 19,000 ghost workers. However, investigation revealed that these were civil servants being paid through micro-finance and Yankari Savings and Loans.

Kaduna issues security alert, calls for vigilance among residents A za Msue KADUNA

T

he Kaduna State Government, yesterday, issued a security alert calling on residents to be vigilant and report any suspicious persons and actions to the security agencies for prompt action.

In a statement signed

by Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, the government once again commended the people of the state for their vigilance, and urged all residents to remain security-conscious and alert.

Aruwan said that churches and mosques shall continue to maintain necessary security measures, especially on major days of worship and congregation, particularly Sundays and Fridays.

According to the statement: “The authorities responsible for places of mass gatherings such as markets, shopping malls and parks are also directed to step up security while visitors to such places should be vigilantly careful, and cooperate with the security procedures.”

“As the Easter period approaches, the government requested that residents should report any and all suspicious persons and actions to the security agencies.

“In the light of the successes that the military is recording in the North-East theatre, the terrorists may be contemplating attacks on soft targets in murderous desperation.

“Therefore, residents are advised to remain vigilant and alert, and to comply with security procedures as they go about their lawful business.” The statement said.

MARCH 19, 2016

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Rivers of rancour Lekan Adejuwon

T

he oil rich Rivers State has been in the news for the wrong reasons in recent time preparatory to the National and State House of Assembly rerun elections scheduled to hold today.

This is, as the once peaceful ‘Garden City’ suddenly returned to a state of nature where lives have become brutish and short, leading to an orgy of violence and bloodletting allegedly perpetrated by rival political groups.

It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is scheduled to conduct elections for 22 of the 32 state House of Assembly seats, 12 of the 13 House of Representatives seats and the three Senatorial Districts on Saturday, March 19.

Reacting on the incident, President Muhammadu Buhari, who read the riot act on Tuesday in Malabo condemned the recent political violence in Rivers State, saying the killing of people over political differences was “primitive, barbaric and unacceptable”.

“We will deal decisively with all sponsors of violence. I have given the security services clear directives in this regard,” the president said.

In his first public comments about the growing violence in Rivers State, Buhari said, “We will show that violence in any form will no longer be tolerated before, during or after elections.”

Continuing the President said; “We will deal decisively with all sponsors of violence. I have given the security services clear directives in this regard. We will show that violence in any form will no longer be tolerated before, during or after elections,” Buhari threatened.

In fulfilment of the presidential directive however, the Nigerian Police Force said on Wednesday that in addition to the over 21, 000 officers and men of the Rivers State Command, 6, 000 policemen have been deployed to complement those on the ground.

Also, in addition to the 5, 000 officers and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC deployed by the Rivers command of the corps, 2, 000 others have been deployed in the state by the national headquarters.

IGP Arase on his part said the police is deploying one helicopter in each of the three senatorial districts.

While he said the intelligence unit of the force has conducted a threat analysis of the state, Arase said flashpoints and individuals who might pose security threat have been identified and watchlisted.

He said the police has contacted the Nigerian Navy to assist it in “locking down” the waterways in the state, adding that restriction of movement would start on Friday night.

But in a swift reaction, the South-South Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP on Thursday, raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the All Progressives Congress, APC, administration to rig

Amaechi

Wike

today’s re- run election into the state Assembly and the National Assembly.

Dr Cairo Ojoughoh, PDP South-South Zonal Vice Chairman, said the massive deployment of the military personnel to Rivers State was aimed at arm twisting the electorate and hand over the election re-run in River State to APC”.

PDP cautioned that “any attempt to rig the election will not only led to anarchy but a crisis whose end cannot be determined by anybody”.

Ojoughoh urged the PDP supporters in the State “to defend their votes, obey all civil rules, avoid anything that can led to confrontation with the Military, adding that they should ” stand firmly to collate their results at the polling units and follow it up to the collation centres “.

But despite the heavy deployment of security operatives in the troubled Rivers State on Thursday it was widely reported that two Nigerian soldiers, including a Major, were killed by suspected militants at a gun duel Elli Lazarus, Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 2 Brigade, Port Harcourt, confirmed the deaths in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

“Around 11 am on Thursday, March 17, troops on patrol in Abonema, AkukuToru local government area of Rivers, had a fierce encounter with a group of unknown gunmen suspected to be sea pirates,” the statement read.

“Our men displayed extraordinary gallantry, but unfortunately, an officer and a soldier who sustained various degrees of injury during the encounter, lost their lives.

“We are currently in pursuit of the criminals and we will surely apprehend them.”

In the build up to the crucial election rerun today, the two main political parties have been at each other throats as claims and counter claims of who did what in

the ongoing carnage in the land persists APC on Wednesday in Abuja condemned, the recent bout of murders in Rivers, describing the state as a ‘killing field”.

The Acting National Chairman of the party, Engr Segun Oni, disclosed this during a news conference at the party secretariat, alleging collusion in the killings on the part of the State Government.

According to him, members of the APC are becoming endangered species in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled-state. He said: “The APC National Working Committee draws the attention of security agencies and other relevant bodies to the latest string of gruesome politically-motivated killings targeted at APC members.

“This is happening in Rivers State in the lead-up to the March 19 Rivers State re-run elections into the National Assembly and State House of Assembly.

“Rivers State has been transformed into a killing field, with APC members being murdered on a daily basis. APC members in Rivers state are fast becoming endangered species.’’

Giving a graphic picture of the killing sprees in the state, Oni said on March 5, masked gunmen shot Franklin Obi, the APC ward chairman in Omoku, headquarters of Ogab/Egbema/Ndoni council, beheading him alongside his wife and 18-year-old son Bestman.

He said four others were killed recently in Obibi, Etche local government area while one Gabriel Cookey was clubbed to death in Opobo, Opobo/Nkoro council.

His words; “In the last two weeks, over 30 APC members have been killed in different parts of the state.

“On Monday, March 7, Ofinjite Amachree, an APC stalwart in Buguma, Asari-Toru local government area of Rivers State was beaten up and thereafter,

set ablaze in continuation of the latest string of politically-motivated killings targeted at APC members in Rivers State,’’ said the party.

But in a counter statement, the national leadership of the PDP accused the APC of planning to impose a state of emergency in Rivers State, saying the move will fail.

The PDP in a statement on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said it rallied all its formation in the state to stiffly resist by all means necessary in a democracy any move by the APC to scuttle the Saturday’s National and State Assembly rerun elections in the state.

The party said it welcomes President Muhammadu Buhari’s warning to those instigating violence and causing mayhem in Rivers State, adding that it believes the warning is more directed to the APC supporters who it said have shown unique thirst for violence.

“The party is privy to a grand design by the APC to orchestrate violence in the state with a view to truncating the elections, having realized that the PDP and its candidates are more popular and ready to win overwhelmingly in all the reruns.

“We are aware that the orchestration of violence is designed to serve as stimulus for the planned imposition of a state of emergency to enable the APC forcefully take over the state which it failed to get through the ballot box.

“We also know the design to unleash violence is behind the recent infamous call by APC spokesman in Ondo state, Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya for emergency rule in Rivers state.

“What else, apart from the execution of this plot explains the complains from our candidates and members in Rivers state of constant threats by partisan security operatives as well as the recent gale of arrests, attacks and killing of PDP supporters in the state?’’

A new twist was also added to the argument as the state government, in an apparent display of lack of confidence in the federal government of Nigeria, requested the intervention of the United States, China, and other countries, including the African Union, for a free, fair, and peaceful elections.

In a letter sent to about 50 countries on Monday, the Rivers government requested world leaders “to urgently initiate and maintain pressure on the Federal Government of Nigeria to allow free, fair and violence-free elections in Rivers State on the 19th of March 2016”.

The letter, signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George, accused the former governor of the state, who is the federal Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and the APC candidate in last year governorship election in the state, Dakuku Peterside, of openly inciting violence against the PDP. Mr. Tam-George alleged that there were plans to use the military to rig the elections, to enable the APC-led federal government control the state.

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Nigerians should decide Saraki’s fate –Sen Marafa Senator Kabiru Marafa representing Zamfara Central is the spokesman of Senate Unity Forum. (SUF), The controversial lawmaker bares his mind on why he is at war with the Senate President. LEKAN ADEJUWON brings the excerpts:

T

here has always been controversies surrounding Senator Kabiru Marafa and that may prompt one to ask the question; where does Senator Marafa coming from?

I think to put it straight, I am that Nigerian that believes in Nigeria, that believes in doing the right thing at all times to the best of my ability. I try to speak my mind, say the truth no matter the consequences and so long as I believe what I am doing and I do it to the best of my ability. That is me.

Can you describe yourself as a political radical?

Sometimes you do some things that you cannot explain. I remember when I was in college precisely, I think, from form3, I woke up one day and gave myself the nickname ‘radical’ and I do remember that time, my uncle who was in the university asked me why I should give myself that nickname but I didn’t have very good explanation quite frankly apart from the fact that all my friends were having nicknames and I chose that one for myself Perhaps the name you chose years back is reflecting in your character as a politician?

Yes this is not the first time may be, I am doing this kind of thing. I contested this same seat in 2007. I lost. I was in the PDP that time, but I had a very good followership even at that time but for whatever reasons, I lost the election.

Zamfara State where I come from has been in opposition from 1999. ANPP was the party that won elections in 1999, won in 2003 and 2007. After the transfer of power between the then Governor Ahmed Sani and his Deputy, Mahmud Aliu fell apart.

I think just two years into his tenure and the then governor Mahmud Ali Shinkafi decamped from ANPP to our party, PDP. When he came to PDP, he appointed me as one of his commissioners as a result of his coming in to our party and he gave me Water Resources portfolio. I did the

Marafa

best I could do You later had to join ANPP and came into the senate?

Yes. So, after that, I think that was the beginning of my problem with that government. The incumbent senator that time was the one I contested with in 2007.

So he came to PDP and now we are in the same party and for whatever reasons, there was no quite clear primary as far as I was concerned. It became very clear to us especially in the PDP extraction that they had a kind of promise that all of them were going to decamp to the PDP and they were going to retain their seats and we were not told. I was not told in particular and when the governor at the time made me a commissioner, I remember I went to him and told him sir, I contested against this man that time we were in different political parties, but today we are the same father and mother. ‘Did you made any promise to him? ’because I still have the intention to contest in 2011. ‘If you made such promise, tell me and if not tell me’ and the governor told me there was no such promise. I say ok, fine. In 2011 just barely a day to the primaries, I received a call from the governor where he said I should be given House of Representatives ticket and that Hassan Muhammed is going to be returned as the senator and I said, that was not our promise. The governor said are you still insisting? I said yes. They took me to the governor we spoke and I said when I joined the government I asked you this question and you told me this, but now, these people were telling me another thing. This is not our agreement.

Then you left the party?

After the primaries, I was not convinced. I decamped to ANPP but unknown to me, ANPP had prepared for my entry into their fold. They bought me a form and everything because it was just 24 hours to the close of the primaries and I was given the ticket. We went into the elections and by the special grace of God my zone gave the ANPP victory because as opposition, I polled 208,000 votes as against 106,000 votes

That was what brought you into political domain of Ahmed Sani Yerima?

Yes, that was the marriage.

Sani Yerima became your political leader. Is he still your political leader?

Yes he was my governor, two-term governor, He is my senior here in the senate.

But both of you are not in the same camp in the senate?

Yes. I will tell you a little history about how we met. It is a meeting of two gentlemen. He has the platform and I have the support of my people who told me as a result of basically or largely, because of my performance in the Ministry of Education, people were quite impressed with the way I confronted the problems in education ministry and when it was time to act, I acted by resigning. What people used to see is a situation where people want to stay on to power at all cost, but here is somebody that was ready to resign as commissioner and this does not pertain to my personal gains, it has to be with students and all that.

I wonder how you feel when you meet him in the corridors of the Senate?

We honestly relate very well till today.

I have a lot of respect for him and he has a lot of respect for me. He knows I can do this kind of thing and he respects my views.

So he holds no grudge against you?

Well you see, grudge is something that may be, you have inside buti cannot say however, from what I have seen outside him, there has been none and from what he said let me say here that precisely the day the governor was inaugurated we were all there to witness the inauguration.

Myself, himself and the governor we were talking and I remember the governor saying, Marafa, we quite understood what you are doing and why you are doing it.

I remember we frankly sat myself and Yerima and agreed that you be allowed to do what you are doing because it will be quite unfair at this critical time to ask you to go back

If I ask you to withdraw some of your anger, will you have obliged them?

Honestly, I have no anger You don’t have any anger against the senate?

Sometimes circumstances can be very unfair to you. The circumstances kind of brought two issues together almost seamlessly. So it is very difficult to separate the two. We had a contest between two groups-Unity Forum and the Like Minds.

The Unity Forum lost to the Like Minds.

So, the natural thing is that since we lost, the only thing we do is kind of opposition, but what we have been raising on the floor of the senate since that time, has to do with our rules, following the rules and doing that. Like I said, the two were seamless but a lot of people mistake it for opposition but I always refer to the people.

Look at the all the arguments, all the time.

Anytime I stand to talk on the floor, I bring out my reasons and what our rule book says.

Who is afraid of Senator Marafa?

I wouldn’t know who is afraid of me.

I don’t know. To me, I think, the most important thing is that when I am doing something, I am not doing what I am doing because I hate somebody. I have always said, the current Senate Present, in person of Dr Bukola Saraki has never been my enemy and he is still not my enemy.

Are you sure?

Definitely, cocksure, you can ask anybody Do you still want him to remain the Senate President?

I didn’t make him, one, and as a devout Moslem. I know that power comes from God and it is only God that gives and takes Do you want him to remain as Senate President or you want him to resign?

Yes because of the reasons I gave. I gave out my reasons. It is left to Nigerians to say well, Marafa is wrong, that they want him to be there regardless of what.

Will Nigerians have a say in what happens at the floor of the senate?

Yes, it is Nigerians that would have a say. Let me give you an instance Nigerians don’t have say in any impeachment process because the constitution didn’t give them the power to impeach for instance, the Senate President. But the constitution gives them power to impeach me as a senator, that is to recall me. That is their power. So as their representative if there is something going on, I am the one the constitution empowers to do the exercise.

So what we need is voters’ education, for everybody to know his rights and his privileges. I have my own right, they have their own rights and that is why when the chips are down they are the bosses thing entirely. There is no way you can deny the people of Zamfara Central their right of representation as enshrined in the constitution just because of some remarks that Kabiru made or some actions he did which are not criminal or something..

What if the senate suspends you?

Of course I will challenge the decision.

MARCH 19, 2016

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‘APC sponsored cultists behind killings’ ‘We’ll deal decisively with sponsors of violence in Rivers’ “T —President Muhammadu ­­— Dr Austin Tam-George, Rivers Commissioner for Information he Government and people of Rivers State are saddened by the unfortunate killing of the officer and another soldier.

“We call for an independent international investigation to ascertain those behind the killings. “However, we strongly believe that APC-sponsored cultists may be behind the killing of these soldiers in their ugly plot to pitch innocent Rivers communities against the military.”

Buhari

“K

illing of people over political differences was primitive, barbaric and unacceptable”.

“We will deal decisively with all sponsors of violence. I have given the security services clear directives in this regard,” the president said.

“We will show that violence in any form will no longer be tolerated before, during or after elections.”

‘Hold Wike responsible for Rivers rerun election violence’

—Mai Mala Buni, National secretary of the APC

“W

ike has been in the forefront of inciting the people of Rivers State against INEC and the Nigerian Army.

“On Tuesday, he accused Mrs. Amina Zakari of an unsubstantiated and cooked up plot to swap election result sheets in the yet-to-be-conducted election and went ahead to issue a death threat on the INEC commissioner.

“The APC takes Wike’s death threats and campaign of calumny against INEC and the Nigerian Army seriously.

Under Wike’s watch, the country and indeed the international community has been traumatised by the daily lynching, maiming, killing and beheading of APC members and supporters in Rivers State.

“The APC believes that Nyesom Wike’s repeated threats to INEC to ‘write their will’ before coming to conduct elections in the state is real and must be looked into by relevant security agencies,”

‘Rivers State belong to PDP’ —Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP Publicity Secretary

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he party is privy to a grand design by the APC to orchestrate violence in the state with a view to truncating the elections, having realised that the PDP and its candidates are more popular and ready to win overwhelmingly in all the reruns.

“The recent infamous call by the APC spokesman in Ondo State, Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya, for emergency rule to be imposed in Rivers State is uncalled for.

“But let it be known that Rivers State is a stronghold of the PDP and that such profane quest would be squarely and comprehensively greeted with intense resistance and very dire consequences.”

‘These killings must stop’

—Dakuku Peterside, D-G of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA,

“

“This is where we find ourselves today but What has happened today reinforces our earlier position on the conflagration we must all wake up and save Rivers State that is capable of resulting from the hate before it is too late.” speeches of Wike and members of the PDP. “How can this needless loss of lives be explained on the eve of an election? Those who are responsible for these unnecessary deaths and violence in Rivers State have indeed taken Rivers State and the entire country for a ride for too long.

“But we must not continue like this. This is a re-run election, not war.

“We have all watched in the last couple of weeks, the governor’s utterances and instructions and we know that the fruits from his inciting speeches would be harvested in a matter of time. The world can now see the consequences of those statements.

“I think this madness must stop. Even as we prepare for this re-run election, there are information making the round that over 3,000 boys have already been imported into Abonema for Saturday’s elections from neighbouring Delta and Bayelsa States.

‘Wike protecting killers’ — Rotimi Amaechi, former Rivers State Governor

“W

ike is protecting killers; all his caretaker chairmen are known militants. The police recovered arms and ammunition from the home of Soboma Jackrich (chairman of Asari-Toru Council) and Jackrich is now living in the Government House.

“Wike must stop supporting violence by not encouraging the criminals, especially cultists and militants. Wike must allow persons who break the law to be punished. My relationship with Wike became sour, as my Chief of Staff, because of his violence and corruption.

“If a governor wines and dines with cultists and militants, he will embolden the criminals. As Rivers governor, I never sat down with cultists and militants. I did not support the Federal Government’s

amnesty offer to repentant militants because you do not compensate criminals.”

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How well do you know your children?

At some point during a child’s development, parents must establish friendly relations with them.

Unfortunately, many parents feel this shouldn’t be until their children become adults. But according to experts unfriendly parenthood causes more harm than good to families, reports JULIET UMEH

N

neka, a 19-year-old girl who resides at Olodi Apapa, Lagos, with her parents, may not have become a teenage mother if she had had the right information from her ever-busy petty trader mother, Mrs. Ifeoma Obi. Without doubt, peers and environmental factors must have played major roles in making her lose her innocence and prematurely become a mother.

Nneka remorsefully tells her story: “After I saw my first period at the age of 13, my mother warned that since I had become a woman, if any boy touched me, I would be pregnant.

“As from that moment, I became scared of moving close to any man except my father because I didn’t want to get pregnant. But as years went by, I got confused especially when I saw my classmates moving freely with boys

and relating more physically and intimately without becoming pregnant.”

In her confused condition, she states, “I went back to my mother to ask her why those girls in my class weren’t pregnant if what she told me was true. Unfortunately, I was scolded and asked to stay away from her presence. Rather than bother her with rather ‘irrelevant questions,’ I went so close to my friends who ridiculed me and considered me a fool.

“After a little ‘coaching’ by age-mates and my environment, I became something else and this was one of my top secrets until that Sunday morning when I fell ill and was throwing up. My mother immediately realised that the illness wasn’t fever. After further examination, it was confirmed I was two-months pregnant. This was greeted with

scolding from my parents,” Nneka narrates with regret.

Nneka was however lucky the birth of her baby was complications-free. However, Tope, her close friend she is one month older, may not become pregnant again except through the Almighty’s miracle or His divine intervention. She was said to have taken a desperate decision – termination of her pregnancy. According Nneka, who revealed her friends condition to Saturday Mirror, Tope was not even aware of the age of her pregnancy because no pregnancy test or gestation scan was conducted on her, because she put a firm lid on it, even she hid it from her mother. When she knew her monthly flow had ceased and was having similar signs as her friend had had, she quickly went to take some drugs and strange chemicals which aborted the pregnancy, but sadly, doctor’s report at the hospital where she was rushed to stated that her uterus had ruptured; therefore her womb had to be removed to save her life.

Cases like that of Nneka and Tope, might have informed a non-governmental organisations (NGO), Action Health Incorporated in collaboration with Action for Change, last week, in Apapa, Iganmu

Council in Ijora, Lagos State, to organise a training for parents and healthcare providers on youth friendly service provision. The 7-day training provided healthcare workers advanced knowledge on good relationship with children.

According to the organisers, the programme was borne out of the recognition of the various issues that young people face and the need to train the workers to have a receptive approach towards them so that they can confidently seek help when they face challenges in life.

Action Health Incorporated Programme Officer, Francesca Bola Akolade, disclosed the training of healthcare providers on youth service friendly provision is actually a part of a project advocating youth friendly services at Olojowon Primary Health Care (PHC).

“This is one of our programmes and we also have a programme on health educations service to increase awareness of the young people on the availability of services in the primary healthcare.” She added that such programme will also increase the demand of the services on the side of the young people and on the side of the providers; thereby CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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‘No child is too young in this computer age’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 building their capacity.

The training was targeted at the young people from ages 10 to 24 in Ijora Badiya, because there are various sexual reproductive health issues in the area renowned for a volatile environment and demolitions which expose young people to various risk factors and because the services that were billed to be provided were for them.

Some participants of the programme, who spoke to Saturday Mirror, freely confessed they had failed to cordially relate with their children. Among them, Akolade, from Badia Primary Healthcare, who thanked God that she was part of the programme because she had learnt a lot from the seminar. Before now, if her children had asked her questions, “I used to drive them away. But through the programme, I have learnt the need to be friendly with the youth. I don’t need to send them away when they are inquisitive. It is my duty to provide answers to their questions.

Whenever I am ‘doing something’ or dressing up, I don’t need to drive them away because they need to see my body, in case they are developing some features it wouldn’t be a strange thing to them. I need to teach my children and youths around me things they need to know. But in our days our parents didn’t teach us anything. If I don’t teach my children now, somebody else may wrongly fill the vacuum to teach them nonsense,” she declares.

Now, she has also realised giving children sex and sexuality education is right. “It is because there is no proper sex education from parents that we have so many teenage pregnancies. The children don’t have the knowledge, if they have the knowledge they would have known how to protect themselves by using condom or family planning methods.

We need to teach them the consequences of engaging in sex and its consequences.

“They are not too young to be taught some things because we are in the computer age. I have started with my nine-year-old grandchild since this training began. I have told him he shouldn’t allow anybody to play with his private parts,” she stresses.

Similarly, Okeola Azizi from Olojo Primary Healthcare, also through the training, learnt the need to bring youths closer and establish a good rapport with them by teaching them how to protect themselves from various sexually transmitted diseases and how to approach primary healthcare for medical attention as well. “I am optimistic that the promise to give a separate office to adolescent and the presence of a good doctor to be attending to their questions will be a positive move.

“What I notice is that they need to have their separate hospital because youths fear to go to the hospital, but if they have their separate place, some of them living with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases will not hide themselves any longer,” Mr. Azizi thinks.

But for the adolescents, a socialist, Mr. Godwin Illoh, observed that they could pose a problem if not carefully handled because adolescence is characterised by significant neurological, cognitive and sociopsychological development. He however, stated what happens at the period of adolescence: “With the advance of adolescence, the amount of time spent with parents typically drops while time spent with peers increases considerably.

Therefore, parents should continue to play a key role in influencing

their adolescent’s development. Adolescentparent attachment has profound effects on cognitive, social and emotional functioning.

Secure attachment is associated with less engagement in high risk behaviour, fewer mental health problems, and enhanced social skills and coping strategies,” he divulges.

But for Professor Ngozi Osarenren, of the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, he believes the young make wrong choices, therefore they fail because most parents have failed in their duty to relate with them with love. “We have failed to do the needful as parents. If all parents have been able to look after their children, teach them the right values, we won’t have the incidence of crimes like we have in the society.

“Secondly, some parents are bad role models, so it is like passing the baton of a family tradition from parents to children, because as impressionable children, what they see or hear influences them.

“We need to be sincere to ourselves. Many parents delude themselves that their children are bigger than them, but a child can never be bigger than his parents, except the parents are dishonest. The only way out is for parents to start doing what is right before it is too late,” she appeals.

Corroborating the stance of the education lecturer is the Head of Department of Psychology, University of Lagos, Professor Ibinabo Agiobu-Kemmer, who sadly remarked that parents have abdicated their roles. In her words: “Parents are not monitoring their children or don’t have time for their children

office work. It is father’s responsibility and the mother to train a child,” he states. According to the cleric, the father is the home’s apostle, prophet and pastors while mothers groom the children, but available in the world in recent times are families— the single-parent family, step family, and the family whose parents are not living together for one reason or another.

Children naturally grow up behaving well and responsibly primarily because they love their parents and vice-versa and want to please their parents most of the time, but, for this system to work well, the parents must have ideals of one kind or another and know the many choices their children have to make.

But today children have to make many choices in the society concerning the various subjects they grow up with: religion, sex, drug, fashion, work, responsibility, and education. Therefore parents need to talk these out with them in order to expose all sides of the question.

Nonetheless, most children at certain age cannot be changed or taught, but they can

Some parents are bad role models, so it is like passing the baton of family tradition from parents to children, because as impressionable children, what they see or hear influences them as they should. Some are delegating their responsibilities to others. Those who still want to keep the values are probably getting fewer and fewer.”

She however, re-emphasised the need for moral and religious values in homes.

“We have to restore the family altar, restore prayer time, sit together to defend the family and scriptural values. How do we correct children’s morals and values? We start from the home. What is happening to our families?

Somebody must keep the home. Some wake up in the morning; they don’t even see each other because you have to be on the road by 4am.

You come back again in the night at 11pm; you are tired and go straight to bed. There is no family life again. At the weekend, everybody is at the salon, wedding or birthday party etc.

Nobody is paying attention to the babies and the children. Children need somebody to pay attention to them,” she declares.

Children make wrong decisions because most homes have absentee fathers or lack a male figure because some of these fathers are too busy and do not have time for their children, said Pastor Iheanyichukwu Walker. “Perhaps they are preoccupied by church activities or

be guided to take a credible path if what a mother, Mrs Anthonia Nwosu, is considered.

“My 18-year-old daughter and I live alone and we have managed to keep an open relationship. We discuss sex, drugs, love, and many other issues that other families find off limits. But last week my daughter came home from school and released a fact from what she learnt in class that the average age for sexual intercourse for girls in Nigeria is 15 or 16. I was surprised at her boldness in informing me about various forms contraceptives and the wide information she had on reproductive health. What is disheartening now is that she has asked I should get her birth control pills when she resumes for the third term after Easter. Now I am confused and conflicted,” she reported, looking disgruntled.

Another mother,65-year-old Mrs Esther Bankole, thinks since families do not want their children to be different, but want them to be morally fit, the world must have a picture of the role of the family vis-a-vis the society in the production of excellent children. She asked: “Do we have any picture at all of what we want and what values we want our children to develop, to hold?” “We more often raise our children through dayto-day practicalities guided by vague notions of what is or isn’t right or true, therefore our family lives need critical examination.

Therefore, if we fail to accept responsibility, maybe it is because of another conflicting value that we hold dear, rather than the abdication of responsibility.,” she added.

It is however unbelievable that most parents lack knowledge of the ways they can relate with their children to make them excellent beings. A social scientist, Cyril Azuka, while discussing with Saturday Mirror about parent-child relationship, states: “Even though many parents feel the weight of moral responsibility for their children and what they become in life, the strange question many ask is: If I have an idea or picture of the type of adult I would like my child to become, do I know how or have the right to try to make him conform to it.

Since we have a changing world, attempts must be made to consider in addition to the parents’ relationship with their children, the controversy over the roles of schools versus the home in discipline and authority, effect of the media of communication – radio and television, magazines and newspapers and peer culture on the values and models that children adopt; over the problems of subcultures and their diverse value systems; over parents’ changing value and their effect on children.

Most importantly, maybe the advice of Mrs. Akolade to parents may wonderfully result in a closer relationship with children if they consider it as a gospel truth. “They should be their friends and not to scare them away.”

Entervaganza

The Saturday Mirror Magazine

Sex talk Who wants more casual sex? P.34

Relationships

What if your partner prefers career to romance?

P.34

Fashion Frenzy Classy Kaftans P.24

Nkiru ... screen goddess

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MARCH 19, 2016

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We’re not trying to scam Nigerians —Alariwo and wife, Shola

Entertainment personality, Alariwo Of Africa, is suffering from the ailment, Varicocele.

Simultaneously, his wife too is suffering from pulmonary embolism. They need the sum of N15m for medical treatment abroad. And in trying to help them, Ultima Studios, producer of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, the most popular family game show that airs every Sunday evening on NTA, STV, MITV, DBN and SuperScreen, featured them on its special edition, Who Deserves To Be A Millionaire?, and they played and won N2m. They granted interviews afterwards to Ultima’s Olu Akinlabi. Excerpts.

In your own words, tell us about yourself and what you do.

My name is Rotimi Martins. They call me Alariwo of Africa. I am a musician and a broadcaster. Entertainment is what I do, generally. I released my first album in 1998 titled Yawa Go Gas and I have released two more afterwards. In addition, I used to work at Eko FM. I also anchor events and I do a bit of comedy. This is the reason I am called the Crossover King.

Alariwo’s wife, Shola Martins, also speaks How have you been faring, madam?

Things have been tough since I had the accident. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I have been on one spot since August 2015, unable to move around like I normally would. Nevertheless, I give God all the glory that I am still alive and I’m also thankful to my husband who has been supportive.

So it’s not a self-acclaimed title?

Yes. It’s a title I got from my fans. Further to that, people know me as someone who fights for social justice. I am even an ambassador for an orphanage home. I am passionate about causes like that because I believe in giving. I believe that if you don’t give, you cannot receive, hence I derive joy in helping people.

Talking about helping people, isn’t it worth recalling that you once appeared on this same programme to play for an individual in need?

You are right. I was once on the set of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Nigeria. I played alongside Kunle Afolayan for Baba Feyikogbon at the special edition called Who Deserves To Be A Millionaire?

It was a fun experience and I was glad for the opportunity to give the man a helping hand.

Now, what exactly is your own situation?

Hmm! I have a health challenge called varicocele. It occurs when veins deprive blood transfusion to the scrotum which leads to other set of complications when it is not immediately taken care of. I cannot explain how this came about. I have already done a surgery but I require another one which will be done outside the country. And this is a lot of money.

We share your feelings deeply, But what

Have you a rough estimate of the cost of these medical treatments?

Yes, a total of $46,000 for my operation and my wife’s. A couple of friends have been assisting with their contributions, but we are extremely far from the target yet. I appreciate their good hearts. I also remain ever grateful to Ultima Studios and MTN. Also, I am indebted to the gentlemen that played with me in the studio.

They really did well. I was dumbfounded when Frank (the show’s presenter) announced the special treatment I was given in the hot seat. They went down memory lane and it really added value to me.

It has strengthened my resolve to keep volunteering for good causes, because I did not know I would reap it when Mr Olu Akinlabi invited me some 6 or 7 years ago to come and play for Papa Feyikogbon. I wish the organizers of the show the best in life. I am grateful to them and the programme’s sponsor, MTN.

We are thanking him too on your behalf, because despite his own challenge …

(Cuts in) Honestly, that was the reason I felt bad when I heard that some people were saying our call for help is nothing but a scam. All I have to say to those people who think my husband and I are just trying to make money from this, they should wish the same fate that has befallen us for themselves.

Alariwo

Shola

about your wife?

Hah! In my wife’s case, she has a condition called pulmonary embolism. It started when she was involved in an auto accident on her way to the market. This has complicated things for us because it happened while I was still trying to raise funds for my surgery. I have to sell my car, because at a point I was buying drugs worth N47,000 daily. It has been very challenging.

undergo operations. Mine, for varicocele, and hers to correct the blood clots formed in the deep veins of her limb.

She urgently requires an IVC (inferior vena cava) filter replacement. Owing to the huge presence of family members and friends that would take care of us after the medical treatments, we shall be going to America for these operations. Here we are with virtually nothing, especially with this high exchange rate! Sincerely, that is the reason we consider MTN’s Who Deserves To Be A Millionaire a divine arrangement.

So what is the way forward now?

For our survival, as a matter of immediate importance, we would have to

What is your desire now?

My greatest desire right now is to get back on my feet, and for my husband to also get well. I have a lot of abandoned projects.

Any words for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and its sponsors?

Let me put it this way. The very first day the representative from Ultima Studios came calling, he met us at a session with our pastor. Since that day, we have become convinced that this is the Lord’s doing, and it’s from that day we knew it would be blessing all the way for the programme and its sponsors. They will triumph over all evils and challenges, and they will keep meeting God at all points of need. My family remains ever grateful to them.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Oseyiza Oogbodo 08036961187 kingseiza@gmail.com

Beverly Naya stuns with new pics

D’Banj’s producer, S DeeVee, dumps him

exy actress, Beverly Naya, has released a new set of pictures that have got her male fans salivating and made even many more men who were not her fans previously into her fans.

In the pictures, released on her website, beverlynaya.com, which she just unveiled, she took sexy and chic to another level, so it’s no surprise have gone viral and broken the internet.

Her release of the pictures, and website unveil, have come at the right time, as they are a combined step that will help her career go in the right direction for the rest of the year.

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he ongoing saga of Emergency singer, D’Banj, is one that nobody can predict or see where it’ll end up. Just some years ago, he was the hottest urban singer in the country, but when he and his partner-producer, Don Jazzy, separated, the music loving public began to find fault with him.

The songs he released after the unexpected separation met with severe criticism, and till date, criticisms trail most of his moves.

Recently, he’s experienced some low points which aptly make it obvious that music lovers don’t really reckon with him that much anymore.

For instance, late last year, his producer, DeeVee, alleged that celebrated rapper, Olamide, has been stealing lyrics from D’Banj. The public however didn’t care about the revelation as they are really feeling Olamide now so believed that D’Banj was only trying to trend through Olamide.

Last month, at the birthday celebration of Ben Murray-Bruce, he embarrassed himself further by begging Jazzy publicly to do a beat for him. He then in-

D’Banj

DeeVee

vited Jazzy to come on stage with him, but Jazzy didn’t, and so he trended for the wrong reasons: that Jazzy snubbed him and that he’s begging him for a beat.

Now, his latest low is probably that a producer who was virtually unknown when they started working together,

but became really known through his association with him, has dumped him, and one doesn’t have to think hard before guessing why a producer who’s still trying to really find his feet would walk out of his association with an artist of D’Banj’s calibre.

Naya

Wizkid reportedly buys Los Angeles mansion P

The mansion’s front Inset: Wiz in the mansion’s compound

opular singer, Wizkid, is currently trending for his reported acquisition of a mansion in the city where the biggest stars in the world own such mansions, Los Angeles, California, USA. The report of the acquisition went viral after Wiz posted pictures of the mansion on Instagram with the caption: “Crib so big I got no neighbours.”

Wiz has been gradually trying to break into the American music industry. He’s been spotted with Chris Brown and Alicia Keys has posted videos of herself dancing to his song.

He has collaborated with Drake on the remix of his smash hit, Ojuelegba, and also been featured by R Kelly on the song, I Just Want To Thank You, which is on Kelly’s latest album, The Buffet.

Though he didn’t come right out to say if he actually bought the building or he’s just renting it, it’s only right to say, “Congrats, Wiz.”

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MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CLASSICAL LYRICS

Fifty marks International Women’s Day

Seven Lifes Artist: Beautiful Nubia Verse 1 In my journey through the world, over land and over sea I see different cultures and different people’s ways I was born where the sun never sets and never rises I was born where the heat is like a second skin Children crying on the streets, automobiles making noise The land is growing dry and weak, spirits dying low The forefathers are calling me: never tire, never weaken The pride in me is bursting loose, I’m an African boy.

On the farm my father called me down behind a tree

Akindoju, Doyle, Abudu, Orisaguna, Oboli and Osimkpa during the screening

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o mark the 2016 International Women’s Day, EbonyLife Films last week hosted about 200 women to a special private champagne screening of its much-hyped movie, Fifty, at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas in The Palms shopping Mall Lekki, Lagos.

“It is International Women’s Day and I thought it would be nice to extend a gesture to women everywhere of all ages and background and treat them to a private screening of our movie, Fifty. It was also a girl’s night out with champagne, popcorn and special cupcakes served all in a bid

to celebrate women as we all have a story worth celebrating. It was so much fun,” Mo Abudu, founder of EbonyLife Films and executive producer of Fifty, said.

The movie has been described as Abudu’s quest to showcase African women coming of age, loaded with increasingly similar aspirations and dilemmas faced by their contemporaries everywhere, while yet navigating unresolved traditions and obligations.

The star-studded special screening had in attendance a special blend of movie and music personalities, captains of industry

He said, “Prostrate at my feet and socialites including leading characters from the movie, Ireti Doyle, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Omoni Oboli, Nse Ikpe Etim, Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju and Uzor Osimkpa who were presented with bouquets of flowers in celebration of their roles.

Also present were music sensations Omawumi and Ruby Gyang, Mosun Ogunbanjo, Kehinde Bankole and woman of the moment, Olajumoke Orisaguna. The women who worked behind the scenes of Fifty were not left out of the celebration as they were each presented with a gift by Abudu.

Ayefele, Pasuma, others for Nessy Bee Femi Solar’s album launch sings Ori Owo F

Mega 99 and Solar

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ith less than a month to the launching of Femi Solar’s album, Mercy Beyond, the Jasa gospel crooner is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a successful launch.

MB, according to Solar, will be launched on April 10, and leading gospel singer and CEO, Fresh FM, Yinka Ayefele, will lead other prominent Nigerians to Genesis Suites and Hall, Challenge, Ibadan, Oyo State venue of the launch.

Speaking further, he said fuji star, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, has been penciled down as the star artist of the day. “Pasuma is coming to rock the city of Ibadan. I can confirm that to you. He’s not the only one coming that day, but I don’t want to reveal the others now.”

He added that he would present his latest video, Grace, at the launching which

is to be an all-white affair. And explaining the choice of white dressing, he said white symbolises purity and peace, hence his decision to go with white.

He insisted that he would not be toeing the usual path for the event, saying those who have been following him in the last few years would know that he likes to do his things differently.

“I have been working on this project for more than eight months and I am glad that things are already taking the shape that I want. My team and I have been working to ensure that everything works according to plan,” he declared.

On what his fans should expect from MB, he said he stepped up his game on MB which is his seventh studio album by featuring other popular artists, among whom are Mega 99 and Adegbodu Twins.

ollowing the release of his ID Cabasa-produced Heroes, which had its visuals directed by Ayo Ray, Nessy Bee drops a fresh tune, the HTee mixed/ mastered piece, Ori Owo. This new single of his is set to attain even greater success than his previously released Heroes which got due recognition on quite a number of stellar music platforms and likewise garnered massive airplay across radio stations with its visuals doing well on TV as well.

And with Ori Owo as a strong contender to become a street anthem in the coming months as its lyrical content cuts across all ages and gender, watch out for Bee.

and say a few prayers” Then he told me all the stories of my brave ancestors, “Look into my eyes son, you were born to be great” So in the twilight I went home behind my father with a hoe Listening to the songs of birds, whispers of the night Singing: seven goats, seven beads, Seven cowries, seven nuts, Seven lifes that’s what I’ve got, I’m an African boy Over sea, over land, over mountains and in the wild I’ll be brave and I’ll be strong, I’m an African boy.

Verse 2 In the evening, mother called me down into her hut She said, “Lay upon my bosom and say a few prayers” Then she told me to go forward never looking back “The spirits are with you and you will never fail” So I go into the world, into the deeps, into the wild In the market place I danced the sound of bata Dancing - seven jumps, seven wriggles, Seven cowries, seven nuts Seven lifes that’s what I’ve got I’m an African boy

Bee

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Ibinabo’s son pleads on her behalf … Consider her children —Freeze

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t’s no longer news that celebrated actress, Ibinabo Fiberesima, has lost her appeal not to be imprisoned over the accident she had several years back which resulted in the death of a medical doctor, Suraj Giwa.

But her appeal court loss has been generating reactions, and the most touching of them is by her first child, who has written a letter that Nigerians should please pray for his mother and himself and his siblings at this critical point of their lives.

“People of Nigeria,” began the letter.

“This is Sean, first and proud son of Ibinabo Fiberesima. I write to plead with all Nigerians to pray for my mother. She is going through the toughest of times right now, and so are we, her family. I’ve been reading heartbreaking comments on her matter that ‘she thinks she’s above the law,’ ‘she doesn’t feel sorry for the family of the deceased,’ ‘she was drunk and deserves this punishment.’

“Let me get a few things straight with you now. My mother is the most humble woman I know. I was not aware she was a celebrity until I was about 14 and that’s only because my uncle told me. She does not see herself or act as if she is above any other person. She is a proud Nigerian who loves her country and its people.

“Secondly, she has been carrying heartbreak around with her for the past 11 years after the accident. She understands the pain for the deceased’s family and is very hurt about what happened herself. She Ibinabo and children has tried her utter most to console with the Family, so don’t ever think she does not care. conspiracies about this matter aside. I “Thirdly she was not drunk. The charges know it’s between her and God now. are reckless and dangerous driving. First “Join us, myself, Craig her son who is of all, I refuse to believe my mother was 14, Malcolm and Brian her other sons and driving recklessly or dangerous as I’ve her beautiful daughter Zino who is just 8, been in a car with her countless times and and the rest of her family, to pray for my nothing has happened. On this occasion it mother. Let God decide what is just and was unfortunate, she was unlucky, her car what is not. flipped over which happens to a number “Whatever your religion, join us and of cars and another car smashed into her. pray for my mother as well as the family She was in a coma for days, she could have of the deceased. We can all get through easily lost her life, but thankfully, by God’s this but not without God. strength only, she survived. She did not Thank you for reading. May God bless set out that day trying to kill someone or you all.” herself.

On-air personality, Freeze, has also “Right now, my mother is broken, reacted, saying, “Should Ibinabo go to and needs the prayer and support of Jail for 5 years??? I ran a poll on the Road all Nigerians, so please put all your Show on @coolfmlagos and callers voted

6-1 in favor of her serving the sentence.

“Do I agree? Well, no. Let’s not deprive her children of their mother and not further traumatise them with the negativity associated with their mum being an ex-convict.

“However, a N100,000 fine? Seriously????

What can 100k buy in Nigeria today???

Not even an iPhone 6! Probably an iPhone 5s at the most! So are you saying a woman would be deprived of her husband’s love, care and intimacy in exchange for an iPhone 5s??? Or the children would be told ‘sorry guys, daddy is gone but here is an iPhone 5s for you guys to share.’

“I am of the opinion that she should be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the children. This

responsibility should be directly proportional to her income. Also, a portion of her income should go to the wife unless she (the wife) states otherwise. No amount of money can replace a loved one.

However, taking financial responsibility could help bring closure to the bereaved family.

“I pray she is pardoned but she needs to show empathy and remorse, while being responsible for the family of the deceased.

Also reacting, Emeka Ike, Ibinabo’s Nollywood colleague, has come out to say that people should not think because he has issues with her over the presidency of the Actors Guild of Nigeria that he’s happy at her appeal loss as, on the contrary, he doesn’t wish jail for her.

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MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Celebrities celebrate with Adebola Williams at 30

When Adebola Williams, a media entrepreneur who’s a celebrity in his own right, decided to hold a dinner for the milestone occasion of his thirtieth birthday last weekend, it was certain that many celebrities would attend the dinner to honour one of their own. And this was the case indeed. Some of those celebrities who had a fun time with Williams included Mo’ Cheddah, Kate Henshaw and Banky W.

Adebola Williams and Rita Dominic

Tonye Cole

Kate Henshaw

Andrea Giaccaglia

Mo’ Cheddah

Olori Supergal

Banky W

Chude Jideonwo

Seyi Law

Titi Oyinsan

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Style & Glam

MARCH 19, 2016

le StyGlam and

with Yemisi Adeniran

(08037801158) ydiran@yahoo.com

Beyond boundaries rom f

Ma’am

definitely rward moving and oday’s fashion is fo straight as usual. It is not no longer business is going t conservative. It jacketed, it is no r than what you king a notch highe ta le, mi a tr ex e th ious day. It is ked like the prev loo it at wh or ve ha able. Weird and ul and unpredict tif au be e, tiv ea cr young-at-heart is meant for the ill, st ble ta or mf co rian design label, r this cause, Nige women of style. Fo gged “beyond with its pieces ta Ma’am has come up style transcends d at women whose boundaries”. Aime id to push the who are not afra the ordinary and chiffon, sheer, ion their mix of boundaries of fash and an eye for s their versatility silk and more show dictions. blends and contra

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MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

Fashion frenzy

Classy Kaftans K

aftan otherwise known as Abayasto the Northerners are long flowy gowns worn by women in most parts of the Middle east, particularly Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, and they usually come in black.

They are however favoured by all and sundry today. Basically very trendy and exquisitely made from coloured fabrics of all sorts from around the world, they are embellished with swarovski crystals, embroidery, as well as sequins to cater for all shapes and sizes.

They are designed for females of all ages, from age one to hundred even more and are meant to sparkle and dazzle all at any kind of outing. Because they are most comfortable, they are favoured by everyone from any religion. They also give room for your choice of style and state. Even as a pregnant woman, the Abaya is simply handy to give you the best of relief. You can wear the sheila (scarves)

Fashion frenzy

Style & Glam

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MARCH 19, 2016

SOCIETY Mirror

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

with Deola Adeoti.

Tel: 07055695565, mofat07@yahoo.com

Akwa Ibom Speaker’s wife, Uduak, becomes talk of town U

duak Onofiok Luke, the dutiful and cerebral wife of Akwa Ibom state House of Assembly speaker, (Barr.) Onofiok Akpan Luke was recently in the news for doing something audacious and impressive.

The woman of virtue recently did something unusual to her husband right in front of everybody.

In a world filled with gender equality and pride, the down-to-earth woman went on her knees for her

husband in public thanking him for the support and encouragement which helped her in bagging her Doctorate degree in Environmental Toxicology from the prestigious University of Calabar (UNICAL), Cross River State.

Meanwhile following that magnificent and exemplary action, there have been mixed reaction over her action. On many social media platforms, some women were abusing her as they accused her of debasing womanhood.

But on the other hand, a vast

number of people heaped praises on her for her appreciating her husband’s contribution to the realisation of her dreams.

But impressively, while all the debate went on, the Onofioks have remained unperturbed as they recently went ahead to celebrate their perfect union. Following the controversy, the speaker who turned 38 years on earth on Wednesday March 16, 2016 staged a special party for his birthday and their 8th year wedding anniversary.

Sade Okoya buries grandmother in grand style L osing someone close is a pain that cannot be described in words, but that is what Sade Okoya, the beautiful wife of billionaire business man, Razal Okoya would have to contend with in the next few days to come.

Few days back, the society woman lost her grandmother into the cold hands of death and sources said both were so close while the deceased was alive.

However, while still grieving over the loss, on

High society gears up for Abimbola Fashola’s 51st birthday

T

he Lagos and Abuja high societies are at the moment warming up with enthusiasm for the 51ST birthday celebration of Dame Abimbola Fashola, wife of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola. The ex-first lady of Lagos State would add one on April 6, 2016 and as usual a celebration is expected to happen to honour the Dame.

Dame Abimbola Fashola is described as a woman of calm composure and quiet dignity who affects an uncommon capacity for hard work and a burning passion to motivate youths to actualize their potentials. Her unassuming carriage and disarming simplicity belie her status as the wife of a powerful minister.

With total humility, Abimbola worked assiduously behind the scenes to complement the efforts of her husband when he was the Governor of Lagos.

And despite the religious difference in her marriage to the former governor, Abimbola, in her meek and modest style, succeeds in managing her home without a hitch thus substantiating the

notion that there is no trouble in her home and religious differences in particular, does not affect her family negatively.

Born on April 6th, 1965 into the Ojo Ibadan Family in Ibadan Oyo State, Abimbola has grown to become a role model to several other women and youngsters in the society.

Sunday, March 13, 2016, Sade threw a lavish party in honour of her late grandmother, Alhaja Bilikisu Monisola Ashabi Shittu (née Shomoye) in Lagos.

Alhaja Shittu died on March 3, at the ripe age of 112. She was buried on Friday, March 4 in accordance with Islamic injunction, at the Vaults and Gardens Mayfair, Lekki. Mama Shittu is survived by two children – Alhaja Nimota Adeleye (the mother of Sade Okoya) and Deaconess Rhoda Adebanke

Oduniyi.

The burial ceremony, which held at Oluwa Ni Sola Estate, the Okoya family’s sprawling abode in Lagos, had the likes of Olusegun Osoba, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Samuel Adedoyin, Bisi Olatilo, Dele Momodu, Olu Okeowo, Comedian Tee-A among others in attendance.

The guests, who all shared in a yellow and brown Ankara aso-ebi, were entertained by Apala music maestro, Musuliu Haruna Ishola.

Celebrity pastor, Dele Ogundipe celebrates birthday

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enesis, as many prefer to call him, is a man loved by all, and this has always been evident in the ways people swarmed around him like bees.

But while many were expecting him to throw a jamboree, the down-to-earth man of God opted for a low key soiree to celebrate his birthday with his congregants.

Held at his church’s auditorium in Alakuko, Lagos, the celebration was mixed with ministration and fun as Afro Juju crooner, Sir Shina Peters thrilled the congregants with his classic tunes.

The preacher also received a large amount of praise from his own congregation, which described him as “inspirational, compassionate, and hum-

ble.”

As a way of showing his appreciation to the congregation, the birthday boy presented a brand new Toyota bus to the congregation to support the ministry.

The church was very elated as they could not hold back their tears. Following this, the birthday train was moved the following day to the motherless home where the man of God donated foods to the less privileged.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Fashion

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Guest G

Being fair -skinned does not make one beautiful –Nkiru Sylvanus

Pretty screen goddess and former aide to Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Nkiru Silvanus says the best beauty therapy is the natural type. “It is the most long lasting and reliable,” she told YEMISI ADENIRAN.

Top 10 erection protection tips

A

W

hat‘s your opinion about Nigerian women and fashion?

I must say that Nigerian women are up and high there where fashion and style is concerned. They are fashionable, always conscious of whatever is in vogue and they keep pace with its dictates as much as possible. I am proud of them any day. Besides, kudos should be given to our fashion designers; they are doing a lot of good jobs you know. They are displaying a commendable creativity stunts and I think this is really good and worthy of note.

Are you saying they are 100 percent good?

No one is perfect but whatever the case may be, they are not doing badly, in fact they are above average. That, however, does not mean that there are no area where they need to improve.

Where do you suggest they do more?

Well, I suggest they work more on natural beauty therapy. It is most long lasting and reliable. I advise that woman avoid as much as possible all beauty products that can endanger their skin health and beau-

tiful look as much as they can. The sudden beauty of today is not enough to damage that of the future. Everybody wants to be light in complexion by all means, so, they indulge in all kinds of bleaching products.

This is dangerous because it is detrimental to their shin health. Apart from the likelihood of skin cancer, it makes one to look aged than one’s real mates. Honestly, if you take your time to compare dark in complexion ladies of the same age with the light in complexion ones, you will discover that the former look younger and desirable than the latter set. This is why I am advising that we go the way of natural therapy than the artificial one that many indulge in. Being fair-skinned does not solely make one beautiful. You will only be attractive and draw attention to yourself from a distance. But a man or anyone who knows those things that really add up to qualify one for a beautiful one will know when he finally draws closer. If you are not beautiful naturally, no amount of bleaching cream can make you beautiful.

We should also avoid junk foods, drink more water and try to catch some rest as much as we can to get healthier and look more beautiful. All these are natural and natural things last more and work more.

re you a man reading this?

You’ve just won the ultimate lottery, that is if you can soak in and use these tips. And if you are a woman, one way or the other, these tips are definitely in your interest.

According to experts, erectile dysfunction (ED) becomes more common as men age. But it is not necessarily a normal part of aging. How can men avoid ED? 1. Watch what you eat A diet that’s bad for a man’s heart is also not good for his ability to have erections. Research has shown that the same eating patterns that can cause heart attacks due to restricted blood flow in the coronary arteries can also impede blood flow to and within the penis. The blood flow is needed for the penis to become erect. Diets that include very few fruits and vegetables along with lots of fatty, fried, and processed foods can contribute to decreased blood circulation throughout the body. Simply put, anything that is bad for a man’s heart is also bad for his penis!

2. Maintain a healthy weight Being overweight can bring many health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, which can cause nerve damage throughout the body. If the diabetes affects the nerves that supply the penis, ED can result.

3. Avoid high blood pressure and high cholesterol High cholesterol or high blood pressure can damage blood vessels, including those that take blood to the penis.

Eventually, this may lead to ED. Make sure your doctor checks your cholesterol levels and blood pressure. You might also want to check your blood pressure between doctor visits, as pressure monitors are also sold for home use. If your cholesterol or blood pressure is out of whack, get it treated. Blood pressure drugs can make it hard to get an erection. But doctors say many cases of ED that get blamed on these drugs are actually caused by arterial damage resulting from high blood pressure (also called hypertension).

4. Drink alcohol in moderation or not at all There is no evidence that mild or even moderate alcohol consumption is bad

for erectile function. But chronic heavy drinking can cause liver damage, nerve damage, and other conditions -- such as interfering with the normal balance of male sex hormone levels -- that can lead to ED. 5. Exercise regularly Strong evidence links a sedentary lifestyle to erectile dysfunction. Running, swimming, and other forms of aerobic exercise have been shown to help prevent ED. But watch out for any form of exercise that puts excessive pressure on the perineum, which is the area between the scrotum and anus. Both the blood vessels and the nerves that supply the penis can be adversely affected from excessive pressure in this area. Experts say bicycle riding, in particular, can cause ED. 6. Keep a tab on testosterone Even in healthy men, testosterone levels often begin falling sharply around age 50. Every year after age 40, a man’s testosterone level typically falls about 1.3%.

Symptoms like a low sex drive, moodiness, lack of stamina, or trouble making decisions suggest a testosterone deficiency, as do lackluster erections.

7. Avoid anabolic steroids These drugs, which are often abused by athletes and bodybuilders, can shrink the testicles and sap their ability to make testosterone.

8. If you smoke, stop Smoking cigarettes can harm blood vessels and curb blood flow to the penis. And nicotine makes blood vessels contract, which can hamper blood flow to the penis.

9. Steer clear of risky sex Believe it or not, some cases of erectile dysfunction stem from penile injuries that occur during sex. Taking your time and avoiding certain positions can help.

It may be uncomfortable, but consider talking to your partner about what to do and, more importantly, what not to do.

10. Curb stress Psychological stress boosts levels of the hormone adrenaline, which makes blood vessels contract. That can be bad news for an erection. Anything a man can do to ease tension and feel better emotionally is likely to give his sex life a big boost.

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MARCH 19, 2016

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Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

WOMAN

‘I don’t mind being called Toyin Asewo ’ Popular screen godess, Toyin Adegbola, otherwise known as Ajoke Asewo To Re Mecca, was on Saturday March 5, 2016, honoured as Yeye Meso of Oke-Irun in Osun State by His Royal Majesty Oba Isaac Adetoyi Adetuluese Olokose II. She shared her excitement with YEMISI ADENIRAN in this interview.

H

ow do you feel with this new title?

I must confess that it is nothing but a great honour. When I also saw my colleagues coming around me to share in the joy of the moment, I cannot but be happy. I am grateful to God , I am grateful to the Alayeluwa who thought it right and considered me suitable for the title.

I am definitely not the only woman or famous person around and it is not as if the title is or was for sale. I was just being honoured and I am glad God is allowing this to happen in my life time. There are many people who want to be honoured with this kind of positions but they were not chanced. What about many of my age mates, friends and colleagues that are not alive today? I am happy to be alive to witness the event and with my loved ones.

Do you think your career as an actress was what worked for you?

Like I said, it was God and it is still God.

If my career as an actress was part of it, I still give it back to God and because He is the one who gives one the right recognition. i am not the only actress around and i am definitely not the best actress here but i have just been favoured. See, if anything good is happening to you, it has been permitted by God, it is not by anyone’s power or might that he could become anything. It is by God’s grace. So, I won’t say it is because of anything that I have done or that I have achieved. It is definitely because of God. How do you intend to combine this with your position as a member of the board of Osun State Arts and Culture Council?

It is no big deal. God will work it out for me. He will help me to juggle all together.

And your acting career?

Nothing can stop me from acting. I am not just an actress, I am proud to be one.

Besides, acting has always been my love, it’s my life. I am what I am today by the grace

of God and this acting career He chose for me. I mean I owe all I have today to God and my acting career. Acting makes me feel fulfilled and because everyone knows me as an actress, they will always give me the space to act.

Looking back now, would you have been this fulfilled as a nurse that you initially wanted to be?

I can categorically say no. That is why I always thank God for choosing for me.

Those years that I chose to go and study nursing and I was denied, it was as if the entire world was against me. I never knew God had a better plan ahead for me. Three times, I applied for the course and three times, I was refused. I decided to go to the technical school to study electronics.

After I graduated, I started working with the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State(BCOS). It was while I was there that I was introduced to the acting world. I thank God again today that God made this choice

for me.

How would you compare acting in those days with what we have now?

Acting as a career in those years was nothing to eye or envy. Although I have always been into acting as a girl while I was in primary and secondary schools I never saw it as anything to pursue as a career. And of course, my parents wouldn’t have supported me. You know how these things worked in those days.

Actors were looked down upon; people saw them as very unserious set of people that they shouldn’t be part of. I mean the dream of every parent then was to have doctors, engineers, Accountants and for ladies, teachers or nurses as children. No one is proud of an actor or something else.

No child would even dare brooch the idea to the hearing of their parents. I t was a no-go area. Even as a lawyer, not many parents would allow their children to follow that course. Only in homes of very

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enlightened parents were lawyers then.

As far as they were concerned, a nurse or a teacher would just be right as an ideal wife. This, they had in a way sang into our ears and we knew what to pursue at least if we wouldn’t incur their wrath. But for me, fate definitely had a different plan and I’m glad it has all ended well. I cannot imagine where I would have been should I not launch into acting. Honestly, I thank God for taking total charge of my destiny. Like you said, they cannot mention the movies’ world without mentioning Toyin Adegbola and I owe all of these to God Almighty. I have been made to travel all around the world by this same profession, it has really been wonderful.

How were you able to convince your parents judging from the fact that the career was a no-go area then?

Just as I have mentioned, God has been the pilot of my life and He has made all things worked on my behalf concerning this. I lost my parents at a very tender age, so, they were not there when I was making the decision. I tell you if they were to be alive, it wouldn’t have been an easy voyage.

If I had not been acting, I might not have been this successful. I am not saying I’m glad they died, no! As a matter of fact, I love to have them around me now to see the success that acting have brought my way. What I am trying to say is that my journey into acting wouldn’t have been this easy with them around. They would have kicked vehemently against it like so many actors and actresses will say today when they recall their experiences when they first made that decision. I was lucky however, to have a wonderful husband who gave me all the support I needed when I made my intention known.

You were brought into limelight by your role in Asewo To Re Mecca flick.

What was the experience like then and after?

Although the movie was a hit, it didn’t rub off well on me. A lot of people were against it or should I say misinterpreted the role I played and were like ‘how could a married woman act such a role like that bla, bla, bla’. They were calling me all manner of bad names, they painted the movie and the role I played so badly that my husband had to insist on watching the movie from the beginning to the end. We both watched it and he was like ‘ what exactly is the issue they have about this movie? It is a good one and you have really not done anything suggestive.’ Besides, since that film came out, everyone stopped calling me by my real name, they stuck to Asewo To Re Mecca. Some would even say Toyin Asewo and all that. For a very long time, honestly, the name didn’t go down well with me. At a point, we even attempted doing another movie that would have me bear a positive name, but it did not work. After some time, I became used to it and I guess the same became clearer to people too. Incidentally, it was this same name that brought me into limelight. I am not bothered any longer, if you shout in the market, I will answer without any bad feeling. I believe that was how God wanted it for me and I’m grateful for it. You can imagine me ending up with that name at the expense of the person who introduced me to prostitution in the movie.

God knew about it. Nigerians are even more exposed now. They have gone beyond stoning people because of some bad roles they played in one movie or the other; they can now draw the line between actors and actresses’ persons and their roles.

But a lot of people still believe some actors act well the roles given them because it conform more to their nature?

I don’t believe so and I would not want to agree to that. If it is so, then that action is no more acting. A good actor or actress will justify her expertise and versatility by acting the role given to him or her. That’s the complexity of our job, you are not a

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MARCH 19, 2016

Since that film came out, everyone stopped calling me by my real name, they stuck to

Asewo To Re Mecca.

Some would even say Toyin Asewo and all that. For a very long time, honestly, the name didn’t go down well with me. At a point, we even attempted doing another movie that would have me bear a positive name, but it did not work.

some time,

After

I became used to it.

good actress if you cannot interpret your roles well. Again, you act not just one role, you are not supposed to be stereotyped.

Now how can one person be 10 different persons all encompassed in one as a result of the different roles he has played.

But, if you have played a role very well or consistently, possibility of your playing that role is very high. In this wise, you can say it is an issue of practice making perfect. That can never translate to your real person. Most of us are different from what we do; many are even shy in the public.

As a widow and pretty woman, how do you cope with male admirers?

That is not supposed to be either strange or any big deal. I have always have male admirers even before I was married and I had coped relatively well.

They won’t force you if you turn them down, so it’s a matter of saying no in the most polite way you know. I always tell them I appreciate their admiration but I am a busy woman. I have my children to face, my career also and I wouldn’t want to do anything that will hurt my children.

What’s your philosophy of life?

Do your best and leave the rest. I also love impacting positively on others.

What advice do you have for other widows and up-coming actresses?

For the widows, they should take life as it has come. No one will die with her husband and once it has come, they should take it that way and face their lives. They should focus on the wellbeing of their children and draw closer to God, the husband of all widows. The upcoming actress should also stay focused and work hard to get to the top of their career. They should honour those before them, yield to corrections and make God their succor.

What’s your advice to the youths as they choose their careers in life?

They should simply submit their requests and desires to God. They must know that God always and forever knows best. If they desire a career and it is not coming their ways, they should not be unhappy because the end always justifies the means. The plan of God is always better than our own. Those things we always rate as the best are not always the best at the long run. The youths should draw closer to God, submit their will to God and relax in His hands. Parents should also try their best to watch over their children. This time we are in now is very perilous. The charge is on us mothers to extra ordinarily take time to watch over our children to ensure that they become good and reliable leaders to be proud of in the future.

29

Keeping ABREAST

Gender Equality Bill ‘will be reintroduced’ – Saraki S enate President Bukola Saraki has advised Nigerian women to re-introduce the Gender Equality Bill, which was turned down by the National Assembly on Tuesday.

This is contained in a statement signed by Fatima Kakuri, Special Assistant on Gender and Equality to the President of the Senate and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

The bill seeking gender equality, sponsored by the Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate, Biodun Olujimi, was rejected by the Senate over alleged constitutional violations.

Mr. Saraki said although the bill had suffered setback, it could still be amended and re-introduced.

“Unfortunately, the bill suffered a slight setback because there were some parts of the bill that some senators disagreed with along the lines of religion and tradition.

“The beauty of democracy is that it gives us the opportunity to consider different opinions and

this bill can still be represented and reconsidered on the floor of the Senate.

“I have it on good authority that Sen. Biodun Olujimi, who introduced this bill, will reintroduce it after re-drafting it to address some of the reservations that were expressed on the floor of the Senate.

“As I said during the International Women’s Day last week, I am of the opinion that there are substantial parts of the bill that are crucial to the development of our nation.

“Such bills like the Equal Access to Education, Strengthening of the laws on Violence against Women, Ending Abduction of Girls, Sustenance and Promotion of Entrepreneurship Opportunities, Gender Mainstreaming and Gender equality are equally important,” he said.

NAN reports that this was the third time the Gender Equality Bill would be rejected by the National Assembly, and the recent rejection has generated a lot of reactions from women groups.

Meet youngest known mother in Africa

10-year-old Kenyan girl, Gladys Chelagat, has been named the youngest known mother in Africa.

T

he young girl was allegedly impregnated by her 60-year-old caregiver who took care of her since childhood. According to

doctors, Chelagat gave birth to her baby weighing 2.8kg at Kericho District Hospital in Kenya though a cesarean section on June 27, 2015.

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30

Parenting

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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

How to stop thumb sucking

T

humb-sucking is normal in babies and young children. Most babies and toddlers suck their thumbs.

They may also suck on their fingers, hands, or items such as pacifiers.

Little by little, most children stop on their own at age 3 to 6 years.

Why do babies suck their thumbs?

Babies have a natural urge to suck. This urge usually decreases after the age of 6 months. But many babies continue to suck their thumbs to soothe themselves. Thumb-sucking can become a habit in babies and young children who use it to comfort themselves when they feel hungry, afraid, restless, quiet, sleepy, or bored.

In rare cases, thumb-sucking after age 5 is in response to an emotional problem or other disorder, such as anxiety.

Does thumb-sucking cause any problems?

Thumb-sucking in children younger than 4 is usually not a problem. Children who suck their thumbs often or with great intensity around age 4 or 5, or those who are still sucking their thumbs at age 6, are at risk

for dental or speech problems.

Prolonged thumb-sucking may cause the teeth to become improperly aligned (malocclusion) or push the teeth outward. This usually corrects itself when the child stops thumb-sucking.

But the longer thumb-sucking continues, the more likely it is that orthodontic treatment will be needed.

Speech problems caused by thumb-sucking can include not being able to say Ts and Ds, lisping, and thrusting out the tongue when talking.

When does a child need treatment for thumb-sucking?

Many experts recommend ignoring thumb-sucking in a child who is preschool age or younger.

Children who suck their thumbs may need treatment when they: uContinue to suck a thumb often or with great intensity around age 4 or older.

(A callus on the thumb is one sign of intense sucking.) uAsk for help to stop. uDevelop dental or speech problems as a result of sucking their thumbs. uFeel embarrassed or are

ParentingUpdate

A

n under-aged girl married off to a man old enough to be her father has passed on due to severe injuries suffered during sexual intercourse with her husband.

An eight-year-old Yemeni girl has died of internal bleeding on her wedding night after marrying a man five times her age, a social activist and two local residents said, in a case that has caused an outcry in the media and revived debate about child brides.

Arwa Othman, head of Yemen’s House of Folklore and a leading rights campaigner, said the girl, identified as Ilham Mahdi al Assi, was married to a 40-year-old late last week in the town of Meedi in Hajjah province, north-western Yemen.

“On the wedding night and after intercourse, she suffered from bleeding and

teased or shamed by other people.

How is problem thumb-sucking treated?

Simple home treatment measures stop most children from sucking their thumbs. But if your child has a sucking habit around age 4 or older, schedule a visit with your child’s doctor or dentist.

At home, treatment includes parents setting rules and providing distractions.

It may help to limit the times and places that your child is allowed to suck his or her thumb and to put away blankets or other items your child associates with thumb-sucking.

Putting gloves on your child’s hands or wrapping the thumb with an adhesive bandage or a cloth may help remind your child not to suck the thumb.

Offering praise, positive attention, and rewards for not thumb-sucking may also help your child break the habit. For example, put stickers on a calendar each day that your child doesn’t suck his or her thumb. After an agreed-upon number of days, have a celebration for your child.

Don’t shame or punish

your child for thumb-sucking. This will only lower your child’s self-esteem.

If home treatment doesn’t work and you are concerned or feel frustrated about your child’s thumb-sucking, talk with your child’s doctor.

There may be other treat-

ment options, such as behavioural therapy, thumb devices, or devices for the mouth. But remember that thumb-sucking usually isn’t a problem in children at preschool age or younger. Most children will stop on their own if you give them time.

Tiny Feet

NAME: Caleb Abe

BORN TO: Pastor and Mrs Abe AGE: 3 months old BIRTH WEIGHT: 4.2 kg Have you just had a baby? Send a picture of your bundle of joy to mirrorbabies@gmail.com

8-year-old child-bride dies during sex with 40-year-old husband on wedding night

uterine rupture which caused her death,” Othman said.

“They took her to a clinic but the medics couldn’t save her life.”

Othman said authorities had not taken any action against the girl’s family or her husband.

A security official in the provincial town of Haradh denied any such incident had taken place. He did not want to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

But two Meedi residents contacted by Reuters confirmed the incident and said tribal chiefs had tried to cover up the incident when the news broke, warning a local journalist against covering the story.

Many poor families in Yemen marry off young daughters to save on the costs of bringing up a child and earn extra money

The late girl, Ilham Mahdi al Assi and her husband

from the dowry given to the girl.

A United Nation’s report released in January revealed the extent of the country’s poverty, saying that 10.5 million of Yemen’s 24 million people lacked sufficient food supplies, and 13 million had no access to safe

water and basic sanitation.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Yemen in December 2011 to ban marriages of girls under 18, warning it deprived child brides of education and harmed their health.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

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31

Death traps of Badagry Expressway

In a space of three days, two high profile citizens of the nation were dispatched to the world beyond as a result of road related incidences. The first was the Minister of State of Labour and Employment, Mr. James Ocholi, who died with some members of his family along the Abuja/Kaduna Expressway.

A serving army general swiftly followed. Heavy duty vehicles such as trailers, tankers and other articulated vehicles have turned major roads of the country to slaughter slabs. At the Badagry expressway, a gate way to and from the country, the situation is scary, ERIC ELEZUO writes.

A

t the Badagry expressway, precisely the route between the popular Mile 2 bus stop and Okokomaiko, and extending to Badagry, the situation is fever pitch as heavy duty vehicles, one after another fall upside down, and bottom up as a result of the poor state of roads.

Even as the Lagos State administration, under the able leadership of Governor

Akinwunmi Ambode, has so far rehabilitated most roads in the metropolis, there are still areas where it seems the administration have turned a blind eye to. One of such places is the Mile 2 – Okokomaiko route, along the Badagry International expressway.

Motorist on this route as well as commuters have lamented untold sufferings and delays occasioned by the lull of traffic, which is

an aftermath of the heavily dilapidated road, and in most cases the blockade of roads by heavy duty vehicles, such as the trailers and tankers among others.

It is quite a crazy sight at the Mechanic bus stop area of the expressway where the road seem not to be demarcated anymore because motorist have tactically removed whatever form of demarcation therein in a bid to dodge the deep gully that seems to cut the road in several parts.

In addition to the commotion, there fell a trailer en-route the Seme border, thereby cutting off all forms of decorum in negotiating space of passage among both motorists and commuters, who at the moment find it difficult to cross from one side of the road to another.

The presence of the vehicle, which as at press time, is yet to be removed, has confounded the already bad situation at the spot.

“The situation is beyond what anyone can explain. We don’t

understand why this particular spot keeps proving to be an albatross at all times. Yes, the roads are bad generally, but this spot is a killer. Look the number of vehicles that have been rendered immobile, and those that have overturned.

This trailer we are looking at right now, according to information, tumbled earlier this morning while navigating its way through this very bad spot. And here we are, all trapped,” said a motorist, who gave his name as Nosa, and works with a consulting company in Surulere.

While the vehicle remained, the obstruction of traffic becomes imminent, even as traffic management agencies are not seconded to the area to monitor events.

“We only come here when we are asked to, and that is when there is an issue that involves accident, and the road has to be cleared.

I think, apart from stationing traffic officers at bad spots, it is CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

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MARCH 19, 2016

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‘Our roads have became slaughter slabs’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

imperative that the road itself be fixed so that supervision and check of lawlessness can be easily achieved,” a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official, who refuse to give his name said.

The general reaction of both commuters and motorists who use the route was tailored towards taking the fallen vehicle away from the route, even as government should come to the aid of the people and put the road.

A resident of Mebamu community, the community close to the dilapidated spot complained that the road has a seasonal problem which sees it returning to rot shortly after it had been repaired or ‘patched’, adding that the number of heavy duty vehicles that have somersaulted at the spot has become uncountable, pointing at the two Mack trucks that stood immobile at the centre of road; one upside down and the other broken down.

“There just have to be a drastic turnaround of this kind of situation as the damage of roads and upturning of heavy duty vehicles has become seasonal thing even as the road seems to damage again shortly after it has been patched. The somersaulting of trailers at this point has become a daily occurrence as you can see this particular one lying side-up and obstructing whatever is left of the traffic,” the resident said.

Speaking to Saturday Mirror, an official of the Iba Local Government, who spoke without authorization, said that in the real sense, the area in question is exclusive to the Federal Government, and should not be fixed by the state or local government. Consequently, there is little the Lagos State government could do in the situation.

We are somehow handicapped as far as the area in question is concerned because it is a Federal Government road, and the state or local government should not meddle into its affairs,” the official said.

In reaction however, residents and road users have condemned the assertion, saying it is only when there is work to do that someone will remember jurisdiction, adding that if it had been a case of sharing allocation, no one will remember

that it is a federal or state area.

“I don’t see the sincerity of this government, considering that they are both at the federal and level.

What therefore is the difference

between the two? Something has to be done to curtail the incessant somersaulting of heavy duty vehicles at this point. This is one accident too many,” a lady motorist

Apart from stationing traffic officers at bad spots, it is imperative that the road itself be fixed so that supervision and check of lawlessness can be easily achieved

said.

As the residents continue to lament the daily accidents recorded in the these spots, it is hoped that the government at all levels concerned will take a cursory look at the situation, and come up with a cushioning measure, even before a total reconstruction is undertaken.

This is jettisoning the idea that the roads is presently under expansion, and so could not be touched.

“All we need is a facelift or mere patching of the roads so that movement of persons and materials will no longer be impeded,” a resident pleaded.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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MARCH 19, 2016

33

Dear Bukola

Having problems with your marriage, family, relationship, career or life generally?

Help is at hand with Bukola Oyetunji, Relationship Expert, Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, Author of Stranded With a Status and One Good Spouse Deserves Another. www.bukolaoyetunji.blogspot.com, Follow on twitter @bukolaoyetunji

bukola.oyetunji@gmail.com. +2347012974472

I can’t stop having sex with my employee

Dear Bukola, run a very successful accounting firm in the northern part of the country.

About 8 months ago a beautiful and sophisticated lady was employed and right from the moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew I had to date her. Right from the second week she joined us, I started an affair with her and just last month I rented a luxurious apartment for her. Sex with her is like heaven to me, I have never experienced such before, not even with my wife. Unfortunately, my wife got to hear about this and she has since tried everything in her power to end the relationship but I won’t have it. I can’t say I love this employee of mine but the sex is too good for me to let go of her. The only thing that pains me is that my wife doesn’t understand, instead she gets more unhappy every day. Do you think there is anything I can do?

I

My roommate bedwets!

Dear Bukola, recently gained admission into one of the State Universities in the country.

Unfortunately, I am sharing the room with a girl that bed wets every night. I complained about this but she kept begging me to cover her up that it will soon stop.

It’s been three months now and it still hasn’t. Please what can I do?

I can’t even invite my friends over because of the smell of the room. I am really fed up!

I

Dear fed up, really do not envy you right now because it is not easy having a child who bed wets not to talk

I

of coping with an adult who does. I won’t advise you to keep enduring the bedwetting but still I won’t want you to leave the room or send her out because of this same issue.

What I think is best for you to do is sit her down and have a meaningful conversation with her. Let her know how uncomfortable this issue makes you. A person like that should have her privacy at least till she stops bedwetting, so ask her if she would leave or if she doesn’t mind you leaving the room for her. It may look bad but I sincerely won’t want you to endure your study years in school.

Also, another thing you can do is give her sometime, say another 3-6months for her to find a lasting solution to the problem. If after this period she

I hate my father

Dear Bukola,

M

y mother died when I was 19yrs old while I was still in the University. Immediately she died, my father neglected me totally and I had to take care of myself and my schooling personally. This led me into doing a lot of things I wouldn’t have done all because I had to survive.

Now 20 years after, my father is sitting on his self-glorified stool, telling me it is mandatory to take care of him in his old age because he took care of me too. I wonder if this man has forgotten how he neglected me when I needed him most? All because he sees I am wealthy and doing fine now, he’s demanding to eat the fruit of his ‘labour’ over me. My father makes me laugh because I don’t think he knows how much I hate him for making me pass through all I did just because of his neglect. Bukola, I don’t

think I can spend a penny on him!

Anonymous.

S

Dear Anonymous, ometimes people hurt us not because they want to but because they didn’t know how better they could treat us. Your father hurt you so badly as a child but that doesn’t mean you did not turn out a successful person. An important question I want to ask you is that ‘Did your father neglect you right from when you were a baby?’ I believe the answer to that is NO. You have to know that people express their grief in different ways. He may be very unhappy with the blow life dealt him with the passing away of your mother to the extent that he stopped thinking straight, who knows? The best way to live a good life is to give people the chances of making mistakes. Yes, he made a mistake by neglecting you because he made you do a lot of things I guess you are not proud of all because you had to survive but still, he remains your father and no matter how hard you try, you can’t have another one.

One secret I have come to know about life is that for-

still has not stopped, you can then let her know one of you has to leave the room for the other. The truth is since she knew she had this problem, she should have tried her possible best to have a room to herself. I thank God for her you are not the type that spreads tales because another girl would have made mockery of her on campus. She should appreciate this and understand you. Lastly, some situations are meant to be tackled spiritually. If she is the religious type, she should become more spiritual so that she can bring an end to her bedwetting problem with the help of God, be nice enough to convey this message to her. All the best Dear.

giveness does more to us than it does for the person who hurt us. When you forgive your father, you are clearing all the potholes and obstacles hindering you from having direct access to God. You can’t keep allowing your father do that to you! About your father demanding that you take care of him, I think it is just the normal thing a parent deserves from a child.

It is obvious you have the capacity to do so, why then should you hold back? It may be a bit difficult for you to do if you keep thinking of what you went through before you could finish school so you need to bring back the memories of when he was there for you. Think of your primary to secondary school days. Think of when you had some issues academically or health wise and he was there for you…. No matter what, there must be some good memories you have of him that can make him eat of the ‘fruit of his labour’ no matter how little. Sometimes we do things for others just because we want to, they don’t have to deserve it all the time. Tell yourself today that you forgive your father and ask for the grace to be able to take care of him. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a heart-to-heart talk with him about how much he hurt you after your mother died… who knows he may have some things that prompted him to act that way that he needs to share with you. All the best with it!

Dear boss, our mail is one of the most interesting ones I ever got because I had to read it over and over again in order to understand exactly what is going on with you. There are a lot of unanswered questions which I wish you had given so as to make me know where exactly you are coming from and what you are driving at. Notwithstanding, if you are a frequent reader of my column you would understand that in as much as I try to be objective, there are some situations I can’t help but be very frank and realistic… your case is one of such. Firstly, I personally respect men that know how to separate business from pleasure; it is obvious you are not one. Secondly, I have more regard for men who value their marriage and who can’t compromise their wife’s happiness for anything in the world, it is also obvious you are not that type of man.

Thirdly, I respect a man who after hurting his wife would let go of everything, be remorseful and try to make amends but obviously you are also not this type of man. Hence, it goes without saying that you need to do some personal evaluations. Do you really think your wife would know of your extramarital affairs and be happy with you? There is no woman out there that can be happy when she knows her husband is spending his time and money on another woman so don’t expect your wife to be.

It is obvious the sex you are getting from this employee has taken over your mind but you have to be careful so that it won’t lead you to an early grave. I don’t want to be judgmental but your mail makes it obvious you no longer care about anything but enjoying sexual escapades with this employee turned ‘mistress’ of yours so I wonder if anything I write here can have effect on you. An important thing I want you to know however is that it won’t last forever.

If you cling to her like your life wire today, tomorrow she may get tired of you and discard you like a rag…. Take note of that! The sincere advice I have for you is to retrace your steps back to your wife, it doesn’t have to be about sex. She has been there for you and she will still be there for you provided you change your ways. Lastly, think of what you want for your future…. Happiness and peace of mind is far greater than sex and believe me, it lasts longer than the few minutes of pleasure that sex has to give. Cheers!

Y

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Jide animashaun 08034710902

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Angle

Should you choose ro

Love is not static

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healthy, loving relationship can enhance many aspects of your life, from your emotional and mental well-being to your physical health and overall happiness. For many of us, though, finding someone we want to share our lives with can seem like an impossible task.

Life as a person in a relationship offers many rewards which may include learning how to build a healthy relationship with other people especially your spouse.

However, while being ready to share your life with someone and wanting to build a lasting, worthwhile relationship, this kind of life can also be very frustrating especially vis-à-vis choosing to tolerate a partner who may be more focused on her career than the relationship you have with her through building a relationship filled with romance. Finding the right balance here is often a difficult journey for several reasons like perhaps you grew up in a household where there was no role model of a solid, healthy relationship and your judgement has always been biased towards a particular way or expectation of what you want in a relationship.

While it can be argued that a career woman brings a lot of benefits in terms of sharing the financial burdens of the family, however she also brings other sets of burdens to her home. These burden may include among other things, neglecting the family duties like having no time to cook for the home and having someone else doing it for her without supervision on how heathy her family eats. No time or less time spent with the kids because she mostly keeps coming back when the kids are sleeping.

Turning the bedroom to a mini office like bringing her laptop and other stuffs from the office to the bedroom which in turn kills romance at home. Also being career minded creates less intimate time with one’s partner if the truth is told. The partner who is career minded is always tired or has a project at hand and this will make it difficult in bonding with other family members like the in-laws, especially as there will be little or no time for visitations. Bonding with the partner too will be a little

difficult with less or no social life being encouraged as hardly will there be time to go out on social functions together. In the absence of “madam” the maid may take over the bedroom duties too. The kids will be more prone to abuse by neighbours, uncles or even the maid or house help if care is not taken as weekends may be taken over by office duties.

On the other hand the partner who chooses romance over a career has the advantage of solving if not all, then most of the deficiencies of the career woman mentioned above. She will be there to drive the kids to school and will bring them back home, make food for them and ensure they do their homework.

But the big disadvantage is that the entire financial burden will be on the Man of the house like paying rent, school fess, fueling his and madam’s car, sending money to in-laws etc. This could just be too much on him except if he is a magician with figures or has access to unquestionable funds.

Also, too much time on hand may over burden one with too much incursion into your personal space by your partner who may end up choking you with too much attention in the name of love.

Love is rarely ever static and that does mean that loving as per romance is hardly never doomed to fade over time if being career minded is brought into the equation. Personally for me and having a career minded partner, I will say that it is important to recognize that relationships are never perfect and always require lots of work, compromise, and a willingness to resolve conflict in a positive way. Even relationships supposedly built on a lot of romantic gestures have problems to contend with occasionally. To find and build any relationship worth keeping, you may need to start by re-assessing some of your misconceptions about career, romance and relationships that can prevent you from enjoying lasting love because you can’t change anyone.

People only change if and when they want to change so the best thing to do is to try and adjust because it will only last for a while.

SEX TALK

This column is x-rated

Who wants more casual sex?

•Women worry about losing their virginity to the wrong person.

Men worry about not having more partners before marriage

W

hatever gender you are, most people will occasionally find themselves having a few regrets about their love lives.

But, according to a survey, men and women tend to tell a very different story about their most disappointing decisions.

While men most often regret not having sex with more partners, women fret about sleeping with the wrong person.

They also worry about moving too fast, while men are more concerned about the times they have not moved fast enough to get a partner into bed.

The most in-depth study of its kind – which looked at several surveys

carried out by the University of Texas and the University of California in Los Angeles – found that the main regrets women reported were losing their virginity to the wrong partner, cheating or moving too fast sexually.

However the major regrets for men were being too timid to approach a possible partner, not being more sexually adventurous when young and not being more sexually active before getting married.

The academics quizzed more than 25,000 people about their sex lives.

The volunteers taking part in the study were asked to rate their remorse on a five-point scale.

The study, published in the current issue of the Archives of Sexu-

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YEMISI ADENIRAN 08029894772 email: ydiran@yahoo.com

omance over career?

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This column is x-rated al Behaviour, showed that 56 per cent of women regretted having casual sex.

Almost a quarter cited losing their virginity to the wrong partner as their biggest regret.

Cheating on a partner was rated as a regret by 23 per cent of women – and moving too fast with a partner was a regret listed by 20 per cent of the women who took part.

But almost a third of men questioned said their biggest regret was not making a move on a prospective partner.

Just under a quarter said not being more sexually adventurous when they were young was one of their biggest regrets.

And not sleeping around came third, with 10 per cent of men saying it was a decision they found themselves regretting.

Researchers came to the conclusion that the responses were different because of the way we have evolved.

Psychologist Martie Haselton, one of the lead researchers, said that despite advances in health-

This column is x-rated care and contraception, men and women still show differing attitudes to sex.

He believes the results reveal how emotions have played an important role in human survival and reproduction.

He said: “The consequences of casual sex were so much higher for women than for men, and this is likely to have shaped emotional reactions to sexual liaisons even today.

“For men throughout evolutionary history, every missed opportunity to have sex with a new partner is potentially a missed reproductive opportunity, which is a costly loss from an evolutionary perspective.

“One thing that is fascinating about these emotional reactions is they might be far removed from the reproductive consequences of the past.

“We have reliable methods of contraception. But that doesn’t seem to have erased the differences in women’s and men’s responses, which might have a deep evolutionary history.”

Balance things

ery many men today have sacrificed romance for their careers, no thanks to the economic downturn in the country.

The song on the lips of almost all today is: hold tight to your job for there are countless others struggling to snatch it from you when the least opportunity presents itself. As a result, therefore, most men cling to their careers, get glued to it and romance it as if that is all that there is to living. This is not right. At least, with me, it is just not right. It is unacceptable. It is intolerable. No amount of excuses that may be put forward would make me agree with anyone that romance should be sacrificed for a career.

Whether anyone agrees with me or not, everything has its place in the life of a human being. The career has its role to play, so is romance. As far as I am concerned, sacrificing one for the other would amount to doing the wrong thing. Much as the career is needed to keep up the financial state of the home, it can never be an excuse to abandon romance. Rather, it should be employed to create the required atmosphere for a good romance.

Abandoning romance for career has its gave implications. How on earth, would a man expect his wife to cope when he is the type that leaves home early and comes back in the dead of the night only to wake up early the next day for the office?

How on earth would a man expect his wife to cope with a business trip to Dubai today, another one to America tomorrow and yet another one to only God knows where? It would just not work.

I can’t see how a man would convince me that all because he wants to feed the family, provide the best of homes for us and make us absolutely comfortable, he would have to turn his career to his better half. No. I can’t be convinced, and I believe a truly caring and loving wife who is passionate about her relationship would allow that. Most women marry their husbands not because of their careers, even though that may be, in a way, an attraction, but to a great extent because of the love they have for them. So, for them to be abandoned, because that is what it amounts to at the end of the day, would just not be right.

Like I was saying earlier, the sacrifice of romance for career by some men has been discovered to be the major reason for the problems in many marriages today.

We have heard of cases of women “making up” with drivers, cooks, brother –in-laws and other persons, including people in the neighbourhood, when the “oga” of the house has abandoned his home and wife for his career.

These are the people that give them the affection they are denied by their career-minded husbands.

As much as no reason would be permitted for infidelity, it bothers the mind what option is left for these set of women who find themselves in this circumstance.

For most men, staying glued to their career does not mean that they are strictly upright, if you get what I mean. We have heard stories of men on their so called endless business trips and how some skimpily dressed god-forsaken sluts hover around them and play the role of

the madam outside the home. This, of course, keeps the men away from the home under the excuse of being glued to their careers.

With romance gone, where is love? With love nowhere to be found, where the sweet home to come back to? The children even suffer and the natural good home building that Africans are known for will be lacking.

It makes the man not able to play his fatherly role at home, thus leaving the children to be brought up by a “single” mother.

For the man too, it becomes a disadvantage.

What is the essence of the career then if because of the money that comes in or the mere love of the career, he is not able to build a home where he would retire to at the end of the day and savour the bliss of a warm romance or happy family in general?

My take is that many men who think romance is not necessary as long as the career is intact, should have a rethink. The right thing is to balance the two and get the rare pleasure of the two worlds without one hurting the other.

How pleasant it would be to take care of your career and romance. This will amount to maximising the gains of the two key factors in making a good life. This helps keep the home intact and gets you more loved, appreciated and appreciative.

Therefore, to enjoy the benefits of the two worlds, you need to make these efforts and you will be surprised how beneficial it will be.

Give priority to both your work and love life by not sacrificing one for the other. If you have to work late night, you should let it be known that it is not because you don’t appreciate your love life. Make up for it in another way and let it not be to the detriment of your work. This is because when you get promoted in the office and everything is looking up, you will get the love of your life to share in the pleasure.

Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s so the popular saying goes. In this instance, what you need to do is when at work, be focused and give your all. Don’t let your love life distract you because you will have enough time for it later. In the same way, you don’t have to take a load of work home. Devote the time at home for your love life and you will find your partner loving you then ever.

Time management is another factor that you must note. You have to plan your life well so that nothing will suffer. If you will embark on a business trip that will take you some time away from home, you can arrange a weekend outing with your partner. This will be an opportunity to spoil her and give her the kind of feeling that will linger enough in her memory before your return. With that kind of arrangement, you will be able to concentrate well at work and that will increase your productivity.

Another opportunity made available is social networking. That can come to the rescue too.

So, even while in the office, and without disturbing your work, you can take some time out to send text messages to your partner and chat on the Facebook.

So, guys, it is simply unacceptable for you to sacrifice romance for career. It is certainly intolerable. No excuse will do. Get romantic while you take care of your career. Just balance it.

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divorce court

‘My husband is fetish’ • He beats me at will and does not allow me to go out, neither did he allow my family to visit me. It was as if —Wife

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trader, Raimotu Jubril has pleaded with an Orile Agege Cus-

tomary Court to dissolve her 24-year union to her husband, Taiwo, over his alleged fetish practices.

‘We fight each time I want to sleep with her’ • She did not allow me to sleep with her on many occasions. I have to force her and I am sick and tired of this. I do not love her anymore. I want this marriage dissolved —Husband Stories

by

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M uda O yeniran

n Igando Customary Court in Lagos has dissolved an 18-year marriage between a Muslim cleric and his wife over irreconcilable differences.

The estranged husband, Lawal Temidire, 67, had on July 24 approached the court seeking the dissolution of the union over Risikat’s rejection of his sexual advances.

In his ruling, the President of the court, Mr T.A. Eko, said the marriage was dissolved since all efforts to reconcile the couple had failed.

“Since all efforts to resolve the couple have proved abortive, the court is left with no option than to grant the plaintiff his wish.

“The marriage between Lawal Temidire and Risikat Temidire is hereby dis-

solved.’’

Eko ordered the plaintiff to pay N50, 000 to the estranged wife to enable her to relocate to a new apartment.

He urged both parties to keep the peace at all times, warning that anyone who breached the agreement would be dealt with.

Earlier, the husband had told the court that quarrels and fights had always preceded every advance he made to his former wife.

“We usually fight each time I want to sleep with her.

She did not allow me to make love to her on many occasions. I used to force her and I am sick and tired of this.

“I do not love her anymore.

I want this marriage dissolved,’’ Temidire said.

Risikat, 50, a business woman, who denied the claims of her husband, urged the court to grant her husband’s request for the dissolution of the marriage.

The couple, who resided at No.3, Temidire St. in Egan-Ikotun, a Lagos suburb, married in 1994 and have two children.

“My husband is fetish, he rubs his male organ with a substance whenever he wants to make love to me”, Raimotu, 41, told the court.

Raimotu, of 45 Adealu Street, Orile Agege, a suburb of Lagos, said her husband beats her whenever she complained and insisted that her husband stopped using the substance.

“He beats me at will and does not allow me to go out, neither did he allow my family to visit me. It was as if I was in prison while in his house.

“He comes home late at night and would not tell me his where about. I left his house since 2009 and I want a divorce”, she said.

The mother of three told

the court that her husband was a womaniser and he had married another wife.

Taiwo, 44, a mechanic, who lives at 1, Ilepa Eniola Street, Iyana Ipaja denied being fetish.

He, however, admitted to using a love charm to win back his wife’s affection.

“My wife denied me s e x for one and half year and because of this, I did a love charm to win her back. The love charm was the substance I used to rob my male organ whenever I want to have s e x with her.

“I am not a womaniser, it was her non-challant altitude that led me into the arm of another woman,’’ Taiwo said.

He told the court that he still want his wife back and beg for his wife return.

The court President, Dr Kayode Whenu, told the couple to maintain the peace in their marriage, and adjourned the case for further hearing.

‘She starves me of sex’ • At my age, I am supposed to be enjoying sex now and not when I am gone—Husband

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77-year-old retired engineer has pleaded with an Agboyi-Ketu Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 23-year marriage, alleging that his wife often starved him of sex.

The septuagenarian, Kola Fagbule, whose address was not disclosed, told the court that his 51-year-old wife, Beatrice, always denied him sex anytime he demanded for it.

“She always starves me of sex whenever I am in the mood and I don’t want to

have prostate cancer.

“At my age, I am supposed to be enjoying sex now and not when I am gone; I don’t want to die before my time,” he told the court.

Fagbule also accused Beatrice, principal of a school, of not caring for his welfare, adding that there was no more love between them.

“I am tired of her and I don’t love her anymore,” he said.

He pleaded that the court should dissolve the estranged union, saying that

he could no longer tolerate Beatrice’s conduct.

The respondent, Beatrice, did not deny the allegations, but told the court that her husband was a womanizer, “party-type’’ and jobless.

She also asked the court to dissolve the union which had produced a child, a university undergraduate.

The Court President, O. T. Williams, adjourned the case to April 4 for “review of facts of the matter’’.

NAN

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divorce court

MARCH 19, 2016

‘He sent me packing because I’m childless’

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• My Husband threw out my belongings because I don’t have a child for him. Anytime he throws my things out, my parents will come and beg him, assuring him that God will still bless me with a child. But finally he threw out my property in Feb. 12, 2013 and warned me never to come back and that anytime he sees me in his house, that day will be my last day on earth—Wife

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Lagos housewife, Adeola Ake has begged the Iyana Ipaja Customary Court to dissolve her 10 year childless marriage.

Adeola, 46, told the court that her husband, Toyin who fails to appear in court after several summons had evicted her from his house.

“My Husband threw out my belongings because I don’t have a child for him. Anytime he throws my things out, my parents will come and beg him, assuring him that God will still bless me with a child. But finally he threw out my property in Feb 12, 2013 and warned me never to come back and that anytime he sees me in his house, that day

will be my last day on earth”, the petitioner said She told the court that she started noticing her husband’s behavioral changes six months after their wedding. “In fact he has refused to take up his responsibilities. My husband stopped giving me money six months after our wedding. I feed and clothe myself. Aside this, he always rains curses and abuses on me and my family”, she added Adeola therefore asked the court to dissolve the marriage as there was no love lost between them. “Please dissolve the marriage that has nothing to show for now and in the future”, she begged the court

‘My husband ‘He abandoned me to does not satisfy marry another woman’ me in bed’

• In 2005, after three years of our marriage, my husband packed out of the house to an unknown destination, telling me he was done with me because I was yet to give him a child. In 2007, he begged me for forgiveness.

I accepted him back and we got wedded in church.

Again he left in 2009 and surfaced again in 2013. I do not love him anymore, he is a betrayer and a cheat —Wife

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n Alimosho Customary Court in Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos has dissolved a14-year marriage between Kemi and her husband, Abraham Jokotola for abandonment and infidelity.

The court President, Alhaja S.O Mumuni, in her judgment, said that it was obvious from available testimonies and the respondent’s refusal to appear in court that the marriage had hit the rocks. ``Throughout the duration of this case, the respondent refused to honour the court summons. ``Therefore, the court has no other choice than to dissolve the marriage. ``The marriage between Kemi Jokotola and Abraham Jokotola is hereby dissolved from today in accordance with the Lagos State Customary Law 2013, Cap.19. ``Both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to marry any other partners of their choice, without any hindrances and molestation,’’ she said.

The petitioner, Kemi, 38, a

businesswoman, had approached the court to end her 14-year-old barren marriage for alleged infidelity and abandonment.

She said her husband did not respect and obey their marital vows. ``He abandoned me to marry another woman without my knowledge. ``In 2005, after three years of our marriage, my husband packed out of the house to an unknown destination, telling me he was done with me because I was yet to give him a child. ``In 2007, he begged me for forgiveness, I accepted him back and we got wedded in church, again he left in 2009 and surfaced again in 2013,’’ she said.

She said that when she was tired of his disappearing acts she called for a meeting of her family and his family. ``It was there he confessed that he had married another woman who has a baby for him,’’ she said.

Kemi urged the court to dissolve the marriage which had produced no child. ``I do not love him anymore, he is a betrayal and a cheat.’’

• Though when I was with him for one month, he feeds me well, but when it comes to sex matters it will turn to fight. I am a woman and I have feelings for him. “He has failed in his matrimonial obligations, I am fed up —Wife · I take good care of her and provide all she wants. Please my Lord, do as she wishes, I have tried my best to settle with her but all my effort prove abortive. I am also fed up —Husband

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wife, Usman Aisha, has dragged her husband, Ibrahim to a Lugbe grade 1 area court in Abuja over his inability to satisfy her during love making.

Aisha said she spent one month with Ibrahim after their marriage and he always arose her but refused to satisfy her when making love to her. She said in a bid to rectify the situation, she pleaded so bitterly to him to satisfy Aisha said Ibrahim would threaten to beat her whenever she called him so that they could sit and discuss the issue, she said the situation had not improved even after she reported the matter to both parents. “I intentionally left our house for months after he refused to

change but he never care to look for me. “Though when I was with him for one month, he feeds me well, but when it comes to sex matters it will turn to fight. I am a woman and I have feelings for him.

“He has failed in his matrimonial obligations, I am fed up Please sir, separate us. I am no more interested in the marriage,’’ she said. She begged the court to dissolve the 10 months old marriage to enable her move on with her life. On his part, Ibrahim denied all the allegations but conceded to the dissolution of the marriage because he was also fed up with the union. “I take good care of her and provide all she wants. Please my Lord, do as she wishes, I have tried my

best to settle with her but all my effort prove abortive. I am also fed up,’’ he said.

In his judgment, the judge, Mr Garba Ogbede, said that the marriage had broken down irretrievably and efforts to reconcile them proved abortive. “Since both parties consented to the dissolution of their marriage, this court has no choice than to dissolve the marriage.

“The couple can no longer stay together because the marriage has broken down totally; both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to go their separate ways. “Both parties are to keep the peace all the time; any violation of the order should be reported to the police for redress,” Ogbede held. NAN

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Let’s cancel these cancers!

F ew decades ago, it wasn’t a common occurrence in our part of the world to diagnose people with Cancer. Then it was more common to see people die of preventable infectious diseases. People also died of non infectious causes such as snake bite, home accidents, and poisoning. Perhaps the most popular cause of death at the time was ‘’ise aye’’ (witchcraft/wizardry), ‘ofa’ (unseen evil arrows) and all other forms of juju linked occurrences. I remember vividly the time one of my grandfathers died in the 8th decade of his life. His wife, my grandmother insisted he was killed by the witches in his family. To her some of her in-laws are evil and had been planning to kill her husband since the time she got married to him. Unfortunately when he was almost eighty years old, their evil machinations finally succeeded. Our submissions that her husband was too old for the witches to bother, fell on deaf ears. Furthermore, we made her realize that her witches-in –law must be very lenient and considerate to have allowed her husband achieved so much before finally nailing him. That also met with strict defiance. So we gave up.

Like her, most people at the time attributed deaths of unknown cause to these ever present witches and wizards.

But in recent years, and with the advancement in technology, more accurate diagnosis were made all over the world; Nigeria inclusive. Through this, diseases which hitherto had afflicted man undiagnosed became easily diagnosable. One of such diseases whose incidence then rose in our clime was cancers.

In addition, urbanization and globalization, with the attendant change in the diet of the middle to the upper class in the society, made people more susceptible to chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cancers. Where our diet was rich in fresh leafy vegetables, fruits and freshly killed fishes, we changed to canned foods, processed meat, and fast foods.

At the same time, health took the back seat. The quest was more for material acquisitions; the latest wonders on wheels and intimidating real estates .People threw caution to the wind and stuffed everything down the throat. As the Yoruba people will say it became a situation of ‘’oun a moo je nii pani’’. It is what we enjoy eating that is wont to kill us.

Cancer is a group of diseases involving an abnormal growth of body cells. It can occur in any part of the body, with the potential to spread to other part of the body either contiguous or distant from the original site. The symptoms and signs are also as myriads as the number of body parts it can affect.

There are lung cancer, skin, ovarian, colorectal, breast, cervical, prostate cancer etc .Of the lot, the commonest in our environment are breast and cervical cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.

While the cause of many cancers are not known ,there are well established factors which raise significantly the probability of one developing cancers -smoking, obesity, poor diet, alcoholism, exposure to radiation, environmental pollutants and infections.

In one of his statements the United States President, Barack Obama whose mother had a long running battle with ovarian cancer, said ‘’ now is the time to commit ourselves to waging a war against cancer as aggressive as the war cancer wages against us’’. In truth, Obama was only re-echoing the resolve of the global community to combat cancer head on by improving early detection ability, developing new diagnostics and therapies and by emphasising preventive measures,

all in a bid to reduce the number of people dying of this malady.

For this purpose, we are going to focus on how to prevent cancers. Since it is a well known fact that some behaviours or situations make a particular set of people more prone to developing malignancies.

And well documented that, in cases where conscious efforts were made towards guarding against these situations, incidences of cancer were found to have reduced drastically. Here are some ways to lessen your chances of falling victim of cancer.

Eat Properly: Eating right, in terms of quantity and quality is one of the ways to prevent cancers. We simply cannot overemphasise the importance of balanced diet. It is good to cut down on processed foods, red meat and salts. It is also healthier to eat vegetables and fruits, and substitute fish for meat in most of our diets. Drinking enough water is also one of the ways to maintain a healthy body which is less susceptible to illnesses generally. A good diet will also guard against obesity, another important factor in cancer development.

Quit Smoking: Tobacco has been linked to about a quarter of cancer deaths. Also, Tobacco

and the carcinogens it contains are known to be the single most avoidable cause of cancers. Smoking of all sorts especially if prolonged can contribute significantly to the development of lung cancer and other forms of malignancies. Aside from cancer, smokers can die easily from other diseases of the lungs, heart and liver.

When smoking is combined with alcohol, the effect is worse than the individual effects combined. That is, the additive risk is more geometrical than arithmetical. We might as well say it is suicidal to combine smoking and drinking and sensible to stop both.

Get Vaccinated: In the developing world like ours, research has shown that about 20%of cancers are related to infections .Most of these infections are viral. Human papilomma virus (HPV) and Hepatitis B/C viruses for example, have been linked to cervical cancer and liver cancer respectively. The way to wriggle out of the clutch of these cancer- causing infections is through vaccinations. Though hepatitis C virus currently do not have vaccines for prevention, effective vaccines are available that protect against HPV and hepatitis B. For example, countries like Australia which has a high immunization rate against HPV also have the lowest incidence of cervical cancers. This has made governments all over the world to support the initiative to vaccinate females from the age of ten. Because the HPV is transmitted from men to women via sexual intercourse, school girls above ten years are vaccinated at a time they are believed not to have been exposed sexually. It is my hope that the Nigerian government in the nearest future will make efforts to incorporate these vaccines into the national immunization programs such that everyone will benefit. While we wait for this, those who can afford to pay for it should keep themselves safe by getting vaccinated immediately.

Still on vaccination, I remember, a conversation which ensued between myself and a Nursing sister sometimes ago. It was at the time the Ebola virus was

making everyone in Nigeria scamper to safety. She started the conversation ‘’how I wish there is a vaccine for Ebola, so that it will stop killing people’’ to which I replied ’if there was a vaccine, would you have taken it?’’ ‘’of course now! who would not?’’ She said. Then I asked ‘’you are a woman, have you taken the cervical cancer prevention vaccine?’’ ‘’no no I have not taken that one, but I will take it’’ I asked further,’’ being a health worker, you must have taken the hepatitis B vaccine? ‘’ ‘’is true o..... I must take everything now’’ then I replied ‘’even if there was an Ebola vaccine prior to this outbreak you probably wouldn’t have taken it’’ and that is the truth for most of us.

Screen Yourself: Early detection helps in making some cancers curable. This is particularly useful for colorectal cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer. When cancer cells are detected early and treated promptly, before spreading to other parts of the body, the chances of survival increase. It is only when cancer cells have not metastasised that the hope of cure is high. Nowadays screening has been made very easy for individuals who are willing to subject themselves to the procedures. I even know of organizations that can screen you free for some cancers.

The catch is the willingness to devote some time to attend to your own health Remember the saying ‘’AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE ’’ As for my grand mum, she eventually changed her mind. After a thorough reflection, she concluded that her husband did not die of witchcraft or wizardry. It happened that on the day my grandfather passed on, one of his step brothers came to visit him on his sick bed .Soon after the brother left, my grandpa got up to take the pap already prepared for him and placed by his bedside long before his brother arrived.

According to my grand mum, it was while taking the pap he became uncomfortable and started gasping, until he finally passed away.

To her the ‘young man’ was simply poisoned.

Sport

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

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CAF cups: Enyimba set to devour Vital’O in Bujumbura Enyimba FC.

Ifeanyi Eduzor Two time African champion, Enyimba Fc of Aba are almost certain to qualify for the second round of this year’s CAF Champions League when they visit Vital’O of Burundi in the second leg of the second round qualifiers for the lucrative league.

When both sides met last Sunday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, the People’s Elephant recorded an emphatic 5-1 victory over the East Africans, making today’s return leg a mere formality.

The match to be decided at the 22,000 capacity Prince Louis Rwagasore, Stadium, Bujumbura will see the host try to upturn the four goals deficit while Enyimba who are not new to the continental challenge will aim to consolidate on the victory to show that their victory in the first leg was no fluke.

While the Burundians will be counting on their top striker, Hussein Shaban who netted their consolation goal a week ago to salvage some points for them, the Nigerians who

…as Wolves, Nasarawa walk tight ropes won the title in 2003 and 2004 respectively will be counting on Stephen Chukwude and in-form Mfon Udoh who both scored a brace in the first leg as well as Leonard Chukwu to wrap up the game in Bujumbura.

Although this match could be described as a formality game considering the large goal margin recorded by Enyimba in the first leg but it is necessary the team avoids underrating their opponents since the East African side who has won its country’s league a record 19 times is capable of causing an upset in today’s cracker.

It is true that the Burundian side whose best record in the continental show piece was a second round elimination in the 1999 and 2000 editions will have an uphill task cancelling goals they conceded in the first leg but there is need for the Nigerian representatives to approach the game with every seriousness it deserves to tame them before their home crowd.

Handlers of both teams have

equally spoken on the importance of their players taken the game serious with Enyimba’s Coach Paul Aigbogun charging his wards to show respect to their hosts not minding the first leg result.

“It is true we scored some goals in the first leg, we must give respect to our opponents and not lower our game as that could e dangerous”, the former Warri Wolves tactician said.

Speaking in the same vein, head coach of the Burundian side, Etienne Ndayiragije vowed that his players would strive to do the impossible in Bujumbura today.

“Miracles do happen in football and you can never know what will happen in Bujumbura.

We are going to fortify for the return leg and we are very certain that victory will be ours.

“Enyimba are a very good side and they were better than us in the first leg, but at home we are also a force to be reckoned with”, he concluded.

The Nigerian champions will

qualify for the second round of the Caf Champions League for the first time since 2011 should they triumph over the Burundians.

As Nigerians see Enyimba’s progress to the next round of the championship as a foregone conclusion, the same could not be said of the country’s other representative, Warri Wolves who are almost out of the competition.

Wolves last Sunday at the Warri Township Stadium, lost by 0-1 to visiting El Merriekh of Sudan in the first leg and would be counting on mother luck to see them through.

The Seasider’s who are making their second appearance in the competition after their elimination in the round of 16 in their maiden appearance in 2010 will be having an uphill task upturning the one goal deficit considering that their opponent out played them in every department of the game in the first leg.

However, not minding the precarious situation the Warri based

sides found its self, its manager; Peter Nieketien believes his side can still progress to the next round of the Caf Champions League despite losing at home to El-Merrikh, but achieving this feet against the Sudanese team that had their best performance in the Caf Champions League in 2015, when they reached the semi-final stage could be a daunting task.

“I hope we can make the most of the opportunity that will come our way in the second leg, “I’m optimistic that we can get the required result to progress to the next round in Sudan”, coach Nieketien stressed.

In the confederation cup campaign, Nigeria’s only remaining team in the second tier competition; Nasarawa United will be up against CS Constantine of Algeria in their second leg encounter.

Although, the Lafia based side goes into today’s encounter with a slim 1-0 lead, the Solid Miners striker, Shammah Paul Tanze is optimistic that they have what it takes to get a favourable result to progress to the next round of the championship.

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MARCH 19, 2016

Tel: 08023367071

Spieth hits back at garbage comment

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ordan Spieth defended himself after being called “garbage” by an internet “troll” as he narrowly made the cut at the Valspar Championship in Florida.

The world number one responded to a post on Instagram that described the American as “very average”. Spieth replied: “Couldn’t be further from the

Spieth

truth troll. Go do research before hating.”

Defending champion Spieth made five birdies and two bogeys to trail the leaders by seven strokes on two over.

The 22-year-old shot 30 under par to win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January but his form has dipped recently, with a missed cut in the Northern Trust Open followed by a 17th-place finish in last week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship.

World number two Rory McIlroy backed his rival, posting on Twitter: “No, he’s not Tiger Woods, he’s not slumping and he’s not done. He’s a double major-winning 22-year-old.

He’ll be just fine!!”

Spieth also took exception to a post on the PGA Tour’s official Twitter account that he thought used one of his remarks out of context.

PGA to end Golf Grand Slam tourney

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GA of America is ending its Grand Slam of Golf, the annual tournament featuring the year’s major champions.

The organisation said the 36-hole event, which started in 1979, no longer “fits with today’s golf landscape”.

Last year’s event was due to take place at a Donald Trumpowned course but cancelled following disparaging comments the US presidential candidate made about Mexican immigrants.

A PGA statement said: “The timing is right to discontinue the event.”

It added: “When the PGA Grand Slam of Golf was launched in 1979, the golf world was much different than it is

today. The PGA Tour’s wraparound schedule, the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, plus other important international events, make the fall schedule very busy and hectic for the top players in the world.

“It had also become challenging to attract fans, television viewership and media interest.”

The last Grand Slam of Golf, in October 2014, was won by that year’s US Open champion, Germany’s Martin Kaymer, in Bermuda. It also featured Masters Winner Bubba Watson of the United States and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy. McIlroy won both the Open and PGA Championship in 2014, which led to American Jim Furyk being invited to play.

Gallacher to be out for a month

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tephen Gallacher will be out of action for about a month after having an operation on a hand injury.

The 2014 Ryder Cup winner says he has been troubled by the problem since last May, when he was forced to pull out of the PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Gallacher will have his arm in a sling for 10 days. The 41-year-old, who is 47th in the 2016 Ryder Cup qualifying standings, hopes to return to action in the Spanish Open at Valderrama in April.

Gallacher said the injury

Gallacher

had hindered him “on the course, on the practice range and also in the gym”.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

I can’t thank God enough —Elder Oyewole

Former Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan chairman, Elder Bode Oyewole, reflects on what life has brought to the bale for him as he clocked 64 on March 15 2016

“I

bless the womb of my dear mother, Mrs. Bolanle Oyewole, a mother in a million, where I was incubated for nine months. And I am grateful to my father, Adeoye Oyewole, the best one could have, for being my vehicle unto this world on March 15, 1952. I bless the name of the Lord for the grace of being a living soul.

When I look back to the years past and think of my life; how, alongside my peers, I lived life to the fullest, engaging in all the encompassing exuberances - youthful and otherwise - I will be an ingrate if I fail to acknowledge God, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. A couple of days ago, upon deep reflection, I listed a number of my friends and classmates who had become servants of God. It was to acknowledge the awesomeness of God as well as His divine way of doing things, because, but for His mercy, our pattern of life when growing up did not, in anyway, suggest that any one of us could be a vessel in His mighty hand. What could have been my mission on earth if He had not allowed me to live this long to know, serve and worship Him? I will be eternally grateful for this uncommon and unquantifiable grace.

At 64, I give glory to the Almighty God from whom all blessings flow. The profession of journalism which I chose and still practice has afforded me all the best one could wish for in life. The profession has taken me to any length one can dream of and I’m not done yet. I have, through it, met with the shakers and movers of the society and I’m still on the move. I can’t thank God enough for leading me to the right profession.

Oyewole

In the course of the journey, one has suffered betrayal, mistrust, slander, backbiting, envy, and all sorts of things. But I’m grateful to God that I have not been overwhelmed by any of those human vices.

It is expedient on this occasion of my birthday to shed light on my pet project of being a newspaper publisher - a project that has, in the view of some people, become a pipe dream. In fairness to those in that school of thought, the inability of the project to take off, years after the idea came into open, confirms their pessimism. But our mission and vision remain intact. Although newspapering is a business in which even angels fear to tread, especially now in Nigeria, we are determined to do it; the hiccups notwithstanding.

In a venture of this nature, funding should be the main issue. But in our own case and against the permutations and expectations of our traducers, it has not been the

case. Rather, we have been bogged down by the Nigerian system which, rather than encourage initiatives, kills them. We found ourselves in a system that promotes self far above collective interests; a system that promotes stagnation, bureaucracy and red-tapism instead of dynamism, innovation and result-oriented approaches.

In the time past, we have submitted and subjected ourselves to the dictates of a system which used the power at its disposal to drag us up and down, showing little or no respect for our feelings all in the name of seeking for franchise. Then, relying on our discussions and meetings with our supposed partners, we were feeding our well-wishers with information on when we would hit the newsstands, a development which turned us to liars and less serious set of people at the end of the day.

We were taught a bitter lesson!

Happily however, we (I and my dedicated team) have put all these behind us and are more than ready to forge ahead. In full realization of the fact that God is the ultimate Decider, we have taken our destiny in our own hands. We are now working at our own pace.

We are no more tied to the apron strings of anybody. When we set our time table, it will be held sacrosanct and sooner than later, we will roll out the time table.

As I celebrate my 64th birthday, I thank everybody I have come across, whatever may be their contributions to my life - positive or negative. I acknowledge the fact that their contributions to my life have made me what I’m today - a grateful living soul and a testimony to God’s faithfulness and loving kindness.”

Topaz house wins Covenant Baptist school sports meet

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ith a rare display of talent, pupils of Topaz House (Yellow House) defied all odds to win the 5th edition of Inter house sports competition of Covenant Baptist Children Nursery and Primary School, Ijaiye-Agege, Lagos.

The House won 11 gold, 9 silver and 2 bronze medals in the championship held at the school’s playground.

Emerald House (Green House) came second with 5 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze medals. In the third position was Carnelian House (Red) which won 5 gold, 4 silver and 10 bronze medals, while Sapphire House (Blue) came fourth with 4 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze medals.

Speaking at the event, Proprietor of the school, Rev. Emmanuel Iyanda, who was represented by Deaconess Shade Adegbite, commended the spirit of sportsmanship in the pupils, noting that with the right atti-

Pupils of Topaz House (Yellow House) during the match past at the 5th edition of Inter House Sports Competition of Covenant Baptist Children Nursery and Primary School, Ijaiye-Agege, Lagos.

tude and consistent grooming, the pupils will become future stars of this country.

He thanked God for the success of the fifth edition of the inter house sports competition which was held without any hitch.

The school’s Head Teacher, Mrs. Oyenike Ayandiji, said that there would be more im-

provement in the next edition, even as she thanked the parents for their support for the success of the Inter house sports competition.

Other dignitaries at the event included the chairman of Parents Teachers Association, Yomi Oke, Pa Idowu Mustafa, Deaconess Olayemi Adedokun and Mrs. Tayo Olagunju.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Barca to face Athletico in Champions League q/final

H

olders Barcelona will face fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid, runners-up two seasons ago, in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw in Nyon on Friday.

Barca, bidding to become the first team to win the trophy two seasons in a row, will get the chance to avenge their defeat at the same stage two years ago when Atletico won 1-0 at home after a 1-1 away draw.

Paris St Germain, who last reached the semi-finals in 1995, will face fellow big spenders Manchester City in the other outstanding tie, with the first leg at the Parc des Princes.

Ten-times champions Real Madrid were pitted against German side VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich will face Portugal’s Benfica. Both Bundesliga teams will play the first legs at home.

Wrestling: PWA threatens to strip Power Lee of title Ifeanyi Eduzor

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ro Wrestling Africa (PWA) has threatened to strip its heavyweight champion, Power Lee of Nigeria of the title if he fails to defend his belt by May 1 this year.

In a letter it sent to its office in Nigeria signed by its President, Jacob Makia, the wrestling body with headquarters in Yaoundé, Cameroon noted that after its meeting it discovered that since Power Lee won the title on September 19, 2015 in Cameroon, his title defence tagged “Return of Glory, Asaba 2016”, has been postponed four times, warning that if he fails to defend it against the No 3 contender , Marvelous Buffalo of Angola, it will have no choice than to award the belt to Michel Nouden whom he defeated to win the belt.

The statement noted that the body took the decision not to witch hunt the champion or Nigeria but to implement the clause in the contract agreement signed by Power Lee and Michel Nouden that whoever wins the belt will defend it within three months.

Speaking on the development, Power Lee told Saturday Mirror that he is ready to defend the title with an appeal to corporate Nigeria to help in financing the title defence in order to avoid Nigeria loosing the belt.

U

PWA President, Makia

when the Falconets cruised elegantly into the final of the last competition in Canada, losing to Germany only after extra time.

Thursday’s draw at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich threw the Nigeria U-20 girls into Group B, against known foes Canada and Japan, and relatively unfamiliar Spain.

At the inaugural edition in Canada 14 years ago, when the tournament was known as U-19 World Cup, Nigeria and Japan battled to a 1-1 draw in the group stage, and eight years later, in Germany, the Falconets edged the Asians 2-1 in another group stage match.

YSFON postpones Oba of Benin cup

Y

outh Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) has postponed the 25th edition of the annual Oba of Benin cup for U-13 boys and U-18 girls earlier slated for Benin-City from 18th-25th March, 2016.

According t a statement by the Federation signed by its Secretary General, Patrick Okpavuerhe, the postponement became necessary because of Easter Hiddink

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Battle of Kaduna: Kanu, Yobo tip Eagles to beat Egypt Ifeanyi Eduzor

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ith less than one week to the all important 2017 AFCON qualifying match between Super Eagles of Nigeria and their Egyptian counterparts, former skippers of the Super Eagles, Nwankwo Kanu and Joseph Yobo has predicted victory for the national team.

Nigeria will host Egypt at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna March 25, with the return leg taking place in Alexandria four days later.

In separate interviews with Saturday Mirror, the two ex- in-

ternationals noted that the Pharaohs are beatable in Kaduna because both the players and Coach Samson Siasia are aware of the serious challenge they will face against the North Africans Nwankwo told our correspondent that although Egypt is rated among one of the best football nations in the continent, it will be difficult for them to run away with the three points at stake because Nigeria has always played better when they face strong opposition. “ I am fully convinced that the Coach Samson Siasia tutored side will grab the three points at stake because experience has shown that the Super Eagles

perform better against strong opponent and when people do not have confidence in them.

Also speaking on the match, Yobo noted that home support will play a role in ensuring that Nigeria run away with the vital three points at stake in the encounter even as he stated that the match will be a very difficult one.

“It is going to be a very difficult game considering that both teams have character and are among the best in the continent.

“I want Nigerians to realize that matches involving these two teams are always difficult but with home support, I can see Super Eagles running away with victory”, concluded Yobo.

Super Eagles celebrate after scoring a goal

World Cup: Dedevbo not afraid of opponents -20 female national coach, Peter Dedevbo says that his players will not be starting as underdogs for reason when the 8th FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup begins in Papua New Guinea in November this year.

“I don’t see why we need to fear any team. Rather, those teams should be the ones to be scared. Our pedigree at this level is intimidating.

“However, we would not be under-rating any of Spain, Canada or Japan. Our principle, as always, would be to take it one match at a time and focus on our objective of doing Nigeria proud.”

Dedevbo was also in charge

MIRROR SPORT

MARCH 19, 2016

celebrations which coincided with the finals of the tournament.

The statement while apologizing to all the participating states for the shift in date announced that the new date for the competition is now April 3rd-9th, 2016 even as it reminded all states that they are expected to attend the championship with 20 players and three officials who must arrive Benin City on April 2nd for the tournament.

Injury rules Omeruo out of Egypt games

T

urkey based Super Eagles defender Kenneth Omeruo has been ruled out of Nigeria’s double assault against Egypt, in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, owing to injury.

Omeruo’s club, Kasimpasa, in the Turkish top flight, informed the Nigeria Football Federation that the defender is down with a groin injury that will sideline him for the next two weeks.

Super Eagles’ team administrator Dayo Enebi told thenff. com that this development has already been communicated to Head Coach Samson Siasia and the team medics.

Omeruo

“Omeruo’s injury and subsequent withdrawal from the Egypt games has been commu-

nicated to the coaches and the medics,” Enebi disclosed.

“The player is disappointed with his injury setback because he has been looking forward to this game with a lot of optimism. Expectedly, the coaches were also unhappy but they have wished him a quick recovery,” He added.

The Super Eagles confront Egypt in two crucial games over four days, on March 25 and 29, needing at least four points out of a maximum six to go top of the group and enhance Nigeria’s chances of participating at the Africa Cup of Nations Competition in Gabon next year.

Muslim private schools tourney ends March 25 Ifeanyi Eduzor

O

rganisers of the maiden edition of Muslim private schools football competition tagged “Hijrah Cup 2016” has announced that the finals of the competition will be decided on Friday, March 25, 2016 at the Anwar-Ul-Islam Girls High School, Ahmadiyah, Ojokoro,Lagos.

Coordinator of the tournament, Prince M.A. Atiba of Atico Global Concepts Limited,

told Saturday Mirror that the final match will be between Saka Tinubu Memorial High School and Issa Williams Memorial High School while Jubril Martins Memorial High School and Qiblah Minds College will slug it out in the third place match.

According to him, the finals which will be under the chairmanship of Alhaji Lawal Pedro (SAN), President of Amwar Ul-Islam Movement of Nigeria will also have in attendance

ex- internationals such as Bremner Alada and Mike Dominic who will serve as role models for the players.

“We are organizing this championship to encourage healthy rivalry among the students and also discover hidden talents at the grassroots. The finals will also attract some ex- internationals who will be on hand to counsel the youths on the importance of taking active part in football”, Atiba concluded.

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LEISURE

MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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MARCH 19, 2016

Crime Watch 11 bank robbers meet waterloo

•Dynamites, ammunition recovered from foiled robbery Patience Ogbo

A

combined team of policemen from the Lagos State police command , officers of the Nigeria Customs Service,Army and policemen from Benin Republic have arrested a gang of suspected criminals that specialize in breaking oil pipelines and robbing banks and Bureau de change operators in Lagos and neighbouring States.

CP Owoseni stated this during a press conference at the police Command Ikeja on Friday where he revealed that the combined efforts by security operatives led to the killing of eleven members of the gang including their leader one Tokiwe Joseph popularly known as TK. CP Owoseni, while addressing journalists said Intelligence report from the office of the Inspector General of police IGP Solomon Arase alerted the security agencies in Lagos state that the suspected vandals were planning a massive attack.

The police boss stated that a week of intensive intelligence work eventually paid off with an encounter that saw the gang abandoning their armoured boats, dynamite and close to three thousand ammunition.

He said “Series of intelligence reports have been shared by the office of the Inspector-General of Police with the Lagos State Police Command and Border patrol Unit of the Force, alerting of the likelihood of massive and violent attacks on banks and bureau-de-change at Lagos and Republic of Benin Border at Seme.

The report indicated that the attack will be led by a notorious armed robber/ kidnapper by the name Tokiwe Joseph popularly known as TK. On 16th March, 2016, the notorious gang in confirmation of the veracity of intelligence reports emerged from his Base and navigated the waterways in three boats towards Seme.At about 2300 hours, the gang in a commando way came out of their boats with a view to advancing for the attack. They opened fire indiscriminately as they advanced. The Security Forces consisting of the Police, Customs and the Military who had been keeping vigil at the waterfront swiftly responded and repelled the attack. In the same vein, the security operatives of the Republic of Benin also joined forces with their Nigerian counterparts to present a unified and fortified front against the hoodlums.

The gang consequently surrendered to the superior fire power of the securi-

TK and another dead suspect ty forces, abandoned the boats and fled in different directions” CP Owoseni stated that TK can be likened to “A Field Marshall who commands different gangs of armed gangs that engage in all forms of criminalities such as kidnapping, high profile Bank robberies, vandalism, piracy and cultism. TK has his signature on almost all violent crimes in Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Ogun, Edo, and Benin Republic” The police boss added that the gang was behind deadly bank robberies in the state and other violent crime.

He said “ Intelligence had revealed that TK at a time led a gang to hijack a vessel on the waterways of Ghana. Intelligence had also revealed that he has his Base in a creek situated somewhere in Ijagemoin AmuwoOdofin LGA of Lagos State.Recent intelligence reports indicated the certainty of when the dastardly act will be carried out. The veracity of the intelligence therefore necessitated that the security operatives of Nigeria and Benin Republic were in constant surveillance of our waterways, Banks, Financial Institutions as well as vulnerable and key points. Immediate manhunt was activated with a view to apprehending the fleeing hoodlums suspected to have suffered severe injuries. Thier corpses have been deposited in a mortury. Search so far conducted revealed that

Recovered ammunition

Combined team of security officers from Nigeria and Benin Republic with Lagos CP, Fatai Owoseni the gang suffered eleven (11) casualties.

The Inspector-General of Police commends the efforts, sacrifices and steadfastness of all the security operatives involved in this operation and hopes that the synergy/camaraderie among the Security Agencies will be sustained” CP Owoseni added that security forces of the two countries in pursuit of the fleeing criminals recovered three boats;

one with inscription “Castina Marine”;,22 Pieces of dynamites four Ak-47 rifle, two GPMG (General Purpose Machine Guns, a total of three thousand six hundred and seventy- eight (3,678) assorted live ammunition, twenty-eight Magazines, eight live jackets, 3 x 50 litres jerry can of fuel, 2 x 100 litres jerry can of fuel,assorted pieces of charms and Military Magazine Jacket.

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

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ce

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Crime Watch

Police arrest salesgirl for biting neighbour to death Patience Ogbo

P

olicemen attached to the Homicide Unit State Criminal Investigation Department at Panti Yaba Lagos Police Command are investigating a 20 - yearold lady, Onyinyeche Ogbona for allegedly biting her neighbour to death.

It was gathered that Ogbona, and the deceased identified as Engineer Pius Ezema were neighbours at Number 15 Ondo Street Okobaba in Ebute Metta area of Lagos State but trouble started on March 12 th when Pius allegedly quarrelled with Okoro for singing loudly near his window in the “face-me-I -face -you apartment where they lived as next door neighbours.

The quarrel it was learnt snowballed into a fierce fight which led to biting and eventual death a day after the fight took place, police sources said.

Narrating what transpired between her and the deceased, Ogbona denied allegations that she killed her neighbour as she stated that she defended herself from the deceased’s brutal attack.

She said “I have been living in that house for the past six years with my sister.

I am a sales girl at Balogun Market in Lagos Island. On March 12th about 6am, I woke up to pray and I put on my earpiece and turned on my phone music. I started my morning devotion by praising God. My sister was not around. She had gone to assist one of our sisters to take care of her new baby . I was alone in the room praising God. Sometimes last year ,I used to praise and pray outside our room but my neighbour Pius ,warned me not to pray close to his window. I told him I was sorry and since then, I started praying in my room. I was singing loudly because I was enjoying the morning devotion. All of a sudden, Pius barged into my room.

He was shouting and said I refused to take instructions not to disturb him. He held my clothes and started slapping me . I begged him to stop beating me but he continued. He was very mad at me and he locked my door and continued to hit my face . He brought out a whip and used it to flog me all over my body. I was screaming and yelling that he should stop hitting me.

Our neighbours heard my shout for help and they came to my rescue but Pius had locked the door. The other neighbours appealed to him to open the door but he refused. When he had beaten me to his satisfaction, he unlocked the door and left me crying in the room. The other neighbours came into my room and they asked why Pius beat me. I told them that I was singing loudly and it infuriated him. The neighbours called him into my room and said he should explain why he beat me mercilessly like that but he said I should come out. As soon as I stepped out, Pius descended on me again. This time, he brought out a knife and held my throat. He wanted to slit my throat. I had to bite him on his thumb so he can release his grip on my neck. It worked and he left me crying.

I had to call my boyfriend to help beg him so he wouldn’t beat me again since he refused to listen to the other neighbours.

Ogbona My boyfriend came and begged him and he told him to warn me not to disturb his peace again. That was how we settled the matter that day “ Asked if the deceased had asked her out and she turned him down, Ogbona stated that such romance never occurred between them. “ Pius is not my boyfriend and he has never asked me out. He has a fiancée and they are planning to get married in July this year. After the beating I received from him that morning , I became too scared to sleep in my room alone. That night , I went to my friend’s house to sleep. I came back on March 14 , two days after he fought me and I learnt that Pius was dead. I was shocked. I asked our neighbours who killed him? How did he die? . They told me that Pius did not come out of his room the previous day and his brother was worried as he could not reach him on his mobile

phone so he decided to check him in his room. The brother knocked and knocked but Pius did not answer. They attempted to break his door but still he did not respond.

When they finally forced his door opened, they found him laying face up and foaming from his mouth. My neighbours told me that I killed Pius with my bite. I was confused.

I don’t know what they were talking about. Some neighbours told me to run away but I refused since I know that I did not poison him. The police later came from Denton Police station and arrested me. They said my teeth is poisonous and caused Pius’ death. I don’t intend to kill Pius. I am a Catholic and I forgave him all he did to me. I want police and government to carry out an autopsy on Pius and they should conduct medical examination on my teeth. I don’t know why I am in this mess but God will see me through”.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

Nigerian Navy arrests 11 for attempting to stowaway

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he Nigerian Navy Ship BEECROFT on Wednesday in Lagos said it had arrested an impersonator and 11 suspects for allegedly attempting to stow away in a vessel to Europe.

The Commanding Officer NNS BEECROFT, Commodore Abraham Adaji, made the disclosure when he addressed journalists at Apapa, Lagos.

Adaji gave the names of the suspects as Akinwunmi Jeflando, Pope Olu, Jacob James, Samuel Jodge, Ade Samadin, Dan Gogo, James Akinbami, Paul Oguns, Joseph Emmanuel, Stephen Cooper and Jalo Cooper.

Adaji said: “Preliminary investigations revealed that the arrested persons boarded the vessel, CITRON, through the rudder trunk access manhole in a bid to travel with the vessel to Europe.

“The suspects were arrested at about 12.30am on March 11 for illegally boarding Merchant Vessel CITRON berthed at Capital Oil Jetty, Apapa, Lagos.

“They were detected and subsequently arrested by our patrol boat.”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Adaji handed over the suspects to the Nigeria Immigration Service for further investigation and prosecution.

He also said the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ikot Ibas, had zero tolerance for all maritime crimes in Nigeria’s waters.

He called on criminally-minded Nigerians and other nationals to seek legitimate employment instead of engaging themselves in illegal activities.

One of the stowaways, Olu, said he was not happy with his standard of living, which prompted him to attempt to enter Europe illegally.

Another stowaway, Cooper, blamed frustration for his attempt to travel abroad through illegal means.

A representative of the NIS, Lekan Olagunju, a Chief Superintendent, received the stowaways from the Navy.

Olagunju said investigations would continue with a view to ascertaining the claims of their nationalities before they could be prosecuted.

In another development, the Navy also arrested one Mohammed Abubakar for allegedly impersonating a Seaman Writer in the Nigerian Navy.

While being handed over to the Nigeria Police, Adaji said Abubakar was arrested in Lagos.

“The police will further conduct investigations on the suspect,” he said.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

MARCH 19, 2016

IMHA adopts motion to sell fertilizers to Imo farmers at subsidised rates Chris Njoku OWERRI

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mo State House of Assembly has passed a motion urging the state government to purchase inorganic fertilizers and distribute same to Imo farmers at subsidized rates for the 2016 farming season.

The motion, which was moved by the legislator representing Orsu, Mr. Uche Agabiga (All Progressives Congress), noted that the state Governor, Rochas Okorocha has anchored his development policies on agriculture.

Agabiga stated that agricultural practices have become the immediate bailout for the declining oil revenue.

According to him, the Federal Government has made provisions for fertilizer subsidy for Nigerian farmers, enabling them to have access to fertil-

izer input for their farm activities.

He therefore, urged the Governor to release necessary funds to relevant agencies to enable them to purchase inorganic fertilizers early for the planting season.

Supporting the motion, Hon. Donatus Onuigwe (Oru West, APC) stated that everything should be done to encourage agriculture in the state, and called for the fertilizer to be distributed quickly to ensure its usefulness to farmers this farming season.

Also, Hon. Marcel Odunze (Orlu, APC) said effort should be made to ensure that only genuine farmers receive the fertilizer.

Following votes in favour of the motion, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Ugonna Ozuruigbo, ruled that the motion be adopted by the House.

SOUTH EAST

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45

2019: Okorocha sacks SSG •It’s politically motivated —SSG’s Aide Chris Njoku OWERRI

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mo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, yesterday sacked the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Sir Jude Ejiogu.

Although the statement signed by the Principal Secretary to the Governor, Dr. Pascal Obi, did not attach any reason to the sack, it was gathered that the dismissal was not unconnected with the race for 2019 governorship election in

the state.

The statement however, directed the former SSG to hand over all government property in his custody to the permanent secretary.

Sir Ejiogu, who represented Governor Rochas Okorocha at both the commissioning of Shoprite on Wednesday and the convocation dinner of Imo State University at Concorde Hotel on Thursday, did not have the premonition that he would be sacked the next day (Friday).

It was gathered that be-

fore the sack, the ex- SSG, who started as the Chief of Staff had been having running battle with some individuals in the governor’s cabinet over his ambition to run for the governorship seat in 2019.

However, Saturday Mirror gathered from a reliable source close to the Government House that the former government scribe was sacked following his stake in the Shoprite deal which the source stated the governor was angry about.

But the Special Advis-

er, Media and Publicity to the former SSG, Ikenna Onuoha, said that the sack was politically motivated.

“If there was anything the former scribe had done, they would have stated it in their press statement. The man was not indicted of any misdeed.”

It would be recalled that the former Deputy Governor, Jude Agbaso, a kinsman to Sir Ejiogu, who also hails from Owerri North Local Government Area was also removed from office.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

AMOLE: Formerly known and addressed as AMOLE KAZEEM ALAHUSA now wish to be known and addressed as MUILI KAZEEM ALAHUSA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

YUSUF: I, formerly known and addressed as YUSUF YOIN AYOKA now wish to be known and addressed as SANUSI LATEEFAT TOYIN AYOKA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME YAYA: Formerly known and addressed as MISS YAYA MUIBAT RONKE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OJO MUIBAT RONKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME OLASOJU: Formerly known and addressed as OLASOJU OYINDAYO AJOKE KUDIRAT now wish to ne known and addressed as AKEEB OYINDAYO AJOKE KUDIRAT. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME ADISA: Formerly known and addressed as ADISA ADESHINA RAHEEM now wish to be known and addressed as ADESHINA RILWAN OLUTOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AGBAKE: Formerly known and addressed as AGBAKE MERCY now wish to be known and addressed as OKEM MERCY. All former documents remain valid. General public take not CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

IYABO: Formerly known and addressed as IYABO BUNMI OLADOKU now wish to be known and addressed as IYABO BUNMI OGUNBONA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

SHODEKO: Formerly known and addressed as SHODEKO QUEEN ESOHE now wish to be known and addressed as OGUNBOR QUEEN ESOHE All former documents remain valid.

General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME OLUWAKAYODE: Formerly known and addressed as OLUWAKAYODE ADEJUMOKE NIKE now wish to be known and addressed as FALODUN HUMUANI ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

CHANGE OF NAME

AZEEZ: Formerly known and addressed as AZEEZ DAUDA RAHEEM now wish to be known and addressed as AZEEZ DAUDA REHEEM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note

PUBLIC NOTICE

Rapid Action for Youth & Development (RAY & D) This is to inform the general public that the above named organization has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja for Registration under part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, (CAMA) 1990.

The Trustees are:1. Danjuma Mele — Chairman 2. Hajiya Zariyatu Abubakar — Member 3. Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf — Member 4. Dudu Poloma Manuga — Member 5. Bachama Yusuf — Secretary

Aims and Objectives 1. To Facilitates youth Empowerment there by promote self-reliance and job creation.

2. To Promote patriotism, community development and nation building among the youth and citizens.

Any objection to this registration of the above organization should be forwarded to the Registrar – General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, Maitama District, Abuja within 28 days from this publication.

SIGNED: SECRETARY

L-R: Ag.Director General, Janet Omisore; National Vice President, National President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture(NACCIMA), Engr. Solomon Nyagba; National President NACCIMA, ), Dr. Bassey Edem and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, during the Associations visit to the Hon minister in

Imo PDP crisis deepens

…As court sacks exco, reinstates caretaker committee Chris Njoku OWERRI

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High Court sitting in Owerri Imo State, has sacked the Nnmadi Anyaehie-led caretaker committee of the Imo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from continuing in office.

The state Chairman and Secretary of the party, Barrister Nnmadi Anyaehie, and Sir George Eguh, respectively, had in their affidavits and written addresses, submitted that their tenure will only terminate after the state congress scheduled for March 2016. They also averred that the Acting National Chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus, who inaugurat-

ed the caretaker committee led by Barrister Vitalis Okafor, had been removed from the office by a court of competent jurisdiction, and can therefore not act in that capacity.

The duo also stated that it is the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party and not the National working Committee (NWC) that can constitute a caretaker committee for a state chapter of the party.

In the substantive hearing and determination of the matter yesterday, the High court presided over by Justice C.A. Ononeze-Madu, dismissed the prayer of Barrister Anyaehie, adding that since the NWC has the power to constitute care-

taker committee, it equally has the power to remove any caretaker committee.

The court therefore, dismissed the reliefs sought in the statement and grounds in support of the application.

Speaking later to journalists in Owerri, the caretaker committee chairman, Barrister Okafor, thanked God that “today the clog in the wheel of progress has been removed” by the judgment of the court.

“We are fully ready to do what Imolites have asked us to do to reposition the party, apply the principle of zoning and take back our stolen mandate from the opposing party.”

He accused the former

Anyaehie led exco of abandoning the PDP to join another party, adding that if the party wants to apply sections 58, 59(1c and g) of its constitution on any erring member particularly “if you take the party to court, the necessary sanction is to sack you, but the party in its magnanimity decided to wave all these and extend hand of fellowship to them to come back to the party.”

He said that his committee decided to be law abiding by allowing the court to take its course.

“Now having won, we will do the job for which we were appointed, to organize the state congresses and ensure that no single person pockets the party to himself.

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MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Gunmen kill DSS operative in Rivers Dennis Naku

PORT HARCOURT

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ess than 24 hours after an Army Major and a soldier were attacked and killed by gunmen suspected to be sea pirates in the creek of Abonema, Akuku-Toru local government area of Rivers State, another tragedy has befallen the security agencies.

The latest victim is a member of the Department of State Services, DSS was on Friday killed by unknown gunmen in Egi, Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni local government area of the state.

This is coming less that 24 hours to the National and State House of Assembly elections in the state.

While confirming the incident, the Army in a statement said some hoodlums attacked a security team comprising the Army, Police and DSS who were conducting a patrol in the area.

The Assistant Director Army Public Relations of the 2 Brigade, Port Harcourt, Captain Eli Lazarus said the criminals engaged the security operatives for hours, before the former were dislodged, though the latter lost one of its men.

The statement reads, “A joint security team consisting of the army, police and DSS while on conducting patrol today at Egi in Omoku Community of Ogba/Ndoni/Egbema Local Government Area of Rivers State were attacked by unknown gunmen.

“The criminals engaged the security team for several hours before they were eventually dislodged. Sadly, a security agent lost his life in the unfortunate incident.

“Reinforcement has been sent to beef up security in the area and normalcy has been restored.

“The general public is hereby advised to remain calm and be law abiding throughout the election period and beyond as security agents will continue to work assiduously to ensure security of lives and property,” it said.

Asked which arm of the security lost its member to the gun-totting criminals, he said it is the DSS. Meanwhile there is heavy presence of armed security men, including soldiers, police, mobile police and men of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps in most parts of the state to ensure a

hitch-free re-run election in the state.

Already the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC sensitive materials have been sent to the various local government areas.

The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak while speaking to newsmen assured that all is set to conduct a free and fair election in the crude oil and gas rich

state.

Recent verbal combat between the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the state Governor, Nyesom Wike has heighten tension in the state.

Though the two political leaders leaders are on the same page that security agencies will guarantee security of lives and property.

T

Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Vice-Chancellor, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Professor Fidelis Okafor anf Registrar of the Institution, Mr Ora Okechukwu during the convocation lecture of the school delivered by Senator Akpabio at the weekend

CRHA partners FRSC to reduce road carnage Richard Ndoma, CALABAR

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he Cross River State House of Assembly have concluded its plans to interface on regular basis with the Federal Road Safety Commission to find ways and avenues of minimizing road accidents along our nation highways Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon John Gaul Lebo gave the indication recently when the state commander for the FRSC, Ikechukwu L. Igwe visited his office in Calabar, adding that there was need for the commission to partner the relevant committee of the House of Assembly to ensure safety of roads in the state.

Rt. Hon Lebo stated that more than 70% of visitors to the state patronised road transportation, emphasising the need for proactive measures and coordinated approach towards road safety in the state.

While commending the FRSC for recording low casualties in the past yuletide, the speaker urged the commission to double efforts at checking the menace of reckless drivers and fake driver’s license on the road.

Earlier, the FRSC commander, Cross River State

Command, Ikechukwu L. Igwe had sued for synergy between the House of Assembly and the Commission to ensure safety of roads in Cross River.

He hinted that during the last yuletide, the commission was able to achieve 60% reduction on casualty rate and 70% reduction on fatality rate on the roads, a feat he said was made possible by the cooperation of other agencies of government in the state.

Similarly, the Speaker also charged the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Abi chapter in Cross River state to create information dissemination platform

that would educate, inspire or motivate youths out of crime and violence.

Lebo who tasked the new Executives of the Council when they paid him a familiarisation visit to his office and charged them to become properly oriented and re-oriented to imbibe positive perception about the society through a conversation platform.

The lawmaker maintained that the role of the youths in any society could not be downplayed, hence his resolve to support youth development through his numerous projects aimed at building better youths in the Area.

He promised to carry the youths along in his constituency outreach, while urging

that they pay more attention to building institutional legacy through mental reforms instead of structural legacy.

Speaking earlier, the new Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Abi Local Government Area comrade Gifted Nelson said that the visit became necessary for the new Executives of the Council to acquaint with the Speaker, and intimate him of the challenges faced by the youth body in Abi. Comrade Nelson, who solicited the support of the Speaker to achieve the Councils goals, complained of lack of secretariat and operational vehicle as major challenges facing the Council.

Fire guts part of Benin Post Office building Carhe Dickson BENIN

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section of the general post office building in Benin city yesterday was burnt down.

The fire which too over the building affected no fewer than 10 confectionery and gift items shops within the premises.

The incident was said to have been caused through electrical fault at about 2:00am Friday morning.

Staffers expressed shock at the incident and blaming management that despite series of alert, it has failed to put machinery in place to averting such ann occurrence.

Saturday Mirror can-

I never promised to build hostel for Odimegwu Ojukwu University – Akpabio

not ascertained what led to the incidence but a source revered that it may had started from one of the shops since some of the business owners who trade on ice product may had left their refrigerator on all through the night.

Shops owners upon arrival lament the magnitude of damages done as their goods and properties worth millions of naira were all burnt to ash.

he attention of the Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, has been brought to a news item published by the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), which stated that the former Akwa Ibom State governor pledged to build a new hostel for the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra State, during the institution’s 7th convocation lecture.

The Senate Minority Leader, who reacted through his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, said that he never promised to build a new hostel for the institution as erroneously published.

According to the release, “What I said after the lecture at the 7th Convocation Ceremony of the school was that” as a member of the National Assembly, I will work with the relevant federal agencies to ensure that another hostel is built for the students, which could also be in the form of constituency projects”.

The correction, the release added “became imperative so that public, expecially the University community would not go away with the erroneous belief that Senator Akpabio promised to personally build for them a hostel.”

Akpabio who delivered a lecture titled,” The Nigerian Question: Ethics in an Age of Uncertainty”, called on Nigerian leaders to uphold ethics and morality as part of efforts to curb corruption in the country. He defined ethics as “doing things that are right and moral”.

He commended the Federal Government for fighting corruption but stressed that it should be done across board.

Akpabio also advised political leaders against cross carpeting, saying it was mostly done in selfish interest .He assured that members of the National Assembly would continue to maintain ethics and good moral behaviour in making laws in the interest of the masses.

Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Fidelis Okafor, commended Akpabio for his promise to build a hostel in the institution.

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MARCH 19, 2016

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Paris terror suspect, Salah Abdeslam, two others arrested

F

ugitive Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam was captured in a terror raid in Belgium on Friday, along with two other suspects, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Friday.

Abdeslam, 26, had been on the run for more than four months when he was nabbed in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek. He was the only suspect in the Paris attacks still at large.

The coordinated ISIS attacks in Paris killed 130 people who were out enjoying a Friday night on Nov. 13, 2015. One of Abdeslam’s brothers blew himself up in that terror attack, while another has repeatedly urged him to turn himself in.

Abdeslam, suspect-

ed of being the eighth person ISIS said took part in the attacks, is believed to have crossed into Belgium following the bloody spree. The terrorists who died in the siege were French and Belgian.

The third brother, Mohamed, has told Belgian broadcaster RTBF that he had noticed a “slight change” in his brothers’ behavior — when they started praying more and gave up drinking — but said that they did not appear to have been “radicalized.”

Frank J. Cilluffo, a former U.S. counter terrorism official who directs the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University, told NBC News Abdeslam’s capture alive could provide “valuable

insights to prevent and pre-empt future incidents.”

Authorities will want to find out how he has evaded them in Belgium for so long, he said. They will also want to answer a key question about the Paris terror plots: “Was it hatched a long time ago in Syria and Iraq,” or was it more of a decentralized, ad hoc operation planned in Europe?

Earlier this week, a separate raid targeting suspects in the attacks resulted in the death of Mohamed Belkaid, 35.

That name, and other personal details, match those of an ISIS fighter who wanted to be a suicide attacker, according to a cache of documents obtained by NBC News.

Belkaid is suspected of helping the Paris attackers. Belgian

prosecutors said earlier Friday they had found Abdelsam’s fingerprints at the scene of that raid, in Brussels.

Moleenbeek, a poor Brussels suburb, has a history of links to extremists. In the days after the Paris attacks, security forces detained several people there in a series of raids.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the lead Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, congratulated France and Belgium for Abdeslam’s arrest.

“Abdeslam’s arrest sends the message to terrorists around the world that they cannot hide and that it’s only a matter of time before they answer for their heinous crimes,” she said in a statement.

Eight persons attempt suicide, want cow as India’s national animal

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ight persons attempted suicide in India’s Gujarat State on Thursday after their demand that the cow be named the country’s national animal was not met, the reports said.

India’s Hindu majority regards cows as holy and their slaughter is banned in several regions.

One of the election promises of the Hindu nationalist, Bharatiya Janata, party before it swept to power in 2014 was that it would bring in necessary legal framework to protect the cow.

Gujarat, in western India, is the Prime Minister at Narendra Modi’s home state.

Eight members of the Gau Raksha Samiti in the town of Rajkot submitted a memoran-

dum to the district administration demanding that the cow should be a designated national animal within 24 hours.

“When their demands were not met, they consumed a poisonous pesticide in front of the district office on Thursday.

A cow worshipper

“They were rushed to the hospital and all were out of danger, police official Manish Nakum,” said.

Dhaval Pandya, a member of the cow protection organisation said that the cows needed to be protected.

“If we want to protect our cows, we need

to declare it as national animal and we must declare it as “Rashtra Mata’’, national mother.

“Saints and cow protectionists from across the country have been staging protest in New Delhi in the last 18 days but government has not responded to them,” he said.

Abdeslam

Trump’s son gets threat letter, powder

A

threatening letter addressed to Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump contained a suspicious powder in its envelope, a law enforcement source said Friday.

The substance, which was delivered to a New York City Trump building, was tested and appears to be lemonade mix, according to initial reports.

Eric Trump’s wife was going through the mail when she picked up the envelope and powder came out, the source said.

There was a handwritten note in the envelope making threats if Trump’s father, the Republican front-runner, does

not drop out of the race.

The Secret Service is investigating along with FBI, according to the source.

It was postmarked March 7 from a post office in Boston, the source said, and Trump alerted authorities about the letter Thursday, J. Peter Donald, director of communications at the New York Police Department, said Thursday.

No injuries have been reported in connection with this incident, Donald said Thursday.

In recent weeks, there have been similar incidents at offices for the campaigns of Sens.

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Quote of the day “People just go with their hoes and shovels to dig out whatever minerals they believe is available on their land. These set of people constitute about 80 percent of mining activities carried out illegally in the country without licenses to partake in mining activities.”— Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi, while speaking on the challenges of the extractive sector

BACK PAGE

The strategy before the business O Saturday, MARCH 19, 2016. www.nationnationalmirroronline.net

ne of the major reasons businesses fail is lack of proper understanding of the strategic agenda of the business or the corporation. Today’s CEOs often do not articulate appropriate strategy for their businesses.

They, more often than not, underestimate the importance of strategic thinking and knowledge.

Regrettably, many CEOs have not attended even one single lecture on strategy. No university offers Strategy as a discipline. The subject may just be mentioned as a topic in one of the courses.

Ask the teacher where he studied what he is teaching and he will tell you …

In military schools for instance, we understand the subject is often mentioned and taught. However, we can only hope the teaching is current and based on current materials of international standards that can produce the desired results.

The importance of Strategy cannot be overemphasised, for everybody needs strategy to succeed. Indeed, it appears that everyone’s assignment today is finding the appropriate strategy to maintain life.

If one fails in life or business, it can be attributed to lack of good strategy. It is not sufficient to find strategy. It is important to look for a good strategy to navigate very difficult situations or to get a pleasant life.

What is Strategy? This is a question everyone thinks he has an answer to. But when you ask them to speak, they will tell you things like ‘Strategy is what I am doing,’ or ‘Strategy is to be clever,’ or vaguer still, ‘Strategy is strategy’!

In one of my meetings with top management staff of one of our companies, I asked a senior manager to define ‘Strategy.’ He said ‘Strategy is something strategic’! Everybody was laughing. I asked him what his position was in the company. He told me he was the Head of Strategy Development. I asked the CEO to sack him.

The CEO redeployed him as Deputy Regional Director! It sounds like promotion.

What do we do? Lord, help us!

CFR

God appears to have revealed to us how much determination we need to achieve our goals. In

Corinthians 9: 2427, the Bible says: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the price? So run, that ye may obtain”

When the Head of Department of Strategy in a company cannot define Strategy and he is promoted to the position of Regional Director, despite the fact that the CEO is aware of his shortcoming, as well as the administration department that did the redeployment, how do you expect that company to move forward?

This is another example of the challenge of inadequate knowledge of the subject known as Strategy. There is no way a company can move forward if it does not understand or have a strategy.

The CEO of that company told me that the supposed Head of Department of Strategy Development has over 20 years of industry experience. To me, it is 20 years of spreading Ebola Management Virus (EMV) across different corporations. I am doing a diagnostic review of the previous

institutions where the officer worked before he joined our organisation. Preliminary report is regrettable. For example, one of the companies where he previously worked hardly breaks even, despite having been in existence for 60 years!

Strategy can be defined as: “The act of effective allocation of resources to achieve specific goals.” No one appears to have defined Strategy better than Professor Alfred Chandler, who defined Strategy as: “The determination of the long-term goals of an enterprise, the adoption of courses of action, and the allocation of resources for achieving these goals.”

The key issues in the definition are ‘determination,’ ‘long term goals,’ ‘course of action,’ ‘allocation of resources,’ and ‘achieving these goals.’

Reflecting on those definition keys

shows that if everything is available without determination, there is no need to get started, as we may not be able to achieve these goals. Little or some kind of determination will not lead anyone to achieving those goals.

God the creator appears to have revealed to us through the Bible how much of such determination we need to achieve a goal. In Corinthians 9: 24-27, the Bible says: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the price?

So run, that ye may obtain.”

The questions to ask are: Are we running in a form that the run can achieve the goal? Will this determination currently in place ever lead us to our destination?

We must not lose sight of the fact that we are not the only ones who want to achieve the goal, so our run or determination must be strong and resolute.

There is joy in the spirit of never giving up. The price is golden. Even the Creator attests to this in Galatians 6: 9. “….And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season, we will reap if we do not give up.”

What management needs is continuous determination that is resolute to succeed.

It is, however, important to note that determination may not produce immediate result. Determination must mature before it can produce the desired result.

In strategic studies, we have located at least six key factors that can assist in sustaining the determination that is much needed to succeed in achieving these goals. We usually call them the ‘Six Ps of strategy.’ They are Plan, Position, Ploy, Pattern, Philosophy and Process. We do hear CEOs saying correspondingly: “We Plan to expand our business this year; our strategy is to Position ourselves for new acquisitions; we also Ploy to deter entry by aggressive take over; we Pattern our growth on the emerging markets; we shall pursue our Philosophy of customer first; and in the Process, we will do everything our stakeholders want us to do, for we count on their loyalty.”

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