Saturday, December 29, 2012 by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

Lagos fire: 30-year-old mosque, 19 other buildings may be demolished

Vol. 03 No. 2

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Yuletide: FG steps up security P. 10

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

Controversy trails Azazi’s burial

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L-R: Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson; President Goodluck Jonathan; First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and wife of late Gen. Andrew Azazi, Alero, during a service of songs for the late Azazi at Peace Park, Yenagoa, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Auto crash

Kogi governor critically injured

•Whereabouts unknown •ADC killed

Gunmen on rampage in Borno, Adamawa

•Kill more than 15 •JTF arrests 3 suspects P. 8

P. 9

INSIDE

MAGAZ INE

P. 23

Bajoga sworn-in as Kaduna deputy gov

P. 52

Page

Top Story Two Christmas rolls into Ugie in Benin Kingdom

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN

itting majestically on the Ogi’ukpo at the head of an arch formed by thousands of subjects and guests, apparently filling all available spaces in the sprawling, beautifully decorated palace, the imposing, powerful and fearful Monarch of the Benin Traditional Kingdom; Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa acknowledged the greetings of his palace chiefs. Although it is too early to tell if the Oba could bestow a traditional title on any of the subjects and guests, Ugie festivals are good platforms for the revered monarch to honour deserving citizens. As is customary for the traditional ruler, he is decked out in his flowing ceremonial robe of red dress, matched with red coral beads, red shoes, white handkerchief as well as green and white stripped sceptre on a white stool. He is also flanked to the left by his bold and beautiful queens, called Oloi; and to his right by the head of the royal priests or Ihogbe, the Isekhure of Benin Kingdom, Chief Nosakhare Isekhure, who took his position after the brief ceremony marking the beginning of a week-long thanksgiving. Crowds of enthusiasts daily fill the countless canopies that fill the palace. Given the time of the year, the air is thick with the Christian celebration of Christmas, which marks the birth of Jesus Christ. But even as Christians are greeting and tweeting “Merry Christmas,” inside the palace, the Chief-Priest roars “Ise L’ogbe oba mwan. Ob’ugie. Oba ghato okpere,” at intervals, as he pumps his right fist. The crowd responds with hearty shouts of “Ise.” These propitiations mark the beginning of the week- long celebration of Ugie, a part of which includes Igue festival, an annual traditional thanksgiving ceremony of the Benin Traditional Kingdom. Yet, both are too interwoven even as distinct celebrations for a total separation. Beginning with a roll call of all chiefs of the various guilds in order of sequence and seniority, Igue offers the platform for the immaculate white attired chiefs to reiterate and demonstrate their loyalty and for the ruler to clean the land with immolations. With the spicing of the 2012 festival by the presence of the Crowned Prince, who doubles as the Edaiken N’Uselu or Oba-inwaiting, Ambassador Eheneden Erediauwa, the Isekhure leads other royal chiefs out for the presentation of Ewere leaf to Erediauwa in celebration of Ugie’Ewere. His undiluted loyalty is replicated by the other members of the royal lineage, who take turns to present their leaves.

Oba Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa

GIVEN THE TIME OF THE YEAR, THE AIR IS THICK WITH THE CHRISTIAN CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS, WHICH MARKS THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. BUT EVEN AS CHRISTIANS ARE GREETING AND TWEETING “MERRY CHRISTMAS,” THE CHIEF-PRIEST ROARS “ISE L’OGBE OBA MWAN. OB’UGIE. OBA GHATO OKPERE,” AT INTERVALS. THE CROWD RESPONDS WITH HEARTY SHOUTS OF “ISE” Summarizing the significance of Igue, Isekhure says, “When the Bini people participate in the yearly Igue festival, they are consciously and unconsciously reinvigorating and energizing their physical and spiritual beings for longevity, safety, good luck, order, peace, harmony and development in the coming year. It marks the end of a fiscal year and beginning of another.” According to Bini cosmology, the head controls the destiny of man as the temple of his entire human body. So, in the view of a historian, Mr. Dayo Ogbonwan, “The anointing which Igue festival provides is unique because it is directed at the transcendental spiritual self, “Ehi,” commonly called the guardian spirit. The spirit self is believed to be the guardian and protector of the temporal self. Igue

festival is celebrated on an appointed day in the year as directed by every reigning Oba of Benin. The ceremony has been programmed to climax the Ugie.” After the formal announcement by the Benin Traditional Council, the festival begins with Igue’Oba (the seclusion of the Oba) immediately after the Otue Igue’Oba (visitation by chiefs). This is followed by others such as the one by the extended royal family, Igue’Ivbioba. Remarkable activities include Ugie’Ewere (of chiefs paying homage to the Oba, who presents them with a bowl of kolanuts for prayer), Ugie’Emobo and the final celebration, Igue’Edohia (when the Oba comes out of seclusion). Igue is a family uniting festival. During the celebrations, prayers are offered to purify groups and individuals; body, spirit

and soul; bond families. There is also the customary exchange of gifts and sharing of blessings. Some families worship in their respective homes with fathers, mothers, children, brothers, sisters, other relatives and neighbours partaking in the celebration and sharing in the blessings by eating items offered for prayers and purifications as instruments of atonement and thanksgiving. In the homes of chiefs, the celebration sometimes takes the form of musical night, singing, dancing, eating, drinking, storytelling and merrymaking. At times, musical nights are made even more colourful with the lighting of firewood to banish Ubior misfortune from such homes, an aspect of the celebration that is gradually disappearing for modernity.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

n about 72 hours from now, something spectacular will happen. Year 2012 will breathe its last. Although it is not a surprise that the year will end when it will, the cause of the excitement is often in the luck or grace to see the end of an old year and the birth of a new one, which, in this instance, is 2013. Because of the significance of the occasion, many are wont to look back and reflect on their activities in the past twelve months. Such an exercise gives the opportunity to reflect on those things that went off the bend and those that actually met expectations. While the not-so-good give

readers, the Male and Female Angles of Relationships, spiced with Sex Talk, our irrepressible Sport, incisive Saturday Starter, elevated Woman, pulsating Entervaganza, enterprise- promoting Man/Woman in Business, thrilling Crime Watch, ultraglamorous Style and Glam, dynamic People and many more, our offerings have kept our readers asking for more. This edition, will therefore reasons to want to improve, generated across all strata of not only take you back in the outstanding ones trigger the reading public. time, it will also whet your the fire to forge ahead. From the agenda-setting appetite for the feast that 2013 It is not different here at Sat- interviews and analyses of promises to be on the pages of urday Mirror. A look at the Politics, the news-making In your unputdownable Satur-

Defining moments of

2012

past one year fills us with good memories of the greatest offerings of Saturday Mirror in 2012 and the interest they

the Spotlight, to the stories that touch the heart, which stamped our Living section on the consciousness of our

day Mirror. We are sure that having been excited by our past, you will join us to look aheadâ&#x20AC;Śinto 2013.

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Saturday Starter Ikeja bomb explosions

Tears still flow ten years after

The Internet and you

How to avoid Cynthia’s error

he sudden booms of bombs coming at peace time have a way of shattering human existence. They give a devastating effect that speaks of the end of the world. By intuition, almost everybody is jittery and runs for dear life. Unsure of where the fortress may be, such a situation sends everybody running helter-skelter, not knowing the cause of the disaster or where to hibernate for safety. That was the situation 10 years ago in Lagos State when some bombs flew off the ar-

moury of the Nigerian Army at Ikeja Military Cantonment, sending chill down the spines of all. Initially when the heavy sounds came shattering the peace of the land, news spread across the nation, but not many people were certain of what was really happening. Could there have been an invasion by some foreign powers? Was there a coup de tat and some places held by troops loyal to the government of the day were being shelled? Could it be tha?

Facebook, Twitter, Badoo, Google, Instagram, My Space.... These names have brought new realities into human existence. While they offer a new world of exciting and seemingly limitless possibilities, they also have a dark side, as aptly exemplified by the story of Cynthia Osokogu. Kayode Falade took up a wide range of experts on how to steer clear of the soft underbelly of the Internet

he sight is ubiquitous. Men, women, boys and girls, heads bowed, fiddling with GSM handsets, Ipads, Ipods, palmtop and laptop computers. A closer look would most often than not reveal that these people are busy accessing one social network or the other particularly

Facebook and Twitter. The fad, if it may be so called, cuts across age and social strata. In the confines of homes, offices, commercial buses, private vehicles and even on the streets. It is there: the upsurge in the use of the internet by Nigerians.

Fuel subsidy war An unusual protest, a motley crowd

Much ado about N5,000 note The trio of General Editor, Lanre Oyetade, Oseyiza Oogbodo, and Temitope Ogunbanke takes a careful look at the proposed restructuring of the nation’s currency regime, as announced recently by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, highlighting the purported rationale and furore generated by stakeholders’ concerns on the matter.

he governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sausi, had, penultimate Thursday, announced that, beginning from the first quarter of 2013, the apex bank would effect a restructuring of the nation’s currencies by introducing a N5,000 bank note, the 50 kobo, N1 and N2 coins,

and converting the N5, N10 and N20 notes into coins. If the move finally sails through, it will effectively make the nation’s currency structure consist of six coins and six bank notes, namely the 50 kobo, N1, N2, N5, N10 and N20 coins and the N50, N100, N200, N500, N1000 and N5000 bank notes.

ever, in recent times, have Nigerians been this united in a battle. Pained by the hardship that came with the removal of fuel subsidy, it took almost no prompting by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress for Nigerians to catch the bug and resolve absolutely to fight the battle meant to extricate themselves from the strangulation of economic hardship.

From Lagos to Ibadan, Kano to Maiduguri, Benin to Port Harcourt, Enugu to Abia, the compliance has been total since Monday, January 9, 2012, when the strike action embarked upon to protest the removal of fuel subsidy kicked off. The roads were deserted. Offices were locked. Quietly, Nigerians stayed back at home hoping that perhaps, the government would give a listening ear.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

Saturday Starter

Guber election: Ondo battle royale I

Gathering

storm

off ffuell subsidy b id removall

eminiscent of the chaotic situations that characterised the incessant increase in the prices of petroleum products in the past, particularly under the regimes of maximum rulers like former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, events across the country are taking a dangerous turn. When a few months back the proposal for the removal of fuel subsidy was mooted by President Goodluck Jonathan, more than a few eyebrows were raised. But many believed that the government could not be serious, considering

the hardship that is bound to come with it. It soon became an issue for debate and Nigerians did not spare any opportunity to make their views known. The consequences were explained in graphic details and the decision of the populace to take to the streets in protest if the proposal became reality was not hidden. But despite the obvious disenchantment of the people over the development, the Federal Government has gone ahead to carry out its threat. But if the Federal Government and the President had thought that the threat to revolt against its decision was mere blabbing, then it got it wrong.

t is war. Yes, to three of the major political parties in the country â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Peoples Democratic Party, the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Labour Party - the election holding today is war and the war front is Ondo State. The drums of war had been sounding for a long time. Deafening and quite profound, even the deaf cannot pretend not to have had an inkling of what the sound portends. Even when the deaf is certified to have had his ear drums punctured, the movement of political arsenals into the battle ground called

Ondo State is enough indication that the heaven is, perhaps, about to fall. Indeed, that is the mood in Ondo State today. As repulsive as the idea of do-or-die politics is to many, there is, perhaps, no better word to describe the situation in the gubernatorial election which comes up today. The amount of energy, money, propaganda, intrigues and other efforts expended in the preparations by the three major parties for the election say a lot about how important it has become in the current political calculation.

Lost to jungle justice

War onOkada

any parts of Lagos were thrown into pandemonium on Monday October 22. Commuters, mostly in BRT buses, were chased out of the mass transit buses. The drivers of the buses so stopped were stripped and heavily flogged. Some buses were vandalised while some were set ablaze. Commuters who tried to be stubborn or assert their rights also felt the anger of the rampaging mob who were said to be operators of commercial motorcycles. In the middle of the chaos, policemen accompanied by officials of sundry government agencies were busy chasing

motorcycle riders and confiscating their motorcycles. In attempts by some of these riders, who were not all commercial operators, to evade the rampaging officials, some fell off their motorcycles while others suffered various forms of injury. All round the megacity there was general uneasiness. The Okada riders had begun their revolt. Their angst: that day marked the start of the state governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s implementation of the partial ban placed on the operation of commercial motorcycles in the megacity.

ike a recurring decimal, the issue of extra judicial killing again reared its ugly head last week. Four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) were beaten and burnt alive in Aluu, the host community of the university. Though the gruesome and barbaric murder of the four young men has been roundly condemned by all, the fact still remains that jungle justice is alive and well in Nigeria.

The UNIPORT killings have again brought to the fore so many factors necessitating communities to employ self help in providing security for themselves: an untrained gang of youths parading themselves as vigilance group. Will the death of these four young men roasted on pyres of burning tyres even while still alive by a baying mob and watched by indifferent spectators put an end to such killings in the land?

Olawale Omote

Tekena

Ugonna

Chukwuma Okpokiri

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Saturday Starter ‘Not yet the

democracy of our dreams’

n Tuesday, May 29, Abuja will be agog. For the past 13 years, it has become a tradition in the annals of the nation. It is the nation’s Democracy Day and the rituals which mark the occasion, have never been lacking. The situation is not likely to be different this year. However, 13 years down the lane of history, many believe that the traditional activities in celebration of the day are a mere waste of time, money and energy. They are not convinced that Nigeria has attained democratic rule. Rather, they argue that what the nation has been going through since May 29, 1999 when the military was chased back to the barracks, is nothing but civilian rule.

One may want to oppose those in that school of thought, but when one listens to their reasoning and depth of their involvement in the struggle that led to the emergence of the present dispensation, one is bound to see some sense in their positions. Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa; the president of the militant Yoruba socio-political group, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun; former governor of Edo State, Chief John Oyegun; a chieftain of the National Democratic Coaliton, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife and quite a number of others are united that Nigeria is yet to become a democratic nation, despite all the pretences.

Yellow card: card

Fraud of ages

n 2 March, 2012, no fewer than 125 Nigerians were refused entry into South Africa by health officials at the Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. They were turned back to Lagos. Reason: they were allegedly carrying fraudulent yellow cards. It actually generated a lot of heat. To the professional public commentators and even the more passive public, it created a lot of excitement, a lot of adrenaline was pumped up and tempers flared. In retaliation, Nigeria refused 28 South Africans entry into the country for improper travel documentation and

lack of travel health certificate. A diplomatic dispute was sparked off between the two countries who are allies. This was followed by the deportation of 16 South Africans for the same reason. Nigeria further demanded five conditions from the South African government in order to restore diplomatic and bilateral relations.

The legend of

Yekini

f Rashidi Yekini was reclusive in life, he was even more solitary in death. For his fans and the generality of Nigerians who were still reeling in the shock of his sudden and mysterious death, the pictures of his lying-in-state on a nondescript metal bed covered with pink bed sheets, his rough wooden coffin and even more nondescript final resting

place added to the trauma of the loss of this national icon. Where were his mourning footballing colleagues? Where were his pallbearers? Where was his gold-trimmed mahogany casket covered with flowers and draped with the Nigerian flag? Where was his mourning blackclad widow and inconsolable children? What happened to Rashidi Yekini?

Nigerians and GSM Poor services meet SIM Registration hiccups

ore than a decade after the advent of the Global System for Mobile Communications, subscribers in Nigeria are still far from getting world standard services. They are bogged down with erratic, epileptic and inefficient services for which they pay what is known to be one of the highest tariffs in the world. Indeed, GSM operators were recently

fined N1.17bn by the Nigerian Communications Commission over their failure to meet the Key Performance Indicators on Quality of Services. Added to this are the many hiccups associated with the much publicised SIM Registration exercise. Embattled phone users therefore have many questions for their GSM service providers and the regulating body.

Homicide

in the air N igeria again witnessed another plane crash in which there were no survivors. Expectedly, there have been hues and cries. Blames have been flung right, left and centre.

Most of these, however, are thrown the way of the management of the country’s air space, the management of Dana Air and the nation’s response to emergency.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

Saturday Starter When the bombers stopped by A frightening threat to the journalism profession unfolded on Thursday, April 26, 2012. The dreaded Boko Haram sect unleashed coordinated bomb attacks on This Day, The Sun and The Moment in Abuja and Kaduna. The emerging question now is ‘How evenly matched is the pen against dynamite?’

round 11 am last Thursday, a devastating and earth shaking explosion rocked the Jabi Park, Abuja Northern Headquarters of ThisDay newspapers. Almost at the same time, hundreds of kilometres away in Kaduna, another blast occurred. Again the offices of three newspapers: ThisDay, The Sun and The Moment were the target. Moments after the blasts, the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna, oth-

erwise known as Boko Haram, claimed responsibility, adding that the bombs were directly targeted at the Press. It then dawned on the world that the Nigerian journalist is truly under siege. The Nigerian press is not strange to harassment, threats, hounding, closure and even direct murder of its members either by the state, its agents, groups and even mere individuals especially during the military regimes.

Nigerians on

suicide mission

he world woke up one day in November 2008 to the shocking news of more than 30 children between the ages of four months and two years who died in Nigeria after using a contaminated teething mixture identified as My Pikin. The then Director-General of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) Prof Dora Akunyili, explained that many of the toddlers developed renal failure caused through the administration of My Pikin. The children who had been

orruption, that hydra-headed monster, is regarded as a common denominator among the country’s political class, public office holders and men of power. Several efforts to stem it have, however, been considered by many to be swaddled in kid gloves notwithstanding the establishment of anti-corruption agencies. Perhaps, it is this seeming reluctance by various administrations at all levels to fight corruption that drove the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to propose the death

penalty for people found guilty of corruption in Nigeria. Though the general attitude of the international community towards capital punishment is generally unfavourable, if this is eventually accepted by the National Assembly, Nigeria will join countries like China, Indonesia and Singapore which use capital punishment to deter their ligh-fingered officials from dipping their hands into the till. Can capital punishment for corruption work in Nigeria? The debate continues.

using the drug had the symptoms of fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and inability to urinate. The incident expectedly generated uproar, arrests were made and the owners of the pharmaceutical company prosecuted. Years after, the situation which brought about the My Pikin incident is still very much around if not worse. The country now, according to reports, is practically saturated with drugs which have been banned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and even NAFDAC.

Corrupt officers

Under pain of death

Dwindling fortunes of public health

tudents of Nigerian history will remember the then Brigadier Sani Abacha in a national broadcast to announce the termination of the Second Republic on 31 December, 1983, saying: “You are all living witnesses to the great economic predicament and uncertainty, which an inept and corrupt leadership has imposed on our beloved nation for the past four years. … health services are in shambles as our hospitals are reduced to mere consulting clinics without drugs, water and equipment….”

Sadly, 29 years after this statement, the situation, rather than improve, has nosedived, even though the maker of the speech was in the saddle of power for five years. Public health institutions in the country have now become a place feared to be visited by even the common man. The affluent, which includes political office holders and top civil servants, don’t even go near them at all. The result: Over 700 million dollars lost annually by Nigeria to medical tourism. What is the way out?

NATIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Gunmen on rampage in Borno, Adamawa •Kill more than 15 •JTF arrests 3 suspects INUSA NDAHI

WITH AGENCY REPORT

et-to-be-identified gunmen in the early hours of today attacked the Adamawa State border town of Maiha, shooting at the police, and setting fire to police stations, courts, and the Government Lodge, a SaharaReporters source has said. The Adamawa State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Muhammad Ibrahim, confirmed the attack, but could not give details, saying the police was yet to obtain them. He was on his way to the area at the time of the telephone interview. Residents said that about 40 gunmen in cars and on foot carried out the attacks on the border posts

with neighbouring Cameroon, opening fire on police and chanting Allahu Akbar, (God is Greatest). As at the time of this report, the extent of casualties was unclear. Some people said they saw two dead bodies while several others were injured. Among the security posts burnt were a satellite prison and a local education building. “The gunmen believed to be Boko Haram members were about 40 in number and came in Hilux cars and on motorcyles around 1:00 am and attacked the police station and other security offices, including Area court,” said Garbajo Abubakar, a resident of the area. “They opened fire on the security personnel but it is hard to say how many

people were hurt or killed,” Abubakar added. Corroborating the story, another resident, John Yohanna, said the gunmen went into town “chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’” and burnt down the divisional police station and other government establishments. A similar incident was recorded in Borno State. Fifteen people were yesterday slaughtered by gunmen in Musari community of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. The incident took place some few metres away from the Joint Task Force Headquarters in the state capital. But confirming the incident in a press statement signed by the JTF Spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said “Information available to the Joint

Senate to probe N262bn supplementary budget –Ngige

he Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Power Sen. Chris Ngige, says the Senate in 2013, will probe the implementation of the N262 billion supplementary budget to ensure fuel availability, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. He made the disclosure at a news briefing in Awka on Friday. The senator noted that in spite of the N262 billion supplementary budget, there were still long queues at filling stations. Ngige expressed concern that President Goodluck Jonathan had yet to appoint a new minister for the power ministry. ` `I had expected that with the exit of former Power Minister, Prof. Barth Nnaji,

about the middle of the year, a replacement would have been named by President Goodluck Jonathan given the precarious situation in the power sector. ``Ordinarily, the president can decide to run the power ministry without a substantive minister even when there is a minister of state on ground,” Ngige said. He said that the leaders of thought from the SouthEast zone under the auspices of Ohaneze-Ndigbo and the South East zonal caucus had met the president on the issue. He disclosed that the meeting stressed the need for the president to appoint the next minister of power from the South- East zone. According to him, Ni-

gerians would enjoy improved power supply as from 2013. Ngige said that efforts were in top gear to boost power generation, transmission and distribution across the country. He noted that most of the power generating substations had been sited far away from their sources of gas supply, saying that the long distance between the sub-stations and their sources of gas supply was a major problem. He added that the result was the increasing cost of distribution and safe guarding laid pipes against vandalism. The senator explained that the 2013 fiscal budget and part of the 2012 budget would accommodate capital projects, especially for upgrading of transmission stations to ensure availability of power. ``Also as part of efforts to boost electricity supply next year, studies have commenced on the possibility of having coal powered plants in parts of the country with large coal deposits.’’ he said.

Task Force (JTF) Operation Restore Order indicated that unknown gunmen sneaked in to Musari Community – a village located at the outskirt of Maiduguri and secretly carried out selective killings of five people including a serving Nigerian Police

Traffic Warden”. The incident according to Sagir happened in the early hours of Friday, between 1 – 3 am. He added that the Joint Task Force troops that responded to a distressed call came, arrested 3 suspected assailants and recovered one AK 47 rifle with ten rounds of

7.62mm ammunition. He said investigation had since commenced and the operation to apprehend fleeing members of the gang was ongoing. The Task Force called on members of the public to pass any credible information to the JTF through the its hotlines which include 080-64174066.

FAAN assures passengers over traffic delay on airport road

he Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has assured air passengers that pass through the roads leading to the airports during this Christmas/New Year holidays that the long traffic delays experienced on airport access roads, due to routine security checks, is in overall interest of the general public. In a statement issued by its General Manager, Corporate Communi-

cations, Yakubu Dati, FAAN says the federal government, in its determination to ensure hitchfree holidays has put all measures in place at strategic locations, including airports all over the country to forestall any form of security breach during this period. “We consider this a positive step designed to complement FAAN’s effort at ensuring maximum safety and security of lives and properties at

all our airports. “The authority therefore, encourages all passengers to leave their homes early so that the delays caused by these security checks will not hamper their preboarding formalities at the airport, especially in view of the expected increase in passenger movements, both on local and international flights during this festive period,” the statement reads in part.

BORNO STATE GOVERNMENT MINISTRY FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND CHIEFTAINCY AFFAIRS TENDERS FOR THE SUPPLY OF BRAND NEW DANDO WATERTEC 40, WATER DRILLING RIGS WITH COMPLETE TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES The Borno State Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Maiduguri, hereby invites Tenders from suitable qualified contractors/suppliers for the submission of qualification documents for the supply of Brand New Dando Watertec 40 Water Drilling Rigs with complete tools and accessories for Local Government Areas in Borno State . Tender Documents The tender documents will be available for collection by all interested contractors/suppliers upon the payment of non-refundable fee of N100,000.00 per set with effect from Monday 31st December, 2012 in the office of the Permanent Secretary Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. All completed tender document should be accompanied with the following requirements. a) Evidence of Registration and incorporation by the cooperate affairs commission or Borno State Ministry of Commerce b) Evidence of registration with Borno State Government as contractor or supplier. c) Evidence of Tax clearance certificate for the last (3) years. d) Evidence of Financial capability e) Company profile f) Experience Tender Closing Date The closing date for submission of all tender documents has been fix for 11th January, 2013 at 10:00am prompt. Opening of the Tender Documents All contractors/suppliers that have submitted their bidding documents should come for the opening of the documents at the office of Permanent Secretary on 11th January, 2013 at 11:00am prompt. Signed Secretary

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NATIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

Auto-crash: Kogi gov, Wada, critically injured •ADC killed MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

he governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, was involved in an auto crash yesterday at Emo-worro, a village in Ajaokuta local government area of Kogi State, a few kilo-metre to Lokoja, the state capital. While the governor was said to be critically injured,

his Aide- De-Camp, Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, Idris Muhammed, lost his life in the accident. An eye witness told our correspondent that one of the back tyres of the governor’s vehicle busted while on motion. The governor was coming from Igala Education Summit in Ayangba, his home town, when the ac-

cident happened. The governor was immediately taken to the intensive care unit of the specialist hospital in Lokoja. A statement was later issued by the state government over the incident. The statement officially announced the death of the governor’s ADC . The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Yabagi Bologi, yesterday shortly after visiting the

hospital said the governor was in a stable condition. He called on the people of the state to go about their normal business. But few means after the statement by the commissioner of information, the injured governor was wheeled into an ambulance amidst tight security and said to be taken to Abuja for further treatment. When our correspondent visited the hospital, one of

L-R: Company Secretary, Starcomms Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Oyeka; Chairman, Chief Maan Lababidi and Interim Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Olusola PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA Oladokun, during the 14th Annual General Meeting of Starcomms Plc in Abuja, yesterday.

Lagos fire: 30 years old mosque, 19 other buildings may be demolished TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

ollowing Wednesday fireworks’ explosions in Lagos, a 30year old Anwar-ul-Islam Central Mosque and 19 other houses in the affected area on Lagos Island may be destroyed if they fail integrity test. Already the buildings have been marked for the exercise. The possible destruction of the buildings if they fail the test to be conducted by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) is to forestall the problem of collapsed buildings in future. Saturday Mirror, during a visit to the scene of the explosion on Ojo Giwa Street, Jankara Market area, Lagos Island, yesterday, gathered that the marked buildings were those close to the scene of the fire incident. Meanwhile, days after the explosion, the smoke from the fire disaster is yet to abate.

Some of the fire crackers are also still exploding. Despite the fact that the area had been cordoned off, some scavengers at the risk of their lives were found going into some of the building to look for scraps. Some of them were also seen coming out of the buildings with bags of scrap materials. Saturday Mirror also gathered that about 20 houses have been marked for integrity testing. According to LASBCA letter with reference; SN/ LASBCA/Eko12/CN070 dated December 27, the 30 years old mosque, which is said to be worth over N1billlion was advised to be vacated. All valuables, according to notice, should be removed within seven days from the date of service for a structural stability test to be carried out on the structure due to the impact of the fire outbreak, in respect to the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010.

Apart from the mosque, which was commissioned by former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, during Second Republic, many of the residents of other building affected by the fireworks’ explosions have started evacuating their properties while some are waiting for the outcome of the integrity test. Speaking to Saturday Mirror, about what would become the faith of the 30-years old mosque, the chairman of Lagos Mission of Anwar-ULIslam, Alhaji Mufutau Salau, said that they would abide by whatever the outcome of the integrity test might be and that they were ready to quit the building if they were ask to do so. His words: “We have received a notice asking us to go for integrity test to know how sound it is structurally for continuous use. We will go for the test to confirm the soundness of the building (mosque). And if after the test they said the place is not good for continuous use, we

will have no choice than to begin to look for an alternative. But as at today, there is no confirmed test to say that it is not good for habitation. “We are not the only building marked for the integrity test and the notice asked us to carry out the test within seven days. We are going to wait for the confirmation of the experts to know whether the building is safe for prayer or not. If after proper examination of the experts, the result says that the mosque is not good for continuous use, we will comply by the decision of the government. “We believe that the decision of the government is going to be in our own interest. If they feel that the structure is not good again for continuous occupation, why must we be stupid to remain there? Then, whose interest are we serving? We are not here to serve any selfish interest. If there is any confirmation that says this building is not good for habitation, we will leave.”

the medical personnel who begged for anonymity said the governor was critically injured and required more serious attention than he was given in Kogi. However, many hours after the governor was said to have been taken to Abuja for further treatment, his whereabout was unknown. Reporters who stormed the National Hospital, Abuja, where the governor was expected to be taken, engaged in a waiting game. The Chief Press Secretary of the governor, Richard Elesho, told reporters in a telephone interview that the whereabouts of his principal could not be made public immediately. He said: “I am very happy to announce to you that the governor is not dead. I don’t want to tell you where he is. The governor is in a very stable and healthy condition. It is unfortunate that we lost the ADC in the auto crash. I have also heard people saying the driver died. No, it is not true. There are just three people in the car, the governor, the ADC and the driver. The ADC died on the spot but the governor and driver are in a stable condition.”

Meanwhile, a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Bologi Yabagi, and made available to reporters read: “The convoy of the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada has been involved in a ghastly accident. The Governor survived the road mishap and is in stable condition. Sadly however, the governor’s Aide de Camp ADC,Idris Mohamed, an Assistant Superintendent of Police died on the spot. “The accident occurred Friday afternoon at Emi Woro village , about 12 kilometres into the state capital in between Prime Polytechnic and Salem University, in Ajaokuta Local Government. The convoy was returning from an annual Igala Education Summit which the governor declared opened at the state university in Anyigba,” the statement concluded. There are speculations that the governor might have been flown abroad. Unofficial sources in the state told Saturday Mirror that the governor might have been flown from the state.

…PDP calls for prayers for speedy recovery OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has directed its members nationwide to observe minutes of prayers today for the speedy recovery of the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Capt. Idris Wada, who was involved in a ghastly road accident. A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the party was deeply shocked by the news

of the accident. “Our great party is yet to recover from a rude shock arising from a recent similar incident. We therefore wish to direct all our members to observe compulsory minutes of prayers for the speedy recovery of Governor Wada and to spare the party from further painful incidents.” The PDP also prayed for the repose of the soul of the ADC to Governor Wada who died in the accident. He also asked God to comfort those he left behind.

NATIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

Yuletide: FG steps up security OMEIZA AJAYI

head of next week’s celebration of the New Year, security operatives have intensified efforts towards ensuring a crime-free yuletide across the federation but with a particular reference to Abuja, the nation’s capital and several states in the north which are considered as flashpoints. Soldiers and policemen were seen at the buffer zones between the Federal Capital Territory and its contiguous states monitoring the inflow of human traffic into the territory. A director of the State Security Service SSS in one

of the North-East states who pleaded anonymity told Saturday Mirror that he, alongside his colleagues, had a marching orders from the SSS national headquarters in Abuja to identify and nip in the bud all potential threats. “You know we cannot rest or even travel at this period, but for emphasis, we have been asked to stay put at our various stations. Even before now, it was very difficult for us to just travel except it was very important. So, we have a mandate to ensure a hitch-free yuletide”, he stated. The development comes as the FCT chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP

conducts its primary election for candidates vying for elective positions in the six area councils of the territory. Scheduled to hold simultaneously at designated venues in the six councils, that of the Abuja Municipal Area Council has continued to generate tremendous interests among different ethnic groups in the country. The three contestants in the AMAC case are incumbent Micah Jiba, Telle Musa, both natives of the council and Mr. Tamuno Afiesimama Sokari from Rivers State. Indigenes of the territory have continuously frowned at the appointments of oth-

er Nigerians as minister of the Federal Capital Territory but the election of nonindigenes as chairmen of AMAC in the past generated a lot of bad blood between residents and indigenous natives. Saturday Mirror learnt that the security agencies are on the alert to guard against a breach of peace, particularly as hoodlums may want to use the avenue provided by the PDP primaries to maim and loot during the yuletide. One of the contenders in AMAC, Mr. Sokari, told our correspondent yesterday that since all contestants had a code of conduct, he was sure of a peaceful pri-

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

mary election. He said he had met with various stakeholders within the Abuja city and he remained convinced that his aspiration or candidature would not generate any bad blood between residents and the original inhabitants of the territory. Meanwhile, the Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade said that the federal government had put in place measures to guarantee a rancour-free celebration even as it said the police had been ordered to provide adequate cover for all. In a statement signed on his behalf by the Assistant Director, Public Relations in the ministry, James Odaudu, the minister assured Nigerians that the Nigeria Police is capable of providing adequate security nationwide in spite of the determination of some disgruntled and misguided elements to cause chaos. “All Police formations nationwide have been put on red alert to prevent people with evil machinations from achieving their aims, noting that the various

training programmes embarked upon by the Nigeria Police Force in areas such as counter-terrorism, intelligence gathering and community policing have started yielding positive results as shown in the appreciable reduction in terrorist activities”, Olubolade stated, warning all those with evil intent for the festive season to retrace their steps, as no effort would be spared in fishing out both perpetrators and sponsors, no matter their positions in the society. According to him, “no religion advocates violence against non-adherents, so nobody should hide under the cover of any religion to destroy innocent lives and cause misery to others.” Also, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had earlier directed all Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police AIGs and State Command Commissioners of Police to take all necessary proactive measures to ensure the provision of adequate security across the country before, during and after the yuletide.

Typhoid fever: Physician advises on proper food, water hygiene

A R-L: Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his wife, Bola, during Amosun’s inspection-visit to the hill-top residence of the ex-President, which was engulfed by fire in Ogun State, yesterday.

Air crashes: AIB submits 32 safety recommendations to FG OLUSEGUN KOIKI

total of 32 safety recommendations on incidents and accidents that have occurred in the Nigerian aviation industry in recent time has been submitted to the federal government by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB). This was disclosed yesterday by the Commissioner, AIB, Capt. Muktar Usman, at a one day workshop for aviation journalists. Out of the recommendations, 20 have been accepted and closed by the government while the remaining 12 are still being observed, worked upon and awaiting recommendations from the government.

Some of the safety recommendations accepted by the government, according to Usman, were over the accidents involving Dana Air, ADC, Bellview, Wings Aviation Beechraft 1900 D, which crashed in Bebi in 2008 without survivors. Another was the installation of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) project commissioned in 2010 by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). He said that if TRACON was in place during the Bellview and Wings Aviation accident, the crash site would have been easily located by the relevant authorities. He explained that safety recommendations are vital tools to prevent a recur-

rence, but noted that for the sector to propel forward, it requires the full cooperation of all stakeholders like airline operators and the regulatory authorities. Usman however declined to comment further on Dana Air plane crash of June 3, 2012, saying that investigations were ongoing on the crash. He however explained that the engines of the aircraft and other components had been stripped for proper investigation by the bureau in the United States of America (USA). He said, “It’s not just the cause of an accident that we look at, we also make findings and monitor implementations on the safety recommendations. We gather and

analyse data on the same aircraft type that was involved in an accident. “During an accident investigation, anything that we see that could lead to the clue on the accident are taken critically by our personnel.” On the performance of the industry in 2012, he decried the accidents that occurred within the period, but observed that no system was error free worldwide. On the alleged doctoring of the Dana Air crash report by some sections of stakeholders in the industry, Usman declined to comment on it. “I’m not a doctor and I don’t know where you got the doctoring information from,” he declared.

n Abuja-based general physician, Dr Patrick Okolie, has called on the public to imbibe the culture of good food and water hygiene to avoid typhoid fever. Okolie told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday that typhoid was caused by infection of bacteria. He said that the bacteria that cause typhoid known as ``selmonella typi’’, the common cause of typhoid fever all over the world. “The peculiar thing about typhoid fever is that it only affects human beings, it cannot be found in animals, and so you only get typhoid from another human being. “To transfer the infection the bacteria has to be passed through the faeces or urine of someone who already has it,” he said. He said that anybody infected with typhoid should dispose his urine or faeces properly to prevent the transfer to other people. “So, this becomes important when we talk

about food handlers, those who run restaurants, fast food joints or other food vendors. “When these people have typhoid and do not observe proper personal hygiene, they are likely to spread this typhoid,’’ he said. He said there was no proper statistics on the prevalence of typhoid, “but it is relatively high in developing country.’’ `Where there is no potable water or shortage of water, this tends to increase because people resort to fetching water from the well. ``So, you find out that the incident is higher in the rural area than the urban, so also it is higher in the developing countries,” he said. Okolie said that the common symptom of typhoid fever was the accompanying fever that was different from the fever of malaria. He said that the fever of typhoid was usually worse during the day time, and could last for a week or more unlike the fever of malaria which fluctuates.

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NATIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

Controversy trails Azazi’s burial EMMA GBEMUDU AND THOMAS USHIE YENAGOA

he remains of former National Security Adviser, General Andrew Owoye Azazi (Rtd.), will be buried today at the newly created Ijaw National Heroes Park (INHP), Yenagoa, the capital of his home state, Bayelsa. This is as the burial plan has begun to generate controversy with his kinsmen – elders and youths – threatening to boycott the ceremony if he is not buried in his community, Peretorugbebe in Ekeremor local government area of Bayelsa State with full traditional rights as a indi-

gene of the area. Spokesman of the community, Chief Abike Ebikake, made this known in Yenagoa yesterday at a press briefing , declaring that it was against the tradition of the community to bury her indigenes outside the area. Azazi, who died in a helicopter crash on December 15 alongside former Governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa, and four others will be buried today in Yenagoa. With the threat by his kinsmen, there are fears that some aggrieved indigenes of the community may disrupt the burial activities in protest. But the state govern-

ment has concluded arrangements to bury him at the Heroes Park in the state capital. Already, dignitaries, including top government functionaries and military chiefs, have started arriving Yenagoa for the burial ceremony , as security has been stepped up in the state capital. President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to arrive the state today for the burial ceremony. Another kinsman of Gen. Azazi and community leader, Chief Alex Ekiotene, said they were not happy that the former National Security Adviser would be buried in Yenagoa. “It is against the culture

of Ijaw man to be buried outside the community. At your death, if your body is found, tradition demands you are buried in the community. If Azazi were alive , he would not allow his body to be buried outside ,” Ekiotene explained. “I expected Mr. President and the governor to know better. Posterity will always judge those who have taken this decision.” But sources told our reporters that security concern as well as logistics, considering the location and accessibility of Peretorogbene community, the Late Azazi’s place of extraction, is considered as factors for the choice of Yenagoa.

The increasing wave of kidnap in the Niger Delta was also said to be a part of the inhibitions. However, the establishment of INHP by the Bayelsa State Government, which, according to reports, has the blessings of President Goodluck Jonathan, is considered as novel and a melting point for Azazi’s final rest. Born in Bayelsa on February 1, 1952, General Andrew Owoye Azazi, FSS MSS DSS GSS psc(+) fwc (rtd.), started his education at Government College, Bomadi where he graduated in 1968. His momentous march to military magnificence began in July 1972 when he enlisted into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Regular Combatant Cadet-

Course 12. On December 14, 1974, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. A graduate of Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan where he earned a Master of Science, Azazu had a fulfilled career and “completed the Staff Intelligence and Security Course, School of Service Intelligence, Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom and Combined Strategic Intelligence Training Programme, Defence Intelligence College, Washington DC, United States. He was a graduate of the Command and Staff College Nigeria, and the National War College, Nigeria where he won the President and Commander-in-Chief ’s merit award for best all round performance.”

NUJ wants specialised training for security agents

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, who is also the state’s Commissioner for Education, distributing textbooks to students, during the launching of Free School Uniforms and Distribution of Health Education Textbooks, at the NYSC Orientation Camp Ground, Ede, Osun State, yesterday.

NERC boss appointed into GEI board CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

he Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, has been appointed a member of the Industry Leader Advisory Board of the Global Electricity Initiatives (GEI). NERC’s Assistant General Manager, Media, Maryam Yaya Abubakar, in a press statement explained that GEI is a joint initiative of the World Energy Council (WEC), the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership (GSEP). The statement stated that a letter of nomination from Philippe Joubert, Executive Chairman of GEI and Dr. Chris-

topher Frei, Secretary General of World Energy Council, noted that the idea of the GEI was established in Durban South Africa during COP 17. In Doha during COP 18, WEC, WBCSD and GSEP agreed to take the initiative forward. The objective of the new initiative in energy sustainability is to leverage the membership base of WEC, WBCSD and GSEP to widen the impact and deepen the activities of GEI, through a survey of a large number of electricity utilities and interviews of industry leaders. According to the statement, the mission of GEI is to “establish a factbased foundation and contribute to more efficient company strategies and government policies.” It added that GEI will

report and showcase early voluntary actions taken by the companies, to facilitate universal access to afford-

able electricity produced in an environmentally, economically and technologically efficient way.”

he President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mallam Mohammed Garba, has advocated specialised training in intelligence gathering for security agents in the country, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. He explained that this would enable them to tackle the menace of terrorism in parts of the country. Garba made the call in Abuja on Friday while briefing newsmen on how the nation fared in 2012 and the expectations for 2013. He advised the government to evolve better strategies to manage the security situation in 2013. He pointed out that insecurity, unemployment

and scarcity of petroleum products were some of the problems that government at all levels had been unable to tackle effectively. He said that government should be more proactive in tackling some of the problems faced by Nigerians in 2012. ``One of the issues which I believe has not been properly handled in 2012 is that of insecurity. ` `A lot of lives and property were lost. This problem should be addressed permanently. We need to focus more on training of security personnel, especially in the area of intelligence gathering,’’ he said. Garba advised government to address corruption in the petroleum sector.

NBS, Youth Ministry flag off National Youth Survey today TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

he National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Development, will today) commence the 2012 Baseline Youth Survey in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The activity is a part of efforts aimed at developing a reliable statistical database on youths and using such data as tools for youthrelated developmental programmes in the country. The survey, which would be conducted in all the 36 states of the federation as well as the Federal Capital

Territory, will cover the general subject areas and specific indicators such as youth and education, youth and health, youth in agriculture, youth and employment, and youth participation in politics and decision making. Others are, youth in ICT and computer proficiency, youth and conflict prevention/peace-building, youth and drug abuse/crime, youth in sports and recreation, youth migration/human trafficking, physically challenged youth and youth NGOs, VYOs and CBOs Speaking at a two-day Train-the-Trainers programme organised on Thursday in Abuja for the

principal officers of the bureau that would be facilitating the conduct of the survey, the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, restated the importance of well-conducted, evidence-based statistical data to national development and urged youths to see the exercise as desirable to their self-actualisation as future leaders of the country. He said the survey will also be handy to policy makers at all tiers of government to tackle youth unemployment and other socio-economic challenges confronting the youth population in Nigeria. Kale, who was represent-

ed by Mr. Louis Gambo, Director Demography and Social Statistics Department of the Bureau, said if Nigeria really wants to plan and implement policies for the purposes of development, policy makers needed to know who they were planning for. He said: “Most of our plans have failed because we do not know what we are planning for. This collaboration will go a long way to bring Nigeria to a situation that would be better off than where we are now. If we know the youths, we will know their educational attainment which will help us plan for them and solve the problem of unemployment.

REGIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

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SOUTH EAST

Improper design of roads breeds erosion –Gov Obi

overnor Peter Obi has frowned at improper design of roads in the past in Anambra State. Governor Obi thereby attributed the perennuial erosion in the state to the defective road designs. The governor rationalised that when roads were not properly designed, it leads to poor channelization of flood water that consequently lad to erosion. Governor Obi said this yesterday during the inspection of Uga and Isulo erosion sites respectively, which were causes by poor channelization of flood water by the contractors that handled both roads. Obi said that part of the measures his government took on coming to power was to make it a must that any road built in the State would be properly designed with

adequate drainage system linked to the right discharge points. Accompanied by the deputy governor, Mr.

ENUGU

he Enugu State Government has promised to connect the remaining 37 communities from 11 local council areas to the national gird before the end of 2013. The Acting Governor of Enugu State, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, made this declaration during the presentation of 2013 ap-

Isulo-Umunze road, the governor said the state government would inform the Federal Government of the threat, while

propriation bill before the state house of assembly. Onyebuchi noted that of the 472 communities in the state, “only 37 of them from eleven Local Government Areas have no electricity at all. We are poised to connect these 37 communities to the national grid by the end of next year”. The acting governor listed the benefiting communities to include: “Ado-agbalatu, Awgunta,

Agunese Ugwueme, Nenwenta, Eziobu Ugwueme and Eziama Ogbaku from Awgu Local Government Area; Amofia Agu Affa and Amaukwu Affa (Udi Local Government Area); Amankanu, Obodo Uvuru, Eziama Amechi Idodo and Ohuani Amechi Idodo (Nkanu East). Others include Agu Ukehe, Udueme and Ugwunaoda from Igbo-Etiti; Odega Ette, Umuadonu Owo, Ubere Ette and EbiEga Ette (Igbo-Eze North); Akpugo Ezedike, Ezikolo, Nkpunato and Ukpata (Uzo-Uwani); Ihenyi Agaramaa from Isi-Uzo Local Goverment Area. The rest benefiting

communities are Obeagu Oduma, Amagu Oduma and Amokwe Oduma from Aninri; Umuaji Mgbagbuowa and Owha Ndiagu (Ezeagu) and Agu Orba in Udenu. From Nsukka Local Government Area are Utobolo, Anuka, Eha Azuabo, Ogbozalla Opi, Ibagwa Agu, Ezebunagu and Ogbagu Obukpa”. Consequently, Onyebuchi said the sum of N2.588 billion will be spent on the integrated rural development programme within the 2013 fiscal year by both the Rural Electrification Board and Ministry of Rural Development.

Awka upgrade: Gov Obi seeks residents’ cooperation CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

nambra State Governor Peter Obi has charged the Awka community to cooperate with the state government to accelerate tempo of development in the state’s capital. Speaking yesterday at a two day Summit organized by the Awka Development Union, to galvanise the community towards development, Obi assured Awka people that he is interested in the

undertaking immediate measures to salvage the road. Upon the revelation that some of the erosion

sites he visited had been awarded in the past by the Federal Government, Obi said he would follow it through and get to the roots of the allegation and take appropriate action. Meanwhile, Governor Obi has decried the collapse of infrastructure at the Basden Memorial Education Centre, Isulo, Orumba South Local Government Area. Speaking while inspecting the facilities, Governor Obi recalled that the school founded over forty years ago has produced prominent Nigerians but regretted that gross neglect over the years has led to its decay. He said the inspection was to see ways Government could resuscitate the facilities.

Governor Peter Obi (2nd left), his Deputy, Emeka Sibeudu (1st left), Chairman of Orumba South Local Government Area (2nd right) and the President General of Isulo town, Barnabas Anikwe (1st right) during the inspection of the dilapidated Basden Educational Centre, Isulo, yesterday.

Enugu to connect 37 communities to national grid in 2013 DENNIS AGBO

Emeka Sibeudu, and other top government officials at the Isulo erosion site already threatening to cut the Akpu-Ajalli-

development of the Awka capital territory. The governor spoke against the backdrop of the persist cry of Awka people that the pace of development of the Awka capital city does not match its age. The governor also said his administration was ready to work closely with the community to reposition in the State. He urged the stakeholders to take full charge of the community and remove all obstacles and interferences that

impede the development of the area. The Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Matters, Senator Ben Obi, who played active part at the event which ended yesterday night, had in speech noted that Governor Obi has achieved three times more than what previous administration did in terms of development of Awka. Senator Obi urged the governor to place the development of Awka as priority, while calling

on the people to give Obi all the necessary cooperation to actualise the dream of a befiting capital city. In her remarks, the Commissioner for Women Affairs Lady Harrietta Agbata thanked the governor and his wife for identifying with the aspirations of the people to move the town forward. Other key personalities that attended the event included the Transition Committee Chairman, Awka South, Mr. Ekene Okoye.

Ebonyi villagers protest abduction of children

illagers from Ovumte, Ayaragu and Ekembe in the Ishiagu community of Ebonyi Sytate, yesterday, protested the incidences of abduction of children in their area. The protesters, in their hundreds, mostly aged women and youths, took to the roads chanting war songs and calling on the police and other security agencies to unmask those behind the dastardly act. The peaceful protesters later marched to the Ivo Divisional Police Headquarters, where they gave the police a seven-day ultimatum to unmask the perpetrators. According to the protesters, “Our villages are under siege. Abductors have taken over our villages and we live in fear of the unknown. We are giving the police one week to uncover those behind the act.’’ A source close to the Ivo Divisional Police Headquarters who pleaded anonymity

told reporters that one person had been arrested in connection with the abductions. Police Public Relations Officer, Ebonyi Command, Mr. Sylvester Igbo, confirmed the incident and said that one suspect had been arrested while investigation was ongoing to unmask the remaining abductors. The aggrieved villagers also visited the house of the President of the Ishiagu Community Development Union (ICDU), Mr Stanly Anyim, and solicited the intervention of the union in tackling the problem. They said: ``We are here to appeal to you to use your good office to stop the spate of child abductions in our villages.’’ ``Our children are no longer safe in our homes and this crime against them must stop.’’ A gang of abductors on December 23 and 24, 2012, unleashed terror on the three villages and abducted seven children, aged between three and five years old.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

SOUTH WEST

Osun spends N2.6b on school uniforms T he Osun State government has, in the last two years, spent over N2.6 billion on education with the provision of school uniforms to pupils and subventions in the public schools. In a statement made available to Saturday Mirror by Semiu Okanlawon, Chief Press Secretary to Osun State governor, governor Rauf Aregbesola disclosed said this in Ede during the unveiling of the new unified uniform system for public schools. The statement said that at two pairs of uniforms per pupil in the elementary and middle schools and students in high schools, the state government has provided uniforms for over 750, 000 students free of charge. The distribution of free uniforms and health education textbooks marks

the beginning of free distribution to all public schools in the state. The school uniforms, of three different types, were designed according to the school structures as elementary, middle and high schools. Aregbesola revealed that N800 million was expended on the school uniforms while over N1.8 billion has been spent purely on grant for meals school and examination fees. He stated that the amounts, which did not include salaries and emoluments of the teachers, makes the state the biggest spender on education despite the fact that it ranks 34th on the table of federal allocation coming to it. According to the governor, the first set of uniforms would be handed to

Council boss donates patrol vans to Police, Neighbourhood Watch TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

s part of his determination to curb crime in Badagry Local Government Area and its environment, the Executive Chairman of the council, Hon. Husitode Moses Dosu, has donated two patrol vehicles to Nigeria Police Area “K” Command and one van to the Neighborhood Watch in Badagry. Speaking during the official presentation of the patrol vans at the council secretariat, Hon. Dosu appreciated the fact that Badagry from time immemorial has been very peaceful society and promised his administration commitment to ensuring safety of life and properties. Dosu also charged residents to be security conscious because the present situation in the country calls for alertness, caution, curiosity and to be sensitive to issues. He said that all hands must be on deck to wade off threat of insurgency,

bombing, kidnapping and other social vices which have potency of creating chaos and destabilizing the peace of our environment. “I want to implore everybody to support the Nigeria Police and other security operatives either through sensitization or by providing vital information about hoodlums, robbers’ dens or notorious activities which could disorganize the peaceful co-existence of our people. All of us must be community police informants as part of our civic responsibilities,” he said. In his response, the Commander of Area “K” Police Command, ACP Sina Soyemi commended the Badagry council boss initiative and assured the people of the council that the Police will not relent in ensuring that residents of the area sleep and close their eyes without any fear. He also enjoined the people of Badagry to cooperate with all security operatives so as to have hitch-free season.

the public school children all over the state free of charge while subsequent ones would be bought at highly subsidised rate by

those who wanted them. The statement quoted governor Aregbesola as saying, “The idea of the Osun school uniform

stems from our belief in the need to create a unique identity for our students in the public schools; and a good way

to do this is through the unification of school uniforms which is, after all, what uniforms are meant to be.”

R-L: Owalare of Ilare, Oba Emmanuel Otebolaku; Member, House of Representatives, representing Irepodun, Orolu, Osogbo and Olorunda Federal Constituency, Hon. Lasun Yusuf and his wife, during Yusuf’s installation as the Agba-Akin of Ilareland, at Ilare Palace square, Ilare, Osun State, yesterday.

Ex-Ondo SSG’s death: Another progressive Titan departs –Tinubu TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

ormer Lagos State governor and national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has described the death of former Secretary to Ondo State Government and ACN chieftain, Chief Wunmi Adegbonmire, as a ‘loss of a Titan.’ Tinubu in a statement made available to Saturday Mirror, said that the progressives should not mourn the late ex-SSG but celebrate his eventful life because of the remarkable impacts he

played during his lifetime. The statement reads in part: “Chief Wunmi Adegbonmire was one of Nigeria’s most consistent progressive leaders who made such invaluable contributions to the evolution of our politics in the South-West and Ondo State in particular where he hailed from. Chief Adegbonmire led a truly fulfilling and inspiring life. In his loyalty to progressive values and his fidelity to the principles of honor and integrity, he was as constant as the Northern star; as immovable as the rock of Gilbratar.

“We should therefore not mourn but rather celebrate his eventful life. But it is sad that this rare tribe of committed, sincere, passionate and vastly experienced politicians and statesmen are diminish-

ing at the very time when Nigeria is sinking ever deeper into the abyss and their counsel and guidance is most needed to redeem our people from poverty and avoidable indignity.

Tinubu

Lagos fireworks fire: Muslim group urges probe

ollowing the mysterious fire incident that engulfed some parts of Lagos Island, the National Council of Muslim Youth Organization (NACOMYO), Lagos Island Zone, has called on the state government to conduct an investigation into the inferno with a view to bringing to book those found wanting. Several buildings and

property worth billions of naira were reportedly consumed by a mid-afternoon fire that engulfed the commercial centre of Idumagbo area of the state last Wednesday. Reacting to the incident, NACOMYO, in a statement signed by Alhaji Shakiru Adeyinka Raji and made available to Saturday Mirror, the organisation is also calling on

Lagos State government to implement the laws banning sale and use of fireworks on importers, buyers and its users. The statement read in parts: “NACOMYO commiserates with the families that lost their beloved ones in the fire. We want the state government to compensate the victims of the incident. We also want the state

government to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the firework explosion and that the culprits should be justly punished.” The organisation also called for a law banning warehousing in residential areas , while urging law enforcement agents to effect the law banning use of fireworks and also arrest defaulters.

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SOUTH SOUTH

Gov Dickson commiserates with Obasanjo over fire incident

ayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, has commiserated with former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, over the fire that gutted some sections of his hill top

abode in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. In a statement by Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Chief Press Secretary to Bayelsa governor, Dickson expressed shock and sadness over the inferno, de-

scribing it as temporary setback, coming at a time when Christians all over the world are still celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The governor called on the elder statesman to ac-

cept what has happened with philosophical calmness and remain thankful to God for His mercies and kindness that no lives were lost. According to the statement, “The government

and people of Bayelsa State were deeply saddened by the incident and have remained prayerful to God to give him the courage and strength to overcome the loses he suffered as a result of the inferno.”

Governor Dickson used the opportunity to appreciate Chief Obasanjo’s immense contributions to nation building and prayed God to continue to protect and guide him in all his endeavours.

Rivers to spend N21b on Trans-Kalabari Road –Gov Amaechi

ivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi says the sum of N21 billion will be needed for the construction of the Trans-Kalabari Road, the major road project of his administration in the Kalabari-speaking area of the State. He said contract for the road project has been reawarded to Lubrik Construction Company (LCC). Governor Amaechi said this during a Town Hall Meeting with the people of Asari-Toru Local Government Area of the state at the Kings National College Field, Buguma. In the words of Governor Amaechi, “TransKalabari road is coming. We have awarded the contract to Lubrik for N21 billion. You know before what I promised

AMOUR UDEMUDE ASABA

s peace returns to the troubled oil rich Uzere kingdom, in Isoko South local Government Area of Delta State, those fanning the ember of discord and crisis in the area have been warned to turn a new leaf or face the wrath of the law. It would be recalled that Uzere kingdom has been in crisis for about a year over issues with Shell Producing Development Company (SPDC) which has culminated in several invasions of the community by armed security agents leading to the killing, arrest and the dethronement of the erstwhile traditional ruler who was accused of highhandedness, conspiracy among others. The warning was

the chiefs is that I will stop at Bakana, but now we have agreed to take it to the end in Buguma and one assurance I give you is that by January 2012, I will mobilize contractor to start work. We will do the roads according to their importance. The most important road for me is the Trans-Kalabari road and the money is heavy,” Amaechi said. The governor said his administration has been working on completing old projects in Asari-Toru Local Government Area and congratulated the Kalabari people and the youths for being peaceloving and stopping kidnapping and other criminal activities as foreign contract workers now do their job undisturbed. Governor Amaechi also promised to build skills acquisition centre in the area to train the

youth on various skills to keep them engaged, stressing that microeconomic activities will again grow with peace restored in the area. Earlier, Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Govern-

ment Area, Hon. Ojukaye Flag- Amachree praised Governor Amaechi for developing the local government area. He also commended the governor for siting the N1.5 billion fish farm project

and the ongoing multibillion naira model secondary school in the area. According to Hon. Flag- Amachree, “His Excellency has done more in development of Asari-Toru Local Gov-

ernment than any other past Governor of Rivers State. I wish to reveal to all here present that Asari-Toru Local Government has received about half a billion Naira from the State Government.

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi making a point at the town hall meeting with the people of Asari-toru Local Government Area in Buguma, recently.

Delta community warns troublemakers against crisis handed down yesterday by the President General of the kingdom, Chief Emiakpo Owhe during the kingdom’s 2012 annual conference held at The Hall. Chief Owhe charged residents of the community to continue to give peace a chance as no meaningful development can take place in an at-

mosphere of rancour and crisis. His words, “I want to call on all the disgruntled persons fanning the ember of discord in the community to retrace their steps and thread the part of peace for the overall interest of the community. I want to thank the Uzere people and leaders for

their unflinching support especially in the various challenges confronting the community for some time now,” he said. Owhe whose executive was elected for a second term, however, sued for continuous understanding and appealed for calm, diligence and peaceful coexistence in

order to move the community forward even as he pledged to provide purposeful leadership for the community in order to justify the confidence reposed in him and his entire leadership. The conference which was held under a peaceful atmosphere was attended by delegates from

Group bemoans Bayelsa overhead cost EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

n Abuja-based organisation, the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, has expressed reservation on the huge overhead cost allocation in the Bayelsa State budget. Describing the devel-

opment as worrisome, the group said the recurrent expenditure of the state ranges between 40 and 49 per cent of the total budget expenditure. Executive Director of the organization, Dr .Otive Igbuzor, disclosed this to journalists yesterday at a press briefing bordering on the implementation of the state’s

budget advocacy project. Igbuzor was represented at the event by the Programme Officer of the organization, Monday Osasa. According to Osasa, “A state with grossly inadequate social amenities and a high level of poverty evidenced by poor health and high child mortality rate, including high levels of

unemployment, particularly among youths. This has contributed to social unrest ,agitations and conflicts should have more of the budget expenditure directed to capital projects.” The Executive Director urged the state government to prioritize the adequate funding of SACA in the 2013 budget

eight branches as well as representatives from the three quarters of the community led by various Iletus and their female counterparts including the Oletu-Eweyae and her team. The conference came to climax with the reelection of the Owhe led executives. to enable the agency accomplish its programme of activities for next year. The group regretted that projects sites visited in the Ministries of Education, Health, Agriculture and Natural Resources as well as Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development were not implemented owing to non- release of funds by government.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

DR. JIMOH IBRAHIM, OFR

InThe

Spotlight

‘Nigeria is a wonderful place to do business’

our businesses are going global, is that an indication that you are no more doing business in Nigeria or what? No, no, no. Nigeria is a wonderful place to do business. We are going global because we don’t want to be local champion. We don’t want to die as a local champion. As a matter of fact, our target is to make sure that we make 60 per cent of our revenue offshore and 40 per cent local, that is our target. But right now, we are doing 70-30, which is very poor. In fact, I think it is about 2080, that is, 20 per cent revenue foreign and 80 per cent local, that is not good enough, and that is why I could not retire at 45, otherwise, I would have retired, because the number of time I go to the office now is very minimal. The international operation is what I manage now and we must change our revenue profile to 60 per cent income foreign and 40 per cent income local. If local operation collapses, the 60 per cent foreign revenue would help prop up the conglomerate and if foreign operation collapses the 40 per cent local revenue would also help the conglomerate. And in fact if for anything we may have to divest and I think the president got this right when we had a chat the other time, because he was in Sao Tome and the Prime Minister there was telling him: ‘Thank this guy for me, he has a bank here, he has a airline here, he has an insurance company here, he has the only university we have here. I think he is the biggest business man we have on this island.’ The President said: ‘Who?’ He said: ‘Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim’ and the president said: ‘You mean he has a bank here?’ So that is exactly how it looks like. And when the president of Ghana came back from AU meeting, he went to President Jonathan and paid him a courtesy visit and dropped one or two words for the president: ‘Thank you very much; one of our achievements in direct foreign investment is an inflow of Energy Bank.’ That has been listed as part of achievement of the President Atta Mills government. And the same thing is happening at the United Arab Emirates, I pray he would go there very soon. He would also find Sheik Mohammed telling him that we have one Sheik who came from Nigeria shaking this country. This is very good for Nigeria in international diplomacy particularly during interaction among nations. Our going international is something we have to pursue diligently with encouragement and huge success so that at end of the day, it benefits nations and mankind.

we’ve been to the embassy and my children were going for visa and they were asking for my account and I told them I don’t have any account in the name of Jimoh Ibrahim. I have used all the money for the companies. I was showing them company accounts and then they said they need CEOs to convince them that I own the companies. I gave them a newspaper and asked them to check the internet. I don’t always carry money; I use money to create business or adventure.

Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, OFR

What would be your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs? For the upcoming entrepreneurs, there is nothing wrong in being ambitious. One ambition of some people is to meet Christ and if you want to meet Christ, there are so many books you have to read. Daddy E. A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God wants to see Christ and I think he must have over-worked himself because he wants to see Christ. The kind of disciplined life he is living, I don’t think some of us can achieve 10

per cent of what he is doing, you know when you want to go and see Adeboye or Bishop Oyedepo, you try and be holy for some time. So, because they have ambition, they must develop their ambition to a vision. They must always pause from time to time to see if the barometer has changed, so that they would also change along with it. But I want to make money, not the type people feel that I have too money in my pocket, sometimes I don’t even see money, I don’t know where the money is. I think I have narrated this story before,

There is this very popular quotation of yours that we would like you to close this interview with, it is something like being a representative of the poor in the midst of the rich…. No, no, no, all I said was that in the midst of the rich, I am there as the representative of the poor to make the rich to admit more of the children of the poor to their club and I will inconvenience the rich until the children of the poor are admitted into their club. They have to give some of the seats to the children of the poor so that they can be well represented. That is the only way they can have peace of mind and I think when I made that statement, everybody started criticizing me, but hasn’t the club redefined itself now? In fact right now, there are lots of vacancies in the club. So, we are waiting for the children of the poor to come on board and fill the vacancies and we are taking it a step higher. What we are now saying is that the children of the poor should head the club of the rich. So, leadership must change and that is where we are now. That is what we are fighting for. Who would head this club? It is not by bravado or massive advertisement in the papers, the facts would soon speak for itself who is the leader of the club. And it won’t be too long that the leader of the rich in Nigeria will emerge. We don’t need to do this by advertisement. It is to the glory of God that who to lead us is the children of the poor. It has changed in Abuja; the child of the poor (Jonathan) who had no shoes to go to school is the one leading this country. The same child of the poor whose father is a bricklayer must be the president of the rich. That is exactly what we are fighting for. Since that change has happened in Abuja, it would soon happen in the Club of the Rich; if it has not happened anyway. The change has occurred only that it has not been expressly admitted. It will be admitted very soon; we are all here. The power of intelligence cannot be compared with the dearth of knowledge.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

December 29, 2012

‘The Nigerian system gets rid of anyone that wants to change it’

‘Don’t blame military for Nigeria’s woes’

Prof. Adenike Grange

believe that it contributed to it. If I may speak frankly, I can now see that if we had all been able to work together closely and we had all appreciated our different strengths and had complemented one an-other, we would have been okay. But here you have a paper that does not even take the interest of the minis-try and the people into consideration. The paper sim-ply divided the roles along an arbitrary line whether one was capable of playing that role or not and that divided the ministry into at least two or more. I tried as much as possible to cope under that condition but the system did not give me the opportunity to achieve my goals and vision for the ministry and the health sector as a whole. I believe the scenario that led to my exit from office could have been mitigated internally if the ministry had not been fragmented. I called it a scenario because till now I don’t know the details about the alleged N300million unspent fund.

‘Naming UNILAG after my father is a slap on his face’

‘The cabal’s tentacles are too strong for Jonathan’

f you say the interference or the involvement of the military in the political affairs of this country is the cause of all the problems we have, what

‘Nigeria operates plutocracy, not democracy’

don’t have any issue about naming UNILAG after my father but I will say the decision was not thought through. The president should have first sent a bill about it to the National Assembly. That would have made it very proper. It is not a must-thing. You don’t run national issues on kitchen cabinet. If you are not set to do a thing, don’t attempt it at all. And for objectivity sake, I don’t think the UNILAG tag was proper. Honestly, it’s a slap on my father’s face.

he President is the Chief Executive Officer and Com-mander-inChief of the Armed Forces and therefore he is supposed to be in charge

Major General David Jemibewon

were the problems that brought about the military itself getting involved in governance? It is very possible that when critically looked at, the military may be responsible for some of the country’s problems just like the democratic government that the military overthrew must also have been blameable for some of the problems, just like we have now. We have a democratic government but this country is in crisis. We are battling with issues like corruption, insecurity, col-lapse of infrastructure and collapse of institutions: edu-cation, health and so on. Is it the military that is in power now? Anywhere in the world there are chances that the government will do a lot of good things but in the process some negatives results may also arise.

Professor Akin Oyebode

Kola Abiola

Fred Agbaje

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

of the security of the country. But the man does not know the weight of the power he has un-der the constitution. With the power invested in Jonathan through the constitution as the chief security officer of the country, he should be able to break the wall of any cabal into pieces; get them arrested and prosecute them and send them to various prison yards as a lesson. But unfortunately, the cabals’ tentacles are too strong for President Jonathan. And ironically, the same people that the country knows as cabals, whether in the petroleum, political and economic sectors are the ones dictating the pace for the presidency. They are the ones showing him the road. But as the Bible asks, “Can the blind lead the blind?”

hat we have is plutocracy, which is government of the rich for themselves. We don’t have a real democracy in Nigeria because the poor have no voice. The majority of the people in the country have not been empowered. The people have no choice and once they get there quickly those they elected into office abandon them and continue fending for their interest. We are talking about a government that is not account-able, not transparent, a government that does not feel it is responsible to the electorate. So what we have is a cha-rade and illusion of democracy. We don’t have democra-cy, we might have civilian rule as it is seen from dictator-ship but we are yet to have a democratic government.

‘Igbo presidency will stabilise Nigeria’

Dr. Dozie Ikedife

gbo should be helped to produce the next President come 2015 not as a mark of honour to Ojukwu alone because that would amount to begging for the position. Igbo presidency is due and it is a matter of right and not a matter of concession or condolence. It should be a matter of yes, the time is ripe and Nigeria needs a President of Igbo extraction to help stabilize this country because for all I know the country is foundering a lot and it requires an Igbo presidency to help stabilize this country.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

December 29, 2012

‘Every Nigerian belongs to a cabal’ Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife

verybody is virtually a cabal in Nigeria. Who are you bringing to book? And who is going to be the prosecutor when those who are punishing people for stealing N1, 000 are those packing away billions of Dollars. No leader in Nigeria, whether military or civilian has identified the correct objectives for Nigeria. The correct objective of Nigeria is to recognise our blackness. And if we recognise our blackness there would be economic development. The language of power is rooted in economic terms and some economic greatness is achieved by development. These are the major indices of power in the world of to-day and our government is not looking in that direction.

‘Nigeria needs a revolution to get it right’

Dr. Tunji Braithwaite

have always said that the democracy instituted in 1999 is not democracy. The foundation of that de-mocracy was fraudulent. I have said it then and I still insist on it and it is regrettable that everything we said then have come home to roost. We still need a revolu-tion to get it right and we will bring about that revolution and after that revolution we would get it right. It should not be surprising to anybody that revolution is the normal way to shape the progress and development of nations.

‘Nigerian films are not of world standard’

‘No regrets serving Abacha’ Chief Ebenezer Babatope

have no regrets serving Abacha because I am not the owner of myself. I am the son of a Methodist clergyman and I have always believed that whatever happens to man happens to him for his own good. I also believe that God is the Almighty that determines the fate of mankind. It was God that sent me to that administration because if God didn’t send me to go and serve in that administration, it won’t be possible. God said I should go and serve and I served. I am bold to say there is nobody born of woman who can come out to say that Ebenezer Babatope; a Papa Awolowotrained politician fiddled with Nigeria’s money or stole Nigeria’s money or went into govern-ment with the aim of stealing the wealth of the country.

‘Corruption remains Nigeria’s biggest enemy’

Tunde Kelani I will not say that Nigerian films are up to that standard yet. We are yet to have a representation of all our films outside Nigeria. You cannot compare a $30 million budget film with a $100, 000 budget film. We are still far way behind. If I have $500, 000, I will make a film that will compete very well internationally.

‘Nigerians are yet to recover from 1966 coup’ Alhaji Lai Mohammed

Dr. Lateef Adegbite

orruption has endured in Nigeria because the hands of many people in government are not clean. If you want to fight corruption, you must begin to fight it from the top. It is not only the politicians that are corrupt; corruption is endemic in our society. It cuts across all the segments in our society. We can all see what happened to the banks when our bankers decided to use and corner the shareholders’ fund as well as the deposits of customers for their own purpose. And if you go to any sector of the society, there is corruption. We could all see the (James) Ibori’s saga. It is an example of corruption. It shows that it is not the politicians alone that are corrupt. We all see how judges who are

supposed to give out justice eventually dismissed the case against Ibori. But another court in a foreign land looked into the matter and convicted Ibori. Even the lowly people, the messengers and so on are not straight. Corruption is a very serious problem for us and we must not handle it lightly. If we have to progress and develop, we must kill this monster called corruption.

ne of the reasons why the military struck in 1966 was because of what they saw as large scale of nepotism, political instability and violence. But since the military got into power in 1966, we have never recovered. When you have 13 years of unbroken reign of the military in a very young coun-try like Nigeria, the damage done is enormous. No matter what anybody says, I believe that the coming of the military to power in 1966 was the beginning of our problem in Nigeria. With the coming of the military into power there was also a civil war. Once a country goes into a civil war, the situation may not be the same again because people are exposed to violence, hardship and other acts. That to me was the beginning of Nige-ria’s problem. It is very sad that the system cannot be trusted again today and this is part of the bane of this country.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

Politics

The political scene was both eventful and volatile in 2012. Elections and a host of other events ignited a variety of controversies. We brought you top political figures who lent their voices to burning political issues. Here, we take you back in time....

I am on good terms with President Jonathan –IBB W

e shouldn’t be deprived the right to make contributions when things are happening. President Jonathan, Babangida, Buhari, Obasanjo do know that we are a developing country. We should be sensible to know, that as a developing country, as long as we are ready to learn from our mistakes, we will get there. We will support the President to bring peace and peaceful co-existence in this country; we don’t have any other country except this one. So, we must support any effort he (President Jonathan) is making to bring about peace. We will continue to support him to achieve that. We are in good terms with President Goodluck Jonathan; we talked to him, but it’s the same Nigerians that

we talked to and live with. We were appealing to people on behalf of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and there is nothing wrong with that. We maintain very good relationship with the current president. We knew it, people saw the two us and they will say how come, Babangida at 70 was quarrelling with OBJ (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo) and they are talking together now. But we knew who we were and there are certain things we know. I know if there is one man that believes in the unity of this country today, it is Obasanjo. I also share the same. –General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, former Head of State.

Nothing is fundamentally wrong with Nigeria –Akinjide I

f people don’t believe in the present system, what do they believe in? We had a parliamentary system of government and people said it was not good. I was involved in it and others were also involved in it. Then we had the military government and people didn’t like the military. We went into presidential system and some people are still saying presidential system is not good. So, what is good? I don’t think there is anything fundamentally wrong with what we have. I think the problem is just the way things are operated. In my view, we have something which is excellent and I will give us good mark.I don’t accept that we don’t have credible leaders. Nigeria has got excellent leaders; very good leaders. In fact if

you look at the whole of Black Africa, Nigeria has one of the best leaders, so we should stop condemning and running down our people all the time. If we look at the whole of Black Africa, we are the most populous and we are also the richest in resources and since independence we have been developing. Before independence, development was very slow because of the nature of colonialism but things are changing now and I believe in what we have. – Chief Richard Akinjide, former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and Second Republic Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of Nigeria.

It’s sacrilegeous for S’East govs to ask Igbo to stay in North –Uwazuruike

did not form MASSOB because I wanted to be Ezeigbo. I served Ojukwu for eight years before I formed MASSOB. No one else would have been bold enough to criticise the Eastern governors for telling Ndigbo to remain in the North at the risk of their lives, except myself. Most of our governors are sycophants trying to please their master. The North has ruled Nigeria as many years as they wished and Ndigbo supported them. The West also took their turn with total support from Ndigbo. Now that the presidency came to South-South, Boko Haram suddenly sprang up yet Ndigbo have thrown their weight behind South-South presidency. Tomorrow the presidency could go to Middle-Belt and

Ndigbo will still follow them about, beating drums for them but if you tell them to unite among themselves and pursue their own agenda, they will not agree. Personally, I will never support anybody at the expense of Ndigbo. My observation is that Igbo elites are shameless. They serve any ethnic group any time for selfish reasons. However, I must emphasize that disunity should not be aligned with Ndigbo alone because in every other tribe, there are black legs. –Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the leader of the Movement for Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

POLITICS

December 29, 2012

Corrupt electoral umpires should be jailed –Igini E

very successful electoral outcome begins with taking the right decision based on the objective condition. On the issue of the good things of life and the so called advances, we all like the good things of life within the bounds of reason, but when it comes to choosing between material gratification and the higher principles upon which the wellbeing of society is anchored, it is foolish and self-defeating to choose immediate gratification.How much can one really pay, to be able to buy the potential destruction of society by a bad leader, when you collect money to allow a person to ‘win’ an election and such a person eventually corrupts the society? It means you will need to send your children abroad for good education

instead of paying for affordable schools near you; it means you may be rolled into a hospital where your life will be at risk because it is ill-equipped and so forth; in the end you spend all that ill-gotten wealth trying to obtain the quality of life, which you have helped to deny the society. As a matter of fact, any election umpire who betrays that trust should be severely punished, because of the potential and actual cost to society. I recommend not less than four years imprisonment and not less than ten years ban from any office of public trust without option of any fine. –Mike Igini, human rights activist and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Cross River State in the last governorship election.

Terrorism destroying Nigeria’s economy, not North’s –Yakasai T

he Boko Haram crisis in the North is not ravaging the economy of the North; it is ravaging the economy of Nigeria. We are hoping that this country, by 2020, would be among the 20 most industrialised nations in the world, we cannot do that without investing; foreign investors would not want to bring in their money with these challenges because they are afraid. So, it is not the issue of the economy of the North; the economy of the Northern Nigeria is based on Agriculture and local governments in Northern Nigeria are not affected; farmers are going about their normal businesses. The economy of this country is suffering due to lack of power; unless we get our acts together in terms of provision of suf-

ficient power, electricity, to enable us establish industries, we will continue to have problems with our economy; it is not limited to a single part of this country, this is a country with one part being a complement of the other part or parts. Most of the industrial plants in Nigeria are based in the South-West of this country, but the market is here in the North; most of the people who are engaged in trading either of the manufactured goods in Nigeria or imported goods are largely Southerners who are living here in the North.

–Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, Second Republic Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters to ex-President Shehu Shagari

National conference ’ll either divide us or solve our problems –Lekan Balogun

hat we need is a national conference and not a sovereign national conference because we cannot have two sovereignties. National Assembly constitutes a sovereignty of a sort for Nigeria. National conference is a must. Honestly, I think we are overdue for national conference. Let us sit down and think how we want to be governed as a people. The issue of Boko Haram and insecurity will also be dealt with at the national conference. National confer-ence is overdue and inevitable in Nigeria at the moment.National conference can potentially divide the country; also potentially it can solve our prob-

N5,000 note will enslave Nigerians –Dansudu

lems. The basic problem we have is how to relate and live together as people and how we want to be governed. Others issues will also be resolved as well. We should not look at one side of the story because a coin always has two sides. It is a double-sided phenomenon, so, let us decide among ourselves what kind of country we want to run, what kind of government we want to have. I think the national conference is inevitable and it is capable of dividing us and it is also capable of solving our problems as a nation. –Senator Lekan Balogun, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain

t present the cashless economy policy is affecting many people in the country, yet CBN is talking about introducing N5,000 banknote. I believe the introduction of the N5,000 note will turn many Nigerians into slaves. I believe those behind the move are people who don’t mean well for Nigeria. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, should come out to tell us the truth about the state of the Nigerian economy.I believe Nigerian economy is in a bad state and that is why CBN is planning to introduce high denomination to increase the value of our money. At present many countries’ highest currency denomination is not more than 1,000. If our economy is good, why is CBN rushing to produce N5, 000 banknote? The introduction of the N5, 000 banknote is going to create avenues for some people to loot from the treasury and it is also going to open ways for some corrupt people to steal and take our money abroad. They want Nigerians to continue suffering because we have millions of people who have never held N5, 000 in their lifetime. The introduction of the N5, 000 banknote is not going to be in the interest of Nigerians and it will make more people to suffer. It is going to impoverish many people. –Alhaji Ado Shuibu Dansudu, President of Arewa United Consultative Forum and National Vice Chairman of Arewa Youths Development Association.

POLITICS

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

We must protect my father’s reputation –Debe Ojukwu M

y father was an upright, truthful and honest man and we must protect his image and reputation. So, that is the essence of being somebody son; you identify his word and position on issues and when he is no longer there, it is incumbent on you to take those positions. Biafra will never die. Biafra will continue to exist. A lot of people look at Biafra in terms of geographical entity alone, but Biafra is about justice. If you want to exorcise

the spirit of Biafra that is haunting Nigeria, then Nigeria should be very just to everybody and equitable to all.The Igbo fought and won independence for Nigeria. The two basic component of Nigeria’s independence struggle were finance and the finesse. The finance is the money provided while the finesse is the eloquence and rhetoric. The finance was provided by my grandfather and the finesse by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, who carried the rhetoric all over the

Commonwealth and made sure that Nigeria’s independence was secured on a platter of gold. What is the reward for that? Nigeria has never been fair to the Igbo. For a people that won independence, you don’t exonerate them from what they want. –Chief Slyvester Debe OdumegwuOjukwu, lawyer and the presumed eldest son of the late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu

‘Nigeria needs character reformation revolution, not a bloody one’

he problem with Nigeria is from top to down; all of us have character and orientation problem. Nigerians are too survival conscious and we think only about ourselves alone without thinking of others and that is why Nigeria is going bad today. Everybody is thinking

Corrupt officials must be flushed out –Senator Adefuye

t is always very difficult to fight a cabal but the justice system will catch up with them sooner or later. Honestly, the situation of the country is very bad. Everywhere is corrupt and you don’t even know where to go. The whole system is very corrupt and that is the problem we have. Many funds have been stolen; petroleum fund, pension fund, police funds and many other funds have been stolen and grabbed by some cabals. When you put people who are not qualified in charge of certain things, you will find out at the end of the day that you have introduced virus into the system. Those people would only bring about corruption galore. We must therefore start sanitising the system by putting round a peg in a round hole. Once we can

do that from the beginning, we can save ourselves. When you begin to put corrupt people into places that must not be corrupted there is going to be problem. When you begin to swear in people who should not be judges, then you have corrupted the place and you cannot get justice through the judicial system. When you begin to make nurses, doctors, then you have corrupted the place and you cannot get a good healing from such an arrangement.That is the kind of situation we have now. Quite a lot of wrong people have been put into the system and they must all be flushed out. – Senator Anthony Adefuye, National Secretary of Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF) and member of the Senate in the Third Republic.

about survival and nobody is thinking about economic emancipation and development of Nigeria. I have always been an advocate of revolution in Nigeria but not the type that was ignited last week. I have always advocated for character reformation revolution; that is the type of

revolution that the Nigerian nation needs today. If Nigerians decide that they want change, they would work toward it. –Olukayode Salako, human rights activist and National Coordinator, Change Agents of Nigeria Network

In your refreshingly different

2012: Annus horibilis?

A retrospective look on the receding year, 2012, presents Nigeria as a country bedevilled by various unsavoury situations, ranging from insurgent attacks led by the Boko Haram sect to a gale of sleaze in the petroleum sector and in the management of the pension funds. Again, series of other events in the year have served as yardsticks for many Nigerians to measure what 2013 would look like. In most cases, many view the coming year with forlorn hope, saying the Nigerian economy is nothing to write home about and that the citizens sleep with one eye open, signifying insecurity. The reports are damning. Get the detail tomorrow.

Dateline The Koko toxic waste We recall the 1988 discovery of deadly toxic wasts in the little coastal town of Koko in the defunct Bendel State. The waste dumps, which caused worldwide outrage, were shipped into the country by some Italian nationals, inside drums. We refresh your memory of that unpleasant incident.

Can the merger work? Steadily, political parties in the opposition, through nocturnal and open consultations, appear to be making progress in their resolve to form a mega party. Their intention: To dislodge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party from Aso Villa come 2015. What stuffs of politicians are weaving the merger process and how far can they go, especially in 2013 when political consolidations are expected ahead of 2015?

‘I can’t be subservient to any man’ Ofure Aito, a PhD holder who has two Master’s Degrees has shown enough demonstration that she is no push-over in a male-dominated society. In this interview, she counsels fellow woman to stand up to self-expression and give priority to their career. Besides she reveals a lot about her love life, and lots more. Meet her tomorrow These and many more available tomorrow in your

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December 29, 2012

LEISURE

December 29, 2012

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MAGAZ INE

CELEBRITY

December 29, 2012

‘I want to help young girls like me’ Barely three months after relinquishing the MBGN crown, Sylvia Nduka has opened a massive hair shop in Lagos. In this interview by OSEYIZA OOGBODO, the Accountancy student of the University of Lagos talks about life after the crown, her business aspirations and future plans.

ow did you feel that day you handed over the MBGN crown? I didn’t feel anyhow. It was all good. I handed over to the next pretty girl that can carry on the MBGN tradition. And it wasn’t bad, it’s all good because I can’t be MBGN forever and I’ve moved on to the next level for me. Are you saying that you won’t miss being queen? Of course that is only natural that one would once in a while feel a pang that oh if only I were still the queen. And close to that time of actually handing over the crown, you’ll also feel the pang that so it’s truly coming to an end. But it’s something you get over fast because you were aware from the very start that you could only be queen for a year and that year would inevitably come to pass. What are your plans currently to give back to the society that made you? Oh yes, I want to help young ladies like me. I’m going to reach out to them with my Face of Sylvia’s Hair contest. What made you go into the hair business? My passion for fashion. The hair is a very essential part of a woman so my intention is to help women have access to the best hair that will make them look as they should.

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‘I am a bad boy’ Segun Adefila, choreographer, composer and founder of Crown Troupe of Africa, an itinerant dance troupe based in Lagos, is a consummate young artiste. He spoke with YEMISI ADENIRAN, about his childhood, career, and zeal for acting among others. Excerpts:

ow come you married early? I don’t know. Only God has the right answer to the question. I have had to ask myself over and over before why my wife married a bad boy like me? I have known her for a very long time way back in school. She is calm and caring. She is my kind of lady. But of course, she could have found a better man. In any case, she chose me and I will say I’m a lucky guy. I’m not a good man. I am a bad boy and I don’t need a bad lady around me. She is the kind of lady that when you are at work you will want to rush home to meet. I’m simply glad to God for making her my wife. We are happily married with kids. What was growing up like? Although I was born in Lagos, I am from Omu Aran in Kwara State. I am the first son of my parents but I have an elder brother from my mother. I am from a polygamous family. I have a step father and a step mother too. My moth-

Nduka

Adefila

er is from Ondo town. In all, we are 11 children from my father’s side and five from my mother’s side, though there are only three of us left for her. I had a fun-filled childhood and my current career emanated from my childhood experiences. We were immersed in the culture way back in the village and when I came to Lagos, the setting in Bariga was not so far away from what we had in the village. I attended different schools in Lagos, Kwara and Kogi states. I had my first degree in Creative Arts in the University of Lagos. Professionally, I started with a group called Black Image and I later formed Crown Troupe in 1996.

‘I do not blow my own trumpet’ DJ Jimmy Jatt is regarded as Nigeria’s top DJ, just as Ali Baba is rated as the king of comedy. He is even rated as Africa’s top DJ, and in this interview by OSEYIZA OOGBODO, he speaks passionately about deejaying.

ou have been a top DJ for quite a long time now. How do you maintain that status? I think it is first of all not to see yourself as anything. See yourself as a beginner every time. For me, I work like a rookie. I work like I’m trying to prove myself every time, like this opportunity is my opportunity to blow. So I don’t ever see myself like I am up there or something. For as long as you are like that, I think

there will always be room for improvement, and as far as you are able to improve yourself, there will always be the next ladder to climb. have to upgrade yourself. Do you agree with the people that say you are Africa’s top DJ, considering that Africa is huge and has an uncountable number of DJs? I do my best. I’m not one to blow my own trumpet.

Jatt

‘I’m blessed to be beautiful’ Rukky Sanda, one of Nollywood’s leading lights, tells OSEYIZA OOGBODO why she made a huge donation of half a million naira to a cancer patient.

hat influenced you to become an actress? Basically my influence was just TV. It sounds weird, but watching the TV while I was growing up, I just knew I wanted to be in it. Are you achieving your vision as an actress? Yes I am definitely achieving my vi-

Sanda

sion. I haven’t achieved it yet, but I definitely will, because God told me so. You are very beautiful. How do you feel about your beauty? Is it a blessing or a curse? I’m blessed to be beautiful. God surely took his time creating me, so it’s definitely a blessing, a super blessing. Why did you give N500,000 to Funmi

Lawal? Is it that you have too much money? It sounds so cliche when you put it like that. I don’t know how a good deed will be perceived as an issue of having too much money or showing off. I’m comfortable, I thank God, and I don’t think there’s such a thing as having too much money. Amen. I would love to be extremely rich.

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CELEBRITY

December 29, 2012

‘Why I changed my name’

‘I was once a choir master’

Safarie, formerly known as Ego and Ego Omalicha, shocked the entertainment industry when she quit her label, Questionmark Entertainment, earlier this year. Now, she tells OSEYIZA OOGBODO how she is coping without the backing of her former sponsor. Aluko

‘How I avoid the fuji war’ Remi Aluko is a highly rated fuji musician. And in this interview by OSEYIZA OOGBODO, he says he doesn’t see himself as a celebrity until he achieves as much as the late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.

ou are popularly known as Igwe Fuji. Who gave you the title? Yeah … there was a lady I was dating then … that was way back years ago … and her father is a king and she was the daughter he loves so much and he knew I was the one dating her then, he now said “Ah! You are the man dating my daughter and I love her so much.’ He now gave me the title. He said ‘from today on, you are now an Igwe, you are a king.’ And my father, he came from the royal family too, which I didn’t know then. Since then, when they were now calling me Igwe, my father now told me you don’t know that you are a king true-true, so that’s how the Igwe came about. But why Igwe? Why not Oba, since you are a Yoruba man? I prefer that Igwe, because you know all these our Yoruba people, the way we behave sometimes. You know before anybody becomes the king of whatever, I’ve been bearing that name, but I don’t like anything like argument, I hate quarrelling so I prefer Igwe to Oba. You’ve said you don’t like quarrelling. Is that why you didn’t involve yourself in the fuji war? I’m not a war musician. I’m not. I sing for my fans to think about life, that’s what I sing about. I’m not a war person, I’m just someone who can call himself a peacemaker. That’s me.

ou were already popular as Ego Omalicha. Why did you change to Safarie? Well, ther are plenty of Egos in the industry. I just heard there’s another girl somewhere called Ego and let’s not forget, we have Lagbaja’s Ego. So it was really hard on my brand because how do you differentiate us all? Ego gets nominated, which is it? Ego is performing. Is she performing Fall In Love? No, not that Ego, the other Ego, the yellow Ego. So it just kept on dragging me back and at first, Kevin really wanted me, because while he was signing me, he decided my name was gonna be Ego, because Ego is actually my personal name, that’s what my parents call me, so he decided I was going to be Ego, I think he wanted to cause some controversy then, and everything worked out, I blew up so big and it became really hard. The other Ego gets nominated for an award and people are congratulating me. So I thought it was high time I stand on my own. And when

Safarie

you say Safarie now, that’s me, and it embodies everything that I stand for. It sounds African, it means an adventurous, exciting person. So how are people taking Safarie as your new name? I’ve gotten a lot of good responses. Until I changed my name, nobody told me they didn’t really feel that I’m Ego. Everybody’s loving the new name and I’ve even had people from abroad calling and saying they downloaded my song because of the name and that they love the song. Why did you go into music and not some other profession? Because it is all I live and breathe. Music. How did you then discover your music talent? I think it had to do with my upbringing.

‘I didn’t run away for greener pastures’ She Baby is one of Nigeria’s most-talked-about singer-actress. Since she hasn’t been in the news as much as before, JIBOLA OYEKUNLE and OSEYIZA OOGBODO met her to find out what’s up with her.

Not many people would believe that the Akpako Master and Free Madness crooner, Terry G, was once a gospel artist who even sang at the renowned Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. But he has since assumed the image of a talented but controversial, provocative musician-producer. He tells OSEYIZA OOGBODO why he quit gospel music for secular.

ow did music begin for you? It started at Redeemed Christian Church of God, Praise Palace, Oko-Oba, Lagos. As the first in a family of two boys and two girls, it was compulsory to go to church every day, so in the process, I started playing the drums, keyboard and bass guitar. I began singing in church and at a point became the choir master. My sisters also sing and I used to sing at the Redeemed Camp about eight years ago. At some point, I began recording when people kept encouraging me to release an album so I did my gospel/inspirational songs demo as I didn’t have enough money to do an album. When I needed sponsors, I met Ayo Animashuan of Hip Hop World magazine who introduced me to Faze. I later worked for Faze as his back-up singer and later still, I began to change my style of music to secular. Why the change? Well, things were not really working out for me as a gospel musician so I had to try secular and it worked and I’ve not looked back since then.

She Baby

ow long were you in London and what did you go and do there as people said you ran away for greener pastures? Oh my God, I didn’t run away. I actually went there to have my baby girl. I stayed there for like nine months and I came home with the baby. I didn’t run away oh. I just went there to have a baby, stayed a while and even shot a music video of my song, Living Like King Kong, in London. Is there a difference between She Baby as a mother and wife and as a single lady when you had a lot of controversies surrounding you? Controversy is actually the name of the job when you want to go into this business of ours. You cannot escape controversy if you are in this business of ours. But I thank God that for some time now, glory be to God, things have changed.

Terry G

December 29, 2012

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Omosexy battles oil giant Shell A

Omotola

I was a security guard in London –D’Banj Eat your heart out if it doesn’t please you, but D’Banj is truly becoming a force to reckon with in the international music industry. The commercial and critical success of his Oliver Twist song in the UK brought him to the attention of London’s ITV and he told them that he used to be a security guard in the UK but he’s now a music star there. ITV was particularly interested in D’Banj’s metamorphosis from security guard to African superstar and now an artist on American superstar Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music. In his usual animated fashion, gesticulating and gushing as he was being interviewed, D’Banj disclosed that he

-list actress and aspiring music artist, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, is set for the mother-of-all-battles with the international oil conglomerate, Shell. Omosexy is however not going to war against Shell just by herself. She has the support of another international body, Amnesty International (AI). Omotola and AI’s reason for engaging Shell in war is the despicable manner Shell treats the environments in which it conducts its Nigerian operations. To this end, the respected actress has released a video that totally condemns Shell and demands Shell to repair the damages it has caused by releasing a whopping $1bn for that purpose. The transcript of Omotola’s

frank statements in the video which is now circulating fast reads thus: “Hi. My name is Omotola. I was born in Ondo State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. I bring to you a message from Amnesty International. “AI has teamed up with communities and some civil society organisations in Nigeria to call on Shell to clean up oil pollution across the Niger Delta. Oil pollution has destroyed the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people who depend on the environment to make a living and feed their families. “In 2008 there were two massive oil spills from Shell pipelines in Bodo. The pollution ruined the land and creek in Bodo.

I’m not stranded

was so humbled and surprised by his song’s success that he called his mother and said “Mom, we did it. My song is number 9 on the charts in the UK.” The main reason D’Banj is so excited about his international success then became apparent when he added that his success is symbolic for him because nine years ago, he was a security guard in London and his debut song in the UK market got to number 9. Even as this is the first time Nigerians are getting to hear that D’Banj was once a security guard in London as against the popular belief that he was into some other things while in London, D’Banj celebrated his UK chart success by throwing a party at Club Aura in Mayfair, London recently. In attendance were Naeto C, Davido, Shina Rambo, other music industry personalities and of course, lots of ladies who make up D’Banj’s huge fan base.

–Yomi Peters

Peters

D’Banj

Local people who used to make a living from farming and fishing now struggle to make ends meet. “Shell has still not cleaned up Bodo. The Nigerian government has not properly held oil companies to account. But Shell must accept its share of responsibility for the mess the Niger Delta is in right now. “Join me in signing the petition to Peter Voser, Shell’s chief executive asking Shell to own up, pay up, clean up.” The petition already has 10,000 signatures but Omotola and AI are aiming for double that figure. They are also urging people to let Shell know that they are outraged by Shell’s responsibilityshirking conduct in the Niger Delta.

uju music star, Yomi Peters, has come out to refute the allegations making the rounds that he is stranded in Nigeria and cannot return to America because he doesn’t have a residency permit. Speaking with Entervaganza, Peters, who has been more in America than Nigeria in the last decade, said, “Because people are saying I’m stranded and cannot go to the US again doesn’t mean I’ll start showing them my residency permit to prove otherwise. That will be childish. They can keep saying what they like and I will keep doing what I’m out to do.” He also parried the insinuation that he is in financial straits, saying, “Though I’m financially okay, contrary

to what some people feel, that doesn’t mean that I don’t need help still. No man is an island unto himself and I certainly am not, so I’m okay but I’ll be frank and say I still need the assistance of my fans and other well-wishers.” While he is not really bothered about the stories of him having travelling and financial problems, he blew hot over the resurrection of the claim that he is an armed robber. “I am not an armed robber,” he stated emphatically. “I never was and never will be and I will like everyone to know that. I won’t take it kindly with the people who are spreading that tale again and I’m not joking as I will go to any length I should to protect my good name. “I am in Nigeria for one reason only, and that is to revive the lost glory of juju music. I won’t be distracted from that purpose with all the negative stories that are suddenly emanating. I’m a Nigerian and I have every reason to be in Nigeria so it isn’t anybody’s business whether I’m in Nigeria or America. I am here to make juju music the paramount music in Nigeria again and that is what I want people to support me with, not spread needless tales about me.”

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

Chidi Mokeme returns to GUS H unky actor, Chidi Mokeme, has made a grand return to the Gulder Ultimate Search. Mokeme, who found fame as an actor, received critical acclaim as the first host of GUS for his mature and professional handling of the emotion laden reality show. It was very astounding to many when he didn’t return as the host of the second edition. But now, nine years down the line, Mokeme finally returns as a GUS host. He has been announced as the host of the 9th edition holding this year and the news is already generating a buzz that will definitely increase the show’s ratings and viewership when it comes on air.

Mikel Obi veers into music

Mokeme

Don Jazzy, Freeze exchange words

ven as the echoes over the heated word exchange between actress-singer Tonto Dike and musician Burna Boy are yet to die down, Cool FM presenter Ifedayo Olarinde aka DJ Freeze and Michael Collins aka Don Jazzy have also taken themselves up with an exchange of words that can definitely not be said to be polite. From reports, Freeze knowingly or unknowingly fired the first round when he took a pot shot at people who give out recharge cards on the popular social network site, Twitter, to become popular. One person who does give out recharge cards on Twitter is Don Jazzy. Probably feeling affronted at the alleged attack on his personality, he immediately resorted to send a nasty missive directly to Freeze through Twitter even though Freeze didn’t mention Jazzy as the person he was referring to. Jazzy didn’t bother to beat about the bush in his Tweet, laying an ugly allegation on Freeze in the Tweet so Freeze too immediately responded. Well, as is usual with spats, they don’t last forever and Freeze and Jazzy are presently taking the necessary steps to iron this one too out.

Obi

igeria’s most prominent footballer at present, John Mikel Obi, has followed in the footsteps of some of his fellow footballers like Taribo West and Emmanuel Babayaro by going into the heady, unpredictable and stormy world of music. Though he hasn’t jumped on a record yet and spit some bars, he has nonetheless gone into the business side of music for now. He has set up his own record label, Matured Money Minds, and signed on four artists namely Splash, Charass, Edgar and Kido. The question on everyone’s lips now is if Mikel too will eventually release his own record or feature on a record by one of his artists. In all probability, he will do so in the nearest future, going by the examples of other record label proprietors like him. America’s P Diddy and Nigeria’s Keke Ogungbe have done so and it is only natural that Mikel too should do so.

Freeze

Tonto Dike’s health forces her to stop smoking?

edical researchers and analysts have been stating for some time now that the number of female smokers in Nigeria is increasing by the day while the number of male smokers is not really moving up again. According to Dr Ezechi Oliver of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, it is no longer fashionable for men to smoke while women now see it as quite fashionable and that is why more women are smoking. Tracing the factor that is making more women smoke is not a hard job. All over the world, the common people are so influenced by what entertainers do that they begin copying them. If an

entertainer takes on a certain hair style, even if it is weird, his or her fans will copy him to the letter. Nigeria is not different in this regard. Nigerians are so in love with their Nollywood stars that they emulate them. And many of the female Nollywood stars smoke and publicly declare that there is no big deal in smoking.

Are you then surprised that their female fans are taking after them in the nasty habit? The good news now though for anti-smoking campaigners is that one of Nollywood’s die-hard smokers, the controversial Tonto Dike, has quit smoking. Though she said she said she stopped because she wants to be a better person, a source close to her squealed to En-

tervaganza that her chain-smoking habit has probably begun to affect her health and that is why she’s taking the mandatory break. Smoking is a very tough habit to drop easily, however, bad health or not, so only time will tell if Miss Dike has truly been able to kick the terrible habit.

Uti comes out against sexuality allegations

F Uti

or some time now, the town has been agog with rumours about the sexual preference of Big Brother winner, model, actor and on-air personality, Uti Nwachukwu. Fed up with all the allegations

against him, allegations he considers negative to his image, he has finally responded to them and even threatened that anyone found to be peddling them, even if the person is his friend, will feel the full wrath of his anger.

Dike

STYLE & GLAM

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Fashion

s p i t r i ha y l r u c 8

onsisnsure c e o t s y t wa g them the bes keepin f s i o e ls n r O ed cu ith reg ll-defin , but w e ls i w o ly n h t t ten ditio t wi ep con zed. No e i r d u t d s n i mo ed sim ng a AN ditioni d parch DENIR n n o A a c t I y a r IS r h ula YEM are d ion t ve, definit ls that a r e e u w m C . a a s g r in tural o ave the have. it is na won’t h not com rls will ly u e c p r hether a d e s le ndition air sty be beau well-co curly h ey can h le wet T u . o s t y gh ts whi as possiut if c B u . mon si n d i o a t r et p , ain oonest Apply should be as w g process. ult to m curls s t diffic d n u r e i b li n a l y fi t h s e fu ti he out ell-d Your , do begin t nd you king w a u tioning e t i o e s d y s ll n i n e o e r c w a h s d w r p n i e t a t le b w g a ow oing owing he sho anse and t n’t brin hampo o s the foll , d n r i d , e t a c ft e o t a o A cle Ins In f n’s curls. Shamp e best way to el dry. lo r w a u o r s t i o a t y a h o r n th nea your sides This is where ointr from air (be e y p h t ln a u ls a r r o w u l u h s o e ur c ur s xces on y eeps yo und yo nipu- squeeze the e conditi o k a r t a i m l e u e s yo tow ecau e more re to and throw a sink) b ard. Th they a w ly n e w k o ing d more li ders. rls, the late cu d e s i r tu frizz. ll-mois

Flirty ‘n’ fearless

t we Keep i

nlike knee-length shorts that cut your leg in half visually, shorter lengths make your legs look longer, while still covering problem areas like the upper thigh. For the most flattering look, keep fullness under control (slimmer-legged shorts will make your legs look slimmer, too.) Avoid cuﬀs or rolled-up styles because that will just make your legs look shorter. If you’ve got lots of curves, a longercut short is the most forgiving, like the bermuda shorts.

re associated with flapper dresses we as n ow kn es of o als the changing tim ringe dresses en who reflected m wo re we more e joy es vote and en ‘Flappers’. Th en won the right to m wo e tim e hion th fas s cted in their the 1920s. It wa om was also refle ed fre g sin flapea e cr th in e more than social freedoms. Th creasing freedom in is th ed th lis wi bo lly m t sy pular, especia and no other outfi design made it po e ak -m m -to sy wo ea sh e, fre d distingui per dress. Its care er n look that woul od m e or m a te ea to cr today’s who tried s. may find themselve ey th er ev er en wh

YEMISI ADENIRAN

hether you’re setting out on a nerves-filled first date, celebrating a seriously romantic occasion or landing anywhere else on the wild ‘n’ wonderful dating timeline, the flirty dress is just the number to vote for. It is definitely in a class of its own. In whichever way it is designed, it adds a spring to your step, a hip to your hop, a flame to your candle and put a smile to your entire face. Best part is the sexy-yet-

modest look. Cute and hot all at once, this stylish dress not only add a bit of fun and uniqueness to your outfit, it adds a whole lot of sex appeal. They can be strapless, mono-strapped, short or long sleeved or specially designed as the wearer pleases. With their long design, they offer the adorner some level of elegance and delight that princessly distinct them out of the crowd. Layer a designed compliment over a lacy or other soft material and you will be set for a headache-free date outfit. It’s that easy.

YEMI

any k be ex

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STYLE & GLAM

December 29, 2012

n Frenzy

ISI

y g g u h Go T

ADENIRAN

ut-out dresses are fun, cheeky and supremely sexy. They are adaptable to kind of fabric and can simply xplained as a redefined art of

skin exposure. Most times, the area that is exposed is the belly, the waist and the back making it a safe choice for ladies who are just trying to be bold. Revealing, but not too revealing at the same time, the cut-out dress is definitely for the bold and daring.

he timeless chic of the huggy dress this season, is the answer to easy one piece dressing. Whether as a simple dress, a top or a skirt, the huggy number is for the girl who wants to look sexy and unusual. It is a functionally stylish addition to anyone’s wardrobe.

arties come time after time but they’re always special! To have maximum fun at your next party as you will be at the center of attraction, you need to consider these tips: 1. Don’t be afraid to wear bright colours. 2. Cast your inhibitions aside and slide on a sexy frock or romper in hot pink, electric orange, or even neon yellow. It’s your night, do it to it! 3. If you just want to go for a suggestion of colour, try a little black dress with a lovely bright hued shoe.

are worn ead wraps gele men to by African wo African r complement thei e ua , it is us lly th attire. Of course ar pe ap woman’s highlight of a of ic br fa piece of ance. It is a flat -like fabric), Broan (je e an Aso Ok t or other papercade, African prin plain and, or bold like fabrics with patterns. at the way a It is believed th t can indicate no “gele” is tied t bu s tu sta marital only a woman’s in r Fo . ar rticul her lifestyle in pa ng ni lea d ap en stance, a head wr ts a married en es pr ht to the rig e one leaning to woman while th . a single woman the left shows ly al re is y, this Meanwhile, toda women tie their as le ab not applic ver direction they “gele” in whiche out style howevplease. Talking ab d more dramatic er, the bigger an lars, the more sty your “gele” appe e. ar u ves yo ish the world belie

elieve it or no t, local fabric s are the in th today and ad ing in fashion ire is not an ex ception. Adire part of the Eg , an integral ba cu ltu re in Abeokut currently enjo a, Ogun Stat ying a new tr e, is end in its prod print as it crea uction, handm tively add gl ade ow to its end it a wearable product, mak art. Stunning ing ly making a ra mains a won re statement, der that the ad it reir e like other loca creep into ou r oﬃces, cam l fabrics, coul pus and daily d wears.

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Woman

Women, beautiful inside, out From the bedroom to the boardroom, the market place and several other places there exist quite a number of outstanding women. We delighted you on a weekly basis on these pages in 2012 with their tales of inspiration and today being the last saturday of the year, they form a huge heap of beautiful and remarkable individuals. YEMISI ADENIRAN brings for your remembrance some of such women of substance and their giant strides in various jurisdictions.

‘I was homeless for one year’

‘Christianity is not against glamour’

ou are a very fashionable woman despite your faith. How would you advice women to combine spirituality with fashion? The bible preaches moderacy in all that we do as a child of God. It does not go against being fashionable. As a Christian woman, you are expected to be decent and presentable as moderately as possible. Nothing stops a Christian woman from being glamorous or fashionable. I will advice that you wear clothes that will enhance your personality and flatter your figure. If you dress elegantly and moderately, you will have some people who will, because of that, follow you to your church and thereby, get saved totally.

Evangelist Elishama Ideh, founder and pastorin-charge of Christ the Ever Present Ministries.

‘Lessons of my drug mess’

Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, Divisional Police Officer and Nigeria’s queen of the track.

‘I’m a child of destiny’ Chief Mrs. Olaibiyinka Olofinmoyin, ex-First Lady of Ogun State.

hat have been your major challenges in life? I found my one year stint in government very challenging. Then, ten years ago, our Victoria Island residence went up in flame and I became homeless for one year. Then, I was to mark my 50th anniversary. We decided to go to the Lagoon (restaurant). Before we came back the house had been razed by fire. We had to move to the church. Before then I had always thought it was destitute that sleep in the church. I never knew I would one day be homeless and had to take shelter in the church.

ou have achieved rare feats having won Olympic gold, become a DPO and now mother of triplets. What would you attribute it to? There is nothing and no one to attribute it to than God Almighty. To the praise of God, I am the ninth child of my parents, the last born and amazingly, the bread winner. I can never stop praising God. As for the blessing of my babies, it is just another evidence of God’s special love for me. I serve a God who is big and is always doing big, big things for me. He has never left me nor looked down on me despite my weaknesses. That’s why I always tell people that I am a child of destiny. Everything I have today, I have by the grace of God Almighty.

Taiwo Akinwande, actress.

‘I never knew I could live this long’

hat lesson(s) did you learn? So many lessons I learnt. Above all others, I have learnt that God Almighty is a loving God. He is merciful, He does as He wills, He is God of a second chance and I intend not to misuse this rare opportunity to amend my ways, wash off the evil blemish the devil inflicted on me. I have also learnt to take each day as it comes and never compare myself with others. I learnt to be contented with what I have and not to allow any lack to push me into trouble.

ou clocked 88 recently. How would you describe old age? It’s fun and wonderful. I did not know I would live this long; I have lived a very busy and active life. Here I am, still living. Late Mrs Sheila Solarin, co-founder of Mayflower Schools, Ikenne.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

‘I was a very stubborn child’

‘I don’t allow stardom get into my head’

hat kind of a child was Ego? I was a very stubborn child, I am still because I always want to have my way. I can also tell you authoritatively that I was a lively child; I am still a lively girl. No matter how stressful a particular situation was, I just kept on, I never allowed it to weigh me down. Simply put, I was a happy-go-lucky girl.

Ego Iheanacho-Ogbaro, artiste.

‘There’s no perfect home anywhere’

‘I’m a fulfilled mother of many’

hat word of advice do you have for young women of broken homes and the ones whose marriages are at the verge of collapse? To the young women whose marriages have broken, my advice is if it is still possible to reconcile with their husbands, they should take the initiative. Divorce often inflicts worse pain on children. And to those whose marriages are at the verge of collapse, I will advise that they take it to God in prayer. He can fix all things. No woman should compare her home with another’s. The truth of the matter is that there is no perfect home.

Olanike Abiola Peller, actress and daughter of the late magician, professor Peller.

hat was the major factor you were looking for in your marriage? It was happiness and I thank God I found it. I was a Muslim and was ready to marry a man with more than one wife as long as I find happiness. As God would have it, my husband is a Christian and it did not bother me. I love him and I am always happy whenever he is around me. I don’t want to do anything to hurt him just as he will not want to hurt me. I don’t allow my stardom to get into my head, I don’t joke with my home.

‘I never wanted to marry a doctor’

ow did you meet your husband? We met at ABU. He was there for his housemanship. One thing led to the other and we got married. A lot of men found it hard to approach me. In his own case, he went through one of my lecturers, who was his friend. He sent a note through him to me. I was a student nurse then. And you know what? I never wanted to marry a doctor because they are womanisers.

Mrs. Mariam Iyabo Fasehun, founder of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun.

‘My husband died five years after he predicted his death’

Reverend Christiana Bamidele George, founder of Little Saints Orphanage.

oes this assignment not clash with your role as a mother and wife? Not in any way. It is a family affair, we are all into this. My children enjoy this too.

Mrs Abimbola Olawuyi, widow of ace radio broadcaster Kolawole Olawuyi.

arlier, you talked about the fear of taking care of the children. How easy has that been? I remember that in 2002, my husband was sick. On the sick bed, he called me and said, “Taiwo (that was what he called me), it would not be very long before I die. But how would you take care of these children when I am gone?” He did not die that year, but five years after. And when he did, the reality of his words dawned on me.

‘Women should rely on their brains, not bodies’

Evangelist Fehintola Oluwagbemi, a retired custom officer- turned musician.

Rose Odika, actress

s a pretty actress, how do you handle men, especially in your kind of career? Any woman who is pretty stands to be pressurised by men, no matter the

career she belongs to. It now depends on how one handles the situation. I don’t see myself as trading on my beauty or using my beauty or body to get anything I want. I rely on my brain and my strength. Afterall, that’s what men also do.

December 29, 2012

SEX TALK

This column is x-rated

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

This column is x-rated

The great sex debate

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

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

NSWER: Sex feels good. And the proper amount of sex can help maintain your physical and emotional health. But balance is the key. Both having too little or too much sex can lead to unhealthy conditions. According to Dr. Robert Chu, Ph.D., a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, maintaining balance in all life’s activities is important. Dr. Chu invites you to look at the effects of too much sex, too little sex, and what the proper amounts should be, based on your age and health condition.

How much sex is too much?

The theories of Chinese medicine warn of the dangers of having too much sex. A person could become what is called, in Chinese medicine, kidney jing deficient. Jing refers to the main essence fluids of the body, distilled from what we eat and drink. Jing is stored in the kidneys – the batteries of the body. It gives us energy and healthy internal systems. In fact, we are born with enough essence to ensure a lifespan of 120 years. Problem is, we exhaust it through our poor eating, poor rest, lack of exercise, unstable emotions, stress, disease and by having an unhealthy amount of sex! Signs and symptoms of kidney jing deficiency include a weakening of the bones, loss of hair, a graying of the face, loosening or loss of teeth, low back soreness, weakness of the legs (particularly behind the knees), poor memory, loss of libido, impotence and a general lack of sexual desire. If you are suffering from any of these signs and symptoms, perhaps you should consider if too much sex is killing you, or at least weakening you. With too much ejaculation, jing is depleted from the body. As a man ages past his middle years, the excessive loss of jing (semen) can have the

disastrous effects described above. The young can engage in frequent copulation, but the middle aged and elderly should only release semen infrequently. There is a classic text on Chinese medicine called Su Nu Jing. It was published almost 2,000 years ago and suggests that to maintain health, a man should have a certain amount of ejaculations according to his age and health. At the age of 20, if a person is in good health, it is suggested that two ejaculations a day is reasonable. Moreover, having one ejaculation every four days is the minimum necessary to maintain health. Of course, these are rough guidelines and should not be strictly adhered to. At least it gives you an idea of the frequency a man should have sex in order to maintain good health and balanced emotions. Of course, the converse is true, that no sex at all can cause resentment, depression and anxiety... which could possibly lead to long term disease. Now, the average 20-year-old male who is ejaculating three times a day is probably overdoing it. This could possibly affect his grades (poor memory) or affect his physical stamina (with weak knees and sore low back). The 40 year old executive thinking of having that affair with the nice 24 year old intern might want to consider if he

is in good enough health to survive an extramarital affair. He could wind up suffering from hair loss, aging of the face, low back soreness, weak legs, poor memory, loss of libido, impotence, and lack of sexual desire that could cost him his career and his health... not to mention his marriage!

How much sex is too little?

Sex is important for relationships, not just emotionally, but for the organ systems as well. Ladies, when men tell you they feel like they are dying from lack of sex, it’s partially true. In reality, the choked up emotions and lack of connection can cause him to suffer the Chinese Medicine syndrome known as liver qi stagnation. According to Chinese medicine theory, the liver functions to move the qi (life energy) freely in the body. Liver qi stagnation, then, is when there is a pathogenic flow of the correct qi manifesting in some of the following signs and symptoms: feeling of distension in the chest and hypochondrium, sighing, hiccup, melancholy, depression, moodiness, unhappiness and feeling of a lump in the throat. Often the etiology of this syndrome includes emotional problems, a state of anger, frustration or resentment. If this condition persists, it can grow into what is called liver fire.

The chart below suggests the guidelines from that classic text: Age 20

Good health 2x Day

Average Health 1X Day

1x Day

Every 3 days Every 5 days Every 10 days

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

50 60

Minimum Every 4 days Every 8 days Every 16 days Every 21 days Every 30 days

The signs and symptoms associated with liver fire include irritability, anger, shouting, ringing in the ears, temporal headache, bitter taste in the mouth, dream disturbed sleep, a red face and red eyes. This is the result of long-standing emotional states of anger, resentment or frustration. This can cause problems like high blood pressure, tinnitis, insomnia, migraine headache and the like. Good sexual relations are a part of good health. Overdoing it can be detrimental to health, and we have found that too little sex can also have a negative effect on health. My advice: Be happy and be wise in the ways of lovemaking.

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SEX TALK

December 29, 2012

This column is x-rated

The great sex debate

How much sex is too much or too little? diminished desire, and illness can affect your frequency as a couple. The important thing to remember is there is no across the board number that is “normal”. What should be considered normal is what is right for you and your partner. No matter what your number is, as long as both parties are satisfied there is no need to worry about normalcy. If you are having too much sex, your system will tell you so in a variety of ways you cannot possibly miss.

Getting sore-

Perhaps the most annoying effects of too much sex is the soreness. The friction that is created during sex can be totally nice. But too much friction--especially dry friction--can cause you to become sore during and after sex. The best way to save your genitals from friction is to take a break or make sure to keep plenty of lubricant on hand.

Ejaculation for a man over 30 should be twice a week and for a man over 50 once a week is good. For those who are 60 maybe twice a month and once a month for those over 70 yrs old. For teenagers and below 30s, two to three times a day is fine –Sex researchers So how much sex is not enough? Perhaps the answer is one time less than what you want. How much is too much? Maybe one time more than you desire or have strength for. Are we supposed to believe that our desire for sex remains constant throughout our lives? In truth, the amount of sex we have is determined by many things: how we’re feeling, our relationships, access to a partner, our health and how much we feel like compromising in a given moment. The only practical yardstick to determine whether you and your partner are having “enough” sex is how both of you feel about it. One of the major factors that determine approximately how much sex is “normal” is your age. Much younger people, especially young hormonal boys, want sex many more times than they are usually getting. Their sexual appetites far exceed what would be considered nor-

mal. Newly married couples or couples that have just gotten together are more likely to have more active sex lives. It is “normal” for these couples to have sex at least once a day. However, it may be more or less. Their “normal” is much higher than couples that have been together for a while. People in their forties will have less sex than people in their twenties but still more than older couples. Their frequency is more likely to be a few times a week or a few times every few weeks. Then you have people in their fifties and higher that are likely to still have sexual desires but are much more diminished. They may have sex a few times a month and that is considered their “normal”. The amount of sex you have also depends on the stage of life you are in. Young people without any major responsibilities are likely to have more time for sex but less opportunity. If they are serious students, they may be busier with school work and have less time but more opportunity. Couples that have married, gotten their first big jobs, and started families are extremely busy and may be too tired to have sex all the time. Couples who have established their careers and have kids that are grown still have strong desires and more time to indulge them. Older couples definitely have the time but their desires are not as strong, so are less likely to have sex. There are numerous factors that can affect your sex life besides just age and stage in your life. Factors such as stress,

Dopamine overdose-

Loss of sensation-

Dopamine is one of many hormones that the brain produces during sex. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that drives us to have sex and makes it oh so very, very good. One of the effects of having too much sex is your body needs more and more dopamine to feel good and maintain your natural sexual high. Some scientists have even suggested that there may be a link between dopamine and sexual addiction. Friction not only can cause you to be sore, but it can also cause you to temporarily loose sensation. If you take a breather, the sensation will return and you can go back to being the sex machine you want to be. But if loss of sensation happens often or lasts for more than a few minutes, it’s time to have the doctor take a look at your under parts.

4. Difficulty keeping your mojo going-

Going at it for hours and hours on end may make you feel like a sex machine for a while, but sometimes that can do more harm than good. When you are having a marathon sex session, you are not giving your body or your genitals time to rest and replenish oxygen. This lack of oxygen can lead to decreased blood flow and ejaculation issues. Frequent ejaculation stimulates parasympathetic nervous functions. Excessive stimulation can result in over production of sex hormones and neurotransmitters such as acethylcoline, dopamine and serotonin. Too much of these hormones and neurotransmitters can cause the brain and adrenal glands to perform excessive dopamine-norepinephrine-epinephrine conversion, which will bring about a big change of body chemistry. Changes in the body chemistry will cause the following side effects:

 Is twice a day too much sex when you love and desire your partner?  Is twice a week too little when you are stressed, aching, sick or low on stamina?  Is twice a month acceptable in a long term relationship between two aging partners?  Is twice a year better than nothing when you are 85 and your wife is 80?

Fatigue, lower back pain, hair loss or thinning of hair, weak erection, premature ejaculation, eye floaters or fuzzy vision, groin/testicular pain, pain in the pelvic cavity, depression and memory problems

Too much ejaculation can also cause seminal leakage. The sperm oozes or leaks out of the penis without erection. Semen leakage is embarrassing and may cause you to feel uncomfortable. Semen leakage is one sign that the parasympathetic nerve, which keeps the ejaculation valve shut and is responsible for erection is weakening as a result of too much ejaculation. Maintaining an erection is impossible if you have a weak nerve. In addition, too much ejaculation can affect the liver’s ability to release enzymes that aid in hormone production. It can also cause youthful impotence or erectile dysfunction. On the other hand, there are definitive psychological dangers associated with not getting enough sex. A healthy sex life confers a wealth of side benefits, such as cardiovascular exercise, a lower incidence of cold and flu, better sleep, longer life, reduced depression, and surprisingly, an improved sense of smell! Regular sex sessions will firm a woman’s tummy and buttocks and also improve her posture. Women who abstain from sex run the risk of vaginal atrophy. The opening of the vagina narrows from disuse. This condition can lead to dysparenia, or pain associated with intercourse. One last word…It can be challenging to find the balance between fulfilling your sexual needs, meeting the needs of your partner, having autonomy over how much sex you have, and keeping up with your other responsibilities. As long as you and your partner are content, no one’s getting hurt, you’re protecting your body, and sex isn’t getting in the way of the rest of your life, there’s no need to worry about how much sex you are having. Many people are completely happy abstaining, and others get on it like rabbits. Just be safe, pay attention to your intuition, and don’t over stress yourself. If you are happy, safe, and healthy, it’s enough.

Living

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December 29, 2012

Chidinma Olosota (not real names) is your run-of-the-mill 15-year-old girl at a first glance. A closer scrutiny, however, reveals a troubled teen. She has been sexually abused serially by those least expected.

VIOLATED! 15 yr-old girl defiled by police officer, raped by shop keeper any dirt the teenage girl thought had been buried. The man insisted that he be taken to the house she spent two days. Reluctantly, the girl led her father to the house she spent the last two days. As soon as the father sighted the young who allegedly housed his daughter for two days, he was overcome by emotion and a shouting match ensued. Invectives and insults were hurled from both sides. Irked by the insolence demonstrated by the young man, Chainman’s father made for the Isheri Police Station to report the matter.

K AYODE FALADE

he April sun was going to bed. Somewhere around Isheri, a Lagos suburb, a 15-year-old girl too was hurrying homeward. She wanted to arrive home before dusk. Suddenly, she struck her foot against a stone half buried in the earth. The teenager hissed and made to continue with her journey. But one of her footwear did not obey her. A strap had snapped in one of the flip-flops that covered her dusty feet. Chidinma Olosota (not real names) hissed and moved on. After taking some steps, she decided to wait for a mobile cobbler to rectify the situation. She looked around and sat at the front of a house. It was a decision that would affect her life. Not long after, a young man approached her, offering to help. The unsuspecting girl took the extended hand of help. A few hours later she had been raped. Not only that, she

was prevented from leaving the house. Two days after, Chidinma struggled home to her already exasperated parents who were beside themselves with worries over the disappearance of their daughter. After showing her face at home, she was bundled straight to the church where the pastor lectured her on the gains of being an obedient child. It was the return of Chidinma’s father that exhumed

Beggars strike:

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

“I

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

Nine-yearold ‘sex toy’ JIBOLA OYEKUNLE

rom her dishevelled appearance, you could tell she has been traumatized. For Favour Endurance Obilor nothing could be worse than the torture and sexual assaults she allegedly suffered in the house of a woman who employed her as a house help. Even few days after she was got off the hook, the nineyear-old girl appears haunted by the memory of her alleged trouble times. She sobbed endlessly as she narrated to Saturday Mirror how two men, working for her boss, serially turned her to a sex toy – a criminal act her assailants, she claimed, perpetrated with no scintilla of remorse. “I was Hajia’s house help and was always helping her to do house chores before now,” she began with tone laden with emotion. “From the first day I got to her house and till the day I left I never slept in a room. I always slept in the corridor. There were several other people living with her apart from her children. Among the people living with her were two males called Aboy and Japan and two females called Oluchi and Nkiru.

them. After all, the labourer deserves a wage. On the traffic-locked Maryland, via Ikorodu Road towards Bank Anthony Way, two ‘retired beggars’, Abdul and Musa, are now hawking handkerchiefs, bandanas, and other wares. When asked why they choose to be doing this instead of asking for alms, Abdul offered: “When I was begging, I was not always sure of what people will give to me. Sometimes, I will move around for so long before I can earn N20. When the business was good, I would go home with N700 to N1,000 after trying hard to move people to sympathy. Sometimes, I might not be able to make even N200. Nigerians are good people and they love to see people like us doing something.

Changing places •My wife beats me up any time she wants –Husband •I just can’t have a man bullying me around –Wife Whenever domestic violence is mentioned, the woman is believed to be the victim. If that’s what you think, then you have not met or heard of the Oparas. In their household, Tochukwu, the husband, is the victim.

FUNMI SALOME JOHNSON

he woman in the marriage is often regarded as being at the receiving end in a n abusive marriage more so when the abuse is physical. To help protect the vulnerability of the woman in such a union are many rights groups and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

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A coffin in almost all human cultures is regarded with awe and sometimes fear as it is one of the chief paraphernalia of death. But to Prophet Samuel Kogberegbe, it is a bed to which he retires every evening and rises from the following morning. OSEYIZA OOGBODO

LIVING

December 29, 2012

ifferent strokes for different folks, so the saying goes. While most Nigerians cringe at the notion of death and or any instrument or article

Prophet sleeps in coffin for 40 yrs

which brings the phenomenon to the fore, not Prophet Samuel Olawale Kogberegbe, founder and Primate of the Holy Michael Church of the Lord (Aladura), Cherubim and Seraphim. Indeed the cleric romances the most dreaded and symbolic of the articles of

death: the coffin. Prophet Kogberegbe not only keeps a coffin in his house, it serves as his bed. In fact he spends his nights there. This man is so nonchalant and carefree about death that he even sleeps in a coffin to mock death and the callous and unex-

pected way it takes people away from this world to the great beyond. Prophet Samuel Olawale Kogberegbe’s church, the Holy Michael Church of the Lord (Aladura), Cherubim and Seraphim is headquartered in Itire, Surulere and has 58 branches worldwide. Kogberegbe is so committed to sleeping in his coffin that he takes it around with him wherever he goes. Sleeping in a coffin is definitely a strange habit and someone doing so might be thought to be eccentric. When Saturday Mirror met him however to question him on his rather queer penchant, he seemed to be in full possession of all his faculties, despite his advanced age. “I started sleeping in a coffin when I realised that no matter how wealthy, poor, powerful or whatever, the end of our sojourn on earth is our eventual burial in a coffin,” he said

United in their silent world: Deaf and dumb couple in marital bliss Sex-crazed, depraved and carefree: The

Abiodun Oluwa and his wife, Bimbo, look like every other happy couple basking in each other’s love. However, there is a lot more to their relationship than meets the eye.

world of Molue riders In Lagos, there exists a brand of commercial bus: the Molue. It is practically peculiar to the megacity. A ride on it is jolly, funky and sometimes kinky. JIBOLA OYEKUNLE explores this weird but fun way of commuting.

cene 1: The long, rickety, yellow bus coughs and puffs laboriously as it trudges sluggishly on the asphalt coated road that connects Abule Egba to Oshodi in the megacity of Lagos. The dark diesel infested smoke that trails after it also seeps into the nostrils and eyes of practically all its occupants making some of them to scowl albeit unconsciously. On the narrow stretch that partitions the rows of seats practically busting at the seams with occupants stands another mass of people who outnumbers those sitting down. The occupants of the bus wear different expressions and are engaged in one activity or another. Just as they gain entry, some men struggle to stand behind female passengers. Eventually, one of them succeeds in standing behind a female passenger. After some time he begins to press his himself hard against her backside and continues to press even harder as the bus sways from side to side. Many of the other occupants now focus on them watching bemusedly through their teary eyes. Those who expect the woman to rebuff the unsolicited amorous overtures from the ‘gentleman’ are disappointed as she looks the other way feigning ignorance of the situation.

FUNMI SALOME JOHNSON

efore a man and woman could come together as husband and wife, they are expected to have many things in common. This expectation also goes for Mr Abiodun Oluwa and his wife, Biodun. Certainly, like most couples, they have many things in common.

However, unlike most couples, 36-year-old Abiodun Oluwa and his 33-year-old spouse, Bimbo, share more than sheer interests. The couple live in their silent world: they are both deaf and dumb; both were not that way and they both got into that condition when they were three years old. Abiodun Oluwa had a fall where he hit his head against the ground. After this, he became deaf and dumb and all efforts to resuscitate his senses of hearing and speech proved abortive. Biodun’s journey to the land of silence, according to her father, Chief Sunday Olaitan, was similar but slightly different. Also at the age of three years, she was playing with her peers when she had an accident. She became unconscious. She was rushed to the hospital where she was treated but she remained unconscious for the next two weeks. When she eventually came out of coma, she did not return with her senses of speech and hearing. She had also lost the ability to walk. Although, Abiodun was born into a polygamous and royal family from Olodi- Apapa in Lagos, he was not opportune to live with his father.

Once upon a time on the streets There were times some men would come at night and force my mother to sleep with them. I was helpless. I could only cry. There were many other sad experiences that I don’t even like to remember JIBOLA OYEKUNLE

heirs are not experiences you would wish even They are but kids. However, their births were surfor your enemies. Some horror movies even sound better. But it was a life they lived. A life rounded by some peculiarities of Nature: they are born to insane women who live on and roam the streets. on the streets.

LIVING

December 29, 2012

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‘I lost my sight to Fatherland’ It was a clarion call to serve the nation and the patriotic Adeigba Oluwatobi, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, obeyed. But it turned out to be a costly one for him. Apart from being unable to eventually partake in the assignment, Adeigba has never remained the same. Today, he is blind and left destitute. How did these happen to him? YEMISI ADENIRAN

aniel Adeigba Oluwatobi knows all about anger and agony. The two emotions, in debilitating proportions, have dominated his life since January, 4, 2011 when he was involved in a ghastly motor accident at about 2.30pm at Damaturu along with eight other passengers. Amazingly, the vehicle, a Borno Express bus, was conveying 18 passengers, all members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Before the sad occurrence, Adeigba, along with other

corps members were all over the state relaxing with their loved ones after the usual orientation exercise which every National Youth Service Corp member passes through. In his own case, he had gone to spend the Christmas holiday with his course adviser while at the university. “After my three weeks’ orientation and training exercise at Fika camp in Damaturu, Yobe State, I was posted to GDJSS at Bingingari, Damaturu Local Government Area. The camp exercise finished in November and I left Damaturu on 23, December 2010, for Enugu to celebrate my Christmas and New Year holidays with Dr. E.A Njoku, my HOD at the Kogi State University, Anyigba. I have always

Bauchi 10: That their deaths may not be in vain

That man communicates with other animals is not strange. But when a man converses with birds and animals and makes them do his bid, it invites interest. This is the claim of KK, a bird cum dog trainer, as reported by OSEYIZA OOGBODO.

“The government must fish out and punish the perpetrators, immortalise the ‘Bauchi 10’ and also give their family members the jobs they promised. These are the reasons we are gathered here and we expect the government to listen to us and obey our demands.” OSEYIZA OOGBODO

This man speaks with birds, animals A man there was in the days of yore according to myths and some religious stories, could understand the language of birds and animals. Many if not all find this difficult to believe. If you are one of those with such bias, perhaps you need to see Kazeem Kolawole Adeagbo. Seeing Adeagbo, popularly known as KK, in action doing what he does for a living: training dogs, birds and other animals; may give you a change of heart. The questions on many a mind are, “how does he speak to these animals to do his bidding? Is it that he hears their language or are they the ones that hear his?” KK tells his animals, especially dogs, to sit, run, fetch, jump, and they obey him. Hence, all over his roadside office are unconventional and almost unbelievable spectacles of animals in different shapes and manners of complying with

had a good relationship with him. He had been a father and a mentor, and actually he asked me to come over for the celebration,” recalled Adeigba.

the directives of KK. Thus, it is not unusual to spot a dog holding a flag in its mouth or standing at attention or in other postures hitherto unthought-of. But to get KK explain how he gets these done is like attempting to squeeze water of a rock. He would only tell you it is difficult for him to explain properly. This has probably led some people to conclude that he uses super natural powers to control the animals. He however denies this claim emphatically. “That is a very bogus claim,” he retorts. “Why should I use juju to talk to animals? It’s like the case of eating a frog. It’s better to eat a frog that has an egg, right? So, if one is to be using juju, wouldn’t it be better to use it for a better purpose than talking to animals?” However, he tries explaining to Saturday Mirror. But his attempt sends him many years back in time.

he mood was sombre. Definitely so. It was also defiant and angry. The event was the first year remembrance for Ikechukwu Chibuzor Ukeoma, one of the corps members killed in the northern part of the country last April. Ukeoma, popularly known as AIK, was one of the 10 corps members gruesomely murdered in a police station in Giade, Bauchi State on 18 April, 2011. The corps members were among those who worked for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conducting the 2011 national elections. They were killed because they wouldn’t allow underage voting or condone any other form of electoral malpractice. On Sunday, 17 April 2011, an exuberant AIK intimated the world of his election experiences through his Facebook page. He posted: “I am happy I could stand for my God and my nation. To all of you corpers who stood for the right thing despite these

threats especially in the North, I say bravo. Nigeria, our change has come.” He continued: “If wealth is lost, nothing is lost. If health is lost, something is lost. But if character is lost, all is lost.” The following day, Monday April 18th 2011, the patriotic AIK’s life was brutally cut short. When he and his colleagues realised they were in mortal danger, they ran to the police station for safety, but it wasn’t provided by the Nigerian Police officers on duty at the station. Nnaemeka Christian Ukeoma is AIK’s elder brother. According to him: “If I were in that same dangerous situation, I would have done exactly what AIK did. I would have run to the police station for protection.” Disclosing that he still feels very bad about AIK’s needless death, Nnaemeka recounted what he could of it. “The last time we spoke was on Sunday (17 April 2011) evening when it had become apparent to him and his friends that their lives were in grave danger.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

LIVING

December 29, 2012

Super stud beggar has three wives, impregnates two at a go “I don’t need to use anything before I can satisfy my wives sexually. God forbid. It comes naturally.” Little wonder why Hassan Adamu, a crippled beggar has three wives and impregnated two of them at a go.

JIBOLA OYEKUNLE

assan Adamu is a street beggar. He is a cripple. But in a country where many able-bodied men have been finding it difficult to settle down by getting married to partners of their choice largely as a result of the harsh economic situation,

Adamu is not only happily married, he has three wives. If you think his physical disability would impair his ability to satisfy his three wives on bed, your conjecture may be far from being true. In the same world where many rich and capable men are spending a lot of money looking for solutions to their childlessness and are prepared to spend more in order to get even a child, Adamu already has five grown-up children and he is still adding more. Only last month, the 36-year-old beggar added another feather to his marital cap as one of his wives gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, making his children to reach six in number. In less than four weeks, at least one more baby will be welcomed in his already crowd-

ed household. By then, the ever happy Adamu will be at least a happy father of seven children – and that is if his heavily pregnant wife does not give birth to a set of twins. For Adamu, a native of Birni Kebbi in the northern part of the country, disability has nothing to do with his ability to make love with his wives and impregnate them. In fact, it would not be out of place to dub him a sharp shooter following ability to get his wives pregnant at the slightest contact and with relative ease. His first wife, he said, already has three children for him and is currently showing signs of being close to her period of delivery.

Winning against all odds The word ‘sickler’ is uttered in many circles with scorn and pity. Carriers of the sickle cell trait are mostly looked upon with compassion and at times disdain. They are also regarded as a fleeting shadow that would soon pass. But one unusual sickler has survived the “three scores and ten” years; she is in her 80s as OSEYIZA OOGBODO reports.

Man sets neighbour ablaze The biblical saying, “love your neighbour as yourself” apparently is not one of the favourites of Ikechukwu Godwin. One Sunday morning last month, he set his neighbour ablaze. Why? SEGUN ADIO

ut for the timely intervention of some good Samaritans in the neighbourhood, Roselyn Oluseye would have long been dead. It was not that she wanted to take her own life, it was a neighbour who wanted to shoo her on the journey to the great beyond. Even as the fair-skinned trader is still alive, she wallows in abject pains on a hospital bed. The once beautiful skin which was her pride is now bloated and full of blisters and wounds; no thanks to this male neighbour. The incident leading to Roselyn’s current pitiable state took place on Sunday, 22 January, 2012. A neighbour of Roselyn, Ikechukwu Godwin, allegedly brought some dirt from his apartment to burn in front of their house. Roselyn lives with her husband and their four children at No 11 Abati Street, Akowonjo, in the Alimosho Local Government Area of the state. While Ikechukwu set fire on the particles he brought, Roselyn reportedly came out of her apartment to voice her disagreement and prevent the man from carrying out the act. Her grouse: the container kiosk where she sells baby clothes is less than 20 yards to the spot Ikechukwu had picked as incinerator. The Akwa Ibom State-born woman told her neighbour that it was unlawful to burn refuse in the state and that the smoke would affect her wares.

n the current 21st Century, the sickle cell anaemia (HbSS) also known as the Blackman’s Curse is a dreaded health condition. So dreaded is the sickle cell anaemia that some religious bodies now refuse flatly to join in holy matrimony any aspiring couple with the slightest tendency of producing an offspring with the ailment. The mortality rate, aside the trauma both physically and mentally, is high. The situation is better imagined 85 years ago when Alhaja Ashiata Onikoyi Laguda was born with the Blackman’s Curse. It was a period when survival rate for children that had sickle cell anaemia was virtually zero. She was born in 1927. But Alhaja Laguda is now an octogenarian as she will be 85 years old when she marks her birthday this year. For someone never expected to survive childhood, she has definitely come far. Farther than ever expected. By this, Alhaja Laguda is qualified to be labelled as the oldest person living with HbSS. And despite her old age and condition, the octogenarian is still so strong that she walks about, climbs up and down the stairs to her first floor residence easily and unaided for lives alone, etc.

How PHCN cable killed man, two daughters in Ogun z

Family yet to be compensated two years after

For the Njokus, it did not just rain in 2009. It poured! They lost their son, Jacob and his two daughters, Angelina and Grace, to a snapped cable of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Three years on, the firm has not deemed it fit to give any form of compensation to the family. SEGUN ADIO

lmost three years after their breadwinner died, the family and close associates of Jacob Njoku are seeking compensation from the firm which alleged negligence cut short his life. Jacob reportedly met his untimely death when the electricity cable of the PHCN that ran across his shop fell on him. Jacob, 40, was not the only casualty of the fallen cable. Two of his daughters, Angelina, 16, and Grace, 9, were also struck dead by the same cable. The sad event occurred on Saturday, December 11, 2009 at Igboro Junction, Old Garage area of Ilaro in the Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State. Jacob used to sell cooking items like stove, pots, plates and the likes at the above address. He was always assisted in the business by Angelina and Grace, his daughters.

LIVING

December 29, 2012

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I want to be a movie star – 40-yr-old man in toddler’s body

The pint-sized beggar with sad eyes and a deep voice is well known in Oshodi, Lagos especially at the BRT park area of the metropolis where he plies his trade. But Agba, as he is generally called, has tall, giant dreams, aspirations and worries in his normal sized head which looks rather enormous on his shrivelled frame. FUNMI SALOME JOHNSON unravelled the tale behind this enigma who despite all seeming odds has not lost hope.

is name is Anuoluwapo Akiode. However, to his friends, passersby, drivers, conductors and the army of area boys around Oshodi in Lagos, he’s simply Agba. Born to the Akiodes from the humble settlement of Onigbedu in Itori in Ogun State, Agba, as he is popularly called, is indeed in a world of his own. Agba, in Yoruba language literally means elder. However, a look at Agba reveals nothing elderly in anyway. A dark-complexioned man, Akiode is just about one foot, six-inches tall. If you complement that with the babyish face, you’ll think you’re gazing at a threeyear-old boy. On the contrary, this individual is no boy; he is a 40-year-old man. The nickname Agba was given to him by his fans and others who regularly of-

fer him money and assorted gifts at Oshodi-Isale where he stays all day begging for alms after discovering that his face

belies his age. The question on everybody’s lips is who is Agba? “I am the first born of my parents. Although I am the only child of my father and mother, I have other siblings from both my mother’s side and my father’s side,” he says in Yoruba. “My mother is no longer with my father. My father also has four other children from his other wife. And I also have three siblings from my mother.” “My mother is a tailor while my father operates a commercial motorbike, otherwise known as okada to keep body and soul together,” he says. Agba would not, however, disclose the amount he makes daily from begging. “However, it is from it I get sustenance on a daily basis,” he says.

Thirteen-year-old Yetunde Rachel Samuel had died. So her aunt, Mrs. Deborah Motunrayo Jaiyeoba, raised the alarm that she had fallen into a deep freezer and frozen to death. Those who heard were shocked. But that was just the beginning. ADEMU IDAKWO LOKOJA

he people of Isanlu, the headquarters of Yagba Local Government Area of Kogi State were recently thrown into confusion following the alleged discovery of the body of a 13-year-old girl in a medium size freezer. The girl, identified as Yetunde Rachael Samuel , a JSS 2 student of Oluyori Comprehensive College, Isanlu was later discovered to have been actually killed in the evening of October 5th and neatly deposited inside the freezer to create the impression that she fell into the freezer and the door jammed on her making her to freeze to death without the knowledge of her family members. Yetunde was therefore hurriedly buried under the cover of the night without her mysterious death being reported to the police by her parent or guardian. But the state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Musa Katsina,

Woman kills 13-yr-old niece, hides body in freezer got wind of the dastardly act, suspected a foul play, arrested the guardian of the girl and ordered that the body be exhumed for a thorough autopsy to confirm whether she actually jumped inside the freezer and got frozen or was dumped inside after being killed. It was a hectic time for Saturday Mirror and detectives led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Alh Zannah Mohammed, who travelled down to the community with a pathologist from the Federal Medical Centre to exhume the decomposing corpse for autopsy. The guardian of the girl who is at the

centre of the macabre drama, one Mrs. Deborah Motunrayo Jaiyeoba, claimed that she left the girl who is the daughter of her younger sister at home on Saturday morning and left for a wedding ceremony According to her when she got back from the wedding ceremony and did not see Yetunde she thought she had gone out to play. She said she was thirsty and ran to the deep freezer to get a sachet of water to quench her thirst only to discover Yetunde’s frozen body and she immediately raised the alarm.

The lows and lows of refuse collection When Lagos residents were asked not to patronise truck pushing refuse collectors, they were left at the mercy of LAWMA. Many of them have, however, expressed reservations about the operation of the agency. Are LAWMA and its partner, PSP, actually ineffective or are their clients not just aware of their modus operandi? OSEYIZA OOGBODO reports.

AWMA is the acronym for the Lagos Waste Management Agency. It is an agency created specially by the Lagos State Government to tackle the acute problem of waste in the state. Considering its huge population, the megacity generates a lot of waste, but it was expected that LAWMA would solve the dirt problem. One of LAWMA’s methods to save the day was to draft the private sector into its operations by licensing private businesses to haul dirt in addition to the many LAWMA garbage trucks doing same. Known as PSP (Private Sector Partnership), the PSP service specific areas and charge those they serve for their services. Toyin Oladele, a Lagos resident, praises LAWMA for the PSP involvement. “Apart from the fees the PSP charge us to pack our dirt, fees which I feel are on the high side, the PSP initiative is good,” says Oladele. “The government cannot do everything by itself hence the need for PSP.” But while Oladele feels the PSP are good, some other Lagos residents are complaining bitterly about the service provided by the PSP. Tunde, a resident in the Jankara area of Lagos, is one such unhappy customer. “On my street, Tayo Makinde, we’ve deposited our garbage in front of my house since September for our PSP to pack, but they have refused to do so. They have actually come a few times to pack dirt here, but before they get to my house, their truck is filled up, so they say they are coming back to pack ours, but they never do.”

People Tony Oneweek:

TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

ony Muonogor, popularly known as ‘Tony Oneweek’ is one of the names making waves in the entertainment industry some years back. That was before he ventured into politics. He is, today, a member of the Anambra State House of Assembly, representing Idemili North Constituency. Honourable Tony Muonagor, the Minority Leader of the Anambra State House of Assembly as he is now known and addressed said that he went into

Favour Arewe:

Teacher with a passion

Entrepreneur in embryo

OSEYIZA OOGBODO

daora Ikokwu is the maiden winner of Face of Sylvia’s Hair (FOSH). This is in addition to the Master’s degree in International Relations that she’s already attained. Considering that a Master’s degree in International Relations has prepared her for a career as a diplomat, Saturday Mirror thought it prudent to ask her

why she put in for FOSH which is in a sector, fashion, that is totally unrelated to the diplomatic corps. “I really love what Sylvia’s Hair represents. I love anything that has to do with beauty and that’s what Sylvia’s Hair is all about. Then again, I love Sylvia’s Hair products so much and I know I can be a good ambassador which is the whole essence of FOSH as a medium to choose a suitable lady that will be the brand ambassador of Sylvia’s Hair by being its face.” She however adds that she intends to eventually become a diplomat. “Currently, I’m serving the country as a youth corps member and my main ambition is to eventually serve Nigeria in the external affairs sector.” Though she was the only Master’s degree holder of the 13 girls who contested for the FOSH crown, she refused to attribute her success to her educational status.

Israel Ogundipe: Prophet with a mission OSEYIZA OOGBODO

OSEYIZA OOGBODO

avour Arewe is tall, slim and beautiful. She could easily pass for a model, actress or singer. But she is neither of these. Indeed, she is in a vocation that is considered unglamorous when compared to the aforementioned vocations: she is a teacher. “I love teaching,” she claimed. “I love imparting knowledge to children, my friends and those around me. It is my passion.” Elaborating, she said, “I started teaching from childhood. Anything I was taught in school, I would look for people to teach it to. I learnt that I learn better when I taught others what I was taught and I got to know it better too.” According to her, she discovered she benefitted from teaching others when she was 10 years old. “I can’t really say how I got to know it was beneficial to me to teach others. But I just knew there was always

December 29, 2012

Adaora Ikokwu:

Entertainer turned politician

politics because of his desire to serve the people and put smile on their faces. “I was not afraid to join politics because I believe in God. My confidence was boasted by Luke 1: 37, which states that; “With God, nothing shall be impossible.” I believe in the Bible verse and that is why I embraced God and make Him my foundation. Assuming g I was not with God, I would have put my trust in traditional doctors to protect me. But because I believe in God I left everything in His hand and He took control. “Politics has blessed me a lot. I have met a lot of people and I have become a dignitary. When people see me anywhere today they call me ‘Honourable.’ I feel honoured being called ‘Honourable.’ I am happy that politics has given me the opportunity to touch lives in my constituency. I have touched the lives of many widows and youths in my constituency through several programmes I have embarked on since I become a member of the House of Assembly,” he said. Muonagor believes politics should not be left in the hands of the so-called professional politicians. He is of the view that professionals in various fields of human endeavour will perform more credibly in public offices.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

this compulsion in me to teach and when I did so, it made me happy, so I kept doing it, and now I teach for a living.”

srael Oladele Ogundipe, better known as Genesis, is a very frank person. He doesn’t beat about the bush, neither does he mince words. He tells you as it is, especially when it comes to theological issues, an area in which he is very deep, because he is a prophet who shepherds his own parish, Genesis Model Parish of the Celestial Church of Christ. “I tell people that prophets are not trained, but made from the womb, like Jeremiah,” he declared. “The assignment of every human being on earth has already been established from heaven. You (this reporter) were assigned to be a journalist while teachers were assigned to be teachers and on and on like that for every person. “Now, what will make you know the profession you are practising is that you were assigned from heaven is that you will always be appreciated in it and you will be full of joy and happiness doing it. If you’re not in your

ordained profession, you won’t feel fulfilled; you’ll feel just sort of shallow inside you until you are in the ordained one.” Buttressing his statement that people’s rightful professions are chosen for them from heaven, he said he was also chosen from heaven to be a prophet.

PEOPLE

December 29, 2012

Cruz: Extraordinary

Felix Obae:

Philanthropist in embryo fore, being ACF President made it impossible for him to relocate as he earlier planned. Though at the initial stage, Obae seemed to be worried about the new development, his passion to serve God and humanity made him to surrender himself for what he called ‘divine assignment.’ Today, Obae who was among the Batch A corps members that passed out on February 16, 2012, is happy and fulfilled. He is one of the winners of the Anambra State NYSC award. Speaking to Saturday Mirror in Nawfia, Anambra State, Obae disclosed that he won the state award as a result of many projects he carried out during his one year national service, especially for putting smiles on the facTEMITOPE OGUNBANKE es of many people in the state through payment of school fees, free coaching hen Felix Obae was leav- and renovation of some school building his Delta State home for ing blocks. the 2011 Batch ‘A’ National “When I was coming for my NYSC Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme scheme, I didn’t intend staying back in Anambra State, he left with the in- in Anambra after the orientation protention of returning after the three gramme because I was fully employed weeks orientation programme to con- in Delta then. My plan was to relocate tinue his business activities in the oil to Delta State or be shuttling between rich state. Anambra and Delta states on weekly However, his plan changed immedi- basis if I was unable to secure reloately he became the President of the cation. But the mantle of leadership Anglican Corpers’ Fellowship (Anam- as the President of the Anglican Corbra State chapter) few days to the end pers Fellowship (ACF) fell on me and of the orientation programme. There- changed my plans.

model

OSEYIZA OOGBODO

he way Adedamola Adebowale, also known as Cruz, tells the story of his entry into the heady world of modelling, it’s almost as if he puts in no effort. “I was hanging out with my friend, Dan, when his elder brother, Andrew Ogbeche, Nigeria Super Model 2008, saw me and asked if I was a model, and that if I wasn’t, I should be, and that was how it began,” said Cruz. While this answer gives the impres-

Kehinde Bankole: Actress in her own class

OSEYIZA OOGBODO

ehinde Bankole’s face is known all over Nigeria and probably beyond. It is seen regularly on the country’s television screens either in soap opera, movie, magazine programme or advertisement. But describing her career, Bankole says: “I’m an entrepreneur. I’m more into anything that has to do with the media. I can present, anchor shows, sing, act, model and all that. These are all professions that are closely associated with the media and they bring money, so they are what I do.”

It is not easy to master just one trade, how much more several at the same time. But how is she able to involve herself in several professions all at the same time? “When I decide to take up a vocation as a career, I do so with a serious sense of purpose, as if I’m on a mission to attain something and I mustn’t fail. I learn whatever I have to learn, get people to tutor me, help me , direct me, and then I sit down on my own and keep working by myself on what I’ve learnt to become the best I can be in that particular vocation,” she says. Today, Bankole is riding high as an actress, TV presenter, singer and model. She has attained a height that many upcoming entertainers are still dreaming of. There is, however, driving a driving factor behind this force: money. “My media entrepreneurship aspirations started with the need to make money, to sustain myself, to survive. So it all started by me singing to make money to survive,” she adds.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

sion that Cruz didn’t even have modelling aspirations in the first place, Saturday Mirror’s further probing of the full details surrounding the start of his modelling career elicited more succinct information. “Actually, when he asked if I was a model, my response was that I wasn’t but I was aspiring to be. So when he heard that, he taught me how to catwalk for just 45 minutes and I’ve not looked back since then.” Cruz’s revelation that he learnt to catwalk in just 45 minutes lends credence to the claim in some quarters that it’s easy to learn to be a model. Cruz refutes that school of thought, however. “Learning to be a model is just as difficult as, if not more difficult than several other professions. I could learn to catwalk in just three-quarters of an hour because I already had passion for fashion modelling and I had been researching on it and practicing it before Ogbeche scouted me.” His chance meeting with Ogbeche wasn’t in vain, though. Immediately both of them agreed on pushing Cruz’s modelling career, it took off on a positive note.

Mandy: Nigeria’s queen of comedy

OSEYIZA OOGBODO

andy is widely recognised as the undisputed queen of Nigeria’s comedy. The title became hers based on the statistics that she is the country’s first female stand-up comedian. She has been basking in the euphoria of wearing the title for a very long time now without any sign of relinquishing it to any of her fellow female comedians, just

like Ali Baba, generally acclaimed to be the king, is not also showing any signs of giving up his coveted crown to any of his male colleagues. “I am the first woman Nigerians ever saw doing stand-up comedy. When people talk, like in abroad, they talk with statistics, with points, reasons, etc. And thank God, if I say I’m the first, I have proof. Why? “The time we had the first-ever Ayo Animashaun’s Girls’ Nite Out was the first time we had all the girls in the industry performing under one roof. The ones that were into sound were on the console, those that were behind cameras, and it was like that, everybody was doing something. If you were not on stage, you were off it. “They were looking for a stand-up comedian and they wanted to get Binta AyoMogaji who was staying in Ibadan to crack jokes. I went there to do my normal afro beat or reggae. And they kept looking for a female comedian. And I remembered that in that same year, on February 14th, 1999, I had done something for Bacchus Lite.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

The Nigerian governmnet is trying to deemphasize dependence by youths and school leavers on it for their livelihood. Your enterprising Saturday Mirror showcases the best of its small/cottage business men and women in 2012 Funmi Salome Johnson

Okorowa, CEO Eboizi clothings

‘Passion is vital in clothing business’

“

In this business, especially when you do not have much money to start with, you must be willing to be rugged and be passionate about what you do because that is what keeps you going where everything else fails. You must be able to go all the way out to market what you have because there is serious competition and to beat the competition, you must be able to make your products visible. Another way to giving the product visibility is by marketing it with yourself. I have made several sales from people seeing me wear some of these things I wear and they ask me where I got them from and I simply tell them that, that is what I do for a living and before you know it, people start to place their orders. So it is important for one to love to look good and to be attracted to good looks but if you are the type that is not naturally disposed looking good at all times or you have a carefree attitude towards the way you look, then clothing business may not be the right one for you,” explains Okorowa.

“

Okusanya, CEO MIC funeral undertakers

December 29, 2012

When you talk of funeral undertaking, it is not just about making caskets,it is an all-encompassing business and a very huge one too and that is why it is very capital intensive. In it is casket making, there is clothe making, Hiaasen, transportation, embalmment and so many more.”

‘Funeral undertaking is not business as usual’

‘Sawmill business is profitable, dynamic’

he business is quite capital intensive and most banks are not willing to give loans, and government is not rendering any assistance in the area of funding in anyway; all they come to us for is to pay heavy taxes, which is not encouraging,” “but it is a very good business that could go on and on from one generation to another. For instance, this business was started by my father several years ago and I am still in the business. I was born into this business and I have worked hard to keep the business going even though my father, who started the business, is now late,” Awodiya explained.

‘Cooking gas business; risky but lucrative’

“

Chigozie, CEO Chigas

Awodiya, CEO Awodiya sawmills

There is always a risk in every business. The major risk here is explosion. Although cooking gas is highly inflammable, an operator can always avoid this. The major cause of explosion is leakage. However, in the event of an explosion, an operator does not need to panic or run away. All he or she needs to do is to move close to the control lever (or cork) of the gas cylinder and tighten the lock. Also, fire extinguisher can be used,” Chibike, explains. The only major challenge of the business, according to him, comes when there is increment in the price of petroleum products or when there is a problem with the tanker drivers that convey the products.

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘Charcoal business is dirty but lucrative’

Funmi Salome Johnson

‘Catering business is seasonless’

he beauty of the business lies in the fact that no matter how much you have, you can still start something. “You don’t have to start big, if the capital is not so much it will affect your taking. You can start first by selling food maybe in offices and corporate environments, and with time you can be doing outdoor catering too from the savings you make from the initial small-scale food business.

Yvonne Salami, CEO Service-Royale

here is no time of the year where you will not find the need for people to cook with charcoal and that makes charcoal business lucrative. “It is not a white collar job, it is dirty and if you are not focused, you may not go far in the business. However, with time, as you grow in the business, you will have enough resources to employ more hands to do the job and as such lessen the burden on you.”

‘Jewellery business is for intelligent and creative minds’

Adetutu, CEO Ades Charcoal

‘There is much to gain in liquid wash production’

t is a trade for intelligent and devoted people who have the ability to persevere and have eyes for beautiful things” For Akeju, jewellery business is a childhood passion and it is not surprising she is ending up in it. “As a child I was gentle but I love to create things and that spirit in me usually prompts me to dismantle things especially when it has to do with fashion. I would pick on my mother’s stuffs and dismantle them and put them back together again.”

Akoni, CEO TBA Corporate Services Limited

Akeju, CEO Signature Jewelleries

“

Do not be afraid to invest in the liquid wash and sanitary business because it is a lucrative business that is not time bound. If you are able to reach out to people and you have a good product in hand, in less than seven months you can start getting returns from your investment. However, you in know in life, you win some and you lose some but I tell you that you have more to win in this business.”

Sport

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

Omokaro blasts ‘unpatriotic’ foreign-based Eagles

The Super Eagles of Nigeria line up before a match. INSET: Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi.

S/Africa 2013: Akpoborire predicts tough battles for Eagles

s the Super Eagles of Nigeria prepare to face Rwanda in Kigali for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, a former national team striker, Jonathan Akpoborire, has advised the Stephen Keshi-led team to be ready for a tough challenge, saying their hosts would do their best to get the three maximum points in that first leg tie billed for February 29. Nigeria failed to qualify for the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea under former coach Samson Siasia, but new Super Eagles gaffer, Keshi, has been working with a crop of domestic players preparing them for the challenges ahead. Akpoborire, who was obviously impressed with the recent development however cautioned the team not to be overconfident saying that the era of minnows in African football had gone. “Nigeria’s inability to qualify for the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon was a big disappointment because there was no reason for us not to qualify. “Keshi has been working with a crop of home-based Eagles which is a good development as the Nations Cup qualifiers will afford him the opportunity to see how good these players are; but they must prepare very well for their game against Rwanda

if they really want to get the qualification ticket for South Africa 2013 and make meaningful impact in the competition proper. “There is nothing like minnows any more in African football and Zambia’s

Nations Cup win is a testimony to that fact. The Super Eagles must step up their game against Rwanda because failure to get the desired result will be regarded as a disappointment,” Akpoborie said.

CAF Champions League: Sunshine seeks redemption against Etoile

igeria’s representative in this year’s CAF Champions League, Sunshine Stars of Akure will today confront Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia in the second match of the group stage of the money spinning competition which kicked off a fortnight ago in various centres across the continent. Sunshine which got their Orange CAF Champions League off to a less colourful start with a home defeat to defending champions, Esperance of Tunisia in Ijebu-Ode is expected to use today’s match to re-launch itself back to reckoning, knowing that anything short of the maximum three points will put their chances of progressing further in the championship in jeopardy. The Tunisian side which is second in ‘Group A’ behind Esperance having defeated ASO Chief of Algeria 1-0 in their

No January transfer for Falcao P. 44

first encounter in Algiers will be gunning for a total victory against the Nigerians to improve their chances of progressing to the semi-final stage of the championship, while the Akure outfit will try to avoid another defeat which might be detrimental to their campaign this season. According to the Chief Coach of the team, Gbenga Ogunbote, his players has recovered from the set back and are ready to turn the table against the 2007 champions who he described as good, but beatable. “It is unfortunate that we lost our first game to the defending champions, but we are going to bounce back against Etoile du Sahel in today’s encounter. “They are a good side, but we are not going to have too much respect for them as we did to Esperance which made us lose our first match; we are going for the maximum three points because the team is beatable.

Keshi considers Martins for AFCON P. 45

fter the Super Eagles of Nigeria were held to a 2-2 draw by the Lone Stars of Liberia in Monrovia in the first leg of the final round of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier last weekend, a former ex-international, Bright Omokaro, has urged the technical crew of the team to do away with the unpatriotic foreign-based players and focus on the home-based ones who are willing to go the extra mile to do the country proud. The Eagles who were initially leading by 2-1in the explosive encounter played at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium lost so many scoring chances before the unexpected happened at the 66th minute when Sekou Oliseh cashed-in on a mistake by goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama to give the Liberians a chance to draw level. Omega Roberts of the Lone Stars had opened scoring in the 7th minute of the encounter while goals from Nosa Igiebor and Ikechuchkwu Uche put the Eagles in front in the early part of the encounter. The former Eagles defensive strong man however called on the Stephen Keshiled coaching crew to focus on the home-based players who according to him are ready to give their best for the country unlike their foreign-based counterparts. “Keshi has done the right thing by building a solid home-based team and the right thing he should do is to do away with unpatriotic foreign-based players who are not ready to give their best to the cause of the nation. “As far as I am concerned, players like Mikel Obi who was lucky to have had some successes not by his talents, but by playing for a big club and Taiye Taiwo who have not added anything positive to the team must lose their places to home-based counterparts who are ready to help the national team achieve success,” Omokaro said.

Osaze Odemwingie(right) on the prowl

Lagos agog as BRF Wrestlemania ends today P. 45

SPORT

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

AFCON: Need to intervene into Keshi, Osaze feud T HARD TACKLE he ongoing feud between the Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, and embattled West Brom Albion’s striker, Osaze Odemwingie, is taking a dangerous dimension and fast becoming a time bomb that may blow apart the team’s ambition of lifting the prestigious Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy for Nigeria in South Africa next month. Yesterday, skipper of the national team, Joseph Yobo, made it clear that he has a personal desire alongside his colleagues who may make the final list to the tournament to see that the Eagles emerge victorious in South Africa, but all these may amount to mere wishes if the issue of Odemwingie who was excluded from the team by Keshi is not well addressed at least for now. Frankly, Keshi has every right to exclude any player from the team with a genuine reason and a situation where the reasons are borne out of vengeance or personal ego, then, such a reason must pass through a litmus test. As expected in a democratic society, every person has the right to speak out and ask questions if he is being denied the right to serve his beloved country with his God-given talent, since our national team does not belong to

with

Andrew Ekejiuba anelsports@yahoo.com a cabal or group of persons. For example, if Wayne Rooney is excluded from England national team without a genuine reason, fans and soccer pundits will definitely ask questions and the case of Odemwingie cannot be an exception in this regard, because he is currently one of Nigeria’s hottest strikers in the world today. And for a country that is preparing for a big tournament like the Africa Cup of Nations, his services surely would be needed if Nigeria truly wants to succeed in its quest in lifting the trophy for the third time. Really, football means so much to Nigerians and as such the fans deserve success and not being fed with nauseating lies in the media as Keshi and his godfathers in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are currently

08023103605

Osaze Odemwingie

doing over Odemwingie’s case. Yesterday, I went into my archives and read again a printed copy of the interview Odemwingie granted BBC over the matter and it was clear that the young man was fighting for his right and never hid his ambition of serving the country as a patri-

ot. His interview read in parts: “Every manager has got his own plans and tactics - if I don’t figure in your plans, please be honest to tell me directly. “For 10 years I gave my all to the country as a player on the pitch, played for the nation and fans, not individuals. “Because I speak out when things are not right, I guess some people are not just comfortable with that openness. “At the moment, all I can do is to wish the team all the best in South Africa,” Odemwingie said. Responding, Keshi reckoned that Odemwingie is still a Super Eagles player, and is still part of the team. “I have no issues with Osaze; he wants to play, he feels he has represented Nigeria enough to be invited. “We’re both from the same state (Edo), but the team is greater than any player, or personal relationship. “He is still my player, and will get his call-up when the time comes,” Keshi said. Taking a second look at Keshi’s response, HT sees his reply as very misleading and a mischievous way of avoiding the question, talk less of addressing it. It is also on that premise that I want the true stakeholders of Nigerian football and most especially, the Sports Minister, Mallam Bo-

laji Abdullahi, who has revealed his good intentions to reposition sports in the country to intervene to set the records straight. It was unfortunate that when Keshi’s 32-man list for Faro camp passed through the Technical Committee of NFF headed by Chris Green and the NFF led by Alhaji Aminu Maigari, they never saw reasons to sort-out this matter before the list was made public last weekend. Only yesterday, Yobo, blasted Odemwingie by telling him to grow up and then gave credit to Keshi for the provisional squad he picked for the upcoming tournament in South Africa, while admitting in the same BBC interview that he was surprised Obafemi Martins, Odemwingie, Taye Taiwo and Kalu Uche were not considered. I saw Yobo’s contradiction as a big dent on his personality and as the captain of the Eagles, who after many Nations Cup outings is yet to win the minds of soccer pundits as a rock-solid defender. Yet nobody questioned his continuous stay in the team. From the foregoing, all those who wanted to push Odemwingie out of the national team have a clear-cut agenda which a timely intervention by the Sports Minister can be of a great help, for a stitch in time saves nine.

PREMIERSHIP TABLE

EURO BRIEFS

EURO LEAGUE

No January transfer for Falcao

tletico Madrid superstar striker Radamel Falcao does not expect to move clubs in the January transfer window. The Colombian has been linked with a £50million move to either, Real Madrid, Manchester City or Chelsea after taking La Liga by storm. But 26-year-old Falcao thinks he will stay at Atletico until at least the end of the season. “I recognise the great effort

made by (Atletico president) Enrique Cerezo for me to stay at the club. “I thank God our results have been so positive and that we have done so well this season so far. My expectation is that I will be staying at the club until the end of the season,” he said. Atletico will welcome the words after sporting director Jose Luiz Perez Caminero gave an insight of the hard work made to keep Falcao at the club.

Falcao

Juventus to FA writes Mancini, renew bid for Redknapp over comments Llorente

he English FA has written to Roberto Mancini and Harry Redknapp for observations about their post-match comments regarding referees. Redknapp was left fuming by what he called two “scandalous” decisions after QPR’s 2-1 defeat to West Brom on Boxing Day. Referee Chris Foy allowed a controversial own goal by QPR keeper Robert Green to stand and waved away appeals for a penalty when Albion defender Liam Ridgewell appeared to handle the ball.

Redknapp said: “We see penalties given when the ball is kicked from a yard away and Ridgewell’s got his hands up. “I asked the linesman how did he not see the penalty. Ridgewell’s hand was up there, it’s the most blatant handball and he couldn’t see it.” Mancini criticised the performance of referee Kevin Friend following Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. “The referee ate too much for Christmas. He was not in good form,” said Mancini.

uventus are prepared to redouble their efforts to sign the Spain international, Llorente, having seen a previous bid of £3.3m rejected for the target man by the Basque club. The Bianconeri have long been linked with the Spain international as they desperately seek to add a proven goalscorer to their ranks, particularly following the injury to Nicklas Bendtner. Although the forward’s contract is set to expire next summer, director Guiseppe Marotta is keen to bring him to Turin soon.

TEAM

PTS

1. Man Utd

2. Man City

3. Chelsea

4. Tottenham

5. Everton

6. West Brom

7. Arsenal

8. Stoke

9. Swansea

10. Liverpool

11. Norwich

-8

12. West Ham

13. Sunderland

-4

14. Fulham

-5

15. Newcastle

-7

16. Aston Villa

-21

17. Southampton

-11

18. Wigan

-16

19. Reading

-16

20. QPR

-17

Liverpool target Holtby

chalke midfielder and Liverpool target Lewis Holtby has confirmed his intention to leave the German club on a free transfer at the end of the season. The 22-year-old has decided against renewing his current contract, which expires in the summer, after failing to reach an agreement with the Bundesliga outfit.

Fergie hits back at Pardew

ir Alex Ferguson has defended his conduct on Boxing Day, launched a withering attack on Alan Pardew and labelled Newcastle a “wee club.” The Manchester United manager has been heavily criticised for his behaviour in the 4-3 win in which he was seen to remonstrate with referee Mike Dean and his assistants.

Ferguson

Wenger denies Ba rumours

rsenal manager Arsene Wenger has insisted he will not sign Newcastle striker Demba Ba. The Senegalese striker has been attracting interest from a host of clubs after his impressive form so far this season and Arsenal are reportedly in pole position to secure his signature.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SPORT

December 29, 2012

NSSF confirms date for school sports festival ANDREW EKEJIUBA

Martins

Keshi considers Martins for AFCON L evante forward, Obafemi Martins, could be called up into Nigeria’s provisional squad by Coach Stephen Keshi for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). With doubts hovering over the presence of Newcastle United striker, Shola Ameobi, for the Nations Cup, supersport.com reports that Keshi is turning to Martins. A top official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) revealed on Friday that the name of the former Rubin Kazan striker popped up as a possible replacement for Ameobi, who has been ruled out of the AFCON by Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew. “I can tell you one-on-one not as a board member of the football federation that Obafemi

Martins is being considered to replace Shola Ameobi. The coach (Keshi) has spoken about him as he doesn’t want the distraction of Ameobi, who is yet to decide whether he will be part of the Nations Cup or not. “But we will still push our case before FIFA because we have the right to have our players in the squad to a major championship like the Nations Cup which the world soccer governing body recognises. In the event of Ameobi not turning up, the coach will look at other options and Obafemi (Martins) is top on that list,” said the NFF official. Ameobi is reported to have a clause in his contract that could stop him from taking part at the AFCON in South Africa next year.

Oshiomhole to flag off Igue festival marathon IFEANYI EDUZOR

do State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is expected to flag off the maiden Benin Igue festival marathon today at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City. Apart from the flag off, the Governor is also expected to race along the entire route with his aides to celebrate with the Binis in an innovation that will add colour to the yearly festival and change the face of the ancient city. The race begins at 7am and the marathoners are expected to run

through Stadium Road, Ekewan Road, and Ring Road before ending the race at the Oba’s palace. A statement from the organizers made available to our correspondent indicates that necessary logistics has been put in place to ensure the success of the event, with the Nigeria Police Force and men of the Federal Road Safety Corps expected to man the route. According to the statement, participants are expected to get souvenirs, ranging from tshirts, caps, biros and bags just as it stated that the race is open to able-bodied men and women, who wish to be part of the race.

he Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) has confirmed January 24, 2013, as date for its National School Sports Festival to be hosted in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Mallam Ibrahim Mohammad who confirmed the date told Saturday Mirror that the NSSF is ready to organize a befitting festival for the pupils in conjunction with the Rivers State Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Education. He however said NSSF will monitor closely the build up to the event to ensure a hitch-free competition among schools in the country and charged the Rivers State Government through

the Commissioner of Youth and Sports, Hon Fred Igwe, to host a befitting event. “The January 24 date still remains the date for the hosting of the school sports festival in Port Harcourt. “The Local Organising Committee (LOC), through the state government has confirmed that again to the NSSF. And the sports commissioner in the state has reinstated his state’s commitment to hosting a befitting festival. “On our part, we ask all states to be ready to hit Rivers State as scheduled. The NSSF is also still expecting an obligation to be carried out by the state government through the Commissioner of Youth and Sports. We need such obligation so as to be able to host a befitting festival,”

Mohammad

Mohammad said. He however revealed that the Nigeria Academicals School Sports Committee (NASCOM) is behind the school sports festival after promising to give the NSSF all the necessary support in order to discover more grassroots talents from schools for the country.

Lagos agog as BRF Eko 2012: Wrestlemania ends today Yeiyah calls

for monitoring of swimmers discovered

IFEANYI EDUZOR

agos State is once again agog after the state successfully hosted the 18th National Sports Festival, as the closing ceremony of the second edition of BRF Wrestlemania holds today at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. Our correspondent gathered that the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, is expected to grace the occasion, as the championship is organized to honour Governor Fashola over his contribution to the development of sports in the state. According to the Coordinator of the competition, Prince Olanrewaju Mohammed, who also doubles as the President of Nigeria Wrestling Federation, dignitaries such as the wife of former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Sports Commissioner, Enitan Osodi, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, his counterpart in the Transports Ministry, Kayode Opeifa, Chairmen of local councils and members of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state will also grace the occasion. Meanwhile, Teslim Balogun Stadium has been a beehive of activities since the tourney started on Wednesday, as lovers of wrestling trooped into the venue to watch exciting wrestling bouts among Nigerian professional wrestlers who are fighting for the 10 titles at stake. In some of the bouts decided, Tony Destroyer, defeated Mr. Kicx, Super King beat Silent Tiger, Atom Ant showed class against Flying

SAYO OGUNDEJI

N Fashola

Danko, while Rushing Belt took Super Rosco to the cleaners. The fight between the Batters’ Brother and The Grippers was the most entertaining bout of the night with The Grippers winning the contest. Rocky Johnson beat Iron Scatter in another thrilling bout, while Mighty Man and Big Fish’s fight was disqualified due to Mighty Man’s unprofessional action when he broke chairs on the head of Big Fish leaving him in the pool of his blood. In the female’s contest, Lady Terror lived up to her name as she beat Lady Bunmi to submission in another grudge fight. In a related development, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, LOC of the championship, Primate Charles Odugbesi has described the turnout of fans at the tournament as impressive despite the festive period, adding that the performance of the wrestlers also shows that the future of the game is bright in the country.

igerian swimmer, Yellow Yeiyah, has expressed satisfaction with the performance of young swimmers discovered during the last National Sports Festival, tagged ‘Eko 2012’, saying they should be properly guided in order not to lose their focus and potential. The bi-annual tournament produced many young and talented athletes especially in the swimming events and Yeiyah who holds a national record in the 50m Butterfly since 2006 believes the new discoveries have what it takes to rule the world if they are given proper guidance. “There were many talented swimmers discovered at the festival, which is a positive sign that the country has a bright future of winning medals in major championship in the nearest future if the federation monitors their development . “I was discovered during a festival of this nature a couple of years back and I have represented this country at almost every major international tournament because I have the right people who helped me develop into better athlete and I think we have many talents in our hands and the future is bright for the country,” the former All African Games gold medalist stated.

SPORT

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigerian sports Heroine of yesterday cries out for help need surgical C operation –Iheagwam an you briefly let us know how your health problem began and the root cause? According to medical tests, which I underwent, it was discovered that I was diabetic and also hypertensive may be as a result of my past athletic activities, which I never regret till now.

ooking at Team Nigeria at the just concluded London 2012 Olympics, what do you think contributed to Nigeria not winning a single medal at the Games? I must have to say that it is unfortunate and sad that a country as big as Nigeria will go to the Olympics and come home empty handed especially when you consider that some countries whose population are a little above 100,000, like Grenada even registered their names on the medals table. In fact, I do not know what happened to the athletes, coaches and officials. It is an indication that something is really wrong with our sport and it needs surgical operation. Nigeria has never had it so bad

How are you responding to treatment? Treatment boils down to finance, because my husband and I had spent all we have on this

Tina Iheagwam

like this year’s Olympics. During our time, no matter how tough and hard the Game might be, we would definitely come home with medals. Although the medals we came back with might not be many, but we would not be disgraced.

Corruption, poor administration, bane of Nigerian football –Obaji Jr

“

It’s basically administrative. Football administrators have most often failed to deliver on the right programmes. The system has been so politicized. There’s corruption and lots of interest. The right people are not the ones at the helm of affairs and when it is so, you can’t have the best programmes implemented. Lots of people say our administrators pay more attention on tournaments than development and I agree with them. There’s no foundation for grassroots development in our football. Our administrators are only interested in getting funds from government to embark on tournaments. There is no framework for developmental programmes and they seem not to be too interested in it. The private sector has to be involved in funding football. But you can’t have the private sector involved in a system that is not well organised. I’m told it’s the reason why the league has no sponsor till date. Nobody wants to put his or her money where he or she will not profit from. The basic problem is organisation which those in administration lack. Until the system is organised, there will be no progress, I can assure you.”

Philip Obaji Jr.

my sickness. Even my in-laws have contributed as much as they can, but no avail. As of now, my family and I cannot afford about N3 million needed for my treatment aboard as our family medical doctor suggested. At times I lose consciousness and I will be in that state for some days without food. At times in extreme cases I will spend several days, weeks, and months in hospital with nobody to assist us. Each day I wake-up is like a miracle to me as I hope on God to get me out of this sorry state.

‘I almost lost my life over amputee football’ “ When I discovered that my leg had been amputated, life became meaningless to me and I attempted to commit suicide three times but was saved by divine intervention “I wanted to take my life because I couldn’t withstand a situation where I will be turned to a beggar or be aided in doing house chores that I could do all alone be-fore, but I thank God that I am alive today to tell story of my live and be a role model for all disabled athletes in the country. “My first training session with the team was a terrible experience; each time I tried to hold the ball or at-tack an opponent, I would lose balance and fall violently on the ground, but I was encouraged by the support of my team mates which made me to continue with the game. “The maiden Amputee Nations Cup hosted by Liberia, three years ago, nearly cost us our lives because we travelled to

t h e

“

“I feel angry when I hear people describing American and European wrestlers as better than Nigerian wrestlers and I want to tell whoever that cares to hear, that Afro the Giant is ready to take all of them to the cleaners.”

Nigerian football is in the hands of charlatans – Ezeugo

West African country by road due to lack o f

Emeka Ezeugo

funds a n d sponsorship by the NFF and corporate organisations. “To tell you the truth, I had to dump the game for sometime bec a u s e of the Godswill Samuel Udoh u g ly experience but on a second thought, I decided to continue because the Almighty God who did not allow any of us to be harmed by the rebels will continue to help us in improving our game until we bring honour to Nigeria.”

I will break bones at Oshiomhole Ch’ship –Afro de Giant I am sending warning signals to all the foreign wrestlers that will participate in Adams Oshiomhole International Wrestling Championship that I will never allow them to come here and win the championship belt.

Grace Akindele (nee Ebunkuyo)

Afro de Giant

hat do you think are the major problems militating against football development in Nigeria? The problems of Nigerian football could be traced to the federal government, state governments, and politicians (their cohorts) they choose as administrators or football officials. To them it’s doling out patronage with the intention of sports development way absent from their mind and by that they mean, football development can go to hell. That’s why Nigeria is a citizen-forsaken nation. And what is football? The peoples’ game! Yet charlatans who have no business being in the game are running the game and taking all the vital decisions. Have you ever seen a footballer appointed Nigeria’s Health Minister or a doctor of our national Hospital in Abuja or any University Teaching Hospital? Why is it that a lawyer is the Technical Committee Chairman of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and our media and the enlightened Nigerians are silent? Why is our football flooded with so many misfits who spread different kinds of virus in the game that has mutated to a seemingly incurable cancer?

Crime Watch

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Despite efforts by man to have a crime-free society the human society is rife with vices. Your daring Saturday Mirror brings you the best of our ear tingling crime stories for 2012.

‘I killed my grandmother for nagging me’ “I severally warned Mama to leave my hair alone but she refused to listen to me. What I did was the best solution to her problem. The cutlass I used was the one we used

to cut tree. It was kept inside the house. I hit her with the cut-lass just to let me be. I did not know she would die. I just hit her with it to stop worrying me about my hair,” Adekunle said with no sense of

was no one at home to look after her 2-yearold daughter while she was away in school, Fati made it a routine duty to take her daughter, Ummul-Khairu, with her anytime she went to school. One fateful day, however, Fati already dressed her daughter ready for school and in the front of their mud house in Kafin Tela/Tunga area of the state capital. By the time Fati came out to set for school, she suddenly discovered that her daughter, while playing with her peers in the compound, had stained the cloth she had on. Fati was not going to take her only child to school in such filthy dress.

he notoriety for which Ponraele area of Abule-Ijesha, in Lagos State is known reared its ugly head, not too long ago, when one of the warlords there raped a teenage girl. A man in his 30’s, Alabi, lives

remorse. It must have been the prayer of Madam Olalonpe Ganiyu, a centenarian, to go to her grave in peace. But one of her grandchildren, 32-year-old Tajudeen Adekunle, would not allow that. What could have made the young man send his grandmother to such a bloody grave? Olalonpe Ganiyu, until her death a couple of weeks ago, loved her relations to a fault. Blessed with several children, Olanlope, said to be close to a hundred years before her un-timely death, showed great love and af-fection for her kin.For instance, when, in early 2012, one of Olanlope’s daughters died, the elder-ly woman immediately took all the late daughter’s children into her custody. Olanlope lived at Yemetu in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Man lures, rapes teenager with N300 around Silva Street beside Ponraele. Ngozi Akpan (not real names) also lives in that neighbourhood with her mother. She is 16 years old. Ngozi finished her secondary education at Angus Memorial Secondary School, Shomolu last May. She, like many of her peers, is studying to write the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) examination. She hopes to read Accountancy at a university of her choice. Her mother, a teacher, is a single parent having been allegedly abandoned by her husband who is a bank worker. Ngozi, while in secondary school, was already in a relationship with another teenager who lives some streets away from her own house. The boy is said to be well known to her mother as her boyfriend. Ngozi’s mother does not allow her daughter to mix with too many women or girls in their neighbourhood, but one of the lucky few that she allowed her to sit around with is Alabi’s wife, Kafayat. Once Ngozi returned from school, she was always in com-

Assassins miss husband, attack wife, kids

Ritual killers behead toddler, send clothes to mum alama Fati Mohammed is a 22-year-old house wife resident in Minna, the Niger State capital. Though not opportune to acquire western education, she is determined that she would not die an illiterate. When her quest for western education could not be realized, Fati chose to be married to the man she loved. Her marriage notwithstanding, Fati was bent on being able to read and write even if it is in the Islamic way. She then got enrolled at a Quaranic school not too far from her matrimonial home. Not long after her marriage, Fati was blessed with a female child. Since there

December 29, 2012

pany with Kafayat in Alabi’s house until her mother returned from work. But unknown to her mother, Kafayat’s husband, had other reasons he allowed his wife to open his doors for Ngozi. Also unknown to Kafayat, her husband had started making love advances to the young girl. But Ngozi always told the man off. A day before Alabi reportedly raped Ngozi, he gave the young girl N300 while she complained to Kafayat, his wife, that she was hungry and her mother was not around. Ngozi thanked Alabi and went to eat that day. That very evening, Alabi reportedly met Ngozi on the street and asked her to call his number. She did not call him. Late afternoon the following day, Ngozi’s boyfriend came around to see her. While the two of them were together talking, her phone rang. It was Alabi that called her. Alabi reportedly asked Ngozi to see him immediately at an uncompleted building called Agenebode on Mosuro Street in Ponraele area.

he Muslim Ummah at Idi-Araba area of Lagos State, some Christian friends and neighbours are currently on their knees praying for the quick recovery of Hajia Nofisat Dada Muhammed, who, recently, narrowly escaped death by the whiskers in the hands of suspected assassins. Hajia Muhammed, a Shuwa Arab from Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State, was not the only one whose life God preserved in the hands of these agents of death: her three boys (all under the age of six) also escaped with their lives albeit after suffering untold hardship from the men of the underworld. On Thursday, 31 May, 2012, around 3:00a.m while the mother and her three kids were in deep sleep at their apartment at No 27, Moshalashi Street, Idi- Araba, in the Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State, some men broke into the house asking of Muhammed Dungus, the head of the family.

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

CRIME WATCH

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Where is Funmilayo Falaye? z Her father used her for rituals. He is looking to kill another of my children –Funmilayo’s mother z He’s now after me –Funmilayo’s brother STORIES BY SEGUN ADIO

t is now six years that Funmilayo Falaye had disappeared into thin air in rather strange circumstances. Funmilayo, popularly called Ade, was reportedly abducted for reasons her abductors did not mention. No ransom was also demanded and none paid. She was 25 years old. However, six years on, her siblings are now demanding full investigations into the case.

to the missing young woman, is currently in hiding alleging that his father is now after his own life and wants to use him for ritual. Funmilayo was reportedly newly married at the time and had relocated with her husband to Lagos before she was alleged to have received the call to come home from her father. Funmilayo lived with her husband at Ketu area of Lagos where she used to sell building materials before her disappearance. She was 25 years old at the time. She was the first born of the Falayes.

Funmilayo was allegedly abducted at the family’s Odo Ona Elewe, Ibadan, Oyo State residence on February 16, 2006. Back then, Funmilayo’s parents and her siblings did their best to locate her, but to no avail. As far as Funmilayo’s mother and other siblings are concerned, the father is the prime suspect in the disappearance of the family’s first child. Apart from urging the powers-thatbe to probe their breadwinner for the disappearance of Funmilayo, one of the Falaye’s children and younger brother

Kidnappers kill surgeon over unpaid ransom z Some people pocket the ransom, associate alleges

ixty two years old Canice Onyemaechi Omeziri, a surgeon, loved three things dearly in his life: his family, work and ancestral roots. Sadly, the love of the medical practitioner, an indigene of Umuanaekwe Umuduruaku Umuiheofor in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, for

his roots at Amaraku later turned out to be his undoing. Omeziri was allegedly kidnapped and later murdered by the unidentified abductors, while in the service of his people. His wife, also a medical doctor, children and extended family are currently asking the police authorities to get to the root causes of his death. Omeziri, was the proprietor of

Rikky Hospital, located along Ojoo Road, in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State. Omeziri ran the hospital together with his wife, Francesca, with some other employed young doctors. Rikky Hospital could be best described as a success. But Omeziri’s love for his people endeared him to establish another hospital in Amakpaka Umueli Amaruku, his ancestral roots.

Okada man, 38, forms sex gang with school girls

our young girls of a junior secondary school in Yaba, Lagos State, may have been deflowered prematurely while the school authority may have also caused an intensive investigation into the act against the girls. The man behind this is one Sunday Okwu a resident of No 14, Craig Street, Shomolu, Lagos. Okwu, 38, is reported to have had carnal knowledge of the school girls. For several months, these three girls (names withheld) would leave their

school at break time to visit Okwu in his one-room apartment. While there, these girls would be reportedly locked inside Okwu’s room for hours, sometimes not to return to school until closing hours when they would go home. Anytime Okwu’s co-tenants asked him who the girls were and what they were always doing in his room during school hours, Okwu would tell them that they were either daughters of his sister’s friends, or some sort of relations.

Okwu, a commercial motorcycle rider, usually does his business in the early hours of the day and late in the evening. The whole of the afternoon, he spent indoors in the company of the three girls. It is learnt that once these girls were locked inside Okwu’s room, they engaged in watching pornographic films, which Okwu would have rented a day before their visit. Okwu reportedly bought food stuffs which one or two of the girls would cook while others busied themselves with pornographic films.

Man killed over affair with monarch’s son’s lover

olicemen attached to the Alade Police Station in Shomolu area of Lagos State are currently on the trail of those behind the gruesome murder of one Olarenwaju Ogunsanwo. The deceased reportedly met his untimely death in the hands of suspected cult members at a naming ceremony where he had gone to felicitate with the parents of the new child. About 30 fierce-looking hoodlums,

clad in red apparel all through, were reported to have arrived at the party on the pretence that they were there to felicitate with the parents of the new baby. The sad event occurred on Thursday, May 24, 2012. Before his death, Ogunsanwo lived in Port Harcourt, Rives State, where he worked. Upon his return to Lagos, Ogunsanwo lived at No 36, Adebisi Street, Shomolu where he carried out his printing job.

A bachelor, Ogunsanwo soon met a lady, identified as Bukola in the area and the two started a love affair. The said Bukola already had two kids for another man before they met. Both Ogunsanwo and Bukola were reported to have agreed to get married sometime next year. But unknown to the deceased, Bukola was engaged in another affair with a suspected hoodlum kingpin and a son to a traditional ruler in the area, identified as Musa.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CRIME WATCH

December 29, 2012

Widow sets record in drug trafficking

orde of passengers as well as security agents at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, were stunned on Tuesday, 5 June, 2012, when a woman created a record in the concealment of illicit drugs for onward transportation to other places. That evening, scores of passengers were on hand to board the Kenyan Airways flight to Nairobi at the airport. Among the early arrivals was a woman, Mande Fatima Bala, clutching a middle-sized hand bag close to

her chest. She was also scheduled to travel with the aircraft. Bala, 48, walked lazily into the departure hall aided by another woman, who apparently escorted her into the complex. Looking weak and fagged out and not being able to stand erect, some of her co-travellers soon had pity on her. A man even hurriedly jumped up from his seat and offered her in the crowded hall. Bala would not talk to anyone neither would she get up to ascertain her travel itinerary as others did. Barely an hour after her arrival

at the airport, the public address system announced that passengers billed to travel via that airliner should file out towards the screening area. At that time, Bala, a widow and mother of three, had no choice but to join the scores of passengers on the same trip. That time, the woman that escorted her to the airport had to leave her to her destiny. Immediately the announcement was made, the woman kissed Bala and waved her goodbye, and disappeared into the darkness outside.

Jilted woman goes berserk, stabs lover, self

ell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Ask Sunday Abiwa, an auto mechanic, the meaning of this popular proverb and he will tell you tons of tales. Abiwa is currently receiving treatment at a private clinic in Egbeda area of Lagos State following injuries he sustained in the hands of the woman he proposed marriage to. Abiwa of No 3 Bassey Street, Orelope area, along Egbeda-Ikotun Road, Lagos escaped death by the whiskers recently when Bukola, his fiancé hit his head on a brick wall and also stabbed him in the neck. Abiwa met Bukola sometime in 2010 at his friend’s child dedication some-

where at Ijegun in Lagos. The two soon became lovers. At that time, Bukola, 34, was running a hair dressing salon at

Ikotun area of the state. Then she used to live in a room which she also used as her salon. Barely three months after they started dating Abiwa former declared his intention to take her to the altar and both of them started working towards the solemnization of their union. In less than six months after they met, Abiwa proposed to Bukola. She did not hesitate to agree to Abiwa’s proposal. Before long, Abiwa asked her to move in with him preparatory to the time that he would meet her parents in Ondo State. Bukola heeded her fiancée’s request and the two of them had been living as husband and wife since.

He was my father’s son

–Man who killed 1yr-old son

hirty-seven-year-old Henry Nnamdi was not an affable neighbour to his co-tenants at No 3, Lambe Street, Ago Palace Way, Okota area of Lagos State where he lived with Mercy, his wife and one-year-old son, Ebuka. Other residents of the street also saw him as cantankerous, but they let him be with his drink habit and constant wife battering. Some neighbours who could not stomach the blood curling screams of his wife anytime (which was reportedly often) he turned her into a punching bag, called and advised him to desist. He never listened rather; he reportedly showered invective on them. Now, the man is cooling his feet in police custody; not only on wife battering and deadly assault but the alleged murder of Ebuka, his one-year-old son. Neighbours told Saturday Mirror that since the couple moved into the compound some years back, they had lived a cat and mouse life. It was gathered that since some months back, anytime Mercy cried for help when her husband began to assault her, neighbours no longer responded. Things, however, came to a head on Saturday, 7 April, 2012.

On the fateful day, Nnamdi, a dry cleaner, reportedly returned home from work late in the night drunk. He also reportedly murdered his one-year-old son, Ebuka, on account of his suspicion that his own father was the father of the baby.

Octogenarian found dead three days after disappearing

o doubt that Prince Benjamin Adereni would have loved to join his ancestors peacefully. Being butchered and dumped into a

I was attacked because I recognised the robbers –Victim

bush defi-nitely would not have been his wish to bid the world farewell. But that was how his life ended. Adereni, 82, lived with his family at No 36, College Road, Ile-Ife in Osun State. Some weeks before he met his untimely death, Adereni had battled to fix his faulty Mercedez Benz car, but could not raise enough money for that purpose. Luck however smiled on the old man when one of those owing him reportedly sent some money into his account. With the alert on his phone, he hurriedly left for the bank at Lagere area of the ancient town on Wednesday, August 1, 2012. His main objective was to meet his auto mechanic early in the shop to begin work on the long-abandoned car.

unday, 26 February, 2012, would, forever, be remembered by Muyiwa Olayide as the day he missed death by the whiskers. Olayide is one of the numerous commercial motorcycle operators who ply the Fadeyi-Shomolu axis. He was allegedly given the beating of his life by men suspected to be robbers in the guise of political thugs. That fateful day, a group of political thugs, referred to as EFCC Boys, who reportedly often engage in day-light robbery in parts of Lagos State, were at their practice, shooting sporadically into the air and dispossessing innocent people in the process. This time, their choices of scene were Majiyagbe, Craig, Abiodun Odunlami and Odunlade Streets in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State. It was reported that the notoriety of the gang had caused many residents of the densely-populated settlement to flee their homes especially as it seemed that the activities of the hoodlums had defied any known solution. The group operates between Shomolu, Bariga and Mushin axis of the state. Storming the areas, via the Onipanu Police Station, in 12 motorcycles and an unmarked Red Toyota Camry car, the gang, numbering about 30, forcefully disposed innocent citizens especially those going to their places of worship since it was a Sunday. Some motorists were also reportedly harassed and some of had their valuables forcibly seized from them.

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

2015 cocoa revolution: Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has promised Nigerians especially stakeholders in the cocoa industry that by 2015, the country would produce 100,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for export. How feasible is this? SINA FADARE was on the field to find out.

rior to Nigeria’s Independence, in 1960 the hub of the country’s economy revolved round agriculture in which cocoa took the centre stage. Then, 40 percent of the nation’s resources came from the treasured cash crop with about 210,000 metric tonnes annually. The Western region which was the centre of attraction of the commodity was able to have a solid economy base that was the cynosure of all eyes. However the discovery of oil eventually shattered this lofty dream. Today there is a fierce battle by the Federal Government to reclaim the old glory which with each day is becoming a mirage. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development , Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has said that there is no going back on this, with the government targeting double of the production the country is producing now by the year 2015. Currently Nigeria is producing about 350,000 metric tonnes of cocoa yearly which makes her the fourth largest producer of the product in the world. Statistics available to National Mirror from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) indicated that Cote d’Ivoire currently leads the world with a 2010 output of 1,242,300 metric tonnes, or 29.3 per cent of world output; followed by Indonesia with a production of 810,100 metric tonnes or 19.1 per cent of world’s output. Ghana is the third largest producer of cocoa in the world at 632,037 metric tonnes, while Nigeria’s output was 427,800 metric tonnes in 2010, putting it in the 4th position, ahead of Cameroon, which produced 264,077 metric tonnes in the same year. Adesina noted that; “So far in order to actualise this dream, 3.6 million hybrid pods, which are resistant to black pod disease and have high bean quality and unmatchable flavour, are being distributed to farmers, free of charge, across the 15 cocoa growing states for planting to establish new plantations and engage in phased rehabilitation of old plots of lowyielding ancient trees to achieve a cocoa production of 100,000 metric tonnes before 2015”. In the past, pronouncements were made, good policies were rolled out, but poor political will at the implementation level and bureaucratic bottleneck turned them to a mere wish and beer parlour discussions. The minister’s pronouncement spurred up this reporter to tour the entire South-West states of Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun and Osun that are the hub of

the commodity, to see the situation on ground and speak to all the stakeholders and the farmers who are the end beneficiaries of the government largesse. The visit also took him to the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) on a fact finding mission on how this laudable policy could be actualised. National Mirror findings indicated that the farmers have similar problems that can hinder effective production as envisaged by Adesina. Speaking to National Mirror, a cocoa farmer of about 20 years experience, Prince Joshua Olayiwola Alimi, the chairman of Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogo Oluwa branch, Ajaawa Oyo State said that the main reason why the target proposed by the government may not be attainable is that most of the policies are on paper and in most cases farmers were not carried along. According to him, government preferred to deal with ‘pen cocoa farmers’ who served as the intermediary between the real farmers and the government and at the end of the day hijacked the programme and the real cocoa farmers are the worst for it at the long run. His view was similar to that of Mrs Victoria Omotosho in Iwo area of Osun state. She regretted that as laudable as the policy of the government was, as long as the real cocoa farmers are not involved, it may be difficult to meet up the target. “Take for instance, the consolidated funds provided for cocoa farmers have not been accessed by any farmer due to a cumbersome protocol which most farmers cannot cope with as a result of this, the money is just in the bank unutilised. Another farmer, Chief Michael Udo Akpan who hails from Iket Ekpene Akwa Ibom State and the state chairman of CAN, said that aside the political statement made by the minister, the government should go to specifics and make available all incentives ranging from soft loans, fertiliser procurement, insecticide and availability of improved seedlings to assist the farmers to achieve the intended goal. According to him, the goal is a tall dream but not unattainable if the government is serious about the issue.”You see cocoa farmers are still battling with the issue of land acquisition in my state and it is more or less a battle. Government can also intercede along this area by acquiring large expanse of land which can be giving to serious cocoa farmers; this will go a long way to increase productivity.

L-R ,National Mirror reporter, Sina Fadare, Dr Abimbola Muyiwa and Mr Amos Oloyede, CRIN researchers.

Prince Joshua Alani, National Treasurer, (CAN).

At a recent International Coca conference held in October this year in Ibadan, Oyo state, most of the farmers who came from all the 15 states who are producing the commodity claimed ignorance about all the incentives which the government claimed they have given in order to increase cocoa production, particularly in

2012. National Mirror investigations revealed that though some of the farmers are aware of the new agro-chemicals to apply on cocoa like funguram ott, Ridomi Gold Plus 66WP, Champ DP and Actara 25WG, they did not have resources to procure them. Aside this, the 2,500 bales of hydrocarbon-free jute bags for 46,875 MT dried cocoa beans is yet to get to them. They see the pronouncement as the usual political statement from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Speaking at the occasion, Prof. Adegboyega Eyitade Oguntade noted that there are a lot of summontable problems confronting the explosion of cocoa which includes inadequate information on cocoa farms, trading and location, poor farm structure, weak farmers organisation, inadequate support services and weak cooperative support services. Oguntade, a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics,Federal University Of Technology, Akure who delivered a lecture titled; ’The cocoa value chain, policy, finance and sustainability’ noted that it is possible to get explosion of cocoa production as envisaged if certain

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

December 29, 2012

Myth or reality?

‘Cocoa industry can reduce unemployment’ National President of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Mr Sayima Riman, in this interview with SINA FADARE spoke on the preparedness of the government to make its projection on the cocoa industry realisable. Excerpts:

PHOTOS: SINA FADARE

steps are taking by all the stakeholders. According to him, various state governments that are producing cocoa should solve the problem of land ownership which pose a serious challenge, aside this, there should be restructuring and renew of cocoa, reorganising of cocoa trade, provision of soft loans to real cocoa farmers and a collaboration between the government and all its agricultural agencies in order to avoid policy somersault. Speaking in the same vein, the Director General of Cocoa Research Institute (CRIN) Prof. Malachy Akonda said that the fate of the farmers lies in their hands to improve their productivity by forming strong cooperative societies where there could be a synergy between them and government agencies in order to benefit from all incentives that belong to cocoa farmers. According to him, there must be proper documentation and identification of each farmer with his cocoa farm and must belong to a strong cooperative society before “you can access any soft loan from the bank” Akonda emphasised that there are lots of training on cocoa improved va-

Mrs Victoria Omotosho, Cocoa farmer from Iwo, Osun State.

rieties put in place by CRIN, which the farmers can benefit in order to improve their production capacity, adding that CAN, can serve as a link between the farmers and CRIN for a collaborative efforts that will be mutually beneficial at the long run. TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW

Riman

hat are the challenges facing Cocoa farmers in their daily operations? Everything that has to do with cocoa are the challenges we are facing. But today we try to segments what teething problems are and let it give way to individual problem that can affect the lives of an average cocoa farmer. Our major problem in the cocoa industry is finance and sustainability which is quite embracing. We want cocoa farmers to know the financial sector and develop a model with the financial institution in funding the growing aspect of cocoa. Other sector of cocoa may not have been problematic like the growing sector. That was why we held an international conference on cocoa in Ibadan. We are trying to see how there can be synergy between the cocoa farmers and financial institutions. If we can succeed in getting finance for the growing aspect, we would be able to compete in the competitive market of cocoa. The strength of the industry as of today lies in the growing of cocoa and a little funding here and there will go a long way to give the necessary impetus that would raise the standard and boost cocoa production in the country. What happened to the intervention

fund on cocoa at the Central Bank which cocoa farmers suppose to access? It has been poor understanding on how to access financial opportunity from the policy makers and the financial institutions. For instance, a model might be initiated and favourable, you must take the stakeholders along with you in order to develop the model along with you and to access it. That is the major problem. What is your reaction to the recent statement by the minister of Agric that between now and 2015 Nigeria will double its cocoa production from 250,000 to 500,000 metric tonnes? I will not go into the specific of where and how he got such a data. The truth is that we might not have hit the point. Cocoa Association of Nigeria, CAN has been resilient in this direction without government support due to some steps taken in the past. Unfortunately most of what we do today are guess work. There is no adequate measure put in place by the government to get accurate data on cocoa in the country. TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW

REGIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NORTH

Bajoga sworn-in as Kaduna dep gov A ZA MSUE KADUNA

ormer Kaduna State Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga, was yesterday sworn in as the

6th deputy governor of the state. The event however witnessed low turn out. The swearing was conducted by the state’s Chief judge, Justice Rahila Cudjoe at about 11:00 am. Saturday Mirror ob-

served that Amb. Bajoga Southern Kaduna kinsmen were few at the swearing in ceremony which held at State House, Kawo. This may not be unconnected with protests that greeted his nomination.

Bajoga’s nomination was kicked against by various groups including Coalition of Concerned Southern Kaduna Professionals, Coalition of Southern Kaduna Youth stressing that his choice was a political plot to take

Former Director, Bauchi State Ministry of Information, Alhaji Inuwa Bello (left), receiving a souvenir from the state’s Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Mohammed Dhamina, upon his retirement in Bauchi, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

New Year: Kano beefs up security AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

ith three days to the New Year, security agents in Kano State have begun another round of strategy on how to beef up security ahead the celebration. Mr Ibrahim Idris, the state’s Commissioner of Police, had said security agents would not leave anything to chance ahead

of the festive seasons. It was gathered yesterday that security chiefs in the commercial had embarked on intensive security meeting, aimed at ensuring that they are in total control of the security situation in the state as was the case on Christmas day. This was even as it was revealed that the security bigwigs were tickled by

the level of security provided during the Christmas celebration, which seemingly foiled plans to disrupt one of Christians’ annual celebrations. Saturday Mirror can reveal that Bukavu barracks, headquarters of the 3 Mechanized Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Kano, have remained the meeting point of all the security heads, which involve the Commander of the 3 Brigade, Police Commissioner, Director, State Security Services (SSS) and Nigerian Air Force based Commander

in the State. This is aside from the departmental meeting holding at the various headquarters of security formations in the state. It would be recalled that prior to the Christmas celebration, there was palpable fear of possible attack by terrorists, particularly on Churches by terrorists. The fear followed an attempt of the Kano offices of MTN and Airtel, two days to Christmas and there was wide spread concern that the Christmas might be disrupted by the group.

Benue ex-Speaker to rehabilitate victims of Tiv/Fulani massacre HENRY IYORKASE MAKURDI

he immediate past Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Dave Iorhemba, has assured displaced Guma community victims of the recent Tiv/Fulani clashes of prompt rehabilitation. Earlier this year, Tiv and Fulani herdsmen were embroiled in deadly clashes where many

inhabitants of the communities were rendered homeless. The former speaker who spoke in a chat with Saturday Mirror yesterday in Makurdi, said that arrangements had been concluded towards ameliorating the condition of the affected people, pointing out that efforts are being intensified to address the plight of the displaced persons. Hon. Iorhemba, who

represented Guma under the banner of the rulling People’s Democratic Party at the state’s House of Assembly, further expressed the view that in spite of limited resources at government disposal, he is still making frantic efforts to get the executive nod in order to do something for the affected people and enjoined them to remain calm. The former speaker

therefore called on Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, the umbrella body of Fulani herdsmen, to always ensure that their cattle are restricted to the grazing reserve areas rather than constantly encroaching on Tiv farmlands, thereby creating chaos leading to several loss of lives and property on the part of their host communities.

away Peoples Democratic Party state chairman seat from the late governor Yakowa’s Southern zone and silent them before 2015 polls. Ambassador Bajoga emergency as deputy governor followed the death of late Kaduna State Governor, Mr Patrick Yakowa who died with immediate past National Security Adviser ,Gen. Andrew Azazi in a navy helicopter crashed in Nembe , Bayelsa State while returning from burial funeral of the father of president Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Research and Documentation, Douglas Oronto recently. The new deputy governor ,Ambassador Bajoga in his acceptance speech pledged to be loyal to Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and people of the state even as he appealed to the people of the state to be patience over the circumstances

the state found itself and give chance to peace and development. In his remark, governor Yero said the choice of Bajoga as his deputy was informed by his age and competence stressing that, the age gap between him and his deputy was like that of him and late Governor Yakowa. In the words of governor Yero, “I chose Ambassador Bajoga because of his age for the benefit of the state, because they said, age is experience and we are going to work together harmoniously for the betterment of the state. You will never find me to approach, because I know the office of the Deputy Governor and I will do my best to improve on the way I left it”, he said. Yero promised the new deputy governor of smooth working relationship, stressing that Bajoga would be considered as his first adviser.

Plateau: CAN blames latest killings on porous borders JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

he Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has blamed the incessant attacks by gunmen in Plateau villages on non policing of the border areas in the state. Speaking with Saturday Mirror in Jos, yesterday, while reacting to the latest killings in which four villagers of Riyom Local Government Areas were shot dead by gunmen on Thursday, Plateau State chairman of CAN, Rev. Philip Dafes said the attacks will stop if there was adequate security at the border areas. In his words, “We have discovered that the gunmen who carried out the attacks on the villages usually come through the border areas to perpetrate their evil acts. You know Riyom LGA has boundary with Kaduna State. Once they finish attacking the villagers, they simply disappear through the

borders. So, there is the need for the security agents to beam their search light on the porous borders to curtail such attacks’’ The CAN chairman also reiterated the theory of non prosecution of the culprits as being responsible for the incessant attacks by gunmen in the state. Rev. Riyom continued, “We still believe that the reason is not phoney and that such a theory arrived at holds the key to solving Plateau’s and indeed, Nigeria’s security challenge. Doing otherwise can not only serve to embolden the culprits but will also shield the real sponsors and cover up their motive. CAN is of the view that the federal government should go beyond its present posturing on matters of security and ensure that those caught are made to face the full wrath of the law of the land no matter whose ox is gored,” the CAN chairman said.

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REGIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

NORTH

Plateau Assembly justifies passage of N3b Supplementary Appropriation Bill JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

he Plateau State House of Assembly yesterday said its decision to pass the over N3 billion 2012 Supplementary Appropriation bill few days to the end of the year was in order. The state governor Jonah Jang had presented over N4 billion as Supplementary Appropriation Bill, but the lawmakers slashed it to over N3 billion naira before passing it into law on Thursday. With the additional N3 billion, the total amount passed by the

House members for the 2012 financial year now stands at over N115 billion naira

Speaking with Saturday Mirror in Jos yesterday, the House Majority Leader, Hon. Daniel Dem

said the House decided to pass the N3 billion Supplementary budget into law in order to accommo-

date the remaining period of three months from October to December. He added that there

L-R: Plateau State Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Abdulhamid Ghamzaki; Federal Road Safety Commission, Zonal Commanding Officer, Jos, Mr. Bulus Darwang and Sector Commander, Plateau, Mr Sunday Maku, at the launch of class ‘E’ commercial drivers’ license in Jos, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

was nothing wrong in what the House members had done by passing the bill few days to the end of the financial year. According to him, the bill was submitted to the House more than three months ago and had gone through first and second reading but suffered delay due to prolonged strike by Local Government workers in the state. Moreover, he said many state ministries had exhausted their budget and as such needed more funds to enable them carry out their functions for the betterment of the people pending when the House will pass the 2013 appropriation

Three arrested over murder of Kano lawmaker AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

hree people are currently in police custody in connection with the murder of a Kano State lawmaker, Hon. Danladi Isa Kademi. Hon Kademi was reportedly murdered in cold blood a fortnight ago

PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

inna, the Niger State capital is a beehive of activities as Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu gives out two of his daughters in holy matrimony today. The two daughters are Dr Jamila and Dr. Hadiza Muazu Aliyu. Family source said while Jamila weds Alhaji Suleiman, Hadiza will be joined in holy wedlock with Alhaji Muktar at the family house, close to the Minna Central Mosque at 2:00pm. The wedding Fathia will be the first governor Aliyu would be giving out any of his children in marriage, hence nothing is spared in making the historic occasion a memorable one. As such all the hotels in the capital city have been fully booked by friends and relatives that want to

in the Hotoro area, one of metropolis which is believed to be flashpoints and suspected hide-out of terrorists in the state. Saturday Mirror yesterday learnt that one of the three suspects has confessed to the crime and named a businessman, equally in police custody as the master-

mind. Kano police said they are withholding the name of the suspect in order not to jeopardize ongoing investigation into the incident. Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who confirmed the arrest, said another fleeing suspect is on their

wanted list of law enforcement agents. The police boss als said that the businessman named as sponsor denied his involvement in the crime, despite insistence by the suspect who implicated him. CP Idris said that on further scrutiny, the businessman’s phone number

was located in the other suspect’s mobile phone, thereby establishing a link of relationship between the two. It would be recalled that Danladi Isa Kademi was shot dead by gunmen, suspected to be militants of the Boko Haram sect. The victim, a member of the Kano State

House of Assembly, representing Gaya constituency was gunned down at about 7 pm on the fateful day. He was a chieftain of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Police said he was with friends when the attackers opened fire from an unidentified vehicle, killing him on the spot.

Minna agog as Gov Aliyu gives out daughters in marriage be part of the ceremony. To ensure success of the wedding programme, security has been beefed up at all the nooks and crannies of the town, ahead of the ocassion. Prominent dignitaries expected at the ceremony

include Vice President Namadi Sambo, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ambassadors

of Egypt and Indonesia. The Vice President Namadi Sambo is expected to be the father of the day, while the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum Rotimi Amaechi will lead other 35 state governors to the wedding

ceremony. Senate President, Senator David Mark and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal will lead state and national assembly lawmakers to the occasion.

High ranking royal fathers are also expected from various parts of the nation that include the Lamido Adamawa, Ooni Ife, The Sarkin Daura, the Emir of Ilorin as well as prominent businessman Aliko Dangote.

Bauchi SUBEB to conduct compulsory proficiency test for teachers

lhaji Abdullahi Dabo, the Chairman of Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said all teachers in the state must sit for the compulsory Proficiency Test to ascertain their capabilities. Dabo told newsmen in Bauchi yuesterday that the board conducted a screening exercise of all teachers in the state after an initial verification because it was

discovered that some of them lacked basic qualifications for teaching. In the words opf Dabo.``It was discovered that only 7,000, out of 17,000 teachers on the pay roll, passed the screening. Many teachers were not really qualified for the job. The exercise is aimed at fishing out teachers who might have obtained fake certificates,” Dabo said. According to the SU-

BEB chairman, a committee for the verification was set up by the state government with representation from the NUT and the NLC. Dabo continued, ``The board will screen every teacher to ascertain the level of qualification because we realize that many of the teachers are not qualified for the job. They cannot teach effectively for lack of genuine educational qualification

like the NCE meant for teachers. ``Government has provided enough text books and other teaching materials, yet the end result is poor due to unqualified teachers,” he said. He added that the government was spending more than N1.2 billion every month as salaries for the teachers and would like to have value for their money. Dabo explained that salaries of teachers who

refused to come for the screening were withheld. He continued, ``At the end of the screening, those who passed would continue to teach. Those trainable would be released on inservice to further their studies. Those who cannot be further trained as teachers will be sent back to the Local Government Service Commission for possible absorption elsewhere,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Gloom, pageantry mark 2012 on international scene Queen Elizabeth’s The outgoing year, like previous ones, witnessed its share of awful and gloomy moments and some instances for jubilation, merriment and pageantry.

Diamond Jubilee

he United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II this year marked 60 years of her accession to throne upon her father King George VI demise on 6 February, 1952. Celebration marking the diamond jubilee occurred throughout the year. On 2nd June, The Queen attended the Epsom Derby. On 3rd June the Big Jubilee Lunch and the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

took place, where tens of thousands of people gathered along the Thames to rejoice with the royal family. On 4th June a concert was held at Buckingham Palace and a network of beacons lit throughout the UK and the Commonwealth. On 5th June a Service of Thanksgiving was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was followed by a formal carriage Procession.

Syrian war

T Members of the UK’s Royal family during the celebration marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on June 3.

Photo: PA

US Presidential election PAUL ARHEWE

he United States’ 2012 general election, no doubt was one remarkable event at the international for the outgoing year. President, Barack Obama, beats his Republican presidential opponent, Mitt Romney, to clench his second term for another four years as leader of the world’s leading economy in the November 6 general polls. Obama won 332 electoral votes to Romney’s 206. The 2012 election was adjudged to be the most expensive in US electoral history. Candidates flooded the airwaves with relentless attacks on each other, with accusations of lying, deceit, fabrications and other chicanery — even renewed

charges over the long discredited claims over whether Obama had been born in this country — which flew for almost a year. Obama questioned Romney’s lack of a specific plan for reviving the economy

while branding the challenger a candidate who changed his positions to suit the shifting political winds. Romney, 65, went after the president’s economic policies touting his own

President Obama and Vice President Biden and their families celebrating after winning the November 6 Presidential poll. Photo: AP

he fatal accident for year 2012 began when Costa Concordia, a 950-foot luxury ocean liner struck a rock and ran aground off the island of Giglio in Italy on January 13. The accident claimed 32 lives. Francesco Schettino, the captain of the ship, was criticized for leaving the vessel before all the passengers were safely

ashore. Among his accusers was Coast Guard officer Gregorio de Falco, who ordered the captain back to his ship. Schettino, who admitted he took the $570 million ship within a few hundred feet of the island to perform a “maritime salute” (perhaps to impress a blond Moldovan passenger), faces possible charges of manslaughter.

to the country has failed, as world powers divided over what has become an majorly sectarian strife between mostly Sunni Muslim rebels and Assad’s security forces, drawn primarily from his Shi’iterooted Alawite minority. By December 12, United States and other western countries like United Kingdom, France, Turkey and some Gulf states recognised the opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Hurricane Sandy

Costa Concordia

success in business as the skill most needed in tough times. He also sought to portray Obama as weak on foreign policy but neither strategy pried enough of the nation’s independent voters to his side.

he Arab spring crisis which began in December 2010 in Tunisia continued in Syria war a full blown war that has claimed more than 44,000 lives. The conflict began in this Arab country in March 2011 with peaceful protests, before degenerating into a large-scale deadly conflict. The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad tenaciously held on to power, even when some of his general had fled to the rebel side. Many efforts to bring peace

he United States’ East Coast region was battered when Hurricane Sandy makes landfall on October 29. At least 128 people were killed and more than $71 billion worth of destruction was recorded. The ‘superstorm’, with its torrential wind and rain knocked out power in major US cities. More than 8.1 million peoples in 17 states were left in the dark at the aftermath of the storm. In terms of its outage impact, hurricane Sandy was roughly on par with hurri-

cane Irene, which in August 2011 knocked out power to more than 9.3 million customers along the East Coast and in Puerto Rico – about 6 million in 13 East Coast states. But Sandy’s impact was more concentrated than Irene’s, doing the bulk of its damage in fewer but more heavily populated states. Most of the outages were in eight states: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, and West Virginia – some 7.4 million.

Protest against anti-Prophet Muhammad film

he low budget US film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ which mocked the Prophet Muhammed sparked a violence international response, especially for Muslim countries. The 14-minute film trailer was posted on YouTube, prompting riots throughout Muslim communities. Libyan protesters were said to have exploited the situation af-

ter the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was attacked by al-Qaida terrorists on September 11. The US ambassador in Libya, Chris Stevens was among four Americans killed in Benghazi. According to the Wall Street Journal, a man identifying himself as Sam Bacile, a 52-year-old California real estate developer said he had made the film. The As-

sociated Press, though, said “Sam Bacile” was an alias for Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, aka Mark Basseley Youssef. Using an alias was a violation of Nakoula’s probation for a check fraud conviction, and he was jailed. The Egyptian-born Coptic Christian and others involved in the film were sentenced to death in Egypt, a largely symbolic gesture.

Saturday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

December 29, 2012

India rape victim’s condition ‘deteriorates’

female student gang-raped on a bus in India’s capital, Delhi has “taken a turn

for the worse” at a Singapore hospital, doctors say. The 23-year-old arrived in Singapore after under-

going three operations in a Delhi hospital. “Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of

severe organ failure,” hospital official Kelvin Loh said. The attack earlier this

month triggered violent public protests in India that left one police officer dead. Six men have been arrested and two police officers have been suspended following the 16 December attack. Doctors had earlier described the woman as “fighting for her life”. Loh said in a statement that the hospital had put her on “maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants

which maximise her body’s capability to fight infections”. “Her family members have been informed that her condition has deteriorated and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her,” he said. On arrival at the hospital in Singapore, doctors said that as well as a “prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury”.

Pakistan seeks help to rescue 23 missing police

P Rebel Attack: Crowds gathered at a rally in Central African Republic where the president appealed for international help

Putin signs Russian ban on US adoptions

ussian President, Vladimir Putin, has signed into law a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans. The law is a reaction to the US Magnitsky Act, which blacklists Russian officials accused of rights abuses. The death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 became a symbol of the fight against corruption in Russia, and soured relations between Russia and the US. The US state department says it “deeply regrets” the passing of the law. Yesterday, a Moscow court acquitted a prison doctor accused of negligence over Magnitsky’s death. It was the only trial

to be held in the case. The judge said Dmitry Kratov had acted appropriately when Magnitsky fell ill in jail. Kratov was deputy head of the highsecurity Butyrka prison in Moscow at the time. A Russian official report last year concluded that Magnitsky had been tortured and handcuffed in jail. Magnitsky represented London-based Hermitage Capital Management (HCM). He uncovered what he described as a web of corruption involving Russian tax officials, including the alleged theft of more than $200m (£125m). After reporting it to the authorities, he was himself detained on suspicion

of aiding tax evasion, and died in custody on November 16, 2009 at the age of 37. US-born fund manager Bill Browder, who runs Hermitage Capital, spearheaded efforts in the US to put pressure on Russia over the Magnitsky case. Browder was a major investor in Russia before Magnitsky’s arrest. Earlier this month the US Congress adopted the Magnitsky Act, prompting Russia’s retaliation. The EU has also criticised Russia over its handling of the case. Putin signed the Russian law after it had been approved by the Russian parliament. He told officials he saw no reason not to sign it, and

said he would sign a presidential decree to “modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children”. “There are lots of places in the world where living standards are higher than they are here,” Putin said. “Are we going to send all our children there? Perhaps we should move there ourselves?” Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, almost one-third of the children going to American homes. Over the same period, the number of children adopted by Russian citizens was 7,416. In the past two decades Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children.

Police Dog arrests 142, crowned Britain’s best in 2012

German Shepherd, Visco, has been named Britain’s best police dog after making an incredible 142 arrests in 2012. Law-enforcing hound Visco detained at least one criminal for Staffordshire Police every three days, wiping the floor with all his competitors. The clever and sociable dog and his handler PC Matt Holding are the most successful partnership of 2012.

The unbeatable duo formed in 2009 after Visco was imported from Germany and they have worked together ever since, relying heavily on each other’s skills to capture criminals. PC Holding said: ‘We work as a team and we’ve established a very strong bond. I have to believe in Visco and visa versa, we depend on each other. ‘Operationally it works so well. We know each other’s strengths and weak-

nesses and we know our limits. I have an exceptional bond with Visco. ‘But he can be frustrating sometimes. He just wants to work all the time it’s like having a child. ‘A dog’s mental capacity is a bit like that of an 18-month-old baby, it constantly wants attention. But he is one of the family.’ The German Shepherd lives in kennels at the home of dog support unit inspector PC Chris Daw-

son and his partner Jo Willis, who is also a dog handler looks and after Solo. The couple met through the unit in 2008 and now have three daughters, Millie, eight, Hattie, five, and Isla, three. Visco, who will be five years old in February, lives outside their house with Solo, but the competitive canines have a slightly strained relationship, despite being friendly dogs.

akistani officials pressured tribal elders yesterday to help rescue 23 policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban during attacks on their posts in the country’s troubled northwest tribal region. Also yesterday, missiles fired from unmanned U.S. aircraft killed four suspected militants at a training center elsewhere in the remote frontier area, the main sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in the country, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The 23 tribal policemen went missing before dawn Thursday when militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two posts in the Darra Adam Khel tribal region. Two policemen were also killed in the attacks.

Senior political officials held a meeting in the main northwest city of Peshawar yesterday with tribal elders from both the villages where the attacks took place, said government administrator Naveed Akbar Khan. Tribal law stipulates that the elders could be punished for attacks that occurred in their areas. Officials gave the elders until Monday to rescue the missing policemen and arrest the culprits, said Khan. If they fail to do so, authorities may take punitive action, such as cutting off monthly allowances they receive from the government. The elders said they would do everything they could to help, said Khan. Security forces have also launched an operation to try to recover the missing policemen.

Fresh fighting in Central African Republic

enewed fighting between government forces and rebels seeking to overthrow the president broke out yesterday in Central African Republic’s third largest city, a military official said, hours after the U.S. ambassador and his team was evacuated from the capital. Government soldiers appeared to be in control of Bambari following the clashes, according to military officials. The town is located about 385 kilometers (240 miles) from the capital and had been under rebel control for five days. The United States evacu-

ated about 40 people, including the U.S. ambassador, on an U.S. Air Force plane bound for Kenya, said U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the operation. The United States has Special Forces troops in the country who are assisting in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of another rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army. The U.S. Special Forces remain in the country, the U.S. military’s Africa Command said from its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

Quote

the

year

Britain has no right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do. Late Ghana President, John Atta Mills on Britain’s statement that it will cut its aid to nations that have refused to recognise homosexuals.

Saturday, December 29, 2012. www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sports: Every little thing helps in a big way! (II) F or many and for an entire people, it has been the surest way out of poverty and yet for some others, it has solved some of the world’s most persisting socio-economic and even health problems. It is still the way for many and one of the things that should emanate from this conference should be, in what ways can we do even more? How can means be provided to seek out millions that have talents but are rotting away in hamlets, villages and towns with their talents undeveloped? Like most human endeavors where pressure to win or excel counts a lot, sports particularly the competitive types has its own burdens. Burdens that deal a serious blow for those involved in it and for those who participate by watching and supporting. These burdens are not limited to unnecessary violence, corruption, intolerance such as racism gender in equality, poor compensation, drug, poor officiating and cheating. All of these have a way of diminishing the true worth of sports, but they do not take away its intrinsic value. This conference will do well in appreciating such challenges and give allowance to new ways of managing such problems. Perhaps even more significant in sports are some of really inspiring sto-

with President Olusegun Obasanjo hexcellency2011@yahoo.com

HOW CAN MEANS BE PROVIDED TO SEEK OUT MILLIONS THAT HAVE TALENTS

BUT ARE ROTTING AWAY IN HAMLETS, VILLAGES AND TOWNS, WITH THEIR TALENTS UNDEVELOPED?

ries and powerful messages that have emerged from sporting icons from different times and generations. In the years gone and times lived, sports has

given the world’s communities some of their bravest personalities who taught us the meaning of internal strength, human kindness and love and unity. Wheth-

SPORT EXTRA

for the 27-year-old. Albiol is keeping his fingers crossed that does not happen though, telling reporters: “I don’t know if he’s going to renew his contract or not. But Cristiano Ronaldo is the best in the world and we want him by our side as long as possible.” Albiol also wants to move on from the controversy caused by Madrid coach Jose Mourinho’s decision to drop long-serving number one and club captain Iker Casillas. Mourinho surprisingly opted to start with back-up goalkeeper Antonio Adan in place of Casillas for Madrid’s final match of 2012 against Malaga last weekend, but Albiol believes the furore caused by that decision has been blown out of proportion. Madrid’s 3-2 defeat to Malaga left the reigning champion 16 points behind Primera Division leaders, Fc Barcelona.

CONCLUDED

PREMIERSHIP FIXTURES

Albiol prays for Ronaldo’s stay

eal Madrid defender Raul Albiol is hoping speculation linking Cristiano Ronaldo with a move away from the Bernabeu proves unfounded, describing his team-mate as the best player on the planet. Ronaldo’s future with Madrid has been under the spotlight since the Portugal international admitted earlier this season he was “sad” for professional reasons while Spanish newspaper recently claimed the $120million man would not be signing a new contract with the Spanish giant. His current deal runs out in 2015. That has led to suggestions Madrid could be forced to cash in on its star forward to avoid losing him on the cheap, and former club Manchester United and bigspending French side Paris St Germain have been touted as possible destinations

er in local sports or in the Olympics, whether in times of war or in times of peace, whether in racial struggles or in class struggles, whether in extreme poverty or in extreme wealth, sports count in individual and community life. For brevity I shall list a few who are generally thought to have impacted life on earth, not only in terms of their contribution to sporting in themselves but also to social and even ideological struggles. They have broken barriers of race, ideology, culture, religion, physical limitation or other limitation. Their struggles and achievements taught us all what is possible and that we should never be ashamed of who we are, what we have or where we are coming from. The message of their lives and achievement is simple yet strong. It is that, anybody can make more contribution to the general good of the world, not only sports, but in politics, economics and other spheres of human activities as well. They are our heroes and inspirers of yester-years and today. I will only mention one name, Oscar the Southern African double amputee to be the first to compete in Olympic sprint. Any human barrier, limitation or challenge can be successfully surmounted.

Today’s Matches Sunderland v Tottenham 12:45 Aston Villa v Wigan 15:00 Fulham v Swansea 15:00 Man United v West Brom 15:00 Norwich v Manchester City 15:00 Reading v West Ham 15:00 Stoke v Southampton 15:00 Arsenal v Newcastle 17:30

Sunday, December 30, 2012 Everton v Chelsea 13:30 Ronaldo

QPR v Liverpool 16:00

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