Thursday, October 25, 2012 by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

Nigeria loses billions of dollars in cut price oil deals –Report

N Alison-Madueke

Vol. 2 N0. 477

igeria lost out on tens of billions of dollars in oil and gas revenues over the last decade from cut price deals struck between multinational oil companies and

government officials, a confidential report by Reuters has said. A team headed by the former head of the anticorruption agency, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, produced

We didn’t impound Obasanjo’s vehicle – LASTMA

the 146-page study on an oil ministry request. It covers the year 2002 to 2012. Nigeria is Africa’s largest crude oil exporter, ship-

Report meant to embarrass us, says ex-President P.13

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

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Ndume gave AGF’s number to Boko Haram –SSS We’re committed to root out terrorists, says Army Anambra demolishes kidnapper’s houses

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ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

hairman, Special Investigation Panel, and Assistant Director of the State Security Service, SSS, Mr. James Ineh, yesterday told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that Senator Alli Ndume released the phone number of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, to a member of the Boko Haram, Mohammed Kodunga. The call was aimed at threatening Adoke to influCONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Nations Cup: Super Eagles draw Chipolopolo of Zambia Rams for sale for Sallah celebration but no buyers at Ofin area of Lagos Island yesterday.

PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

Eid-el-Kabir: Security beefed up nationwide

...worship, recreation, resorts centres under close watch

Pope appoints Onaiyekan Cardinal

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Cynthia: FG plans to ban Rophynol

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

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Eid-el-Kabir: Security beefed up nationwide AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST,

OMEIZA AJAYI, AZA MSUE AND JAMES ABRAHAM

eavy security forces have been beefed up across the country to forestall any breakdown of law and order ahead the Sallah celebration. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has ordered all Assistant InspectorsGeneral of Police and Commissioners of Police to ensure the provision of maximum security throughout the Eid-elKabir celebration. In a statement signed by the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, the IG said the order became necessary to ensure a peaceful Sallah celebration. He directed the top hierarchy of the force to take adequate measures to ensure water-tight security across the country before, during and after the celebration. “CPs have been directed to personally ensure that key and vulnerable points, places of worship, recreation centres, resorts and other public places are adequately and effectively protected to enable worshippers and the general public enjoy maximum fulfillment,” he said. The IG’s statement also directed commanders of police highway patrol teams to ensure that crime and accident prevention were intensified for a

secure and peaceful celebration. Policemen deployed on highways have also been directed to render necessary assistance to travellers and road users, especially accident victims and those who might have suffered vehicle breakdown. “In a similar vein, Zonal AIGs and CPs have also been advised to ensure the provision of 24hrs security around all government installations, facilities and other related vulnerable targets. “The IGP warned officers, who will be deployed during the period, to ensure that they comport themselves within the confines of the law. “They must be firm but polite, civil and professional in the discharge of their assigned roles, giving due regard and respect to the fundamental human rights of citizens at all times. “Finally, the IGP seeks the prayers, support and understanding of Nigerians, assuring that by God’s grace, the battle against crime and criminality will eventually be won,” the statement added. Our correspondent in Kaduna noted that joint security operatives had embarked on ‘Operation stop and search’ of vehicles within the metropolis as the city witnessed influx of people for the celebration. A dependable source

said special anti-terrorism squad, men of the State Security Service, SSS, and plain clothes security agents were deployed in major towns, including Zaria, Kafanchan and other trouble-prone areas. Public Relations Officer, Kaduna State Police Command, Mallam Aminu Lawan, confirmed the security situation and called on the public to report suspicious movement for prompt action. Lawan said: “So far so good. The commissioner of police met with area commanders and divisional police officers and directed them to beef up security in their areas. “They should deploy all their manpower to ensure proper coverage of strategic and troubleprone areas.

“Our police patrol men are under intensive surveillance on the highways all over the state to ensure a hitch-free festivity throughout the period.” There has also been heavy security presence in Jos ahead of the celebration as major streets witnessed increased presence of security personnel and patrol vans. Also yesterday, there was a meeting between security agents and stakeholders during which certain measures were arrived at on how to ensure a peaceful Sallah celebration in the state. The state police command in a statement issued at the end of the meeting said the measures became necessary to ensure safety of lives and

property. The statement, which was signed by the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Danjuma Azikiti, said the use of Rukuba Road JIBWIS prayer ground in Jos “is out of bounds for worshipers as alternative prayer grounds in Bauchi motorpark and others have been provided.” He added that the Dogon Karfe and Abattoir road would be closed during the prayers, adding that adequate security would be provided at prayer grounds. Azikiti said that carrying of weapons to prayer grounds and use of inflammatory statements on the way to and from prayer grounds would not be tolerated. The statement also called on citizens to

Traffic jam on Funso Williams Avenue in Lagos, yesterday.

be security conscious, vigilant and be alert in their immediate environment and to report suspicions movement. The Kano State Police Command also said yesterday that security had been beefed up to guarantee a hitch and violence-free Sallah. The statement, which was signed by the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and made available to newsmen, said: “It is in realisation of the immense importance of the Eid-el-Kabir festivity to Muslims that the Kano State Police Command in collaboration with other security agencies is working very hard to strengthen security in the state that will enhance the festivity.” The police boss also CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

Ndume gave Boko Haram AGF’s phone number –SSS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ence the decision of the court in the governorship election petition in Borno State in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or make the state ungovernable. Konduga, whom the SSS claimed released the information, has now been convicted over terrorism charge. Ineh, who mounted the witness box yesterday, also said that the GSM numbers of Ndume were seized and analysed as part of their investigation after his arrest. Ndume was arrested for allegedly having a link with Boko Haram Islamic sect.

But the senator had denied the allegation in his statement to the SSS after his arrest. He admitted that Ndume gave some materials he obtained from the Boko Haram sect to the Vice- President, Namadi Sambo, and SSS director-general as a member of the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North-East. “We investigated his claim by using our tradecraft. We did not have any audience with the Vice-President but we investigated “His phones were sent to experts for analysis and after the phones were ana-

lysed, we did not tell him about our findings. He was not there when the analyses were made “He (Kodunga) did not say that the accused has been assisting the sect financially. We did not find anything incriminating on Ndume when we searched his house. “We did not invite any member of the committee to verify the claim of the accused person in his statement. “Some of the materials we took from his house were laptops, GSM phones, international passport and other things,” he said.

Ineh said that he could not recall if there was a letter written to the InspectorGeneral of Police by Ndume for protection and another suggesting to the IGP on the way out of Boko Haram crisis. Another Senator from the state, Ahmed Zanna, has also been accused of “working” for the Boko Haram sect. The senator is already under investigation for his alleged link with the sect even as a Boko Haram kingpin, Shuaibu Mohammed Bama, was allegedly arrested in his house by the Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno

State last week. Senator Zanna, after the JTF accusation, had said that although Bama was his nephew, the arrest did not take place in his home, adding that he was arrested in the home of the former governor. “Since he was not arrested in my house, they should go and investigate his relationship with those they were arrested,” he said. There has been accusation and counter- accusation between Senator Zanna and the former governor of the state, Ali Modu Sheriff. Sheriff had described Zanna as a “drowning man”

who must be fully investigated. “Senator Zanna’s inconsistencies in trying to defend himself appeared to be a clear indication of a sinking man’s desperate attempt to hang himself on anything available to save his neck. If not so, what would his nephew be doing in the so-called house of Senator Ali Sheriff, the man he said was his political rival?” The ex-governor said Senator Zanna had “obvious involvement with Boko Haram, given his past antecedent where people finger him as illegal importer of arms via his Hajj-by-road fame.”

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Good Health Why you should not skip breakfast SAM EFERARO

ou are not being fair to your body and health if you insist on not taking breakfast before setting out for the day’s work. Contrary to the belief in some quarters that breakfast may not be necessary, especially for those watching their weight, a nutritionists say breakfast would actually be the most important meal of the day. This view was supported by the American Dietetic Association. In a policy statement, the association says children who eat breakfast perform better in the classroom and on the playground, with better concentration, problem-solving skills, and eye-hand coordination. Many studies have also shown that eating a healthy breakfast helps give an individual • A more nutritionally complete diet, higher in nutrients, vitamins and minerals • Improved concentration and performance in the classroom or the boardroom • More strength and endurance to engage in physical activity • Lower cholesterol levels “You are breaking a fast, as the name implies, “says a nutritionist. “You’ve just come out of a fasting period of about eight hours so, you need to put something in your tummy so that the alimentary canal will have something to work on. It is very necessary, “she said. Many studies, in both adults and children, have shown that breakfast eaters tend to weigh less than breakfast skippers. Why? One theory suggests that eating a healthy breakfast can reduce hunger throughout the day, and help people make better food choices at other meals. While it might seem you could save calories by skipping breakfast, this is not an effective strategy. Typically, hunger gets the best of breakfast-skippers, and they eat more at lunch and throughout the day. Another theory behind the breakfastweight control link implies that eating

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW

oint research between the University of Michigan and the Argentina-based National Council of Science and Technology (CONICET) has shed light on one of the most frustrating mysteries of weight loss -- why the weight inevitably comes back. A novel animal model showed that the longer mice remained overweight, the more “irreversible” obesity became, according to the new study that appeared online ahead of print Oct.24 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Over time, the static, obese state of the mice reset the “normal,” body weight set point to become permanently elevated, despite dieting that initially worked to shed pounds, authors say.

GOOD BREAKFAST: Akara and pap

YOU NEED SOMETHING LIGHT FOR BREAKFAST THOUGH THIS COULD BE DETERMINED BY YOUR ACTIVITIES FOR THE DAY breakfast is part of a healthy lifestyle that includes making wise food choices and balancing calories with exercise. For example, consider the successful losers followed by the American Weight Control Registry, all of whom have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off at least one year. Some 80% of the people in the Registry regularly eat breakfast (and also follow a calorie-controlled, low-fat diet). A study of 4,326 children, aged 10-16, in England reported in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that children who miss morning meal are much more likely to develop chronic disease in adult-

hood . According to the report, 26.6% of boys and 38.6% of girls in the study skipped breakfast some or all of the time. “We found that children who skip breakfast either occasionally or routinely are less fit, less active and more likely to be overweight or obese than those who always eat breakfast,” said lead author Dr Gavin Sandercock, a lecturer in clinical physiology at the University of Essex. According to the American Dietetic Association, when an individual fails to eat breakfast, the hydrochloric acid in his

Is obesity irreversible?

“Our model demonstrates that obesity is in part a self-perpetuating disorder and the results further emphasize the importance of early intervention in childhood to try to prevent the condition whose effects can last a lifetime,” says senior author Malcolm J. Low, M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular and integrative physiology and internal medicine. “Our new animal model will be useful in pinpointing the reasons why most adults find it exceedingly difficult to maintain meaningful weight loss from dieting and exercise alone.” The lead author of the study

was Viviana F. Bumaschny, M.D., assistant investigator of CONICET. Obesity affects more than 500 million adults and 43 million children younger than age 5, while related illnesses are the leading preventable cause of death. Individuals who are overweight have a much higher risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. One of the major strengths of the research was a new model of obesity-programmed mice that allowed weight loss success to be tracked at differ-

ent stages and ages by flipping a genetic switch that controls hunger. Turning on the switch right after weaning prevented the mice from overeating and ever becoming obese. Similarly, mice that remained at a healthy weight into young adulthood by strict dieting alone were able to maintain normal weight without dieting after turning on the switch. However, chronically overfed mice with the earliest onset of obesity never completely returned to normal weight after flipping the switch, despite marked reduction in food intake and increased activity.

stomach will want to work on something in the tummy and if it starts to work on the person’s intestinal walls, instead of food , it could result in some health problem or ailments such as ulcer. Nigerian nutritionists recommend that Nigerians should make use of legumes which are in abundant in the country as a major source of their breakfast. “Öur people don’t appreciate legumes and cereals, cowpeas, beans and so on. From these, you can make your pap akara and moimoin which i can tell you is a good combination. Take this with any fruit in season and a glass of water and you have yourself a good breakfast. “You need something light for breakfast though this could be determined by your activities for the day. In other words, there may not be anything wrong with people who are involved in heavy manual work eating heavy food like eba or amala, if well combined. “The most important thing is that we need to know what we are eating. Adolescents, for instance, need well nourished foods to become healthy adults as families must choose foods for this gopup carefully,”said the nutritionist who pleaded anonimity. The exzperts also recommend that children should eat light breakfast. Children from six months should be given cereals and, if the parents can afford them, eggs. According to them, breakfast, like every other meal of the day, must be combined from the four nutritional groups – carbiohydrates, protein, fats and vitamins. For pregnant women, experts recommend they should eat normally. They are also allowed to eat a little extra and should go for quality more than the quantity. Take it from the experts: Make your breakfast rich and nutritious. You don’t need foreign foods to achieve this. Nigerian foods could actually be the best if you combine them well.! So are you still thinking of starting the day on an empty stomach?

PhotoNews

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun (right) exchanging documents with his Lagos State counterpart, Babatunde Fashola, at the Joint Meeting of Lagos and Ogun State Governments in Abeokuta, yesterday.

L-R: Assistant Parish Priest, Saint Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba, Rev. Father Charles Onwordi; National Elder, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Elder Felix Ohiwerei and Senior Secretary, Diocese of Lagos, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Ven. Sam Isemede, at the International Foundation for Christian Unity Annual Symposium/Unity Forum in Lagos, yesterday.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Deputy Secretary, Nigerian Medical Association, Kaduna State chapter, Dr. Muhammed Khalilu (left) and Chairman, Dr. Aliyu Bappa, at a news conference on 2012 Annual Physicians’ Week in Kaduna, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Former Deputy Inspector General of Police; Sir. Femi Osoba; Vicar of the church, Ven. Adeyemi; Dean of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Adebola Ademowo and Lady Yewande Osoba, during the Confirmation Service of new members at St. David Church, Lafiaji, Lagos, recently.

National News

Flood: Jonathan ends tour, Sambo takes over FG to release funds next week to tackle crisis

ROTIMI FADEYI MAKURDI

resident Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday in Benue State, rounded off his tour of flood ravaged states, promising to immediately release funds next week to both the Ministries of Agriculture and Health to commence work on massive food production and tackle health challenges related to the disaster. Speaking when he visited the camp of flood victims at the NKST Primary School, Wadata in Makurdi, Jonathan said that Vice President, Namadi Sambo would soon commence tour of the other flood ravaged states. Jonathan had earlier visited Kogi, Bayelsa, Adamawa Taraba, Anambra, and Benue states. He said: “Today will be the last day I will formally visit a state in regards to this flood because after today the Vice President will go round and visit the remaining states.”

President Jonathan said funds would be released to both the ministries of Agriculture and Health, noting that the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has already submitted his estimate. “I am here to reassure you that next week, I will release money to the minister of agriculture, who has since sent in his estimate on how to get you improved seedlings and all what you need to plant. “One of the greatest problems facing Nigerian agriculture is that some of the seeds we plant don’t grow fast and the yield is poor. “I told the minister of agriculture that now that flood has disturbed our people, let us turn this calamity into a blessing for them, so that those who are farmers should be given seedling, cuttings and whatever is used for planting a particular crop, so that as they go back to plant, what they will produce will be five times what they used to before and that will help them.

“I will also release money to the Minister of Health, so that he will procure some essential drugs, because we expect that there will be water borne diseases that will generally come up when the flood recedes like diarrhea, cholera and others. “So, we are working with the states to cushion the effect,” Jonathan said.

He said that the Federal Government was committed to the welfare of the people, especially after they must have returned to their houses. He assured the victims that even those who were affected, but not in the camps, will be recognised by the system. He said the commitment of the government was to ensure that if flooding ever occurs in the country again,

Nigerians should not suffer from the effect, saying that the only way to do that is to build more dams. The President, who visited the Kashimbila dam in Taraba State in an helicopter from Markurdi promised that the facility would be completed next year. Speaking earlier, Governor Gabriel Suswan said the magnitude of the flood informed the decision by the state government to es-

Turkish expatriate kidnapped in Rivers CHINEDUM EMEANA PORT HARCOURT

Turkish expatriate, Mr. Baran Karakus was yesterday, abducted by gunmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Karakus, who was abducted along the Nkoro axis, is an employee of Rivigo JV Nigeria Limited, the construction company working on the Ogoni-Opobo-Andoni Unity Road. The road has been identified as key to unlocking the economic potential of the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro

area during the recent summit convened by Dakuku Peterside, representative of the area in the state House of Assembly. The abduction is likely to stall work on the project, which has spanned several administrations. National Mirror learnt that Karakus, a supervisor with the construction firm, was in a Hilux van when four gunmen riding in a Mercedes Benz 190 accosted his vehicle at about 8.30am and whisked him away in a commando style. The state Police Spokes-

man, Mr. Ben Ugwuegbulam, who confirmed the incident, explained that the victim was kidnapped while on duty along OpoboAndoni Unity Road. However, he said the police will do everything necessary to ensure the hoodlums release their captive, while urging the other Rivigo construction workers to go about their duties without fear. Meanwhile, the chairmen of Opobo/Nkoro and Andoni Local Government Areas of the state have condemned the kidnapping, de-

tablish three camps. Suswan stated that the camps presently accommodate 4, 378 men, 6, 378 females, 9, 300 children, 348 infants, 341 pregnant women, eight physically-challenged and 18 new born babies. According to him, each of the camps is managed by professionals to take care of the food and nutrition needs, as well as physical, psychological and emotional issues.

scribing the perpetrators as enemies of progress, who are working against the development of the area. They also assured that all security apparatus will be activated to ensure early release of the abducted Turk. In a joint statement, both chairmen said: “As much as we condemn the barbaric act, more security will be put in place to fish out the hooligans behind the kidnap while concerted efforts will be made to release Mr. Karakus as quickly as possible.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Nigeria loses billions of dollars in cut price oil deals –Report CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ping more than two million barrels per day, bpd, and the world’s ninth biggest gas reserves and one of largest Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, export terminals. The report provides new details on Nigeria’s long history of corruption in the oil sector, which has enriched its elite and provided the oil majors with hefty profits while two-thirds of the people live in poverty. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani AlisonMadueke, told Reuters on Tuesday she had received the report last month but that it was a draft and the government was still supposed to give input. The one seen by Reuters was labelled “Final Report.” The report concluded that oil majors – Shell, Total and Eni – made bumper profits from cut-price gas, while Nigerian oil ministers handed out licences at their own discretion. This, while not illegal, did not follow best practice of using open bids. Hundreds of millions of dollars in signature bonuses on those deals were also missing, it said. “We have not seen this report and are, therefore, unable to comment on the content, but we will study it if and when it is published,” a Shell spokesman said. The report alleges international oil traders sometimes buy crude without any formal contracts, and the state oil firm had shortchanged the Nigerian treasury billions over the last 10 years by selling crude oil and gas to itself below market rates. There was no suggestion that the oil majors or traders had done anything illegal, but the report highlighted a lack of transparency in their dealings in a nation rife with graft. “It is a draft,” AlisonMadueke said. “There will be some areas where the government ... may have a slightly different opinion ... (and) will put its point of view to the committee.” The minister said she expects the final report to be with President Goodluck Jonathan within two weeks. Ribadu’s probe was among several set up following a week of nationwide strikes against a rise in fuel prices in January, which morphed into a campaign

against oil corruption. Billions of dollars of revenue was missing in unpaid debts from signature bonuses and royalties, the report found. Nigeria LNG, a company jointly owned by the NNPC, Shell, Total and Eni had paid the country for gas at cut-down prices before exporting it to international markets, the report said. Total and Eni declined to comment because they invest in but do not operate Nigeria LNG, the role played by Shell. “The estimated cumulative of the deficit between value obtainable on the international market and what is currently being obtained from NLNG, over the 10-year period, amounts to approximately $29bn,” the report said. It also said foreign oil firms had outstanding debts. Addax, now a unit of China’s state-owned Sinopec, owes Nigeria $1.5bn in unpaid royalties, part of a $3bn black hole of unpaid bonuses and royalties owed by oil firms. Addax did not respond to requests for comment, but the report noted it disputes owing the signature bonuses. Shell owes Nigeria’s government N137.57bn ($874m) for gas sold from its Bonga deep offshore field, the report said, while oil majors owed $58m between them for gas flaring penalties. They were also not adhering to newer higher fines. The probe also said Nigeria was the only nation to sell all its crude through international oil traders rather than directly to refineries, adding that such trades were often opaque. It said some international oil traders who were not “on the approved master list of customers” had been sold crude oil “without a formal contract” so little could be obtained about the details of these deals, which can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. “This logically will serve to reduce margins obtainable on sale of crude oil,” the report said. But Alison-Madueke disputed this, saying there are no informal contracts and there is “an official tender put out every year”, which can be seen by the public in newspapers.

The state oil firm gets an allocation of 445,000 bpd of crude oil to refine locally but it has been selling itself this oil at cut-down prices, a practice which cost Nigeria $5bn in potential revenue between 2002 and 2011, the report said. “NNPC buys at international rates,” Alison-Madueke retorted. The report said the NNPC made N86.6bn over

the 10-year period by using overly generous exchange rates in its declarations to the government. There was no sign of the money. Nigerian oil ministers between 2008 and 2011 handed out seven discretionary licenses but there is $183m in signature bonuses missing from the deals, the report said. Three of these oil licenses were awarded since Alison-Madueke took

up her position in 2010, according to the report. “I have not given any discretionary awards during this administration,” Alison-Madueke told Reuters, although she added that the president had the right to do so instead of using bids if he saw fit. “That is entirely up to him,” she said. Among the report’s recommendations were that parts of NNPC be reorgan-

ised or scrapped, an independent review of the use of traders be set up and a transparency law be passed requiring oil companies to disclose all payments made to Nigeria. U.S. regulators put new rules in place in August that will require U.S.-listed oil and gas companies to disclose payments they make to foreign governments like Nigeria.

L-R: Ministers: Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina (Agriculture); Mrs. Zainab Kuchi (Minister of State for Niger Delta); Mr. Mark Onolememen (Works) and Mr. Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs), during the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, yesterday.

Eid-el-Kabir: Security beefed up nationwide CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

appealed to the people to conduct themselves during the festivity. Idris, however, warned that the command would not tolerate any unruly behaviour or conduct capable of undermining “the relative peace the state has enjoyed for some time now.” He highlighted some of

the decisions to include: persons coming to the mosque on Sallah day shall remain there until the close of worship/ prayers while loitering around mosque during Sallah worship is highly prohibited. He warned further that worshipers should not be allowed into the mosque with bags, parcels or

and containers that may contain weapons. The police boss added that any strange objects in and around the mosque should be promptly reported to security agents nearest to them. Idris admonished Muslim clerics/preachers to avoid inciting commence or sermons during the period of

the celebration while suspicious movement should also be reported to the police/ security agents. “Vehicles and motorcycles must be parked at a safe distance from places of worship, while abandoned once should also be reported to Police/Security Agents,’” he said.

Potiskum residents flee en masse I n spite of the assurances by the Joint Task Force, JTF, to bring additional troops to beef up security in Potiskum, Yobe State, residents have continued to flee the town en mass. The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that residents are fleeing the commercial town to other states and local governments, following series of explosions and gun attacks, in which no fewer than 13 people have been killed. Mr. Yusuf Badejo, a resident of the town told NAN

that he was moving his family to Badejo Village for fear of molestation by security agents, conducting house-to-house search. Another resident and staff of the Federal College of Education, who did not want his name mentioned, said he was relocating to a neighbouring state for safety. “As I am talking to you now, I am moving my family to another state, until when the situation improves. “We are afraid of what could likely follow the search by the security men

and possible clash with the gunmen. “The Muslim community is just about celebrating sallah and it calls for peace but the situation in Potiskum as at now is not conducive for the celebration,” he stated. Another resident, Mallam Mahmud Yahaya, said he had relocated his family to his village in Nangere Local Government Area. “I only stayed back to look after our belongings because hoodlums may take advantage of our absence to break into the house,” he said.

The spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Eli Lazarus, in a recent statement assured the people that more troops would be deployed to provide security in the area. He confirmed that 13 people were killed during last week’s attack, but made no mention of the casualty suffered by the JTF. It would be recalled that the state government on Monday imposed a curfew on Potiskum, restricting movement from 4.00pm. to 7.00am to check insecurity in the area.

News

ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday threw out the suit brought by Indigenes of Bakassi in Cross River State seeking an order voiding the Green Tree Agreement, GTA, which Nigeria signed with Cameroun in 2006. The GTA officially marked the ceding of the oil rich peninsula to Cameroun by Nigeria, giving effect to the 2002 judgement of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, declaring the former as the lawful owner of Bakassi. The applicants had, in a

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Bakassi: Court strikes out suit to invalidate GTA motion ex-parte moved by their counsel, Festus Ogwuche, sought an order of mandamus compelling the Federal Government to, by any means available to it, repossess, occupy and take full legal and administrative control of the Bakassi Peninsula. Delivering ruling on the motion ex-parte, Justice Gabriel Kolawole held that having gone through all what the applicants were seeking; they were more of political considerations. He added that it was clear that the applicants’ counsel had a misconcep-

tion of what he was pleading for. The judge said the grounds stated by the applicants were not that of public administration but of politics. Kolawole also held that the ex-parte application brought by the applicants was not supported by any affidavit and this made the application incompetent. The judge ruled that the reliefs pleaded in the application bordered more on political doctrine rather than those of public policy, adding that the sacred power of the judiciary would not

be drawn into the political arena. He said: “Applicants’ motion ex-parte is incompetent because issues brought are political which this court does not have jurisdiction to entertain. “The application is hereby struck out for lack of jurisdiction.” The applicants had brought their motion pursuant to Section 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act Cap 10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990, as well as Order 34 Rules 1(a),

3(1) and (2) of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2007. The suit was endorsed by nine executives of Free Bakassi Association, Prince Imoh Ukpa Imoh, Mr. Godwin Ukpong, Mr. Chritian A. Umoh, Mr. Anthony Achibong Ukong, Mr. Kingsley Edu, Mr. Etim Ekpeyong Ndong, Mr. Offiong Anying Ekpeyong, Bassey Okon Osua and Bassey Ikoedem Antiga. They also sought leave for an order of mandamus, compelling the Federal Government, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the Federation, who were all joined as respondents in the suit, to “unilaterally resile from, withdraw, rescind, repudiate and/or revoke Nigeria’s obligations under the Green Tree Agreement entered into between Nigeria and Cameroun in Green

Tree, New York, USA on the 12th day of June 2006, for its being invalid and in breach of Articles 1, 2, 20, 21, 22 and 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 1(2) of the UN Charter, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous peoples, and being inconsistent with sections 1-3, 2(1) and (6), 13, 14(1) and (2) (b), 17(1), (2)(b), (c ) and (d), sections 19(a) and 9d0, 21(a) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).” The applicants argued that the ICJ gave its judgment on the protracted dispute over ownership of the oil rich Bakassi Peninsula, based “on archaic and anachronistic colonial declarations, and communications between colonial officers.”

UN praises Nigeria’s GDP growth rate GEORGE OJI ABUJA

T L-R: National Publicity Secretary, Transition Monitoring Group, Mr. Eddy Ezurike; member, Mr. Aaron Jacob and Acting National Coordinator, Mr. Olusola Babalola, at a press conference on the conduct and outcome of Ondo State gubernatorial election in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

Women’ll get 60% of N220bn micro credit fund –Sanusi TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

ixty per cent of the yet-to-be-launched N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, MSMEDF, will be committed to providing long term credit at single digit interest rate for women in micro and agro-based businesses. The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, disclosed this yesterday at an interactive session between journalists and the United Nations Special Envoy on Financial Inclusion, Princess Maxima of Netherlands. This strategy, according to Sanusi, is among other policy strategies being pursued to give women, who constitute the largest group in micro and agro-based businesses, access to funds and improve their banking culture in line with the

current drive for improved financial inclusion of millions of the unbanked and under-served Nigerians in the rural communities. He described the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, NFIS, which was launched on Tuesday by President Goodluck Jonathan, as one of the major steps taken by the country to tackle the problems of poor access to banking services and to reduce the high cost associated with accessing funds from the banking industry. Sanusi said the N220bn MSMEDF was currently at the stage where all stakeholders were looking at it and were giving their own input into the structure. He said: “The Fund that we were supposed to launch yesterday, but which we hope to launch hopefully before the end of the year, specifically provides for about 60 per cent of the amount to be target-

ed at businesses owned and managed by women. The objective is to help them get long term funding at single digit interest rate. So, there are specific incentives there for the women. “The N220bn Fund will involve the Central Bank and other government ministries. Right now, we are at the stage where all stakeholders are looking at it and giving their own input into the structure. “We will take it at the economic management implementation team and have the buy-in of all parties, then go ahead and launch it.” Reacting to media enquiries on what could hamper the financial inclusion strategy based on her findings over the past two days, Maxima described the challenges facing the achievement of financial inclusion in the country as enormous, emphasising the need for all stakehold-

ers to collaborate to ensure the success of the strategy. She listed some of the key challenges of the financial inclusion strategy to include reducing the cost of financing, which means having better access to finance by micro-finance institutions; setting up a collateral registry for mobile phone access, that would actually improve access to finance for small and medium-scale enterprises; as well as unifying or at least having a common credit bureau that would lower the cost of checking the credit history of the potential people asking for loans. The UN envoy also identified the problems of credible customer identification database and likely constraints of interoperability of mobile telecom services as hurdles capable of hindering the financially excluded people from accessing banking services.

he United Nations (UN) has commended Nigeria over the persistent growth rate of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in the past decade. The UN noted that Nigeria ranks among the fastest growing economies of the world in the past one decade as evident in an average annual GDP growth rate of 7 per cent. The UN Resident Coordinator/United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Tour, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday at an event to mark the 67th anniversary of the world body. He, however, said the challenge before the Federal Government was to translate the growth into positive impact on the lives of all citizens, with better social services, more equity in revenue distribution and employment, particularly for the younger generation and women. The event, which took place at the UN House, Abuja, had the theme, “Peace: A Prerequisite for National Development.” It was attended by top government officials, including the representatives of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, and the Federal Capital Ter-

ritory, FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, diplomatic and development community, as well as civil society and UN staff in Nigeria. Speaking on behalf of the Federal Government, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, represented by the Director of International Organisations, Ambassador Abdullahi Omaki, said: “Nigeria will continue to work closely with the UN to promote peace and stability in the world with particular attention to the West African sub-region and to tackle the rising waves of Small arms and light weapons, piracy as well as terrorist activities in the sub-region.” Commending the UN for its efforts, he said: “Nigeria remains resolute in her belief that the United Nations System should be reformed to make it more efficient, representative of all the segments of the world and urges that the process should be timely concluded.” In his remarks, the Minister of National Planning, represented by the Secretary to the Commission, Mr. Ntufam Fedelis Ugbo, said the UN deserved commendation by all despite of its imperfections. He said: “We must not relent in our efforts to save succeeding generations from the scourges of war.” The minister acknowledged UN’s assistance to Nigeria so far, especially its help with the flood crisis in the country.

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News

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Traffic Law: Court orders accelerated hearing in Okada riders’ suit K AYODE KETEFE

n Ikeja High Court presided over by Justice Aishat Opesanwo yesterday granted accelerated hearing into the suit filed by some commercial motorcycle operators against banning their operations in some federal highways by the Lagos State government. The suit brought on behalf of the Okada opera-

tors and owners by the “Incorporated Trustees of All Nigerian Autobike Commercial Owners and Workers Association” is asking for a declaration, among others, that the new Lagos Traffic Law 2012 is unconstitutional. The defendants in the suit are the Lagos State Government, the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of Lagos State. At the proceedings yes-

terday, the court granted the accelerated hearing of the case to enable it conclude the substantive matter on time, but Justice Opesanwo dismissed an interlocutory application filed by the claimants which had prayed the court to restrain the government from implementing the new Lagos State Traffic Law. It was the counsel to the claimants, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, who applied for the accelerated hearing of the

matter. Aturu told the court that he was withdrawing his clients’ interlocutory application to pave the way for the substantive prayers before the court. He said:” There is a need for us to withdraw our interlocutory application so that the court can hear the substantive suit in an accelerated manner. “We believe that there is a need for the court to urgently deal with this matter because it is in the inter-

est of the generality of the populace. “Many of them have been suffering from this draconian action of the government to restrict the motorcyclists from operating in federal high ways. “We are therefore asking the court to strike out the application and grant us an accelerated hearing of the substantive suit” But counsel to the Lagos State Government, Mr. Ade Ipaye, refrained from

giving definite undertaking that law enforcement agencies would not stop enforcing the law. Ipaye said: “The defendants in the suit are the Lagos State Government, the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of Lagos State. “The law enforcement agencies are not parties to this action and we cannot tell this honourable court that they will not do their duty in enforcing the law”

FG plans pharmaco-vigilance policy ROTIMI FADEYI

Commercial motorcyclists protesting at the court over the Lagos State Traffic Law, yesterday.

Pope appoints Onaiyekan Cardinal-elect

ope Benedict XVI yesterday in Rome, Italy, announced the appointment of Archbishop John Onaiyekan of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja as a Cardinal-elect. Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Oyo Diocese and Chairman, Social Communications Committee, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, (CBCN) confirmed the appointment in an e-mail sent to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. Badejo, who is currently attending a conference alongside other bishops and lay faithful in Rome, said that the Pope would formally inaugurate the new cardinals-elect on November 24 in Rome. He disclosed that five other Cardinals were appointment, including Archbishop James Michael Harvey, Prefect of the Pontifical Household; His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites (Lebanon).

Others are His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars (India); Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez, Archbishop of Bogotá (Colombia); and Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila (Philippines). NAN reports that Cardinals have the task of helping the Pope who is usually Apostle Peter’s successor carry out his mission. NAN also recalls that it is from the College of Cardinals that a new Pope is usually elected after the death of the incumbent. Cardinals below the age of 80 are eligible to vote and be voted for during the election of a new pope. NAN reports that before now, the Catholic Church in Nigeria had produced three Cardinals including, the late Dominic Cardinal Ekandem, Francis Cardinal Arinze and Anthony Cardinal Okogie. Both Arinze and Okogie

had resigned after they had attained 75 years, the age set for cardinals, archbishops and bishops to retire from their pastoral care, as head of their dioceses. It would also be recalled that the two Cardinals were appointment by late Pope John Paul II. While Arinze was appointed in April, 1985, Okogie, on his part was appointed in Oct. 2003. Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated Bishop Onaiyekan on his elevation. Jonathan believed that Onaiyekan’s elevation to the highest echelon of the Catholic Church by the Pope clearly showed that the exemplary diligence, dedication and commitment with which he has gone about his labours in the Lord’s vineyard since his ordination in 1969 has been recognised and appreciated. In a statement issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Pu-

bicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President noted that with Onaiyekan’s elevation, Nigeria now has three members of the most eminent and distinguished College of Catholic Cardinals.

he Federal Government has planned to ensure proper management of adverse drug reactions in the country with the approval of the Nigeria National Pharmaco-Vigilance Policy. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its weekly meeting yesterday also directed the Nigerian Essential Drugs List and Natural Drug Formulary Committee, a department under the Federal Ministry of Health, to look into the possibility of banning rophynol in the country. Rophynol was the medicine alleged to have used to drug Cynthia Okosugo in Lagos after which she was raped and murdered by her social media friends who are now standing trial at a Lagos court. Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting presided over by Vice-

President Namadi Sambo, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said there was the need for documentation of adverse drug reaction reports and follow-ups as well as further research into such findings. Chukwu explained that the issues of people reacting to particular drugs and even dying from the incidents were often not taken very seriously. He said that the policy would boost ongoing efforts of the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) at devising ways of detecting fake drugs by the public through telephones, as well as reporting adverse drug reactions. According to him, FEC endorsed the policy following an earlier approval by the National Council on Health, the highest policy formulation body in the health sector last July at its 55th meeting in Abuja.

Sallah: FRSC moves to prevent avoidable crashes OLUSEGUN KOIKI

he Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has begun a nationwide special patrol tagged: “Operation Barka da Sallah 2012.” The essence of the patrol is to ensure sanity on the highways during this year’s Eid-elkabir celebration. This exercise, which is in line with the FRSC’s renewed drive to reduce the spate of crashes in the country, was designed to address the perennial rise in the violation of traffic regulations, especially during festive season.

An online statement signed by the FRSC Deputy, Public Education, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, stated that the intensive special patrol was aimed at addressing the spate of avoidable road crashes usually associated with surge of human and vehicular traffic during festive period. Kazeem said the exercise would witness intensive patrols, prompt rescue services, strict enforcement of traffic rules and robust public enlightenment campaigns. He said that details of the special exercise included the removal of obstructions from the highways, distribution

of safety handbills and other forms of awareness campaign. The statement reads: “As usual, the FRSC has embarked on a massive deployment of personnel, patrol vehicles, motor bikes, tow trucks and ambulances along designated corridors and black spots such as Yangoji, Lokoja, Lagos, Benin, Ore, Akwanga, Jos, Mokwa, Bida, Potiskum, Talata Mafara, Bauchi, Lafia, Makurdi, 9th Mile and Kano in addition to the establishment of mobile courts at specific locations across the country for quick dispensation with road traffic offences.”

South West

Thursday, October 25, 2012

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Amosun, Fashola agree on residents’ tax FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

gun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun and his Lagos State counterpart, Raji Fashola, yesterday agreed that the residency rule should be applied in resolving the issue of taxation as it affects residents in each state who work in

the other state. At a joint meeting held at the Government House, Oke-Igbein, Abeokuta, the state capital, which also had in attendance other top officials of the two states, the governors said the basis for personal income tax payment was the residency rule which, according to them, stipulates that taxes should be

paid to the state where the taxpayer resides. A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting disclosed that the governors also confirmed the report of the Joint Boundary Committee of the two states to resolve the lingering boundary disputes between Lagos and Ogun states which have often led to multiple taxations of the residents in 15

border areas. The two states also agreed that the status quo should be maintained pending the determination by the National Boundary Commission, NBC, on the affected areas. Notable among the affected border areas are: Iragbo, Agbara, Isheri, Ojodu, Agbado, and Alagbole-Akute/Ajuwon areas.

However, on land matters, Amosun allocated 500 hectares of land for agriculture to the Lagos State Government according to Fashola’s request. Amosun also presented the letter of allocation in respect of the 500 hectares situated at Eggua in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State to Fashola.

The Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in respect of Iju Water Works was also handed over to the Lagos State governor, while reconnaissance of Adiyan Water Works land area was said to be ongoing. The governors, however, re-affirmed their commitment to the regional integration project of the South-West.

Ogun PDP inaugurates disciplinary committee FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

he Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday inaugurated a seven-man disciplinary committee to bring about unity within the party. The committee was mandated to investigate and recommend disciplinary actions against any of the party members who infringes on its constitution. Inaugurating the committee at the party secretariat on IBB Boulevard in Abeokuta, the state PDP Chairman, Dipo Odujinrin, said the committee was put in place to ensure strict enforcement of discipline in the party. Odujirin assured members of the committee of the full backing of the party’s constitution in the discharge of their assignment. He charged members of the committee to exercise their authority without fear, favour or ill-will, warning that disciplinary committee was a delicate position that might tarnish their reputation if abused. Speaking after taking oath of office, the committee Chairman, Chief Okanlawon Soboye, assured the party that his committee would do a thorough and just job. He said his members would not be intimidated by the big names that might come under the hammer of his committee, saying that everybody was equal before the law. Members of the committee are Otunba Sthen Ogunloya, Alhaja Azeezat Soaga, Alhaji Mutiu

Ogunjimi, Mr. Olanrewaju Ojo, Mr. Adekunle Amosun and Prince Segun Aderibigbe, who is the scribe of the committee. With the committee’s inauguration, the party may begin a clampdown on those who still feel aggrieved and have not complied with the directive to re-register at their wards. In this category is the Kashamu Buruji-backed Bayo Dayo group, which still parades itself as the authentic PDP executive committee in Ogun State. The state PDP had directed all its aggrieved members to express themselves through the Reconciliation Committee which submitted its report last week. The party had also directed the ex-members to abide by the directive of the National Working Committee, NWC, which gave a 30-day ultimatum for them to reconcile with the party through their wards. It was, however, learnt that the Dayo group has not complied with the NWC’s directive.

L-R: Wives of the police officers killed by armed robbers in Ogun State recently, Ena Josiah, Chinyere Ugwu and Grace Adeojo, at the presentation of N500,000 each for the burial of the policemen in Abeokuta, yesterday.

God made Ondo election peaceful –Adeboye RICHARD EGHAGHE

he General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has expressed gratitude to God for the peaceful conduct of the Ondo State governorship election, describing it as

a product of believers’ prayers and supplications. Adeboye, who spoke through his Special Assistant in charge of Administration and Personnel, Pastor J. F. Odesola, also congratulated both the winner and losers of the election for displaying true spirit of sportsmanship before and after the poll.

He said: “Contrary to some evil forecasts on the election, God took absolute control. “Members of the church engaged in fervent prayer and supplication to the Almighty God that there must not be bloodshed in the Ondo State election, and God in His infinite mercies, heard our prayers.” The cleric commended

all the contestants in the election won by Governor Olusegun Mimiko, “for displaying brotherly love and approach to the fierce contest.” Adeboye, therefore, urged politicians in the country to draw closer to God “as He alone can enthrone the true leader and ensure peace, progress and prosperity.”

Court adjourns Ikuforiji’s trial to November 6 K AYODE KETEFE

he trial of the Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, and his aide, Oyebode Atoyebi, for alleged money laundering began yesterday before Justice Okechukwu Okeke of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had on March 1 arraigned Ikuforiji and his Personal Assistant, Atoyebi, on an amended

20-count charge. The commission alleged that Ikuforiji and his aide committed money laundering by accepting cash payments from the Assembly to the tune of N501 million without going through a financial institution. The Speaker had, however, urged the court to dismiss the charge on the grounds that he neither stole nor embezzled any money, but used the allegedly “laundered” funds for official government transactions. Both the Speaker and his aide pleaded not guilty

to each of the 20 counts. At the proceedings yesterday, the EFCC commenced the trial by calling its first witness, an Investigating Police Officer from its Abuja office, Mr. Adebayo Adeniji, who said he was part of a team that investigated a petition sent to the commission which led to the filing of the case. Adeniji, through whom the commission’s counsel, Mr. Godwin Obla, tendered 19 statements, said: “Sometimes in June 2011, a petition was sent to the EFCC Abuja office against

the first and second accused persons. The petition was assigned to my team for investigation. We are four in the team. “Our team carried out investigation by demanding documents relating to the alleged transaction from the Clerk of the Lagos State House of Assembly. “The documents we got included cash release registers, payment vouchers, minutes relating to payment and payment confirmation slips.” The judge admitted the 19 statements after Ikuforiji and Atoyebi’s law-

yers, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo SAN and Mr. Adindu Ugwuzor, said they had no objection to their admission by the court. Obla subsequently applied to the court for a short adjournment to enable him carry out proper pagination of the cash flow document. After hearing Oyetibo and Ugwuzor, who expressed no objection to the application, the court adjourned the matter till November 6. The matter will continue for four consecutive days - November 6 to 9.

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Nigerians spend N400bn annually in foreign varsities –VC ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

Vice-Chancellor of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof Chinedu Nebo, said yesterday that affluent Nigerians spend over N400 billion on themselves and their children annually in foreign universities and expect free education back home. Prof. Nebo, who beliefs that the situation had left the nation’s universities under-funded, said: “Anybody that wants free education in tertiary institutions is not at tune with reality”. The Vice-chancellor told journalists yesterday in Oye-Ekiti that inadequate funding had left the nation’s universities “illequipped, ill-staffed and with inadequate facilities to produce the graduates that we need”. He expressed the determination of his university to produce graduates with robust skills in view of the school’s focus on developing the innovative tendencies of students. Nebo, however, said the management was able to convert the virgin forest to a world-class university in Oye Ekiti and as well carried out the magnitude of development at its mini campus at Ikole-Ekiti, making it possible for the institution to take off recently at its two campuses. He identified lack of accommodation for workers and the initial crisis over where the university should be sited between Ikole-Ekiti and Oye-Ekiti as the greatest impediments of the fledgling university. To address the accommodation needs of workers, Nebo said the management would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Mortgage Bank to build staff quarters. Regretting the dwindling fortunes of education in the country, the Vice-Chancellor, however, rejected the impression that Nigeria may soon experience a glut in respect of the rate at which universities are being established in the country. Nebo said an average of 1.5 million Nigerian youths sat for Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination yearly, while only 400,000 gained admission, which he said had attested to the fact that more universities needed to be established. He described the continuous denial of these youths admission for higher education as “a time bomb waiting to explode,” saying: “By analysis, over one million applicants are being denied admission yearly”.

South West

Thursday, October 25, 2012

ACN’ll soon be kicked out of South-West, says Afenifere HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE

he Pan Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, has said that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) would soon be kicked out from the SouthWest region. Afenifere said the decision to kick out ACN from the South-West is unavoidable, saying the states currently ruled by the party would be taken over by the “real progressives” This was contained in a congratulatory message sent yesterday to Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko on his victory in last Saturday’s election. The group said the outcome of the election indicated that Yoruba people were

tired on the ACN and would be ready to kick the party out at the appropriate time. The letter titled: “Afenifere salutes Mr. Governor and wishes him well” was signed by the group’s Leader and Secretary, Chief Reuben Fasoranti and Chief Seinde Arogbofa. They said Mimiko’s victory at the poll was a testimony that the South-West people were tired of political god-fatherism. The letter read: “We need to remind you that this victory, among other things, is victory over god-fatherism; a rejection of political imposition and slavery from outside the state and the people’s hope of a better deal to come. “One or two of your predecessors in office as gover-

nor of Ondo State have, one way or the other, broken the jinx of second term in office. But yours is unique and not associated with rancour or political upheaval. We appreciate God for you.” Afenifere, however, advised Mimiko to justify the confidence reposed in him by the voters by providing employment for graduates, consolidating social services to the people and the multiplication of same to those who are yet to benefit from the government development policies. The group said: “There is need for the exhibition of fair play and justice to all, and carry the banner of progressive politics into national politics, now that the eclipse of the ACN is unavoidable. “We entered into electoral

People travelling for Sallah festival at the popular Iwo Road in Ibadan, yesterday.

cooperation with you on the recently concluded election for mutual respect in all ramifications, for you to give better governance to our people, and for the creation of a forum for the emergence of a healthy third force to counter an emerging group, under the leadership of few disrespectful, snobbish, arrogant, ravaging and power thirsty politicians.” Meanwhile, members of the Labour Party (LP) in Ekiti State had congratulated Mimiko on his re-election. The LP members said they were happy that the election reflected the wishes of the people and it helped checkmate the “politics of imperialism and expansionism of the ACN.” The party said the three and half years experience in Ondo State should be a lesson to the people of Ekiti State, saying while teachers and civil servants were rejoicing in Ondo, the reverse is the case in Ekiti.

PHOTO: NAN

Ogun lifts slain policemen’s families with N7.5m

he Ogun State Government yesterday announced a cash compensation of N7.5million for families of five policemen killed by the armed robbery gang that ravaged the state at the early hours of last Monday. The families of the slain five police officers were given N500, 000 each to enable them meet up with their immediate financial needs, especially the burial of their breadwinners. The five policemen, whose names were given as Christopher Ugwu (Inspector), Josiah Ehoda (Inspector), , James Adejor (Sergeant) Nwachukwu Udoka (Sergeant) and Istefenwa Day (Corporal), were killed while on duty in Abeokuta

and Ibafo. Presenting the cash donation to the widows and relatives of the fallen policemen, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, said that the cash compensation was meant to ease whatever hitch the families might come across while burying

the slain policemen. Adeoluwa, who expressed sadness over the incident, added that the state government would give additional N1million each to the next of kin of the deceased after the burial. He said that the government had made adequate

arrangements to pay the medical bills of the two other policemen who survived the attack. Aside the monetary compensations, the SSG assured the families of the government’s supports, stressing that the slain policemen fought and died for the state.

How to tackle unemployment –SMEDAN ABIODUN NEJO

ADO EKITI

irector General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), Mr. Mohammed Nadada Umaru, has said embracing entrepreneurial development to curtail the rising wave of unemployment is a task that should be accomplished. Umaru, who urged state governments to place premium on development of the small and medium scale sector to attain sustainable development, canvassed encouragement of youths in the programme. The SMEDAN boss, represented by the agency’s Director of Strategic Planning and Policy, Mr. Olawale Fasanya, spoke yesterday during the flag-off of a fiveday small business opportunities fair training programme in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital. He described the unemployment rate among the young school leavers as appalling, saying no efforts should be spared to ensure that youths were exposed to skills acquisition and entrepreneurial programmes to engender a self-dependent economy. Umaru assured that the agency was determined to give adequate support to youths planning to set up small businesses for economic survival rather than searching for unavailable white collar jobs. Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi told participants at the event of his administration’s commitment to making the state an investors’ destination. Fayemi, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi, said the fair was organised by the SouthWest states to fast-track the industrial development of the zone and make it the nation’s economic hub.

Scarcity: Lagos advises filling stations on queue management MURITALA AYINLA

he Lagos State Government has advised filling stations on the management of queues experienced by motorists following the fuel scarcity currently ravaging the state.

The government also assured that more measures would be deployed to manage the pocket of traffic gridlock recorded in the state metropolis due to the preparation for Eidil-Kabir celebration. Speaking with journalists, the General Manager of Lagos State Traffic

Management Authority (LASTMA) Mr. Babatunde Edu, said haphazard parking by some motorists in a bid to buy fuel at fuel stations contributed to the traffic snag. Edu said: “The way the filling stations allow their customers to park on the roads also contributes

to some of the pocket of traffic gridlock on major roads. The management of those stations should be mindful of the fact that the carriage ways are not extension of their stations. So, they are warned to ensure that the queue in their station is orderly.

South East

Thursday, October 25, 2012

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I’ve no plan to dump APGA, says Obi CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

overnor Peter Obi of Anambra State yesterday denied the allegation by the National Association of Igbo Youths that he was planning to dump the party that brought him to power, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. Obi chided the associa-

tion over the allegations it made against him in an advertisement published in a Lagos-based newspaper. In the said advertisement, the National Association of Igbo Youths had accused the governor of fuelling the crisis in APGA, among other allegations. Obi, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mike Udah,

contended that from all indications, the said advertorial was a calculated attempt to malign him and paint him in bad light, as well as give the impression that he was the mastermind of the crisis in APGA. He also rejected the blame for the inability to conduct the local government elections in the state. The governor said

those trying to link the inability to conduct the council polls with the crisis in APGA were being mischievous. Obi disclosed that the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission was working towards conducting council elections. He said: “A careful perusal of the piece clearly shows where the authors are coming from. Their

false claims, unfounded allegations, faulty conclusions, and aspersions show the so-called National Association of Igbo Youths as a body lacking in objectivity, decorum and reasonableness.” The governor said it was idiotic for anyone to argue that he wanted to destroy APGA, a party he gave life and vibrancy. On the alleged plan to

dump APGA, Obi said he had never considered the idea of leaving the party, adding that he was not contemplating such thing now. “No person, whether dead or alive, loves or loved APGA more than Peter Obi does. Till date, no person, dead or alive, has fought the cause of APGA, nor supported APGA financially more than Mr. Peter Obi has done. Such a strong advocate of APGA cannot work to destroy the party,” the statement added.

Anambra demolishes kidnapper’s houses CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

Ike-Obosi, Mr. Osita Chidoka (right) paying homage to the Igwe of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka, Eze Iweka III of Obosi Kingdom, during the New Yam Festival in Anambra State, recently.

2015: PDP shops for governorship candidate in Imo CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has started to shop for a credible candidate that would wrest power from Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha in the 2015 gubernatorial election. Speaking with our correspondent in Owerri, the state capital, the state PDP Chairman, Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), said the party would field a candidate in 2015 that would respect the people and serve them in humility. He disclosed that many aspirants had already shown interest in the coveted seat. “Many among the people that have shown interest to contest the governorship election have been identified as having the qualities that the people need in a leader. “It is not that we are promising a messiah that will perform magic, but we are going to provide the people a leader that will be

humble and a worthy servant,” the chairman said. Duruiheoma criticised Okorocha’s administration which he described as directionless. He said: “You cannot point at a significant thing the governor has achieved in the state since he took over the Douglas House more than a year ago. He is disrespectful to leaders and the people.” On whether the PDP is planning to woo Okorocha back to its fold, the chair-

man said the party was not prepared for that. “But if the governor plans to return to PDP he knows how to come in and walk out of any party. This was not his first time to jump out and jump in into a political party. “Moreover, accepting him back to PDP is not a decision for one man. It will be a collective decision of the party,” he added. Duruiheoma also condemned a situation

whereby an aspirant would use a particular political party to aspire to a position only to abandon the platform that gave him mandate for another party. He disclosed that former PDP members in the state House of Assembly, who defected to the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, would lose their seats as the party was determined to pursue the matter in court to its logical conclusion.

nambra State Governor, Peter Obi, yesterday supervised the demolition of two bungalows in Ihiala linked to a suspected kidnapper, one Emeka. The buildings, which were demolished by the state government in conjunction with security agents, were located at Umuihepune, Umuatu village, Uli in Ihiala Local Government Area. Obi said the war against kidnapping and other crimes in the state must be won. The demolition followed Emeka’s arrest and the recovery of arms and ammunition hidden underground in plastic containers in his premises. Among the items recovered were one rocket grenade, three grenade propellers, two AK47 rifles, zero six rifle, 27 AK47 magazines, 170 rounds of live ammunition and nine chains used in restraining kidnap victims. The governor said the demolition was in

NEXIM calls for promotion of non-oil exports DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

orried that over 80 per cent of the country’s revenue comes from oil, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM, has embarked on an enlightenment campaign in the South-East zone to sensitise the public to the inherent gains from developing local contents for exports. NEXIM said if achieved, the exports would add value

to the country’s gross foreign exchange earnings and create jobs. The NEXIM Managing Director, Mr. Robert Orya, disclosed that the organisation had a role to play in promoting the diversification of the country’s economy through the provision of finance, risk bearing and policy support to the non-oil export sector. Orya said NEXIM had cumulatively disbursed over N73 billion in support

of over 900 export projects in the real sector, mostly small and medium scale enterprises, created/sustained over 300,00 direct jobs, in addition to many indirect jobs and generated over $1.2 billion in foreign exchange earnings for the country. He explained that the annual sensitisation programme was apt, given the country’s dependence on an oil-driven economy. Orya said the zone had strong antecedents as a ma-

jor driver of economic activities in Nigeria with huge agricultural output, producing cash crops like palm oil, rubber and cashew, in addition to its solid minerals endowments. He said: “Beside oil and gas, the region has about 25 solid minerals in commercial quantities, mostly underdeveloped and parts of the region have been identified as the tropical rainforest cluster, under the Nigerian Tourism Master Plan.”

line with his administration’s policy that any property linked to a kidnapper would be acquired by the government and demolished. He said his government would not allow anybody to benefit from proceeds of kidnap and other forms of crime. The governor also disclosed that the exercise would be sustained throughout his tenure. Obi gave an assurance that government was already winning the battle as the wave of abduction across the state had reduced drastically. He thanked the police and other security agents for their sustained efforts to rid the state of criminals and hoodlums. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, Mr. Ayole Abeh, said Emeka was a member of the gang led by Mr. Olisa Ifedike, alias Ofeakwu, who was arrested last month and whose houses had been demolished by the state government. Abeh said the suspect was arrested through the statements made by Ifedike. The demolition was witnessed by some members of the community which included Mr. Ambrose Ezekulie, Nnamdi Mbenobi and Juliana Elendu. The people commended Obi for his determination to eradicate crime in the state and assured him of their support. The first building consisted of nine rooms and a parlour, while the second one had four rooms and a parlour.

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South South

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Oil spill: Senate accuses Shell, others of negligence G EORGE O JI AND E MMANUEL O NANI

he Senate Committee on the Environment and Ecology yesterday attributed the persistent oil spills in the Niger Delta to negligence by the companies operating in the region as well as the weak environmental and regulatory standards. This claim was made by the Committee Chairman, Senator Bukola Saraki,

during an interactive session with stakeholders and Non-Governmental Organisations in Abuja. In his opening remark, Saraki said contrary to the position of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and other multinationals that 70 per cent of oil spills in Niger Delta are as a result of sabotage, statistics available to the committee indicated that negligence played a major role in the various oil spills recorded in the country. Saraki said that 50 per

cent of oil spills were largely due to corrosion of pipelines and other oil infrastructure as well as oil production operations. The Senator said the development necessitated the introduction of a bill by him to review the existing National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, (NOSDRA) Act of 2006 as the first attempt at addressing oil spill in Niger Delta. The NOSDRA Amendment Bill, Saraki said, would help in checking

“unwholesome environmental practices characterising the operations of oil prospecting companies in Nigeria.” The bill also seeks to achieve instruments that will help make it harder for pollutants to dodge their responsibility and compel them to pay compensation to individuals, families, communities who may be or are suffering from the impact of oil spills. He regretted the attitude of “spillers” to com-

pensation; a development he blamed on weak framework for compensation under the Oil Pipelines Act. Saraki said: “Oil companies tell us that 70 per cent of these spills are as a result of sabotage. But the statistics we have suggest that something very different, that 50 per cent of oil spills in Nigeria are due to corrosion of oil infrastructure, including pipelines that are over 40 to 50 years old and therefore above their live integrity value.

“Clearly, according to statistics, negligence is playing a major role in the level of oil spills we are recording in Nigeria. “As we speak, the attitude of the average spiller to compensation is that of unwarranted irritation because the extant framework for compensation for oil spillage under the Oil Pipelines Act is weak, ambiguous and ineffectual. Responsible parties for oil spills have continued to hide under this ambiguity to escape liability.”

Flood: Rivers threatens to sanction chiefs hijacking relief materials CHINEDUM EMEANA PORT HARCOURT

L-R: Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Delta State, Mr. Ben Ibakpa; Commissioner for Transport, Mr. William Akporeha; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Victor Ochie, during the commissioning of 50 buses by the governor in Asaba, yesterday.

Amaechi swears-in Augustine Ahiazu as new RSIEC boss CHINEDUM EMEANA PORT HARCOURT

ivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi has sworn-in Prof. Augustine Ahiazu as the new Chairman of the State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). Amaechi also sworein other members of the commission in a short ceremony held in Port

Harcourt yesterday. The commission members are Dr Eddy Adiele, Dame S. O. Nwachukwu, Dr. Vinolia Fubara, Ibiso Dakoru, Kennedy Tsaro Pueba and Kathryn Ngozi Ajayi. The governor mandated the commission to organise credible local government election in the state in 2014. He said: “I think, to an extent, I liken the position you hold to that of

a pastor which is sacred and you are the Altar of God. I think that the position you hold will determine the credibility of the kind of election you will organise. “Now that you have been chosen, it is between myself and my God and between you, your God and the public. Your name will either be written in the history book of Rivers State as

people who have dispassionately discharged their responsibilities or as people who some might see as those who helped to ruin the future of others.” Amaechi said he carefully chosen the members of the state electoral body to reflect the desire of his administration to organise transparent and credible local government poll.

Uduaghan advises Muslims to reflect on Nigeria’s woes

overnor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has urged Muslims to reflect on the various challenges confronting the country with a view to collaborate with the government to surmount the problems. He said that the challenges required the cooperation of all to achieve meaningful progress and development in the country. Uduaghan spoke in his

goodwill message issued yesterday in Asaba to mark this year’s Eid-ElKabi. The governor stressed the need for Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers. He said: “I call on all Muslims to use the period to reflect on the various challenges facing the nation. It takes the concerted efforts of all to achieve meaningful development in any nation.

“This season calls for forgiveness and love for one another. There is need for Nigerians to be their brothers’ keeper in spite of all odds”. He urged Muslims to imbibe the spirit of peace, sacrifice, love, piety, tolerance and mutual coexistence to underscore the significance of the festival which he noted was obedience and willingness to sacrifice to Almighty Allah.

Governor Uduaghan commended Muslims in Delta for their peaceful disposition and industry, assuring them of their adequate security of lives and property. “Let me also use this opportunity to salute the people of the state for their steadfastness and for being partners in progress, which has made this government a model in the area of service delivery,” he added.

he Rivers State Government has threatened to sanction chiefs and community leaders hijacking relief materials meant for flood victims. The state Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, who is the chairman of the state Flood Relief Committee, spoke yesterday during a media briefing on the progress made by the committee. Ikuru decried a situation whereby chiefs, community leaders and elders hijacked relief materials meant for victims for personal use. He said: “It is absurd for chiefs and leaders of some communities to bring their chieftaincy and communal problems to the camps and engage in willful, illegal and criminal diversion of relief materials meant for the flood victims. “Such acts of criminality will not be condoned henceforth, and defaulters will be made to face the full wrath of the law.” The deputy governor, however, regretted that nine persons had been lost to the flood. Ikuru said medical personnel had been mobilized to the camps to assist the victims. He identified some of the challenges confronting the committee in the various camps as indiscipline and uncooperative attitude of some of the flood victims as well as the overwhelming influx of people into the camps. Ikuru said the committee inaugurated two weeks

ago has received the cooperation of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Red Cross, and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). The deputy governor said NEMA donated 500 mattresses and 500 bags of food items to Rivers State, expressing his feeling that “what has been given to us as a state is grossly inadequate”. He noted that he N300 million promised the state by the Federal Government had not been delivered, but stressed that it is not enough to meet the rising needs of those affected. “From our assessment and the reports we are getting, there is more to be done. We still need relief materials as the water is yet to dry up, and there are more predictions that the experience of the last few weeks are not yet over as our water levels are expected to rise,” Ikuru said. He appreciated individuals and organisations that have been sending relief materials to the flood victims, but regretted that the items were not routed through the Ministry of Special Duties for proper coordination. “We have advised persons and organisations wishing to donate relief materials to the victims to pass them through the Ministry of Special Duties, but if an individual believes that the best thing for him is to take the materials personally to the people, we cannot stop him, we are in a democracy. There is a limit to what we can do.”

North

Thursday, October 25, 2012

We are committed to root out terrorists –Army A ZA MSUE KADUNA

he General Officer Commanding 1 Mechanised Division of Nigeria Army, Maj-Gen. Garba Wahab, yesterday said the raid on terrorists hideouts would continue, to ensure the security of lives and property of the citizens. Gen. Wahab stated this when the executive members of Kaduna Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) visited him in his office in Kaduna. Gen. Wahab told the journalists, led by their

Chairman, Mr. Luka Binniyat, that the Army would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that Nigerians live in peace. He said: “The Army is working with other security agencies, including the State Security Service (SSS) and the police to root out insurgents across the Northern part of the country. Reacting to allegations of killing of innocent civilians and raid of houses in some parts of the North by soldiers, the GOC said: “Military activities are based on intelligence reports and full investigations by rel-

evant security agencies before action. “The soldiers patrol the streets and particularly raiding of spots identified as hideout of criminals. “Terrorism is based on fear; the Army would do whatever it takes to make Nigerians sleep with their two eyes closed. The Army has a mandate to do whatever within the ambit of the law to provide security where necessary and ensure that the country remains united. “Every operation that had been carried out by the Army was based on information provided

by the SSS, as soldiers would not go out to raid public places without prior information and investigation.” Gen. Wahab identified the use of hard drugs as one of the factors that served as catalyst for violence and crime in the country. He called on youths to shun crimes as the Army would not hesitate to rid the society of criminals once mandated by the Federal Government to act. The GOC, however, commended the role of the media in the campaign against insecurity.

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Committee discloses presence of oil in Bida PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

he Niger State Gubernatorial Committee on the Development of Bida Basin (GCDBB) has disclosed the presence of high prospect of oil and gas around the Bida Basin. GCDBB Chairman, Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi, spoke during the presentation of the report of the committee in Minna. The areas with the large oil and gas prospects are Patti-Shaba-Kolo, Edozhigi, Enwan and Kandi - all in the Bida Basin. Among some of the recommendations of the committee was the call

on the state to carry out an exploratory drill test at Patti-Shaba-Kolo to be code named TALBA 1 well along side 2 other wells to get additional samples in order to determine the exact quantity of oil and gas in the area. It also urged the state government to spear head the formation of Association of Inland Basins Development States through the committee so as to get other states to be part of the effort. The committee, therefore, asked the state Ministry for Solid Mineral Resources to take into cognizance the financial activities of the committee in its budget.”

Woman held for alleged human trafficking AUGUSTINE MADU-WEST KANO

woman, Princess Obi arrested for alleged human trafficking for prostitution, is cooling off her heels at the Bompai Headquarters of the Kano State Police Command. Princess Obi, arrested early in the week by detectives on Aba Road, Sabon Gari, Kano, was found with three other young ladies whom she allegedly promised to transport to Togo for greener pasture. The state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, told journalists yesterday at a press conference in Kano that the suspect deceived the three ladies whose names

were given as Bilkisu Adegoke (21), Blessing Okoye (19) and Esther Obasi (18) with job offers in Togo, but brought them to Kano to work at her restaurant. Idris said: “Unfortunately, she introduced them to prostitution with the aim of collecting commission and move them into a hotel located in Sabon Gari area in the city.” He said the victims had been rescued while arrangement was being made to prosecute the suspect. The police also arrested the syndicate which specialised in issuing threat letters to wealthy people for a fee. The police chief said that one Sani Umar is being detained for the offence. He said: “The suspect had, on October 18 this year, sent a letter to a female victim saying he and members of his gang had been hired to kill her, but that they are ready for negotiation if she obliged.”

Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang (left) and Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, during a visit to the governor after the National Good Governance Tour in Jos, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Politicians asked to emulate Niger signs MoU with firm to Ahmadu Bello’s virtues build five star hotel WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

igerian politicians have been called upon to emulate the selfless service and brotherliness demonstrated by the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed made the call when a delegation of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation presented relief materials to flood victims in the state. Governor Ahmed recalled that the late Sir Ahmadu Bello ensured peaceful co-existence among the ethnic groups

in the North and Nigeria in general. He said: “The legacies of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, such as selfless service and love are unequalled by any other person from the North. “These are the virtues that Nigerians must embrace by thinking Nigeria, instead of their religious or ethnic leanings.” The governor, however, believes that the “Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation has a major role to play in stabilising the North because a stabilised Northern Nigeria is critical to the emergence of a stable Nigeria.”

PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

he Niger State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a construction firm to a build five star hotel in Minna. The project is to cost N19.6 billion of which the state is expected to contribute N2.3 billion. The project, which will be executed by Access Field Nigeria Limited, was initially contracted to COCACIC Nigeria Limited in April 2008 through the Public Private Partnership ( PPP), but was abandoned by the firm after collecting the sum of

N500 million from the government for survey and project design. Speaking during the signing of the MoU in Minna, the state Commissioner for Investment, Alhaji Dan Salau, said: “The government is aware of the controversy trailing the construction of the hotel, but would not want to join words with anyone on the issue.” He said under the new PPP arrangement, Access Field agreed to take over both asset and liabilities of the N500 million and contruct a seven-floor Five Star Hotel with 305 rooms, instead of the 500 originally agreed on.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

ACN: Tried, yet unbruised and unbowed

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Politics

Military not responsible for Nigeria’s woes – Gen. Jokotola

We didn’t impound Obasanjo’s vehicle – LASTMA FELIX NWANERI AND MURITALA AYINLA

he Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) yesterday debunked media reports that its officers impounded a vehicle belonging to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. An online agency and a national daily had report-

• Report meant to embarrass us, says ex-President ed yesterday that about 10 LAGBUS vehicles belonging to the Lagos State government were impounded in Ota, Ogun State and packed in Obasanjo Farms in retaliation for the confiscation of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) belonging to the farms by officials of LASTMA for contravening the state’s traffic law, last

Friday. Speaking with National Mirror yesterday, LASTMA General Manager, Babatunde Edu, said there was no record of seizure of any vehicle belonging to the former president or his farm. He therefore described the report as unfounded and warned the public against disseminat-

ing falsehood. He said: “We don’t have record of impoundment of Obasanjo’s vehicle at all. None of the vehicles arrested is branded Obasanjo Farms. Most of the arrested vehicles have registration numbers and we don’t have anyone belonging to the former president.” Also disclaiming the re-

port, the Chief of Staff to Obasanjo, Deacon Victor Durodola, told National Mirror in a telephone interview last night that there was no truth in the reports. His words: “The news is a blatant lie. It was the figment of the imagination of the writers and definitely it is something intended to malign and embarrass President Obasanjo because none of our vehicles, not even a bicycle had any problem with LASTMA. “They said we impounded LAGBUS vehicles in Ota Farm, I don’t know where the story emanated from. People can go to Ota Farm and see things for themselves; there is no Lagos State bus in the premises. “Is it possible for Lagos

State not to know that 10 buses were impounded somewhere? I read the story in a national daily and I was told that some other newspapers carried it. I called the newspaper’s office and challenged them to provide whatever evidence they have. I challenged them on what they published about Obasanjo which has no foundation and they were apologetic.” Durodola added that they are likely to take a legal action over the matter, saying: “We are going to sue any medium that published that report because they have to prove it. It is a total fabrication. It is a pepper soup joint report.” Another aide of the former president also denied any contact between Obasanjo and Lagos State officials.

KOWA blames violence on bad leadership SINA FADARE AND TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

L-R: President Goodluck Jonathan, Benue State governor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam and his wife, Yemisi, during the president's visit to Makurdi yesterday to assess the Benue flood disaster.

NBA berates NASS over pending bills EMMANUEL ONANI

he National Assembly has come under the hammer over the number of bills awaiting legislative action from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), even as it has inaugurated a committee on National Assembly matters. Expressing worry over some of the bills, which it said are yet to be debated and passed into law over 10 years after they were submitted, the NBA speaking through its national president, Okey Wali (SAN), specifically pin-pointed the bills relating to the justice sector reforms as well as public interest bills. Wali spoke at the inauguration of the NBA Commit-

tee on National Assembly Matters, attributing the perceived “legislative inaction” to the preoccupation of legislators with oversight functions, rather than their primary responsibility of lawmaking. He noted that the NBA constituted the committee on legislative matters, in view of the importance it attaches to the aforesaid pending bills, saying: “It seems that the National Assembly performs more of its oversight functions than following through the crucibles of legislation. “Some of these bills have been in the National Assembly for over 10 years now, and yet have not received the deserved urgent attention. “The NBA is concerned

and worried by the slow pace of legislative process in relation to passage of bills into law in the National Assembly and hereby calls on the National Assembly to speed up the process of passage of bills into law, especially the justice sector

bills like the police amendment bill, community service bill, prison act (amendment) bill, among others.” The 14-member committee has Paul Erokoro (SAN) as chairman, while Author Obi Okafor (SAN) is to serve as alternate chairman.

orried by the state of the nation, especially the insurgences in many parts of Nigeria, the KOWA Party has called on Nigerians to rise up to reclaim the nation from those whose idea of leadership is to keep them in perpetual slavery and subjugation. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the National Public Relations Officer of KOWA Party, Prof.

Amaechi tasks RSIEC on credible LG elections

he newly sworn in members of the River State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) have been challenged to ensure the credibility of the local government election in the state. This charge was handed down by the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, during the swearing-in of the new members in Port Harcourt yesterday, when he said that

he carefully chose members of the RSIEC to organise transparent and credible local government polls. His words: “The position you hold has a lot to do with our future as a state. Now that you have been chosen, it is between I and my God and between you, your God and the public. “Your name will either be written in the history book of Rivers State as

people who have dispassionately discharged their responsibilities or as people who ruined the state. “My desire is that we should move into a situation, where leaders are truly chosen by the people.” The chairman of the newly-inaugurated commission, Prof. Augustine Ahiauzu, told newsmen that his team would discharge its duty without fear or favour.

(Mrs) Remi Sonaiya, attributed the high rate of violence in many parts of the country to corruption and bad leadership, and therefore tasked all Nigerians to strive towards establishing a truly democratic government. Her words: “The current state of the Nigerian nation is a sorry one indeed. KOWA Party believes that the failure of the leadership in its various dimensions is itself nothing less than violence visited upon the people, and this is largely responsible for the wave of violence which has now swept over the entire nation. Several forms of impunity in the country are like leaven, and have corrupted almost the entire society, especially the minds of our young people who do not have elected leaders they can look up to for inspiration. “KOWA believes in the Nigerian people – a hardworking, resilient people. We believe that such a people deserve far more than they are getting now.”

Politics

he Federal Capital Territory is constitutionally seen as one of the states of the federation and there have been numerous agitations to accord it greater priority in governance and administration of the country. The original inhabitants of the territory, the Gbagyis, have often felt cheated and even marginalised and have continued to clamour for economic and political empowerment. Although, one of the cardinal objectives of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration since 2010, has been the development of the satellite towns and area councils so as to decongest the city through provision of infrastructure in the towns and villages around the capital city. However, that dream has, at best continued to be a mirage until last July, when the President effected minor changes in his cabinet. That was how the incumbent Minister of State for the FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide was appointed. She was given a presidential mandate to transform the satellite towns within a record time, especially, since she is familiar with the terrain, having served as Special Assistant on FCT and Area Council Matters to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The presidential approval for the reconstitution of the Satellite Towns Development Agency (STDA) under the headship of Alhaji Tukur Bakori was one of the plans to expand such towns. It had become imperative to undertake the action, as the city’s transportation system and other available facilities were being overstretched, due to the daily influx of people to the city. However, not much is being heard of the STDA, probably because so much funds would be needed to tackle the problems in the satellite towns. It will not be anti-development were the Federal Government to wake up to its responsibility and ensure adequate funding of the agency. Already, the minister has constituted a Ministerial Project Monitoring Team, which is expected to work closely with journalists in ensuring that the agency and chairmen of the six area councils of the FCT are kept on their toes. Two projects to which the minister has

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Reassessing Akinjide and FCT rural women Appointed on July 11, 2011, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide oversees the six Area Councils and all the satellite towns in the Federal Capital Territory by virtue of her position as Minister of State in the FCT. In this analysis, OMEIZA AJAYI looks at her performance in the past 14 months, vis-a-vis the liberation or otherwise of the rural women from poverty.

Akinjide

devoted much of her time and which might be used to evaluate her tenure are in the area of rural health/sanitation and rural agriculture. With the Clean and Green Greater Abuja Initiative, which is partnering with the area councils in the area of environmental sanitation, the incidences of improper waste disposal, with its attendant health consequences, seem to be on the decline. The councils now have their dump sites and it is no longer fashionable for a council

to package wastes and then move to dump it in another council. The initial focus has been on Karu and Nyanya, where the issue of improper disposal of waste had always proved herculean to tackle. Although, the areas are now wearing new looks, it is not always that the committee would go into a community and then begin to clean it up. The sensitisation sub-committee has a greater role to play in conscientising the residents and as well selling the initiative to them. A greater attention will also have to be shifted to Kubwa, Zuba and Lugbe. In most parts of these areas, the people literally dwell in filth. The committee may have to be adequately funded so that it can immediately embark on the recruitment of 50 youths and women in each of the councils. With the manner in which the committee has commenced its operations, there is no doubt that with continued supervision and funding, the problem of improper waste disposal in the area councils and rural communities will be adequately addressed within a short time. Then, there is the issue of One Village, One Product (OVOP), being championed by the minister and the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA). Rima village in Abaji Area Council seems to have been the first beneficiary of the scheme few months ago, the minister commissioned a mini shear-butter processing cluster in the area. Akinjide had urged the people to take advantage of the project to transform the

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landscape of the village, expressing optimism that it would attract tremendous economic activities and investments to the village. The project is geared towards the empowerment of the rural women, by way of reducing the processing period of the shear-butter by 70 per cent. Although, the project has come on stream and some residents have began patronising the women, the FCT Administration will have to hasten efforts in fulfilling its promise to replicate the project in the other five area councils of the territory. To the minister, the initiative is aimed at building a society devoid of gender discrimination and unequal access to political, social and economic wealth creation opportunities. Gender mainstreaming, empowerment, equality and equity, she said, are among the priority areas in the transformation agenda. Her words: “As an example, in the area of the eradication of violence against women, our Gender Department has been collaborating with our development partners in conducting sensitisation campaigns on gender violence in the rural areas of the FCT. In agriculture, the FCT administration established a shea-butter processing plant in Rima Community in the Abaji Area Council. “Women from three communities have been empowered through this project. They were organised into cooperatives to enable then access financing to help with the expansion of their businesses. In Kwali, a state-wide micro-finance bank is being established. A high percentage of its financing will be targeted at women. “We would like to continue to empower more women, particularly those in the rural areas. We would also like maternal mortality rates to continue to drop in the FCT.” As Nigerians celebrate her 52 years of existence as an independent nation, the rural women in the FCT might pretty soon have cause to celebrate their economic independence. All that is required is for Ms Akinjide to stick to the path she has chosen, rather than veer off to other issues, which could turn out to be mere distractions.

Ondo guber, proof of Jonathan’s commitment to democracy REUBEN ABATI

s Nigerians continue to celebrate the success of the just-concluded governorship election in Ondo State, it is important to note that although President Goodluck Jonathan would naturally have wanted his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to win the governorship election in the state, the fact that he has never abused the enormous powers of the presidency to influence the outcome of elections shows that he is a man of his words, a committed democrat and a President who believes in the rule of law and the supremacy of the will of the people. Ahead of the Ondo State election, here is what the President said at the Democracy Park in Akure, Ondo State on October 13: “What we can guarantee the people of Ondo State is that the commitment of this present administration to ensure that Nigeria continues to remain high in the comity of nations in terms of how we select our leaders remains constant. It is going to be one man, one vote, one woman, one vote,

one youth, one vote.” While reacting to the news that some political parties were mobilising thugs for the election, President Jonathan added: “I was told that some people are mobilising thugs from everywhere, if they like they can go to anywhere to bring thugs, the Federal Government will not allow any thug to come out that day, and if you know you are a thug or your child is to be used as a thug, carry them away from Ondo State, because government will never tolerate any rubbish. It will be free and fair election and nobody will frustrate the commitment of government to project Nigeria truly and nobody will allow thuggery.” The President made a similar promise, most recently in Edo State. And he kept his words. He has kept his words again. Discerning Nigerians will readily admit that Nigeria’s electoral process has been truly transformed under President Jonathan’s watch. Apart from ensuring free and fair election in Edo and Ondo states as in every other part of the country, President Jonathan was also the first person to congratulate Governor Olusegun Mimiko. A man of

Jonathan

his words! A true sportsman! President Jonathan also commended the dutiful, patriotic and law-abiding electorate of Ondo State as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) personnel and security agencies who en-

sured that the election was peacefully and successfully conducted in keeping with his administration’s commitment to making elections in Nigeria progressively better organised and more credible. As Governor Mimiko prepares for his second term in office, the President has urged him to rededicate himself to work even harder to justify the trust and confidence reposed in him by the people of Ondo State, who voted overwhelmingly for his reelection. President Jonathan has assured Governor Mimiko that the Federal Government will continue to engage constructively and positively with the Ondo State Government in collaborative efforts to achieve faster socio-economic development and better living conditions for people in the state and all other parts of Nigeria. The Ondo election is another bright moment for Nigeria! President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda remains sure and steady. Abati is a Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

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Politics

Thursday, October 25, 2012

ACN: Tried, yet unbruised and unbowed Sunday Dare, Special Adviser (Media) to the national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, believes that the battle for the Ondo governorship is not over yet. He shares his views about the poll.

f a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power. -DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER From a comatose status, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), hitherto nonexistent in the political firmament of Ondo politics, suddenly sprouted some five months back. For a state that had been ruled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for six years straight under Dr. Segun Agagu and later under the jackboots of Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) for four years, it would be almost unthinkable for any party to want to contest for power. But not the ACN and its leadership. Convinced that parties are set up to contest for power, a right no one can question, satisfied that the party had a sellable ideology and formidable platform and determined to change the face and direction of Ondo politics, the ACN threw its hat into the ring. Thus, in less than six months, the party energised its base and changed the political temperature of Ondo politics. With both hands on the lever, the national leader of the ACN, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu led the charge to rebuild the party. Deploying many of his traditional political associates to pound the ground in Ondo, he employed his strategic prowess to put the party back in gear and into reckoning. What followed was a flurry of activities that soon turned the political battle in Ondo into a battle royale. What seemed like a walkover for Mimiko became a battle for his political survival. Having parted ways with those who paved his way to power, and pelted stones at those who stood up for him when it mattered most, Mimiko with power, money and the coercive instruments of the state in his hands become a demigod – a governor turned Sheriff. For Mimiko, Ondo State was his farm and no one else dare attempt to take it over. But every student of politics knows that one of the very elementary lessons of politics is that the competition for power is constant, fierce and at times can be brutal. Parties and politicians are in business to contest for power, to seek to unseat their opponents or even members within their party, to take advantage of their opponents and seize on opportunities. Hans J. Morgenthau captures the essence of power when he said: “The struggle for power is universal in time and space and is an undeniable fact of experience. It cannot be denied that throughout historic time, regardless of social, economic and political conditions, states have met each other in contests for power... all politics, is a struggle for power.”

Tinubu

Akeredolu

The game of politics is not a game for the lily-livered. It is not one for the sentimental or the non-risk taker. So, when people complain about ACN or any other party challenging Mimiko for the governorship seat of Ondo, I wonder what planet they are from. It is well within their right. That the ACN entered the race, stomped the grounds in Ondo, articulated a party manifesto and competed according to the rules of the game should be enough to earn it kudos. Any other argument about ACN and Ondo falls by the way side and on stony ground and is therefore inconsequential. Why do some people feel Mimiko or any other governor for that matter cannot be challenged at the polls when election time comes? The mere fact that a time limit is set for the tenure of elected officials at the expiration of which they must return to the electorate to earn a new mandate suggests that others that desire to hold such positions must be given the chance to compete. Therein lies the most fundamental ingredient of democracy which is the right of the people to either vote in or vote out representatives they do not like. There is no morality about what party, which individual or group can enter the race to contest for power. There is also no questioning the rationale or the right or motives of such persons or parties to enter the race. What suffices is that the party or individual fulfils the requirements to compete. In Ondo, we have seen our democracy benefit from very spirited political campaigns, debates and multi-party exposure. The ACN brought a new spark, glamour

and excitement to the governorship race. But more than that, it brought out the issues and forced all those in the race to compete for the votes and support of the electorate. The Ondo election has come, but it has not gone. In the next few weeks and months there will emerge evidence of vote manipulation, rigging, and other infractions that occurred that may form the basis for legal action. The gloss over the election will wear off. The maximum use of thuggery, the criminal acts of ballot snatching, the perpetration of violence and scare mongering that characterised the election, no matter how much they try to hide them will soon be revealed. It is sufficient for now to accept the fact that a winner has been announced in Mimiko, but to claim he won a landslide, that he was the preferred choice of the people and that he was politically invincible by breaking the second term jinx is to stretch the Mimiko narrative too far into the realm of the ridiculous. For instance, Mimiko’s victory is neither resounding nor a landslide as we are being made to belief. With only about 1 in 6 voting for him in the election and with a 41.6 per cent of total votes cast in his (Mimiko) favour, he fell short of getting a majority vote. However, in the combined 51 per cent scored by the PDP and the ACN, it is evident that the Ondo people voted more for a change than for Mimiko. I must return momentarily to the antagonists of the idea of South-West integration for development. When the media spinners, pundits and a tribe of political charlatans seek to pooh-pooh the idea of

HAVING PARTED WAYS WITH THOSE WHO PAVED HIS WAY TO POWER, AND PELTED STONES AT THOSE WHO STOOD UP FOR HIM WHEN IT

MATTERED MOST,

MIMIKO WITH POWER, MONEY

AND THE COERCIVE INSTRUMENTS OF THE STATE IN HIS HANDS BECOME A DEMIGOD GOVERNOR TURNED

SHERIFF

–A

the South-West integration by referring to it as a thirst for territorial expansion and political hegemony, one is left to wonder where they were when the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo united the South-West and marched the region forward in bold steps towards development. Of course, all was well until the most classic political betrayal yet in the annals of political history occurred and Ladoke Akintola broke ranks with Awolowo. There is nothing wrong with the push for regional integration or South-West integration. It is not a crime in our books for parties or individuals seek to unite their people or region towards rapid development. It is purely legitimate. That is why we have the South-South states beginning to integrate. The North under the Arewa Consultative Forum and Middle Belt Forum are all attempts at regional integration which no one dares question. To now seek to question the move towards the South-West integration as championed by Tinubu and the ACN governors reeks of political bad blood and opportunism. That they seek to win more governors or persons to their cause is also very legitimate. The Yoruba have in Tinubu a dogged fighter for the race. It is on record that perhaps after Awolowo and MKO Abiola, no other single individual has invested in the Yoruba cause. We have asked pointedly of those of the Afenifere and their cohorts who claim to be more Awolowo than the rest of us what is it that they have done to advance the cause of the Yoruba nation? The people do not know or reckon with them. They are the ones who eat the three course meal meant for the people and give nothing back. They are the ones whose influence does not extend beyond the street where their houses are situated. We saw their likes at work during the times of Awolowo and Abiola. It can be no different for Tinubu. In the unfolding developments around the Ondo elections, the Yoruba nation is yet exposed as intolerant of successful political leaders and too much in a hurry to demonise them. Now that the Ondo election has thrown up these issues once again, we must proceed with care and reasoning, devoid of parochialism. The ACN from being a mere onlooker in Ondo politics now has a foothold, a stake and political actors now and future elections at all levels must reckon with the party. The party has lived true to the assertion made by H.L Henry that, “Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule – and both commonly succeed, and are right.” Definitely, the last has not been heard of the Ondo elections. The last election is just one battle and there will be several more. The war is still afar off. The ACN for one will continue in its dogged pursuit of ensuring that the process of election is transparent and the playing ground is levelled. It will seek to send the message that the party is willing to concede defeat only when it is sure that no advantage was accorded its opponents either by the powers that be in Abuja or by the umpire, in this case the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the October contest. Those that seek power by all means must also be ready to answer when the roll is called up yonder.

Politics

Major General Lawrence Jokotola, retired from the Nigerian Army in 2008 after serving as General officer Commanding 1 Mechanised Division, Kaduna. He speaks with AZA MSUE on why Nigerians should give President Goodluck Jonathan the desired support to succeed and how the military will checkmate the Boko Haram insurgency among other national issues. Excerpts:

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Military not responsible for Nigeria’s woes – Gen. Jokotola

As a retired general, what is your assessment of the army in its quest to curb the security challenges occasioned by Boko Haram? The Nigerian Army, like all other armies, is already programmed to be able to contain security challenges. Although the primary focus of the army is to deter external aggression, not allowing the territorial integrity of Nigeria to be compromised, however, as a backup requirement, the Nigerian Army is also required to, when directed by the civil authority, be able to provide support to other civil security outfit to combat internal security challenges and the way the Nigerian Army is structured, it is already in the position to perform that role. However, to be able to perform that also presupposes that it will also be provided with the necessary wherewithal to meet up with challenges like logistics; that is, ability to move rapidly from one point to the other and communication and training. I strongly believe that all those things are being worked on and I believe that they will be able to perform their job. Many Nigerians have always accused the army of being responsible for the country’s woes, through their incursion into politics, what is your take on this? Like you know, we are in a free society, free democratic society; every citizen has a right to his or her own opinion. But if you look at the institution called a country, you have to look at the history of that country, before you are able to come up with the reason why certain circumstances took place. So we cannot just isolate any matter and treat it without going into the background of what transpired. I am not in the position to judge Nigerians on what they say or think about the military, but what I want to say is that if there is any institution that really made Nigeria to be what it is today, I think it is the military. So, it will not be correct to put the blame of all the woes of the country on the military without looking at their functions, which is to protect Nigeria from sliding into chaos. Sometimes in the past, there were lots of crises, it was these periods of crisis that actually exposed the Nigerian military to the society, hitherto they were in the barracks completely. However when they came, one problem will certainly lead to another, and so, the military from my own perspective, cannot be on its own running Nigeria without the support, of the civil society, because if you even look at the organogram of what we use to call military regime, how many military governors do you have in a state, you have just one, but every other person working for that military governor is still in the civil service, they have their commissioners, there was never a situation where a military governor had military people as commissioners, it never happened. So, I think if a military man, just one man made a mistake in a state during the military regime, it means all the people who surrounded him did not give the correct advice. So, I will rather stick to the school of thought which said it was a period of our evolution as a nation. We probably did not take advantage of so many things that could have evolved during that time, thus allowing some decays, but then if it was purely a military regime taking charge of some things, like the power sector we are now talking about, some things would have been different now, like the flight of companies would probably not have been the case. So, if people make mistake as individuals that is another thing, it happens everywhere, we have had of companies folding up because of mistakes, I don’t think it is the military that helped to the collapse of such institution. This can happen as a result of error. I don’t subscribe to that and many of the people, who have become strong in the society

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Jokotola

IF... JUST ONE MAN MADE A MISTAKE IN A STATE DURING THE MILITARY REGIME, IT MEANS ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SURROUNDED HIM DID NOT GIVE THE CORRECT ADVICE today, were schooled by some military people. What practical steps do you think can be taken to curb the Boko Haram menace? I believe that government is already working very hard, there is no doubt about that and we can see it everywhere, everybody is concerned. My view is that first and foremost, you cannot solve a problem without going to the source of the problem. I think it would be very important for the authorities to still continue as they are doing to dig deep and find out the real cause of the problem, then it will be easy to start making adequate prescription, because some schools of thought believe that poverty is part of the problem. If it is so, the government can now rapidly tackle it. Then another thing is we must look deeper to get more information, on the people who are behind it, to know their motive. If you know their motive then you can get them to a kind of round table discussion either formally or informally, then probably we may be able to come closer to the solution. I think personally that every effort that government is making now should be continued to make sure that those behind all these things are uncovered, then isolate the problem and get to the root of the matter and try to solve it. At 52, has Nigeria met your expectations? At 52, I think Nigeria is way behind, because you cannot say a 52-year-old man is still learning; at 52, Nigeria should have grown more than this. I don’t think we have reached the real level that we are supposed to be. However there is hope and that is the only cause for happiness. But in terms of general development, we are not where we are supposed to be. From what you have said, where did we get it wrong and what is the way forward? I always ask myself that question, and what use to come

to my mind is I remember when a kind of award was made; they call it the “Udoji award.” I just woke up one morning in Kaduna here I was in the NDA, then we find out that there was nothing in the market to buy, people were given money and they just bought off everything in the market. The money was just paid to people without really giving them other kind of values, that can make them to engage the resources in a meaningful way, from that moment, many people lost focus, values change, tastes change and people started living super high life. I remember those days, you use the Volkswagen Beetle and you are not bordered, people were going into farming, going into fabrication of implements. Nigerians were actually doing so many things you will not believe they can do and people were proud and happy, but when the dynamics of spending money changed, everybody now decided to go to sleep and foreign companies started coming in to rake our funds. We started hearing of countries repatriating their interest, who would not if they can come here and make a lot of money, as they were repatriating their interest, they were also running down the structures that we inherited during independence and we started raising a new generation of children, who are into new values, from there you started hearing of robbery. I remember when the issue of robbery first came into Nigeria, anybody caught was shot openly, it was very strange, but now we have this type of insurgency, it was from that time, when there was a serious injection of money, without corresponding values to match that incursion. Now you ask what is the way forward, the way forward requires a holistic attention by everybody, Nigerians must drop their guard, it is not through violence, the matter on the ground does not require exchanging blows; it is about re-orientating Nigerians and I mean the youths, between the youths of today and the youths of after independence there is a wide gap. The present youths have been made to believe that they are not being catered for, because as a farmer, I have the opportunity of engaging the youths, when you talk to them, everybody believes that the next person did not care, so Nigerians should learn to care for the next person unconditionally. No youth should be allowed to go idle, look at the Okada saga, as I would like to call it, youths who are supposed to struggle for university education no longer see the need, because they believe that all that it takes to make life happen is to own an Okada and so we are now raising a kind of core of unproductive youths, who end up in hospital wards, because there is virtually no hospital now that you don’t have a ward for the Okada riders and that is not a good development. Also there is the need to take a look at our educational system. Not all students are supposed to head to the university, some who are technically-minded, should be given the opportunity, as early as possible. How would you rate President Jonathan’s administration so far? As an individual, I rate the administration as a group of people that have great ambition to turn Nigeria around. You see I don’t want to be judgemental, it is difficult even when you are administering your home, as a father it might be difficult for you even to satisfy all the members of the family. So, we should first of all concede that one to every administration. If you look at the plethora of problems we have on ground, the question we must first ask ourselves is, how long have those problems been there. I talked about power, I know that for so many decades, people have been clamouring for a change of attitude by different administrations that time is running out. I think we should give honour to whom honour is due and personally I look at Mr. President as someone who has a lot of vision, and the mien for leadership, it is not how draconian you look that makes you a leader, but how you are able to calm down to try to undo all the problems that are oppressing the people. There might be areas where the government needs to look at with speed and I think they are demonstrating that, and I think the government is on course.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Views

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Between secession and restructuring IT IS IMPORTANT THE EXISTENTIAL HUMANISM

FRY

NDUBUISI fryndubuisi@nationalmirroronline.net (08023016709 SMS only)

here is disquiet, discontent and anger in the land. This is being expressed in different forms and pattern. Since power shifted to the south there has been upsurge in political meandering and manouvering to ensure the country is returned to its inglorious past .The North in the history of the country has not been out of power for this long .The unending crises and violence in the zone is tied to this factor. Anxiety and unparalleled tension have been created in the length and breadth of the country to the extent we are wondering what the next move of the North will be, especially given the fact that 2015 election is around the corner in political calculation? To show how grave the situation is, there was a call for secession at a meeting of eminent indigenes of North East geo-political zone in Bauchi recently. The convener of the summit asked the North to pull out of Nigeria ‘if need be’ to “take care of our destiny in our hands”. This was the submission of Alhaji Bello Kirfi, a retired permanent secretary when he spoke at what was to be the inauguration of North East forum for unity and development (NEFUD).

NATIONALITIES COME TOGETHER AND SEEK WAYS AND MEANS OF HANDLING THE CRISES BEFORE IT ASSUMES THE SCALE OF FULL BLOWN WAR.

However, before he could conclude his submission, he was called to order by former Chief of Army staff and ex defense Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, who promptly dissociated himself from such strange agenda and subsequently asked him to withdraw his proposal immediately. Danjuma, maintained that he would not be a part to the dismembering of Nigeria he fought to keep together. The General had the support of former finance Minister, Mallam Adamu Ciroma.It is instructive nonetheless that this highly sensitive gathering was boycotted by governors from the zone on suspicion that the meeting had a secret agenda. This development is significant and reflects the general mood in the North. It is a fact that Nigeria is at cross roads, and almost at brink of collapse. We have been experiencing a war in different forms. This has led to militarization and violence in both public and private lives. The prediction that 2015, will decide Nigeria’s fate may af-

ter all, be real. Peace and real progress have eluded Nigerians in the past two years especially, after the 2010 elections. The underlying reason is nothing but political power, which has been going on at expense of economic development. It is disheartening that security vote takes the lion share in the nation’s budget, even in the face of worsening infrastructural decay, rising unemployment, poor medical facilities, declining educational fortune and crisis in the power sector. The regional gathering may not be a bad idea after all .The South -west met not long ago, to canvass regional economic integration, while South -south and South -east had at different occasions met for the same purpose. It is a healthy development so long as the gathering is not for purpose of hijacking power and agitating sharing of resources. Thus agenda for the meeting of the North -east geo-political zone is noble so long as it addresses its main objective, that includes insecurity, unemployment , economic underdevelopment , marginalisation and corruption challenges in the area. There is more to be gained in addressing those problems that have plagued the polity for years, than dissipating energy on politics and the sharing of resources. The struggle for power at the centre is for personal and ethnic aggrandizement devoid of anything to do in with masses interests. Otherwise, let these agitators point at what they have done with all opportunities they had in the past. There is no virtue in insisting on what is not a birth right. The near war situation the country in the

past two years is not in anyone’s interest. It is important the nationalities come together and seek ways and means of handling the crises before it assumes the scale of full blown war. It is unfortunate that there are mutual suspicions among the various geopolitical zones, and with any move no matter how well intentioned elicits negative interpretation. Such has become the fate that has befallen call for state police which some see as prelude to secession. The panacea to the myriad of problems associated with power equation lies in restructuring the country. It is believed the office of the Nigerian president, remains one of the most powerful in the world, given the enormous power and resources it controls. Being the commander in chief of the armed forces, including other security agencies, there is little doubt on the reality of this assertion. The centre is thus the attraction of all the zones and ethnic nationalities .While there is consensus on need for restructuring, ways and means of achieving such remains contentious. There is cynicism as to how far the National Assembly could go in amending the constitution. The agenda has been on ground for quite some time, yet nothing significant is coming out of it. The convocation of a national conference would be the best and quickest way of handling the matter. Ironically, many have a disdain for such gathering. We must have to take the bull by the horns, and decide on the safest remedy to avoid a holocaust and disintegration of the country. Prof. Ndubuisi, an attorney at Law is of the Dept. of Philosophy, UNiLAG.

Eid-el-Kabir: Divine message for a better world

omorrow, the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, known as Eid-el-Kabir, will be celebrated by the Islamic faithful throughout the world. The festival is rooted in scriptural accounts of both the Islamic and Judeo-Christian theology as evinced in the Al Qur’an Kareem (The Glorious Qur’an) and the Old Testament respectively. The homogenous accounts (Qu’ran Chapter 37; Genesis Chapter 22) highlight how, in a singular act of obedience to a divine command, Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), took Ishmael, his which was begotten in his old age, to a location and prepared him for ritual of immolation as piety to God. As he got set to cut the throat of the blindfolded son, behold! A ministration came from heavens; Allah conveyed the good tidings stopping the killing and revealed that a ram had been approved by Him as a vicarious replacement for the sacrifice. God added that Ibrahim had passed the ultimate test of faith and would be amply rewarded. The ram was promptly slaughtered while both father and son returned home in ecstatic joy. This exemplary story of Prophet Ibrahim’s fully manifested intent to sacrifice his most adored progeny is well known, what many do not however bother to imbibe is its essence. The demonstration of this sublime virtue of selfless yield to the divine fiat is a reference point in man/God relationship. Ideally, as the embodiment of all knowledge and wielders of all powers, God should be seen as the Guiding Light to the path of redemption. Mortals are finite while God is infinite; what remains hidden to man is laid completely bare to God, with

no more than just a single glance of his omniscient eye. Yet, most humans tend to disregard divine guidance through obstinacy borne of selfishness. There are enough injunctions in our religious books that would have made the society better if willingly obeyed, alas, what we often have is a case of selective obedience if not outright disobedience or crooked manipulative interpretations of God’s words to suit our pre-conceived foibles and whims. Today, God may not require us to kill our children to prove our unconditional submission to his will, but how many are truly eager to comply with even the comparatively easier obligations required of us in this modern times? The two Holy Scriptures are replete with passages urging virtues of honesty, righteousness, integrity, good neighbourliness and love. But do we practice them? Underscoring the imperative of yielding to God, The Qur’an, in Chapter 4, Verse 125, says: “Who could have a better religion than someone who submits himself completely to God and is a good-doer, and follows the religion of Abraham, a man of pure natural belief ? God took Abraham as an intimate friend.” Now, if we find it difficult to submit to God in the relatively easier obligations confronting us today, how miserably would we fail if called to make superior sacrifice like Prophet Ibrahim? Superior sacrifice consists of giving away one’s most prized possession. What translates to most prized possession is different from person to person. To some people, their riches, manifested

HOW MANY NIGERIANS TODAY CAN GIVE UP THEIR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION IN DEFERENCE TO DIVINE

KAYODE

KETEFE

COMMANDMENTS?

kketefe@nationalmirroronline.net 08032147720 (SMS only)

in millions, billions or trillions of money and assets rank supreme, to others, their chain of degrees and other certificates come before everything else; others place the highest premium on looks, some people’s most adored valuables are sporting talents, tribal or national identity, or some other mundane human values. How many Nigerians today can give up their most prized possession in deference to divine commandments? Indeed, most of the problems facing us as a country stem from the people’s attitude of superimposing personal preferences and selfish agenda over all other things, including God acclaimed commandments and directives. God says do not kill, we always find excuses to do so, he says do no steal, we do for personal aggrandisement, he commands we show love to your neighbour, we engage in basest sadism borne of wanton hatred. Politicians who steal with impunity from the public treasury know that God abhors it, yet rather than give up such selfish pursuits in the light of the creator’s antipathy to the vice, they expect Him to compromise his standards and overlook the disobedience!

What about those who kill and maim other people for money and other selfish or misguided reasons? As we prepare to celebrate this year Eidel-Kabir, let us be remind that the essence of this great festival is total submission to the will of God; it is not reckless bingeing and partying; it is not mere storing of ram meat in cellars for hedonistic purpose of titillating the palate in drawn-out consumption many weeks after the Sallah; neither is it an occasion to flaunt wealth. The demonstrative purpose of Prophet Ibrahim’s sacrifice story is to underscore the virtue of total submission to the will of Almighty Allah; following His will invariably inspires the spirit of love, charity, caring for others and selflessness. Barka de Sallah in advance! Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.netmirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs. Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

Editorial

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

All the Facts, All the Sides A PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, OFR PUBLISHER

STEVE AYORINDE

MD/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

YELE AKINROLABU

ED OPERATIONS

SEYI FASUGBA

DAILY EDITOR

BOLAJI TUNJI

SUNDAY EDITOR

GBEMI OLUJOBI

SATURDAY EDITOR

LANRE OYETADE

GENERAL EDITOR

DOZIE OKEBALAMA

COORDINATOR, EDITORIAL BOARD

ADESOYE ADEKOYA

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CALLISTUS OKE

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

ISE-OLUWA IGE

ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

KAYODE BALOGUN JNR

SM, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT

FRANK OBOH

HEAD, GRAPHICS

PHCN privatization: The Benin distribution company controversy

he controversy dogging penultimate Tuesday’s unveiling of the commercial bids submitted by prequalified investors for 10 distribution companies (discos) slated for sale under the Federal Government’s Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s (PHCN) privatisation scheme by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) seems far from being resolved. Under fierce contest by some state governors is the bid for the Benin disco won by Vigeo Power Consortium, which defeated Southern Electricity Distribution Company Limited to emerge the preferred bidder. Reports said Vigeo clinched an Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) ratio of 21.78 per cent against the 17.72 per cent mark secured by Southern Electricity to emerge the winner. Contrary to past tradition, when the highest bidder was free to go home with the company up for sale, however, winners of the 10 discos were not based on the highest bidder, but on the highest ATC&C loss reduction projections over the first five years of operations, according to reports credited to NCP and BPE officials. Governors Adams Oshiomhole (Edo); Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Kayode Fayemi

(Ekiti); and Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) have, however, sworn not to recognise the NCP/BPE preferred bidder for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Vigeo, and threatened to make it impossible for the company to operate in their states. In a joint press briefing in Abuja last Thursday, the governors said the bidding process was tainted by fraud. The four states, through their technical partner, Southern Electricity Distribution Consortium, submitted bid for the Benin disco. “The BPE used a set of criteria that have never been used before. The figures put forward by Vigeo were shady and we observed that funny things started happening even before the bids were opened”, the governors said. They not only lamented the huge investment of their states’ funds in the exercise, but alleged that Vigeo and its sponsors lacked the technical knowhow and financial capability to handle the project, compared to their favoured ally whom they described as an industry leader in India, covering 4,328 villages and 43 towns. Addressing newsmen in Lagos on Monday in response to the governors’ allegations, however, Chairman, Technical Committee of NCP, Mr. Atedo Peterside insisted that due process was followed at every stage of the

FOR THE INTEGRITY OF THE CONTENTIOUS

BENIN DISCO BID, THEREFORE, WE IMPLORE THE FG TO ORDER A REPEAT OF THE EXERCISE

bid unveiling. According to him, the Southern Consortium that the governors favoured had the opportunity to take part in different fora organised to educate potential investors, undertook due diligence on the Benin distribution company, met with various officials of the BPE and asked questions that were promptly and comprehensively answered. “They never made any allegations of lack of transparency until after the race had been run via the commercial bid opening ceremony, which was televised live on both NTA and AIT”. He said independent consultants were constituted to evaluate the bids in order not to undermine transparency; and that officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and Directorate of State Security Services (DSSS) ob-

served the process. Notwithstanding the arguments and claims of both sides, we think the governors’ allegations against the bid unveiling were grave and deserve a more penetrating scrutiny, especially when many other stakeholders, including Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had also complained of the process not being transparent. Besides, there were claims that some of those who participated in the bidding exercise knew the results long before the official opening. Though the verdicts of some experts suggest the bid unveiling was professionally and transparently discharged, the nation’s public sector stands out for legendary corrupt practices, frauds and manipulations. For the integrity of the contentious Benin disco bid, therefore, we implore the FG to order a repeat of the exercise. The National Assembly can also intervene through a public hearing to confirm the veracity or otherwise of the claims and counter claims of the governors and the NCP. For their part, the governors should show restraint and not be seen as blackmailing Vigeo Power Consortium, the NCP and BPE, or taking the laws into their hands.

ON THIS DAY October 25, 2010

October 25, 2004

Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia, began over a month of eruptions. The eruptions began when the mountain began an increasingly violent series of eruptions that continued into November. Seismic activity around the volcano increased from mid-September onwards, culminating in repeated outbursts of lava and ashes. Large eruption columns formed, causing numerous pyroclastic flows down the heavily populated slopes of the volcano.

Fidel Castro, Cuba’s President, announced that transactions using the American Dollar would be banned. Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party’s foundation in 1961 until 2011.

October 25, 1962 Nelson Mandela was sentenced to prison. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born July 18, 1918) is a South African politician who served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first ever to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before being elected president, Mandela was a militant anti-apartheid activist, and the leader and co-founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Education Today ‘I never knew I could live this long’ 20 TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE AND MOJEED ALABI

“I

see a picture of an institution that will be a pride of Africa. I see us sharing with Harvard and sharing with Yale on many academic projects. I see Covenant University re-writing the history of university education in Nigeria. I see the best of the brains out here. So, I see Covenant University as helping to rebuild damaged image of the African people so that when they talk, they say at least ‘there’s one thing there and one thing that is worthy of mention.“ Founder and Chancellor, Covenant University, Dr. David Oyedepo has every cause to smile today. Every word of his prediction at the inception of the university, 10 years ago, has hit the mark. Ten years down the line, Covenant University is the best private university in Nigeria, according to the 2012 edition of the World Universities Web Ranking. Indeed, out of the 10 Nigerian Universities ranked among the top 100 in Africa, Covenant University was the only Private University on the list. Today, a visit to the university will confirm the veracity of Oyedepo’s prediction. The university not only shares projects with some of the world’s best universities, the infrastructure on ground, the effervescence campus illuminated by the happy and contented disposition of both students and staff, obviously make this university of Oyedepo’s dream, a totally new experience in Nigeria’s beleaguered tertiary education system. The Bishop himself restated this while addressing a press conference on the occasion of the institution’s 10th anniversary last week when he listed some achievements which, he maintained, had distinguished the university from others. Among these are what he called the state-of-the art infrastructural facilities, conducive environment and the quality of the over 16,000 students the university has produced so far. According to him, the university’s interest is not just about turning out academic brilliance graduates, it is in the business of building total students, who will be morally sound, academically brilliant, enterprising and go-getters, as well as impact on the society through community services. According to him, CU is reacting to the deterioration in the country’s education system, mental poverty and moral degeneration that the fallen standard has institutionalised; it is reacting to many years of neglect that now enslaves the future of the next generation; it is reacting to negative forces that have destabilised our economic fortunes and now wants to destabilise our quest for nationhood; it is reacting to failure of leadership in all governmental structures in Nigeria and, of course, it is reacting to the intellectual underdevelopment of the average Nigerian university graduates who, though, are politically independent, socially free but still, intellectually colonised. Speaking further, Oyedepo said for the past 10 years, the university had dared these challenges in the face by investing massively in such areas as capacity building, infrastructural provision, research and ICT development and community service, and what he called qualitative custom-built programmes, including the Total Man Concept (TMC), Towards a Total Graduate (TTG) and Entrepreneurial Development Studies (EDS). As regards research and awards, Oyedepo listed, among others, the three products developed by one of the institution’s scholars, Prof. Louis Egwari and patented in 2010 by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), as Culture Media Formulation from whole Fauna of sun-dried crayfish and Exoskeleton of crabs and shrimps; production of beverage drink from pawpaw fruits, and production of fermented rice products.

COVENANT UNIVERSITY @ 10

A prophesy fulfilled

Students of Mechanical Engineering Department at the workshop with their instructor.

BEING A STUDENT OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY IS A WORTHWHILE EXPERIENCE. WE

Cov the a Tunb

GET VALUE FOR OUR MONEY “Also in 2011, a staffer of the Centre for Systems Management and Information Services (CSIS) invented a School Management System software application. The project won the inventor a bronze medal at the Seoul International Invention Fair (SIIF) 2011 held in South Korea. Recently our Bioinformatics Research group led by Prof. Ezekiel Adebiyi won an award under the Sustainable African Bioinformatics Network for H3 Africa 2012. This came with a research grant of $57,660 to boost the ongoing research activities of the group,” Oyedepo disclosed. In total, the chancellor listed about 52 faculty and staff awards and 36 students’ awards and recognition and about 20 local and international partnerships and linkages. On their part, students of the institution told National Mirror that they didn’t see themselves attending another university because of the quality they said the university was known for. David Oghenerobor, a 300 Level Mechanical Engineering student said the university produces a total student. He said: “As a student in CU, you think intelligently, you behave maturely, you respect opinion of people and obey the law of the land wherever you are. You will also nurture in the fear of the Lord and human dignity. Once you gain admission, you begin to think differently, you

Oyedepo

begin to see life differently; you begin to set goals for yourself and finetune ways to achieve them. When you compare what you see or hear about other universities, especially the publicly owned with what obtainable here, you see a mark difference. Some of my friends in other universities do tell me that they wish they are attending Covenant University. To me, Covenant University is my transformation ground as the university is giving all that it takes to make me a prosperous person. I am not talking about material acquisition; I am talking about CONTINUED ON PAGE 21

Education Today

Thursday, October 25, 2012

I never knew I could live this long –Sheila Solarin Like a thunderbolt, the news of the death of Mrs. Sheila Solarin, an educationist par excellence, hit the nation last Saturday, October 20. Aside that she was a wife to the late Dr. Tai Solarin, a social critic and educationist, Sheila taught English Language and marked students’ essays until recently before her demise. As a tribute, for her immense contributions to the development of education system in Nigeria and as a co-founder/proprietress of Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State, we reproduce the interview YEMISI ADENIRAN had with her recently and published in Saturday Mirror of August 25, 2012. Excerpts: Would it be right to say that you fell in love with Nigeria immediately you met Tai? It is very right and I guess it is proper. A woman is supposed to love everything about her husband. Love is not supposed to have any barrier. Tai was one man I cherished; we were not just couples, but good companions. We shared a lot and so, it was very easy for us to live together. He was a Nigerian and a proud one. When we met in England, he never gave the impression that he was not in love with his country. He was passionate about Nigeria and humanity generally; it is therefore difficult to dissociate him from this lovable country. I love everything about him and so, coming and living in Nigeria with him was, to me, no big deal, but part of the deal. He loved my country and people too, so, no party is cheated.

How did you handle the strange climate of Nigeria, especially when you first came - the electricity problem, harsh weather and others? None of these issues was any problem to me. I came from a poor family. We lived in the countryside not in the city. So, we also had similar experiences. In our case, we did not have electricity until I was in my teens. There was also no pipe-borne water which is not far from what is obtainable in Nigeria. In short, my background helped me to cope well in Nigeria. My husband was a

The leaders we have are very selfish, they think of themselves alone. They have no plans for the people; everyone is surviving on his or her own which is not giving any room for national growth. There is corruption, cheating, fraud everywhere. These are alarming and painful. No one cares for the other which is bad. In Britain and United Kingdom, the rich people donate half of what they have to charity, but here, beggars increase by the day as no one cares. The universities churn out graduates every year with no provision of where to accommodate them. So, the streets are full and all kinds of crime and fraudulence are the targets. There is a lot to be done by Nigerian leaders; they need to imbibe a selfless life, plan ahead for the youth, leave a worthwhile legacy. Nigerians in general should live a life that impacts positively on others, make one person happy at least. That’s the way to serve humanity. The gap between the rich and the poor is too wide; there is need to bridge it. What’s your view about the Nigerian education system? No adequate attention is given Nigerian education system. From the primary to secondary, the public schools have given total space to private owners which is making it more decayed. Most teachers in these schools end up as teachers because it was the available option they had in the universities, and not by choice. There are no good buildings in the schools, students learn not under a conducive environment. All these have affected the system negatively. Teachers are corrupt; parents are corrupt; students, also, are corrupt. There is corruption everywhere.

Where did you meet your husband and why were you attracted to a black man? We met at the University of Manchester; we were both students and colour or no colour, I was attracted to him for his hard work, simplicity and straightforwardness. He was down-to-earth, not a deceiver, good tempered, very honest and a good listener. Above all, he was fun to be with; he had this sense of humour that got you glued to him all the time. What were your parents’ views on your choice, knowing well that you could have picked from one of the many white guys around? At the initial stage, my mother was reserved, but when she met him, she liked him. We kept a family that was not bias about anyone, whatever your skin colour or wherever you come from; it was easy for them to accept him. Besides, he was a lovable person himself. What about his own family? They accepted me as their wife, they were good to me.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

You 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.

Sheila

good man, very supportive. This, again, helped me to acclimatise well. How then would you describe his absence? Life without Tai has been full of vacuum that nobody can fill. I miss him so much and all of the time. But as we all know, even twins that are born the same day won’t die the same day, talkless of people who were born on different days and at different times. He has been gone for 18 years now and here I am still breathing and alive. You said earlier that both of you share a lot in common. Can you tell us some of those things? Both of us are realists. We do things because we believe they are just right, not because people say so. We are both humanists and not church goers.

Are you saying you don’t go to church? We both don’t. I see no need to; likewise him. Many in one religion or the other do so because they are afraid of death. They are afraid of getting killed by people and some forces whereas death is an inevitable thing, it will come when it will. We will all die one day whether we run to church, mosque or any other place. Tai did not attach anything to death or the general belief of ceremonies after death, which is why he instructed before his death that he should be buried in his newly ploughed farm so that his body would be useful to the speedy growth of the plant, the vegetables. Many people were shocked and I did not know why. Human beings are to live to benefit others which is what the country is suffering from. How do you mean? There is a lot of greed in this nation.

How did you cope in those years when your husband was in and out of the prisons? Those were the few years before he died. It was lonely and strenuous because I had to combine the job of caring for the home, the kids with that of the school. And then, no one could determine how long he would stay away. This was apart from the fact that I had to run around the lawyers and the prisons. It was a lot of work but it was worth the while. Marriages these days don’t last long but yours, an inter-racial one, lasted 43 years. What’s the secret? Failed marriages are caused by different factors largely from the players. Maturity is one major reason for most collapsed homes. Couples need to be grown up both physically and emotionally to know what they want and not what the society dictates. If they will follow their minds more, marriages will become better. For us, we respected each other’s views and ideas, we knew we wanted each other and we allowed no barricades. Tai was always willing to listen, he gave me freedom and allowed the feeling of equality and partnership. All this and mutual love kept our home.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Education Today

Thursday, October 25, 2012

‘Many fail exams for not following instructions’ Mr. Alao Olugbenga, Director, Lagos State Education Resource Centre, is a trained teacher, who taught Geography in secondary schools for several years. In this interview with TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE, he speaks on the mandate of the centre and the significance of students adhering to examination instructions. Excerpts: Could you please explain the functions of the Lagos State Education Resource Centre? Lagos State Education Resource Centre is a lifelong learning centre where we produce the learning instructional materials use in schools and train teachers in the production and use of these instructional materials. We do these because we realise the importance of instructional materials as a major daily use of effective teaching in schools. Another thing we do is we organise the capacity building programmes for teachers and individuals. We train them on the concept of instructional materials. Instructional material is anything you can use in disseminating information in making teaching interesting and effective in class. Through trainings, both teachers and students do discover that there are many instructional materials they see around without understanding how they are being used. By not knowing them means they don’t believe there are instructional materials in some subjects. But through training, they discover that there is no subject that does not require adequate understanding of instructional materials. But in the course of trainings, they will be able to know and design many instructional materials to demonstrate with before their students in class. How accessible are these instructional materials to users? They are available, accessible and affordable. The government usually gives money to procure the materials used in producing them and distributing the finished products to various schools to teach their students especially for the purpose of exams. Apart from that, we have a teachers’ resource room where teachers engage in self development activities. There, they engage in personal production of instructional materials on particular subject or topic reference and they do these with the assistance of officers of the centre. After this, they go back to their schools to teach their students. Will you say there is a link between failure and a candidate’s inability to follow instructions? A candidate following instruction is a key to exams success. Just recently, we launched about 30, 000 posters and charts, which we distributed to the public secondary schools across the state. The posters demonstrate the appropriate use of objective answer sheets in an exam. The materials are designed to teach every child the best way to shade an answer in an objective exam.

We have discovered that many students fail objective exams in particular, not because they don’t know the questions and the correct answers to them but they fail to follow simple instructions. At times, you see candidates circle an option answer when instruction says shade properly with an example given to shade a correct answer. Some just put a star sign, tick or put a line across the box as their shaded answer. Some will even shade more than one box and do all kinds of funny things. Even if these are correct answers, computer will never recognise them as such because they will not tally with the computer programme. It has also been discovered that many candidates do alter basic information on Olugbenga the answer sheets even with teachers’ knowledge in some schools-private and public alike, whereas instruction says otherwise. So, many schools and teachers contribute to failure of students in exams. They use answer sheet that is meant for says Mathematics for another subject says Yoruba, chemistry, or social studies and so on. At times, they do this when they don’t have enough answer sheets for one particular subject, or ignorantly without knowing the implication of such action. All these still boil down to the fact that they are not properly trained on the use of instructional materials even as teachers. So, schools where teachers lack basic knowledge on the use of instructional materials, what do we expect from students? Normally, each instructional material is coded in relations to a subject. So using one instead of another for a particular subject will definitely lead to failure in that subject. That is why it is important for both teachers and students to understand the instruction on the questions and their answer sheets before they start to answer them. Some even shade with pen when instruction says they should use a particular type of pencil and not ink. Some will not also erase properly a wrong answer for the correct one taking in replacement. So, many students fail exams not because they don’t know a correct answer for a particular question but just because they could not follow basic instruction, which is part of the exam. So, we educate teachers on these for them to go back to schools and pass the knowledge to their students.

A prophesy fulfilled CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 all-round prosperity achieved in the fear of God. “The school is giving us real life situation. You must work very hard to get a good grade in Covenant University. All that it takes to teach us practical as engineering students are provided. We are exposed to practical works right from 200 Level and the tempo of work increases as we move up the ladder. The school doesn’t engage engineering students in much of theoretical work. As a matter of fact, we do little of theory and much of practical. Whenever we are in workshop, we train as if we are already in the fac-

tory. By the time we go for one year industrial training, our experience in school will make things so easy for us. We won’t find many things strange again because we would have been exposed to many of them in class. Being a student of Covenant University is a worthwhile experience. We get value for our money and I believe in myself and with the help of God that I will success in life.” Similarly, Mercy Ben-Ebong, a 300 Level Banking and Finance student, said students of the university are being taught to be creative and full of ideas that can make them compete favourably with their peers in the

developed world. According to her, the university parades good, dedicated and committed lecturers, who teach to the understanding of students. “Our lecturers are approachable. We maintain a cordial relationship with them and we the student also live like a one big family. We love ourselves. On the campus, we enjoy good facilities which I doubt are available in any other university in the country. Our environment is quiet and study friendly. Our hostels are okay. We have all the necessary facilities in them that make us to live like if we are still at home. We don’t

In which subjects’ areas do you train teachers and students? We cover all the subjects in both primary and secondary schools. We produce based on school curriculum. We believe that all teachers, irrespective of subjects they are teaching need instructional materials to work with. There is no subject in the curriculum that is not important to us and we produce them according to level of class. For instance, we produce the ones that will make learning simpler for pupils in primary schools. , we produce materials that will make them understand what they are being taught in class. How do you explain a situation whereby you have instructional materials on ground but the class is crowded, how can there be effective learning in such case? We have what we call appropriate use of instructional materials as effective mean of class management. Even when the class is large, every student will still be reached and participated. But we can still not hide from the fact that some schools have crowded classrooms. How would your instructional materials work where many science laboratories do not have necessary equipment? We have a separate department for science and technology-oriented subjects. So, to the best of my knowledge, the government is fixing science laboratories in schools across the state. But when it comes to the issue of schools’ instructional materials in that area, we have done much and we will continue to improve in our services.

experience disruption in our academic calendar. You know the year you will graduate right from day one you come in as a student. There is nothing like ‘aluta’. What will students protest for in Covenant University? There is practically nothing. Although we pay heavy school fees, we have value for it. The lecturers in Covenant University do not go on strike. So we enjoy smooth sessions all through our stay in the university. Class attendance is a must for every student. We don’t involve in cultism. There are many rules and regulations for students to adhere to and these conditions are for our good. The spiritual-

ity aspect is there. You teach to respect the rights of other people. You teach to be bold and confident in whatever course you believe in to be right. The education I am receiving here will adequately prepare me for a successful future. I don’t see myself not making it big after graduation.” A member of the first set of students of the university and President of the Alumni Association, Mr. Olumuyiwa Fadugba, on his part, said the summary of his studentship in the institution could be described as awesome. He said the quality education and entrepreneurial skill he was exposed to while in the university have greatly helped him in his current endeavours.

Education Today

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FG reviews national policy on education IJEOMA EZEIKE ABUJA

he Federal Government has commenced holistic review of the National Policy on Education in tune with the nation’s transformation process. Executive Secretary of Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and Chairman of the High

Level Committee on updating the National Policy on Education, Prof. Godswill Obioma, said the current policy on education was deficient in view of the present day realities and emerging issues affecting the education sector. He spoke at a recent stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on the review process of the education policy. According to him, the current 6-3-3-4 system of

education would be reviewed to include one year early child education, adding that the campaign for access to education in the country requires that the one-year early childhood education is properly incorporated in the national system of education. He also noted that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan attaches great importance to human develop-

ment and that government was determined to reposition the education sector through provision of a sound policy framework. Prof. Obioma also said the society was dynamic as many reforms had taken place overtime, which have not been adequately reflected in the current policy, adding that the review would also touch the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) on education and Education for All (EFA) project. He explained that the new policy would not only redefine those goals in line with the national development agenda, it would also put into consideration education in disaster prone areas, where unforeseen circumstances such as flood could deprive children from going to school.

Unilever boosts hygiene among pupils

s part of efforts to reduce infant mortality rate in the country, Unilever Nigeria Plc, has started its schools’ engagement initiative to teach pupils handwashing techniques using Lifebouy Soap. The company workers recently visited over 30 primary schools in Lagos metropolis, where they demonstrated to pupils the 10 steps to wash their hands clean and make them germ-free for up to 12 hours. Speaking during the exercise, Brand Manager, Lifebuoy Soap, Dexter Adeola, said the event was to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Global Handwashing Day, a day set aside to raise awareness on handwashing with soap as a life-saving habit. “Handwashing with disinfectant soap like Lifebuoy, is one of the most effective and low cost ways to prevent diseases like pneumonia and diarrheoa, which kill about 2.1 million children below five years each year globally. Clinical research has shown that proper handwashing can reduce the risk of infecting with diarrhoea by up to about 45 per cent,” Adeola said. At Temple International School, Ilupeju, Mrs. Roselyn NnamdiUbani, Personal Assistant to Managing Director of Unilever Nigeria, told the children that for them not to contact germs, they would need to cultivate the habit of washing their hands regularly. While enlightening them through a chart showing each of the 10 steps of proper handwashing, she identified the periods before eating meals and after using the toilet as the two major periods to wash their hands.

L-R: Igwe Jerome Okolo of Amaeke Ngwo, Enugu; Enugu State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Simon Ortuanya and the Manager, Ama Brewery, Mr. John Richardson during the inauguration of the new blocks of classrooms donated by Nigerian Brewery Plc to PHOTO: DENNIS AGBO the Community Primary School Ngwo-Uno, Enugu.

Firm donates classrooms to host community DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

he Nigeria Breweries Plc has donated six big classrooms that can contain over 240 pupils to Ngwo-Uno Community Primary School in Udi Local Government area of Enugu State. The school is in the community that hosts the Ama Brewery Plant of the company and the well equipped classrooms are provided with water system, toilet facilities and a library.

Inaugurating the building, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the company, Mr. Nicolass Vervelde, represented by the Ama Brewery Manager, Mr. John Richardson, said the effort was a clear manifestation of the company’s total commitment towards the support of education and human capital development in Enugu State. He stated that it was obvious that the state government alone cannot carry the burden of development, hence, as a respon-

sible corporate citizen; the company is supporting the government and the host community with the donation of the classrooms. Vervelde recalled that in the past one year, NB has demonstrated unwavering support for education by building two other model school blocks to the community Primary School, Nsude and Central School, Awhum, both in Udi Local Government Council of Enugu, assuring that the company would continue to support host communi-

ties in various areas. Responding on behalf of the state government, the Enugu State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Simon Ortunya, said what NB did should encourage other business concerns in the state to do likewise. He further said the state government in commitment to functional education with infrastructure and decent environment for learning had equally proposed to build the capacity of teachers in the state so as to give good learning to the pupils.

Alumni involvement is crucial to education development –Osagie-Bello TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

he Chairman of Elisalat Nigeria, Mr. Akeem Bello-Osagie, has emphasised the need for alumni associations of various educational institutions from primary to tertiary level in the country to get involved in moving the country’s education sector

to an enviable position. He said while the governments cannot do the work alone, there was also no level of education that is not important in a bid to drive the country’s economy forward. Bello-Osagie stated this in a chat with National Mirror in Lagos. He decried the poor standard of the country’s education system, saying, we need, as a govern-

ment, group or individual, to do lots of works in terms of how schools are being managed and funded, how to motivate teachers for better performance and cultivate maintenance culture of schools’ infrastructure, among other measures to revise the trend. “Once we are able to address these issues,” he stressed “It means solu-

tion is near to our common educational problem in the country.” He, however, pointed out that the problem bedeviling the education sector was most pronounced at the secondary school level and urged various alumni associations to join hands with other stakeholders in the development of the sector.

Ogun warns principals against sales of school uniforms TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

n its commitment to ensure transparency and zero tolerance of corruption in the stateowned schools, the Ogun State Government has warned the leadership of various secondary schools in the state not to engage in the sales of school uniforms for students. The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Segun Odubela in a statement by the press officer of the Ministry, Kayode Oduyebo, said the provision of uniforms should be left strictly for parents to carry out. He explained that all that principals could do to ensure uniformity was to make available samples of their respective uniforms to parents and guardians to purchase and sew for their wards. Odubela while enjoining parents to ensure proper dressing of their wards to school, disclosed that the state government would soon extend the services of “safer school initiative”, as a watchdog on students’ conduct, to every part of the state. In another development, the ministry has given approval to various requests from the Parent/ Teacher Associations (PTAs) to organise evening lessons in some schools. The approval, according to the commissioner, is for schools where parents have agreed on the exercise with a view to improving the academic performance of their wards. He, however, directed that any public primary or secondary school in the state that is willing to organise evening lesson for its students must submit its request backed by minutes of the meeting of the PTA of that school for necessary approval.

Amosun

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Education Today

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Students ask Katsina govt to pay N484m bursary JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

tudents of tertiary institutions, who are indigenes of Katsina State have called on the state government to hasten payment of their bur-

sary allowances to enable them continue their studies without hitches. The call was made by the President of National Association of Katsina State Students (NAKATSS), Mr. Jamilu Bature on behalf of himself and other students

at a meeting of the association held on Tuesday. Bature, who lamented the delay, said the prompt payment of bursary would cushion the effect of financial crisis confronting many of them. National Mirror gath-

ered that a total of N484 million is being paid by the Katsina State Government as bursary annually to undergraduates across the country who are indigenes of the state. It was also gathered that about 33,000 of

them are estimated beneficiaries for this year with each student entitles to between N8, 000 and N30, 000, depending on courses of study. Bature said although, the meeting of the association was aimed at looking at the general problems facing the students, the one that needs immediate attention was the bursary, which he claimed the delay in payment had started taking huge toll on

their academic pursuits. He said the bursary played crucial role as it assists them in addressing such issues as school fees, course projects, transportation, feeding, among others. Responding, the Director- General of the state Scholarship Board, Shehu Moh’d appealed to the students to exercise patience as government had given approval for payment of the bursary.

Foundation rewards quiz winners with N.4m MOJEED ALABI

T L-R: Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof. (Mrs) Omolara Bamgboye; Vice-Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa; Chairman, Sports Council, Prof. Ademola Onifade; Special Adviser to the Governor on Rural Development, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe, at the final competition of LASU maiden unity games recently. PHOTO: OLASUNKANMI AROWOLO

Ekiti schools’ renovation excite students, parents It cost us N1.25bn –Gov’t

DAYO AYEYEMI

ne hundred out of 184 public secondary schools in Ekiti State have benefitted so far in the ongoing renovation exercise embarked upon by the state government across the 20 local government council areas of the state. Most of the renovation works were carried out while the students were on eight weeks holiday recently and the exercise excited them, as well as their parents. The students were surprised to find out that their schools’ compounds,

hostels, classrooms, libraries and laboratories, among others, are warning new looks. The structures were inaugurated recently by the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to mark his administration’s second year anniversary in office. A student of Ola Oluwa Muslim College, Ado Ekiti, Miss Adeyanju Damilola, told National Mirror that her school’s infrastructure was an eyesore before the renovation. She said some of their classrooms were with leaking roofs and without doors and windows. Master Tope Ogunleye

of Corpus Christi School, Ilawe shared in the joy, saying he can now study in a friendly environment. On their part, community leaders and parents expressed joy over the development and joined students to thank Governor Fayemi for the intervention. Speaking on the project, the Director General, Bureau of Special Project, Mr. Bayon Kelekun, said the renovation had cost the state government about N1.25 billion. He stressed that the gesture was borne out of Governor Fayemi’s vision to turn around schools in Ekiti State and make them meet international standard.

Shedding more light on Governor Fayemi’s developmental projects, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, disclosed that the government would soon distribute laptops to secondary school students in the state-owned schools. “It is going to be one computer per desk. The target is 100,000, but so far, we have been able to provide 33,000 laptops, but before 2014, others will be ready,” he said. He also hinted on the plan of the state government to partner investors to build an ICT Academy Centre for the training of students and staff in the state.

AUN showcases ICT proficiency at Google seminar MOJEED ALABI

t a Google seminar in Accra, Ghana, recently, the American University of Nigeria’s Chief Information Officer, Mr. Julius Tabe, told the story of AUN’s strides in the educational use of Information Communication and Telecommunication (ICT). The Google Education Summit for Vice-Chancellors and CIOs focused on the use of Google Apps

Supporting Programs (GASP), to bring Sub-Saharan Africa’s universities online, thereby transforming how they deploy technology to fully leverage the Internet power. In the AUN presentation, “The role of ICT in the delivery of tertiary education in Africa,” Mr. Tabe examined user growth in terms of cell phones and internet facility in Africa, tracing the origin of mobile telephony from the early 1990s. The African market,

he noted, expanded from an initial 15 million cell phone subscribers compared to 4.5 million internet users in AD 2000. According to him, by 2010, Africa had 525 million cell phone users, with internet penetration of 13.5 percent and in 2011, the continent accounted for about 140 million internet users, a huge leap from the year 2000 figures and the increase was facilitated by the introduction of fiber optic cable, with its many ad-

vantages over copper wire, currently in use. Tabe in a statement made available to National Mirror, identified sub-Saharan Africa’s undersea cables, including MainOne, AUN’s satellite service provider that spans about 14,000 km and provides additional capacity for international and internet connectivity along the west coast, adding that the university is now supplied with 45 megabytes of bandwidth, and better internet access.

he Foundation for Effective Leadership and Development [FELD], a non-governmental organization and organiser of a school quiz programme- My Education Quiz Play, has rewarded the winners of the debut edition with a total sum of N390, 000. Five students from Saint Jude’s Secondary School, FESTAC Town, Lagos, who emerged the first beneficiaries have been offered their cheques in various sums. The educational programme, which is aired on the MITV station in Lagos, produced Chidinma Ezugwu of the school as the best participant and was rewarded with a total sum of N155, 000 while Precious Onwudinjo got N120,000. Adewole Toluwanimi and Adindu Obi received N55, 000 each while Ikoabasi Melody also got N10,000 after the exciting edition. The Project Coordinator, Mr. Godfrey Osakwe, said the initiative is designed as an entertaining way of learning with particular emphasis on comprehensive forms of education based on the na-

tion’s curriculum. He said it is billed to be a weekly educational game and will serve as a veritable platform for students to showcase their brainpower and inspire others to action with constant studying. The quiz, which he said is meant for both students of secondary schools and higher institutions, welcomes participants from all part of the country. He said students can participate by sending the word ‘EXCEL’ to 35811 on their mobile phones. “The foundation seeks leverage to achieve sustainable growth in the society bearing in mind that education remains the bedrock of development of any nation. This game, therefore, provides participants the opportunity to help secure their education via the prize money in scholarship form,” Osakwe added. The Director, St. Jude’s Private Secondary School, Mrs. I.E.Jatto commended the efforts of the organisers and described it as laudable. She noted that the initiative will help to spur Nigerian students to constructive learning “aided by financial assistance which will promote qualitative education in the country.”

Coordinator, ‘My Education Quiz Play’, Mr. Godfrey Osakwe, with the winners displaying their cheques.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FROM OTHER LANDS

Economics students ‘are most promiscuous’ –Survey

conomics undergraduates have topped a survey to find which university courses have the most promiscuous students. It may be known as the dismal science, but it seems that economics has a rather racier side. Undergraduate economists were found to be the Casanovas of British students in a survey that discovered they had slept with an average of nearly five partners since starting university. The poll’s results will come as a surprise to some, although tales are told of youthful romantic dalliances by some of Britain’s best-known economics graduates. The BBC’s economics editor, Stephanie Flanders, is reported to have dated fellow former Oxford philosophy, politics and economics students Ed Miliband, the labour leader, and Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, after leaving university. Ms Flanders has batted off questions about her alleged relationships with the politicians. The survey by the StudentBeans.com website found that undergraduates studying economics had on average had 4.88 sexual partners since starting university. Next most promiscuous were students of social work, community care and counseling (4.7 partners on average), marketing (4.57), leisure, hospitality, tourism and retail (4.56) and agriculture (4.44). Engineers, business students, sports science undergraduates and social scientists also made the top ten. Theologians, perhaps with their minds on more spiritual matters, came one from the bottom of the list of 43 subjects with an average of 2.13 sexual partners each. However, the chastest students were found to be those on environmental science courses, who on average slept with 1.71 partners, only just over a third of the number tallied up by economists. BBC

UK varsity in visa storm loses students

ore than 1,000 of the 2,600 international students affected when London Metropolitan University was stripped of its ability to sponsor students from outside the European Union (EU) have either completed their courses or have graduated from the university. Those with more than a year left to complete their studies have been told they will be able to study

at London Met until the summer of 2013. A task force established by Universities Minister David Willetts to mitigate the effect of the UK Border Agency decision in August to revoke the university’s highly trusted status, held its final meeting on October 15. But officials will continue to try to find a solution for the 2013-14 academic year. Of the remaining 1,600 or so students, fewer

than half of those eligible to do so have re-enrolled at London Met. More than 750 students have either transferred to other institutions or are still considering their options. Students have to tell the UK Border Agency by October 31, whether they are continuing at London Met, transferring elsewhere or have decided to leave the country. The extra year concession to students from out-

Children’s brains are failing to develop properly because of over-exposure to screen-based technology, Baroness Greenfield warned. PHOTO: ALAMY

side the EU with a valid Tier 4 visa who are either enrolled at the university or have an offer of a place, followed a legal challenge to the Border Agency revocation order. With the position of London Met’s international students directly affected by the revocation almost stabilised, the task force led by Sir Alan Langlands, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, shifted its focus to the implementation of a £2 million (US$3.2 million) support fund for students financially disadvantaged by the debacle. As of 15 October the fund had received more than 150 applications for assistance with visa reapplication costs, extra tuition fees and additional expenses. It will continue to accept applications until the end of October. At the end of this month, the task force will submit a summary of the main events relating to the revocation and the work of the task force to Willetts.

Twitter, Facebook harm kids’ development –Scientist

generation of children risks growing up with obsessive personalities, poor selfcontrol, short attention spans and little empathy because of an addiction to social networking websites such as Twitter, a leading neuroscientist has warned. Young people’s brains are failing to develop properly after being overexposed to the cyber world at an early age, it was claimed. Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, said a decline in physical human contact meant children struggled to formulate basic social skills

and emotional reactions. She criticised the “unhealthy” addiction to Twitter among some users who resort to increasingly nasty outbursts under the “sanitised and often anonymous guise of the web”. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, she also raised concerns over the “narcissistic” nature of sites such as Klout, which measures users’ popularity and influence on social networks. The comments come just 24 hours after teachers warned that over-exposure to technology was damaging children’s ability to concentrate in the classroom.

A survey of secondary English teachers revealed that more than threequarters thought pupils’ attention spans were shorter than ever before. Baroness Greenfield quoted figures showing that more than half of 13to 17-year-olds now spend more than 30 hours a week using video games, computers, e-readers, mobile phones and other screenbased technology. She said the human brain evolved to its surroundings and needed a “stimulating environment” to grow and properly develop. But she warned that a reliance on social networking

and increased use of computer games could effectively “rewire” the brain. The academic is due to present her findings in a speech to the Early Childhood Action group, which has been established to campaign for reforms to early years education. Speaking ahead of the organisation’s inaugural conference at Winchester University next Saturday, she said: “Most of us, by the time we reach adulthood, have an inner conceptual framework that enables us to interpret the world and have a robust sense of our own identity. BBC

Kenya varsity opens next to world’s biggest refugee camp

enyatta University, one of Kenya’s leading universities, has opened a campus in Dadaab, a town in the semi-arid northeast of the country that is home to the world’s largest refugee camp. The Kenyatta facility is the latest in a string of campuses sprouting up all over the country, and aims to benefit both refugees and Kenyans living in North Eastern Province. It was built on an empty site in the tiny Kenyan town near the border with Somalia. According to officials from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, who attended the inauguration ceremony on 9 October, courses will be open to Kenyan citizens and refugees living in the nearby refugee complex from January 2013. Dadaab is often described as the world’s biggest refugee camp, sheltering nearly half a million Somalis who have fled famine and conflict in their country. It was set up in 1991 and is only around 100 kilometres from Kenya’s border with Somalia. The new campus will offer diploma, undergraduate and masters courses in subjects such as finance, marketing, project management, education, public administration, community mobilisation, and peace and conflict studies. One of Kenyatta University’s visions is to be a centre of excellence in refugee education, and it said it aimed to empower refuges through tertiary education, capacity building and research in order to prepare them for postconflict arbitration and reintegration. University World News

Egypt’s students protest dearth of accommodation

ne month after the start of the academic year in Egypt, thousands of students at various public universities have staged protests against lack of availability of accommodation in statesubsidised residences. They have complained of lack of attention paid by their universities to student dormitories and have threatened to protest

outside the presidential palace, which has recently been the focal point of many labour strikes. “Since the beginning of classes, I have had to stay with relatives in Cairo because I have not yet been allowed to stay at the university hostel due to unfinished maintenance work,” said Mahmoud Abdel Rahman, a thirdyear engineering student

at Cairo University, the country’s biggest public university. “Almost two years after the revolution, conditions in universities are not better. Negligent administrators should be punished for having failed to make dorms ready to accommodate students coming from faraway areas. University World News

Students of City Public English High School, Pakistan, protesting in favour of Malala Yousuf Zai outside the Hyderabad Press Club, recently.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, October 25, 2012

When UNILORIN changed leadership baton with Mojeed Alabi mojeedalabi2@yahoo.co.uk or mail@mirroronline.net

BAKARE WALE

300L, ZOOLOGY, UNILORIN

t was a scene to behold recently at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Kwara State, when the baton of leadership exchanged hands. The appearance of the Chairman of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) and the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede and his successor, Prof. Abdulganiu Ambali at the official handover ceremony held recently on the campus took many by surprise.

Unlike the usual culture of English dresses of suit and ties, the duo had opted for a traditional attire of‘agbada’ with matching local ‘abeti aja’ caps. And the fact that they appeared in same dress revealed the huge sense of camaraderie between them. The ceremony, which witnessed a large turnout of academicians and members of the public including journalists, left many to wonder about the celebration of Yoruba culture by the university dons. Oloyede, whose five-year single term tenure formally ended on Saturday, September 15, was full of praises for his colleagues,

Former VC Prof. Oloyede (right) transfering the mantle of leadership of the university to the new VC Prof. Ambali

friends and critics for what he described as his giant strides during his term of office. Reeling out his achievements, the former

VC listed the introduction of the Computer-based Test (CBT), establishment of Technical and Entrepreneurial Centre (TEC), Cen-

NGO, OAU students beautify campus As varsity beat UNILAG, UNIBEN, others at competition

ABDUL-A ZIZ DAUD AND SIKIRU AKINOLA

s part of its nationwide environmental action campaign, a youth-based non-governmental organisation-G-Net- has successfully mobilised over a thousand students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, in Osun State, to paint strategic locations on the campus. The project, tagged: “i360 OAU Facelift, Transformation Within 05Hours, 5000 Students, 5Friends,” was launched by the organisation to paint and beautify some major roads on the campus and sensitise the community on maintenance culture using the students as the change agents. Interestingly, the programme that featured hilarious performances by some emerging Nigerian artistes, including Arole (OAU), Benita Okoje, and

Samson Infinity had over 1,000 students, who actively participated in the exercise. It was a project that induced an atmosphere of conviviality, as the students, who had gathered at the take-off venue of the exercise-the students’ union building-were filled with joy and enthusiasm as they painted the kerbsides of major roads on the campus. Community services rendered by the organisation were highlighted by a leading member of the group, Okoje Ndubusi who said they include, but not limited to, educating the masses on ways to curb environmental hazards and the benefits of keeping clean environment. He said it would be recalled that the organisation had in 2010 engaged in a similar programme in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, which was tagged: “Sango Clean-Up.” Meanwhile, the students of the university’s Faculty

of Pharmacy who took part in the maiden edition of the Shade Olafimihan InterPharmacy-Schools Debate Competition have won the gold trophy. The competition, which was part of the activities to mark the 41st edition of the annual Pharmacy Week on the campus, was organized by the executives of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students, PANS. It was according to the student body instituted as a mark of honour and in remembrance of the association’s first female President, Shade Olafimihan, who was said to have died when on an official assignment in 1988. The host university, OAU came first with 76 points while the University of Benin was ranked second having secured 55 points. The University of Lagos came third. Other schools that

EKSU crisis: Varsity reduces reparation fee MOJEED ALABI

ollowing protests by students of Ekiti State University, EKSU, Ado Ekiti over the earlier institution directive that all students must pay reparation fee of N10, 500, the authorities of the university have reduced the amount to N6, 500. The decision to review the damages downward was, according to the institution, its response to the appeals by eminent personalities and stakeholders in the nation’s education sector. It would be recalled that the university had earlier announced the former rate following the destruction of properties in the institution during violence that broke out recently over the death of a student. According to statement signed by the Deputy Registrar, Information and Pub-

lic Relations, Ajibade Olubunmi, the university has also decided that the predegree students and students of the university who are on Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) for the second semester of 2011/2012 are excluded from the payment of the reparation fee. Olubunmi, who said payments are to be made to designated banks nationwide on or before tomorrow, Friday, October 26, added that students are advised to comply with the directive and keep away from the university premises until further notice. “The Senate of the University will meet to decide the resumption date. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oladipo Aina has appealed to students to remain calm as efforts are being made to bring normalcy to the academic activities,” Olubunmi stated.

NASU emerges winner of LASU unity games OLASUNKANMI AROWOLO

T OAU students during the beautification project.

participated in the debate included the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State and Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo. Announcing the winner, a social commentator and lecturer in the faculty, Prof. Adebayo Lamikanra affirmed the greatness of the university saying his students had won series of similar debates within and outside the country. He said what he saw did not surprise him because he knew the OAU students were not new to debates. He, however, advised other participating schools to work harder so that they can break the dominance of the host. He also advised the winner to work harder so that they can retain the award next year. The occasion witnessed the launch of the 10th edition of the faculty magazine, Pharmatel and the MP3 version of the association’s anthem.

tre for Peace and Strategic Studies (CPSS), National Centre for Hydropower Research and Development (NACHRED), Centre for In-

ternational Education and Stem Cell Research Centre, Ilorin Centre for Alternative Technology (ICATECH), UNILORIN FM, the successful host of the 13th West Africa Universities Games (WAUG), among numerous others. However, Oloyede said whatever his administration may have achieved could not be regarded as achievements until his successor is seen to be successful. He therefore pledged his support for the new VC and enjoined him to seek his support whenever necessary. “I also appeal to the university community to support.” The new VC, who acknowledged the big task before him promised to serve the university with all within his capacity.

he Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, has emerged the overall winner of the maiden edition of the institution’s Unity Sports Festival, held recently on the campus. NASU, in the overall competition won with,

11 gold, six bronze and eight silver medals defeating Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), which became first runner-up by grabbing six gold, four bronze and three silver medals. The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University (SSANU) came third with three gold, nine bronze and eight silver medals. In his address at the

closing ceremony, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oladapo Obafunwa, described the sporting festival as the best way to display unity among workers and also ensure their fitness. “It is very interesting to be celebrating this kind of event. This event bridges the gaps among the staffs irrespective of their categories. I am sure with things like this we can

maintain friendship and ensure rapid academic and infrastructural development of the university,” Obafunwa stated. The VC recognised the effort of the Director of Sports, Dr. Adiatu Ademola, and appreciated the organizers, while appealing to all members of staff to do whatever possible within their power to reposition the ivory tower.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

ATURDAY MIRROR of October 20 disseminated many juvenile blunders right from its front page: “Party leaders in last minute (last-minute) campaigns” As a starter: “Last minutes (Last-minute, not minutes) intrigues, deft moves” “NASS recieves over 200 memoranda” Spell-check: receives “15 arrested over (for) illegal voting” “Police recover ammunitions, phones, laptops” ‘Ammunition’ is non-count. “Child activist…recovering after Taliban assasination (assassination) attempt” DAILY SUN of October 17 circulated just two goofs: “… Beatrice beams with smiles on the occassion (occasion) of her husband’s birthday.” Whoever wrote this does not know the meaning of ‘beam’! Would the woman have ‘beamed with frown’? This way: Beatrice beams on the occasion…. “Okogie commissions orphanage, condemns killing of Uniport students” Sacrilege! The man of God launches/unveils/throws (declares) open orphanage—not ‘commissions’ (please, vide the contexts of this word in any standard dictionary). “Police recovers stolen cars” (The Pilot Headline, August 10) No community application: Police recover (plural verb) stolen cars “Why were they not liquidated outrightly by NDIC and on whose instruction?” (Vanguard NEWS ANALYSIS, August 9) There is no such word as ‘outrightly’. The correct entry is ‘outright’, which could function either as an adjective or adverb. Perhaps, in the future, it would be acceptable. “Etuhu turns down last minute call-up” (Vanguard

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

With PCs, no excuse for wrong spelling

SPORTS, August 9) Nigeria versus Liberia: last-minute call-up. Still on phrasal verbs: “NNPC-Capital Oil Kero-Direct Scheme kicks-off in 3 states” (THISDAY Business WORLD, August 9) Let us energize: scheme kicks off. For noun application only: kick-off. “Volatility of global stocks: Nigeria may not be immuned” (THE GUARDIAN BUSINESS Banner, August 7) Even Rutam House is not immune from solecisms. Nigerian Tribune of August 7 promoted a faulty headline: “AMCON injects N678bn to three rescued banks” Nigeria’s most informative newspaper: AMCON injects N678b into (take note) 3 nationalized banks. National Mirror of August 6 issued a few fractured lines: “Ibrahim explained that the Bridge Banks are being run by the NDIC as growing concern….” National News: going concerns. “Meanwhile (a comma) the CBN appointed (a hyphen, please) managements cease to be employers (employees) of CBN but are now under the NDIC.” “The NDIC boss further said that the corporation will (would) keep operating….” Next on the line-up is THE NATION, August 8, which offered its readers copious goofs: “MIG commends Tinubu, Fashola over Bello’s appointment” I commend them, too, for (not over) the gentleman’s appointment. “…a cutter in cutting key and breaking burglary proof….” A special entry: burglar- proof/

NATIVE ENGLISH COULD BE USED

IN VERNACULAR/

LOCAL/SOFT-SELL

(CELEBRITY)/ INFORMAL

PUBLICATIONS, NOT STANDARD DAILIES alarm. “Travails of under-aged sex workers in the hands of their madam.” Get it right: under-age commercial sex workers.” “US-based firm poises to crash prices of ‘Tokunbo’ cars” (DAILY INDEPENDENT Headline, August 5) Auto Business: poised. And this for formal communication which is the basis of newspaper language: second-hand/used/third-rate cars instead of ‘Tokunbo’! Native English could be used in vernacular/local/soft-sell (celebrity)/informal publications, not standard dailies. “Second Niger Bridge: Group tasks FG on expedite actions” (DAILY CHAMPION Banner, August 5) ‘Expedite’ is a verb— not an adjective. So: Group tasks FG to expedite actions. Alternatively: Group tasks FG on expeditious actions. THE NATION NATURAL HEALTH Column of August 4 was not clinical on two occasions: “It has been noted that cases of mental illness is on the increase in Nigeria….” Music as healing therapy: cases of mental illness are on the increase.

“Our psychiatry hospitals are filled with young men and women suffering from mental disorder.” Clinic Day: Our psychiatric hospitals. “I, Otunba (Dr.) Christopher…on behalf of my family, felicitates with my leader….” (Full Page Congratulatory Advert, Vanguard, August 4) The challenge of honorary doctorate degrees: I felicitate (not felicitates) with my leader! “Customs dismiss 4 for gross misconduct” (Nigerian Tribune Headline, 3 August) The Nigeria Customs Service (either NCS or Customs for headline purposes) takes singular—not plural— verbs. This is too basic to be bungled daily by journalists. “Robbery: Policeman killed by vigilante group” This way: vigilance group. “The gallantry effort exhibited by the driver of.…” Get it right: either gallantry or gallant effort. “Armed robbers attacked a Lagos bound (a hyphen) luxurious (luxury) bus at the same spot killing some passengers and made (making) away with several millions of naira belong (belonging) to the travellers who were mostly traders.” What a coarse arrangement! We surely need a syntactic consultant surgeon! “The mess has simply re-occurred because of the propensity of some of our citizens to flout relevant laws and statutes with impunity.” Return to the basics: recurred (never re-occurred). “Haruna had at (on) various occasions stunned the nation by the level of fraudulent practices the former functionaries had

being (been) involved.” “Nigeria’s soccer house set to take the bull by the horn and change the face of the game.” Sport Today: take the bull by the horns. “The wretched has (have) no voice.” ”The victim is a specie (species) from among the wretched of the earth.” “We could do nothing against such formidable odds giving (given) the worthless tools at our disposal.” “…from whom he took over the reign of power.” This way: reins of government. “Within few months of his administration, the crime rate in the state ostensibly reduced to the barest minimum....” For goodness’ sake, what is the function of ‘ostensibly’ here? “The congestion on our roads are (is) very unhealthy for the economic sector.” A recurring subject-verb disagreement case as below, too. “A further review of the performance of the major currencies of Nigeria’s trading partners also indicate (indicates) that the Euro….” ‘An association comprising of Great Britain and its former colonies....” Just remove ‘of ’ to foreclose neocolonialism! “The strappy look is now the vogue.” ‘Vogue’ and ‘is’ connote currency. So, yank off ‘now.’ “The pen will always eventually silence the gun in a contest between the two (between them) because the former is creative and produces lasting artifacts while the latter is destructive.” For me, the bracketed preference hallmarks classicality.

Again, ASUU condemns governors’ interference in varsities SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN

he “undue” interference of state governors in the running of state government-owned universities is now adversely affecting academic standards of such varsities, according to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The coordinator of Benin zone of the union, made up of the University of Benin (UNIBEN); Ambrose Alli University

(AAU) Ekpoma; Delta State University (DELSU), Niger Delta University (NDU) and the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Dr. Sunday Ighalo stated this in Benin City recently. Addressing journalists, Ighalo criticised Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State on the lingering crisis in the Rivers State University of Technology (RSUST), which he linked to the manner the school’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Baritone Fakae, was re-

appointed by the state governor in his capacity as the Visitor to the university and head of the Governing Council. Ighalo alleged that due process was not followed in the re-appointment of Fakae, who he said, came last in the interview that was conducted for aspirants to the position. He accused Amaechi for being responsible of the fraudulent disqualification of two of the five persons that applied so as to pave the way for Fake to be among the three short-

listed names that were eventually sent to the state governor to pick from. “They impose their will on universities; they want to determine who becomes the cleaner; they want to determine who the Vice Chancellor is; they want to determine everything in the university; they should leave the running of the University for the Governing Council to manage. That is the problem we are having. The union is fully in support of ASUU RSUST. We will

not abandon them because an injury to one is

an injury to all,” Ighalo stated.

L-R: Oyo State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr. Adedapo Lam-Adeshina; the State’s NYSC Coordinator, Pastor Olanipekun Alao and a corps member, Ube Regina Unaji, during the passing out of the 2011 NYSC Batch “C” corps members in Ibadan. PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

Thursday, October 25, 2012

18TH ACCW: First Bank, Deepwater grab quarter-finals place 30

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

The present NFF board is not corrupt and has been employing global best practices in its dealings – Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, Chief Emeka Inyama

‘Eaglets’ll score in Guinea’

Super Eagles’ line-up before their last qualifying match in Calabar

Eagles’ opponents are afraid –Bassey ADENRELE NIYI

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

igeria’s first round opponents who emerged last night after the draw for the 29th Africa Cup of Nations held at the International Conference Centre in Durban, South Africa, are afraid of the Super Eagles. Confederation of African Football (CAF) Venue Coordinator and Nigeria’s veteran sports journalist, Mr. Paul Bassey, revealed this to National Mirror here. In an interview with National Mirror, Bassey said not only the three first round opponents, but all the other finalists to the South Africa 2013 are trembling because of the Super Eagles’ return to the continent’s soccer showpiece. “The Eagles are very good in competition and sometimes at qualifiers they would disappoint by drawing with the likes of Kenya, Liberia and Sierra Leone. But when they get to competition proper, they show their stuff. So, I’m very expectant; they qualified the way they did. “Other African countries are trembling and more importantly, we are able to book a place because Nigeria belongs in the Nations Cup,” Bassey said. The short interview runs thus: What are your expectations for the draw tonight? I’m a Nigerian but I’m here under the CAF delegation in-charge of the five venues that have been chosen. In FIFA, such people are called Venue Managers. It is after the draws are done tonight that I would know which

venue I’ll be going. Definitely, when Nigeria will be drawn, I’ll not be there. For the draw, I’ve heard Coach Stephen Keshi say “I fear no foe.” But for me as a person, I fear Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. I wish we have a draw that has South Africa and Zambia for a start, that will give us time to develop. Nigeria didn’t get to the last AFCON and I wouldn’t want us to be thrown into the thick of things. But again, for you to win the Cup, you have to face and beat everybody. I’m also looking forward to a good competition as one of those who would be involved in the running of it. South Africa is a beautiful place and they have experience coming from the 2010 World Cup. I’m expecting the best. Taking it from the Super Eagles’ last qualification match, what do you think about their form? Going by that match one would be excited but I have always held the view that Liberia, with due respect, is not the kind of opponent that would make us dance all night. It’s good we beat Liberia the way we did. I wasn’t too happy when we drew with them in the first leg in Monrovia. That is the beginning of hope for me and of better things to come. Like I said earlier, we’re still building. Keshi has been there for less than one year. So, we’re assembling a team of young guys that would be able to hold their own. The Eagles are very good in competition and sometimes at qualifiers they would disappoint by drawing with the likes of Kenya, Liberia and Sierra Leone. But when they get to competition proper, they show their stuff. So, I’m very expectant; they qualified the

oach of the nation’s U-17 football team, Manu Garba, has assured that his team will score against the Junior Syli Stars when they clash in Guinea this weekend in the second leg of the African U-17 Championship qualifier. Nigeria won the first leg in Calabar 3-0 a fortnight ago. Garba told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he would travel to Conakry with 18 of the 30 players in camp. that his boys would scale the Guinean hurdle in the second leg in Conakry. “Our training has been going on well and we are happy with the condition of the players. The players have coped very well, in spite of the tough schedule they have been going through,” he said. On the scoring chances which the team lost in the first leg encounter, Assistant Coach, Nduka Ugbade, gave an assurance that the boys would do well in Conakry “We created about 12 scoring chances in the first leg but we were able to score just three goals. The Eaglets have scored a total of 13 goals in three qualifying matches and conceded a goal through penalty in the 4-1 win against Niger Republic in Niamey,” Ugbade, a former captain of the Golden Eaglets, noted. Ugbade was confident that the team would make things difficult for the Guineans, having scored 76 goals so far in 17 matches.

Nembe wins NNL crown

Paul Bassey

way they did. Other African countries are trembling and more importantly, we are able to book a place because Nigeria belongs in the Nations Cup. What kind of line-up would you like to see for Nigeria? I’m not the coach and I’m not going to preempt him, but I would like to see an inclusion of people like Victor Anichebe, Osaze Odemwingie. In all, I want a strong squad with experience; players that can hold their own anywhere. The squad is good as it is with Victor Moses and a Mikel Obi that has come back, but fortify it. Maybe not too many changes but bring in four or five players that would keep it tight and it’s left to the coach to choose whoever he wants. Last word for Coach Keshi? Come here and do your stuff. We are a strong footballing nation and this is the time for the coach to make himself proud and also make the country proud.

embe City FC defeated Bayelsa United 4-3 on penalties after they were tied at 1-1 to emerge champions of the 2011/2012 Nigeria National League. Ebimobowei opened scoring for Bayelsa United in the 24th minute, before Uche Ihuarulam drew Nembe City level after 53 minutes. Nembe goalkeeper, Japhet Opumbo, was the hero of the day after he saved two spot kicks. “I am very happy. Words cannot express my excitement and I thank God that we won this title. I was in a hurry to stop the penalties that was why I could not save the first three, but I calmed down for the last two kicks and saved them,” he told MTNFootball.com. Nembe City, owned by Nigeria Premier League (NPL) chairman, Victor Baribote, also won a cash prize of N300, 000. Earlier, Nasarawa United beat El Kanemi Warriors 1-0 to finish third in the league. All four teams will feature in the NPL in the coming season.

Sport

Thursday, October 25 , 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

EUROPA LEAGUE

Unbeaten Marseille targets Mönchengladbach’s scalp

lympique de Marseille will be hopeful of maintaining their unbeaten record in Group C when they travel to VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, who have struggled at home recently. VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach will look to avoid extending a three-game losing streak at home as high-scoring Olympique de Marseille return to Germany in UEFA Europa League Group C. The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition. Match background • Defeat against Fenerbahçe on matchday two means Glad-

bach are now on a three-game losing streak at home, stretching back to a 3-2 victory against Arsenal FC in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup first round. All three of those losses have been by twogoal margins – 4-2 reverses to Monaco and Fenerbahçe sandwiching a 3-1 loss to FC Dynamo Kyiv in this season’s UEFA Champions League play-offs. • Marseille are unbeaten in six European games this season, (W3 D3) including a win and two draws on their travels. Key Players: Borussia Monchengladbach – Luuk de Jong, Igor de Camargo, Juan Arango; Marseille – Dede Ayew, Matthieu Valbuena, Loic Remy

Radamel Falcao of Atletico Madrid celebrating after scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Europa League Final b Madrid and Athletic Bilbao at the National Arena in Bucharest, Romania.

Athletic eyes first win at Lyon

thletic Club head to Olympique Lyonnais aiming to avoid defeat in France for the very first time, though last season’s runners-up will need to end the hosts’ 100% start to Group I to do so. Olympique Lyonnais will look to make it nine points from a possible nine in Group I as they take on 2011/12 UEFA Europa League finalists Athletic Club – a side who have yet to avoid defeat in France. Both sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.

Match background • Only Club Atlético de Madrid, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Lyon go into matchday three with maximum points from their opening games. • Athletic have not triumphed in three European games since winning 6-0 at home against HJK Helsinki in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off, recording two draws and then a

3-1 defeat at AC Sparta Pra matchday two. • The Bilbao side have not w five European away games (D including the final of the 2 UEFA Europa League in B rest, in which they were the nal away side. Key Players – Lyon: Bafe Gomis, Lisandro Lopez, An Revelliere; Athletico Mad Christian Rodriquez, Ra Falcao, Raul Garcia

Inter hopes Partizan paves way to glory

C Internazionale Milano has met FK Partizan en route to two past continental triumphs, and the Italian club will be hoping the teams’ Group H encounter proves another good omen. FC Internazionale Milano have reason for hope as they meet FK Partizan in UEFA Europa League Group H – they have beaten them in two previous two-legged ties and gone on to win a major European trophy both times. Inter’s head-to-head record puts the Milan side in the driver’s seat going into the game before their home fans in Milan. In the previous four games against Partizan, the home side prevailed thrice, grabbing two of those victories in Milan and a win in Belgrade.

Andre Ayew

Match background • Partizan’s 13 matches against Italian teams have ended W1 D4 L8 (W1 D2 L4 in Belgrade – W0 D2 L4 in Italy). That sole victory was a 4-2 win against AS Roma in the first leg of a UEFA Cup second round tie on 26 October 1988 – almost 24 years to the day before this fixture against Inter. • Inter are without a win in three European home games this season – a 2-0 defeat followed by two 2-2 draws. • Partizan have lost their last three away games in Europe since kicking off with a 4-1 win at Valletta FC in this season’s UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. They have also been beaten in their

last 12 away group stage fixtures in UEFA competition. The last time they avoided defeat on their travels in a group stage was with a 2-2 draw at S.S. Lazio on 25 November 2004. • The point they picked up in the Italian capital is the only time in 18 group stage engagements in UEFA

competition in which they hav been defeated. They have regi just six goals in those encounter Key Players – Inter Milan: Nagatomo, Wesley Sneijder, nio Cassano, Javier Zanettie; zan Belgrade – Eduardo, Zvo Vuki , Ivan Ivanov.

Antonio Cassano

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won in D1 L4) 2011/12 Buchanomi-

etimbi nthony drid – adamel

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National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Eko 2012: MOC holds final inspection Nov. 1

he final inspection of facilities and venues for the 18th National Sports Festival (NSF), scheduled for Lagos State from November 27 to December 9, will hold on November 1. Secretary of the festival’s Main Organising Committee (MOC), Alhaji Abba Yola, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the inspection would precede a technical meeting. “The 27 national sports federations’ secretaries, 28 technical directors and I as the MOC secretary, will be inspecting the facilities and venues Lagos State is offering for the festival. “This will be the final inspection ahead of the festival and it will enable the federation secretaries and their technical directors to assess the readiness of the facilities. It will also enable them to certify them as being ready or not ready for the festival,” Yola said. The MOC secretary added that the inspection would be followed by a technical meeting where all the final details about the festival tagged Eko 2012 would be finalised.

…LOC recruits 55 ushers

he Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 18th National Sports Festival has confirmed the recruitment of 55 ushers for the festival tagged, ‘Eko 2012’. LOC Sub-Committee Secretary on Protocol and Ceremonies, Bolumole Peters, said that those recruited would be used for medals’ presentation during the event. Peters said the initial height requirement of 5.9 ft tall, had to be reduced to 5.8 ft in order to accommodate more girls as many of them did not make the initial benchmark. He said that apart from their height, the girls were also required to be confident and possess good moral behaviour, required for the job. “Among the requirements we are looking out for is that the girls must be confident, fluent and possess good moral behaviour, to be selected,” he said. Peters said the girls who were mainly drawn from different modeling outfits in Lagos would undergo a two-day training which according to him is being handled by a consultant.

Onyeka Mbanu returning a serve in the men’s singles match at the ongoing Governor’s Cup

Players, LLTC hail Governor’s Cup standard YEMI OLUS

anagement of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club (LLTC) has applauded the standard of the ongoing 2012 Lagos Tennis Governor’s Cup. President of the LLTC, Barr Sam Egbuchunam, said that all members of the club were glad to be part of the success story of the ITF pro circuit sponsored by FCMB PLC and

Etisalat Nigeria this year, adding that the club ensured that it put in place world class facilities for the Local Organising Committee to run a smooth championship. “Part of what we did in the beginning was to ensure that we had a Grand Slam arena ready for this year’s Governor’s Cup and I’m glad that even the foreign players and their parents testified to what they’ve seen this year of the facilities at the club,” said Egbuchunam.

Supporters’ Club suit: Court strikes out Ladipo’s name IFEANYI EDUZOR

Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday struck out names of the President General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo; National Chairman of the Club Otumba Bashorun, and the Electoral Committee chairman, Ademola Bankole, from a suit instituted by Abayomi Osifala challenging the eligibility of some members to contest elective positions in the club. Ruling on the matter, the presiding judge, Justice Benedicta Molokwu upheld the argument of the defendants’ lead counsel, Barrister Odumodi that their names should be struck out of the case since they were wrongly joined as defendants in the matter. According to the judge, the inability of the applicant’s counsel to convince the court on reasons for joining the

trio in the suit leaves the court with no option than to strike out their names because doing otherwise will amount to abuse of court process. Meanwhile, Justice Molokwu has fixed November 26, 2012 to determine whether the court has jurisdiction to entertain the case. The court however ordered all parties to the suit to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit. Adjourning the matter, the judge noted that the new date became necessary to enable counsel for both parties to file their claims and counter claims before the new date. It will be recalled that some members of the Supporters Club took the association to court alleging breach of electoral procedures which prompted the court to restrain the club from conducting its election earlier scheduled for last month, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Rafiu wLadipo

In a chat with National Mirror, the tournament’s number three seed, Kento Takeuchi, who defeated Nigeria’s number one male player, Lawal Shehu, 6-1, 6-1 commended the facilities put in place for the games: “The courts are very good and this is a nice experience for me because this is my first time in Nigeria,” he said. Other second round casualties recorded on Wednesday include Clifford Enosoregbe, who was defeated by number two seed and South African, Ruan Roelofse, 6-1, 6-1, while Sanni Adamu lost to Sherif Sabry of Egypt 1-6, 6-3, 2-6. Top seed in the Women’s Singles, Nina Bratchikova sent Fatimah Abinu packing in straight sets of 6-1, 6-0. Blessing Anuna bowed to South African Chanel Simmonds 0-6, 1-6. In other results, Number one seed in the Men’s Singles Kamil Capkovic advanced to the next round at the expense of Egyptian Karim Hossam who he defeated 6-1, 7-5 to set up a quarter final duel with Lopex Perez of Spain on Thursday. Egypt’s Karim Mohammed Maamoun was able to scale the hurdle of Zimbabwe’s Mark Fynn in straight sets of 7-6, 6-1. In the Women’s Singles, Madagascar teenager, Zarah Razafimahatratra, lost to Chinese Jia-Jing Lu 3-6, 1-6. Swiss Conny Perrin defeated Slovak Anja Prislan in 6-2, 6-2 game, Tadeja Majeric of Slovakia beat Alexandra Romanova of Russia 6-1, 6-1 to set up a quarter final match against Chinese Lu.

Sport

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SLAMMING AND E-mail: folashayoezekiel@yahoo.com Phone: 08027536696

DUNKING

With SAYO OGUNDEJI

Akashili targets top gong

irst Deepwater’s utility player, Nkechi Akashili, has expressed her readiness to help her team go as far as possible at the 18th Africa Champions Cup for Women holding in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, saying winning the most valuable player of the tournament will be a dream come through for her. Deepwater has made it to the quarter-finals of the competition having won their first two matches which were enough to see the team through and Akashili promised her team’s resolve to go a step further than they did last year when they hosted the event. The Nigerian international who has been a revelation for both club and country is of the opinion that her side stands a better chance of reaching the final this time around, saying the team is better equipped both with the quality players and experience. “We have started the championship on a very good note despite losing one of the games to the defending champions but we believe we have the capacity to go all the way to the finals this time around,” Akashili who has been the best player in the Nigerian league over the last two season, stated. “The team has improved technically compared to our last outing when we finished in third place and I hope my performance and contribution will fetch me the MVP of the tournament and help my team win the championship.”

First Bank of Nigeria players trying to block Primeiro de Agosto of Angola forward (left) during their game at the ongoing Africa Champions Cup for Women in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

18TH ACCW: First Bank, Deepwater grab quarter-finals place D espite losing their Matchday 4 games to Angolan clubs on Tuesday, Nigeria’s representatives at this year’s Africa Champions Cup for Women (ACCW) holding in Abidjan Cote d’Ivoire, First Bank and First Deepwater Basketball clubs, have qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition. The Angolans proved their supremacy once again as Premiero D’Agosto defeated First Bank by 55- 45 points while the defending champions, Interclube got the better of Deepwater as they ran away with a 66-38 points winner Interclube, who defeated First Bank in the final of the last edition to win the tournament proved too hot for the Nigerian team who has had a positive start to the tournament. The Nigeria women league champions, Deepwater, confirmed their rating at the ongoing ACCW holding in Abidjan with a hundred percent record in the first two games they played in the preliminary round of the continent biggest women club competition. The Oil and Gas ladies who laboured to beat Club Sportif SFAXIEN Basketball Club of Tunisia by 57-55

points on Saturday came back forcefully in their second group-B game with a 79-45 points spanking of Kenya Eagle Wings basketball club. The match played at the Palaise des Sport in Treichville saw the Coach Lateef Erinfolami tutored side out played their Kenyan opponents in all departments of the game as they won all four quarters by 19-10, 22-16, 18-09 and 20-10 points with points guard Upe Atosu leading her team charge for a place in the quarter-finals with 24 points, 4 assist, 3 steal and 2 rebound. First Deepwater made a good run on the free throw line with 64.3 percent but fell short in their execution of field goals scoring only twenty-six of her sixty-seven two-point field goal attempt. The Nigerian side grabbed twentysix rebounds and had fifteen assist, eighteen steal and fifteen turn-over. The two wins were enough to guarantee a place in the quarter-finals but coach Erinfolami says the goal of the team is to finish well in the group. Club chairman, Engineer Babatunde Babalola, who was among the dignitaries who watched the game against Kenya urged the players and

their handlers to remain focused to do Nigeria proud. Nigeria golden girl Nkechi Akashili also contributed immensely to her team victory as she recorded 15 points, four steal and three assist while Magdalene Ukato added 14 points, three assist, two rebounds and 2 steal. Akashili

Lakers’ Bryant misses practice to injury

week before the Los Angeles Lakers begin their regular season at home against the Dallas Mavericks, their All-Star guard Kobe Bryant missed practice on Wednesday, for a second successive day to rest a “painful” foot. Five-time NBA champion Bryant was kicked in his right foot during the third quarter of Sunday’s 99-92 preseason loss to the Sacramento Kings and said he was unsure when he would resume training. Asked by reporters whether this was a setback for the Lakers, Bryant replied: “Not really. “It’s probably pretty good that it happened. It slowed me down a bit. I’ve been going full bore pretty much every day.” The Lakers have lost all six of their preseason games, and Bryant said he would “probably not” play in the seventh,

against the Clippers in Los Angeles on Thursday. After that, the Lakers will conclude their preseason schedule against the Kings in San Diego on Thursday (Friday, PHL time). Much is expected of Bryant and his teammates in their 2012-13 campaign following the offseason acquisitions of six-time All-Star Dwight Howard and former two-time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash. Howard and Nash will join Bryant, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace in a powerful starting five, though Howard is still easing his way into form after having surgery in April to repair a herniated disc in his back. The Lakers open the regular season against the Mavericks on October 30.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business & Finance It is important for residents to ensure that their wastes are contained in nylons bags dumped in waste containers for easy evacuation by PSP operators.

We have been able to turn around our loss position of the previous years and more significantly, we now have a healthy and positive shareholders’ fund.

Spoke Person, Lagos Waste Management Authority, Folashade Kadiri

THE GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR OF UNION BANK, FUNKE OSIBODU

Micro-insurance’ll alleviate poverty –NAICOM TOLA AKINMUTIMI AND JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has identified micro –insurance as one of the financial instruments that could help in tackling the challenges of poverty and other socio-economic burdens millions of Nigerians are experiencing now if it is embraced by all stakeholders. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel, stated this yesterday in Abuja at the oneday workshop organised by the Commission for stakeholders on developing micro –insurance in Nigeria. Daniel described micro-insurance as a market based mechanism that promised to support sustainable livelihood by empowering people to adapt and withstand stress. According to him the Nigerian development plan vision 2020 had described the Nigerian insurance sector as a grossly untapped opportunity with low attendant of market penetration. He attributed the ugly development to sundry reasons including, the nation’s peculiar market environment, limited awareness,

and the prescriptive nature of the insurance ACT 2003 to negative public perception by those who are aware of insurance. The Commissioner said: “From empirical findings, it has been proven that low-income earners can use micro-insurance, where it is available, as one of several tools to manage their risk. “It is therefore expected that the insurance industry would leverage and key into this sector by developing the needed micro-

insurance products and services tailored to support, protect and assist the low income populace to alleviate poverty. “Let me state clearly that microinsurance has been specifically designed for the protection of low income earners against specific perils in exchange for regular premium payments proportionate to the likelihood and cost of the risk involved”, Daniel added. On the purpose of the workshop which was organised with

FLIGHT SCHEDULE Arik Air

the Commission’s partners including, GIZ of Germany, Access to Insurance Initiative, Making Finance Work for Africa and International Labour Organisation, the Insurance e expert said that the objectives of the workshop were to assess the findings and recommendations of the country wide diagnostic research on micro insurance and to provide a platform for further in –depth discussion among various stakeholders.

Aero Contractors

L-R: Regional Director RIM, Mr. Walid Wepener; Founder Visafone, Mr. Jim Ovia and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Srinivasa Venkappa, during the Visafone and RIM launch of BlackBerry smartphones and service in Nigeria in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: BAYOOR EWUOSO

FG set to disburse N28bn Vessel Financing Fund FRANCIS EZEM

arring any last minute change of mind, the Federal Government has concluded plans to commence the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel

ADVERT HOTLINES: For advert bookings and information, please contact the following:

LAGOS: 01-8446073, 08094331171, 08023133084, 08034019884 ABUJA: 08033020395, 08036321014

Los-Abj: 07:15, 09:15, 10:20, 15:20, 16:20, 16:50, 18:45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) Abj-Los: 07:15, 09:40, 10:20, 12:15, 15:15, 16:15, 17:10, (Mon-Fri/Sat); 12:15, 15:15, 16:15 (Sun) Los-PH: 07:15, 11:40, 14:00, 16:10, 17:15, (Mon-Fri) 07:30, 11:40, 15:50 (Sat) 11:50, 3:50, 17:05 (Sun) Abj-PH: 07:15, 11:20, 15:30 (Mon-Fri) 07:15, 16:00 (Sat) 13:10, 16:00, (Sun) PH-Abj: 08:45, 12:50, 17:00 (Mon-Fri) 08:45, 17:30 (Sat) 14:40, 17:30 (Sun) Abj-Ben: 08:00, 12:10 (Mon-Fri/Sat) 08:55, 12:10 (Sun) Ben-Abj: 09:55, 13:30 (Mon-Fri/Sat) 10:50, 13:30 (Sun)

Financing Fund, currently estimated at over N27.1bn ($169million). CVFF, which was created by the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003 is derived from two percent deductions from all contracts awarded under the Cabotage scheme, designed to be a low-interest facility. The fund, which replaces the Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund, is to enable indigenous-

ly-owned shipping firms acquire vessels as part of measures to reduce the dominance of foreign shipping companies both in deep sea shipping and also within Nigeria’s coastal and inland trade arena. Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the custodian of the fund, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, who gave this indication in Lagos during the visit of

NEXIM Bank’s regional sealink project to deepen non oil export

Los-Abj: 06:50, 13:30, 16:30, 19:45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 12:30 (Sun) 16:45 (Sat). Abj-Los: 07:30, 13:00, 19:00 (Mon-Fri/ Sat) 10:30, 14:30, 19:30 (Sun) 18.30 (Sat) Los-Ben: 07:45, 11:00, 15:30, (Mon-Fri/Sat/ Sun) 12:30 (Sun) 15:30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) Ben-Los: 09:15, 12:30, 17:00 (Mon-Fri/ Sat/Sun) 17:00 (Sat), 14:00 (Sun)

EXCHANGE RATES

the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, disclosed that the value of the fund as at the end of September, 2012 stood at $169 million (N27.1bn). According to him, the agency has applied to the Minister of Transport for approval in line with the enabling legislation to commence the first phase of the disbursement of the fund, which would be kick off as soon as the minister gives his nod on the issue.

WAUA

234.6271

USD

155.84

CHF

159.2642

SDR

235.0535

CFA

0.2924

GBP

244.1701

EURO

191.3715

OIL / GAS FUTURES ICE BRENT

$123.39

-0.78

NYMEX

$108.45

-0.11

OPEC BASKET

$122.86

+1.16

NATURAL GAS

$2.83

-0.03

Taking Nigeria’s Cleaning up the lull broadband in public relations practice crusade to global stage

Business & Finance

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

US set to overtake Saudi as world top oil producer CHIDI UGWU

WITH AGENCY REPORT

nited States oil output is surging so fast that the United States could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest producer. Driven by high prices and new drilling methods, U.S. production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons is on track to rise 7 percent this year to an average of 10.9 million barrels per day. This will be the fourth straight year of crude increases and the biggest single-year gain since 1951. The boom has surprised even the experts. “Five years ago, if I or anyone had predicted today’s pro-

duction growth, people would have thought we were crazy,” says Jim Burkhard, head of oil markets research at IHS CERA, an energy consulting firm. The Energy Department forecasts that U.S. production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons, which includes biofuels, will average 11.4 million barrels per day next year. That would be a record for the U.S. and just below Saudi Arabia’s output of 11.6 million barrels. Citibank forecasts U.S. production could reach 13 million to 15 million barrels per day by 2020, helping to make North America “the new Middle East.” The last year the U.S. was

the world’s largest producer was 2002, after the Saudis drastically cut production because of low oil prices in the aftermath of 9/11. Since then, the Saudis and the Russians have been the world leaders. The United States will still need to import lots of oil in the years ahead. Americans use 18.7 million barrels per day. But thanks to the growth in domestic production and the improving fuel efficiency of the nation’s cars and trucks, imports could fall by half by the end of the decade. The increase in production hasn’t translated to cheaper gasoline at the pump, and pric-

es are expected to stay relatively high for the next few years because of growing demand for oil in developing nations and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa. Still, producing more oil domestically, and importing less, gives the economy a significant boost. The companies profiting range from independent drillers to large international oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, which increasingly see the U.S. as one of the most promising places to drill. ExxonMobil agreed last month to spend $1.6 billion to increase its U.S. oil holdings. Increased drilling is driving economic growth in states such

as North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana and Texas, all of which have unemployment rates far below the national average of 7.8 percent. North Dakota is at 3 percent; Oklahoma, 5.2. Businesses that serve the oil industry, such as steel companies that supply drilling pipe and railroads that transport oil, aren’t the only ones benefiting. Homebuilders, auto dealers and retailers in energy-producing states are also getting a lift. IHS says the oil and gas drilling boom, which already supports 1.7 million jobs, will lead to the creation of 1.3 million jobs across the U.S. economy by the end of the decade.

PTDF commits N350m to researches in petroleum sector CHIDI UGWU & JOEL AJAY ABUJA

L-R: Kogi State Commissioner for Agriculture & Natural Resources, Dr. Olufemi Bolarin and the Executive Director, British American Tobacco Nigerian Foundation (BATNF), Mr. Gbenga Ibikunle with other community leaders drinking from the water facility to complement the Cassava Processing cottage donated by BATNF to Achoze Community in Kogi State recently.

Expert explains reason why African carriers die prematurely OLUSEGUN KOIKI

he Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Capt. Chinyere Kalu yesterday gave reason why many of African carriers die few years after flight operations. Speaking at an event in Lagos yesterday, Kalu observed that the infiltration of expatriates into the sector was one of the key reasons way the carriers hardly remain in business for long. She explained that most of the continent’s carriers are managed by engineers and flight crews who are non-Africans. Kalu further explained that there are various challenges facing the continent’s carriers, warning that without adequate technical manpower to oversee the sector, African carriers would continue to die in droves. She said, ‘We have to train our

people, Africans in particular so that we can manage our airlines by ourselves and when this happens, we are sure of having vibrant airlines within our subregion as well as making the aviation industry in Africa a more competitive industry all over the world. “As Africa attained independence and the years following up to the 1980s, almost every Africa state had an airline and national carrier. The shortfall of these carriers was because majority of the crew and aviators were non-Africans. Somehow by the end of the 1980s most of the national carriers had collapsed.” She also noted that the death of most of the airlines further plunged Africa into a state of economic sabotage, stressing that as most of the national carriers were phased out of existence, the economic

growth and development in Africa also declined drastically. Enumerating the challenges facing the aviation industry in Africa to include, ageing aircraft, ageing infrastructure, astronomical airline operating cost, ageing workforce amongst others, Kalu stressed that for African to succeed in the aviation sector the continent has to address all the numerous problems that the industry was grappling with. “If Africa will take its future development in her hands, then Africa must address these issues. For the aviation industry to play these key roles, the industry must be staffed, manned and led by the best minds in the aspects of its operation. Such men and women need to be endowed, equipped and skilled to lead in this critical industry. “Thus training Africa’s future aviators is imperative for planners and executors in the industry.

he Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) has committed N360 million to major research works by scholars as part of its efforts aimed at deepening the domestic manpower resource’s knowledge about the operations of the hydrocarbon resources industry in the past three years. Disclosing this in Abuja Tuesday at the final award of the 2012 PTDF annual Oil and Gas research grant competition, the PTDF Executive Secretary Alhaji Muttaqa Darma noted the a compendium of research results would be published for development of the industry. Darma who was represented at the occasion by the General Manager Strategic Planning Research and Documentation of the Fund,

Mr. Olajide Adebulehin also disclosed that the works would be forwarded to the International Oil Companies (OICs) operating in the country for use in the country’s oil and gas industry. “The Fund has so far with the current set of researchers sponsored about 18 distinguished academicians to conduct several researches in critical areas in the oil and gas industry. “We are sponsoring six researchers this year alone. We spend N20 million on each. So far, we have sponsored 18 altogether including the current set been engaged today. “Our plan is to at the end of the day publish a compendium of all the research results and works which would be forwarded to International Oil Companies operating in the country for use here for the benefit of the Nigerian government”, he stated.

FG commended over Vom-Manchok Road in Plateau DAYO AYEYEMI

igerian Journalists have commended the Federal Government over the construction of Vom-Manchuk Road which links Plateau and Kaduna States, saying that the Federal Ministry of Works deserves commendation for the quality of work done on the road. This was revealed when National Good Governance Tour Team, led by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, inspected the road. The Minister of State for Works, Amb. Bashir Yuguda, while briefing the team, said that the road is one of the ministry’s master pieces to showcase what the government has done to deliver on infrastructural development in the country.

Yuguda said that the road serves as inter-state link connecting Plateau and Kaduna States while it is also inter-regional connecting North Central with North-West zones. The road, he said, serves an alternative for people going to Jos and coming from Kaduna without going through Saminaka, Jingir andFanbeguwa. The minister pointed out that the importance of the road is also for economic development of the people of the two states, adding that a lot of agricultural products would be easier to transport for marketing and other uses. Bashir further stated what the Federal Ministry of Works provided the road to also ease the transportation of Petroleum Products from the Kaduna refinery to Jos without moving through Abuja.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Business & Finance

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NEXIM Bank’s regional sealink FG orders FERMA to fix roads ahead of Yuletide project to deepen non oil export OLUFEMI ADEOSUN

UDO ONYEKA

he Managing Director of Nigeria Export Import (NEXIM) Bank, Mr Robert Orya has said that his bank is committed to improving the volume and scope of exportation of non oil products through the regional sealink project. Speaking in Lagos on Saturday, October 20 after being conferred fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Orya said that the regional sealink project was in pursuance to the bank’s general mandate and desire to facilitate intra-regional trade in line with its strategic objectives of export diversification and deepening value-added non-oil exports, especially to under-served export. According to Orya the decision to

go into the sealink was borne out of the desire to assist exporters who face the challenge of road infrastructure as well as absence of rail link within the region. He said the project would bring about a comparative low budgetary cost and short implementation timeline, “adding that destination countries are a portfolio mix of high income and low income countries bringing a good balance of cargo tonnage and trade flow”. He said high transportation costs and excessive transit time has made intra-regional trade noncompetitive, especially as West and Central African transport and logistics costs are identified as one of the highest in the world, hence the need to reduce the cost of exporting non - oil products. The Managing Director said based on the enthusiasm shown

on the regional sealink project, the reports were formally presented to the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce (FEWACCI), who also facilitated formal presentation to the ECOWAS Commission and ECOWAS Parliament. He said the sealink holds a lot of gains to Nigeria and NEXIM such as; unlocking opportunities in the maritime sector through effective indigenous participation, thereby stimulating maritime-related employment as well as localizing some of the maritime freight payments of an average of US$5 billion annually from import / export tonnages, facilitating the realization of the various Maritime-related laws like the Cabotage and MIMASA Acts and the implementation of the National Shipping Policy.

he Federal Emergency Road Management Agency (FERMA) yesterday said that it has received a presidential directive to utilise the approaching dry season to fix all the economically viable federal roads across the country. FERMA Managing Director, Engr. Gabriel Amuchi who spoke while inspecting the pace of work on the Abuja-Kaduna dual carriage way, said that the agency had set 90 days target to accomplish the task. He said that work was ongoing across the country to ensure that travelers have a smooth sail on the roads, particularly during the approaching yuletide celebration periods. “Dry season is setting in, so we are looking at not more than

CIBN postpones annual lecture

he Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has postponed its Annual Lecture scheduled for Thursday, October 25, 2012, to enable its muslim members to actively participate in the celebration the Eid El Kabir scheduled during the same period. In a statement signed by Head, Corporate Communication and External Relations, Mr Ben Igbokwe said the 2012 Annual Lecture, which is the Institute’s public enlightenment programme organized to keep members of the public abreast of topical economic issues and policies of governments has been re-scheduled L-R: President, International Institute for Petroleum, Energy Law and Policy, Mr. Niyi Daniels; Chief Justice for Tuesday, November 13, 2012, of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar and Chairman, Governing Council of the institute, Justice Alfa Belgore, during a workshop on Nigerian Judiciary and the Oil and Gas Industry, in Abuja recently. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

NAICOM, SEC Collaborate on supervision of companies OMOBOLA TOLU-KUSIMO

or effective supervision and regulation of insurance companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have agreed on the need to collaborate among themselves. NAICOM spokesman, Mr. Lucky Fiakpa in a statement made available to journalist said the agreement was reached when the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh, paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the National Insurance Commission yesterday. In his welcome remarks, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel, noted that some

10 years ago, the Commission would have little or nothing to do with SEC because not more than three insurance companies were listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. But as at today, he added, well over 30 insurance companies are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. “Some of the companies we have primary responsibility to regulate, also have one or two things to file or do with SEC by virtue of the fact that they are quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This, therefore makes it imperative for the two regulators to collaborate to ensure effective supervision and regulation of the entities they have to deal with”, the Commissioner said. Ms Oteh on her part agreed with the Commissioner and stressed the need for the two

agencies to collaborate in joint inspection and supervision of insurance companies that are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. She said such collaborative exercises should be done more frequently to ensure effective supervision of the companies. Oteh who commended NAICOM’s transformation agenda which said it has led to massive awareness about the insurance sector. She pointed out that the awareness generated about the compulsory insurance products campaigns has been quite enlightening. Ms Oteh also commended the Commission’s efforts in trying to introduce micro-insurance in the country. She would want to see the insurance sector playing a key role in the economy.

90 days which is between the month of October to December, that is the target and we are aggressive about it all over the country. “FERMA is all over the country; we have an office in Maiduguri that are intervening there and the location that we have failures have been receiving attention as I speak to you because this is a national programme. The President has directed that now that the dry season has set in, all federal roads that are in bad shape should be fixed before the end of the year to enable Nigerians travel safely,” he said Arising from the spate of devastation arising from flooding, he also stated that the President had other the agency and its parent ministry to quickly swing into action to fix the affected areas.

at Ijewere Hall of the Bankers House, 19 Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island. “The theme of this year’s edition is “The New Agricultural Transformation in Nigeria : Opportunities for Banks and other Stakeholders in Economic Diversification” and would be addressed by Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, CON, Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Former Head of Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan will be the Special Guest of Honour while former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Mr Victor Odozi will serve as the Chairman of the occasion.

My mandate is to eradicate oil theft, piracy, others, says CNS FRANCIS EZEM

he newly appointed Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Joseph Ezeoba has said that he is on specific instructions from President Goodluck Jonathan to eradicate all forms of illegalities on Nigeria’s waters, primarily crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and piracy. The CNS, who made this disclosure in Lagos, Tuesday during a visit to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, said that NIMASA is the first agency to be visited since he was appointed as the 18th indigenous Chief of Naval Staff, which he said, underscored the importance he accords the agency in terms of achieving his core mandate from the presidency. According to him, apart from

the strategic partnership existing between the Nigerian Navy and NIMASA, which gave birth to the extant Memorandum of Understanding, the agency is critical in the achievement if his mandate as the head of the Navy, which primary function also includes provision of safety and security on the nation’s waters. “It is my intent, that that partnership with NIMASA will be strengthened so that collectively, we will deliver on Mr. President’s mandate. Mr. President’s mandate to me on assumption of office is very clear and I would unequivocally say what it is, while mindful of the configuration of the Nigerian Navy, Mr President did assert: the Chief of the Naval Staff, you have responsibility to eradicate all forms of illegalities in Nigerian waters, primarily crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and piracy”, he stated.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Info Tech

Thursday, October 25, 2012

ith both exhibitors and forum speakers at International Telecommunications Union Telecom World 2012, held in the United Arab Emirate, Dubai recently, drawn from around the world, from developed and developing countries alike, experts contend that the global forum was, indeed, central to fuelling greater innovations in the world of telecommunications. At the kick-off of the conference, which ran from October 12 through October 18, 2012, ITU Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré noted that the “ITU Telecom World 2012 plays a vital role in creating awareness across public and private sectors of the current, irreversible transformation of the ICT industry and the opportunities and challenges it creates. According to him, “It is a showcase of new inventions, products and services that will revolutionise the telecommunications and ICT landscape in the future and create new business opportunities even as new technologies, now literally at our fingertips, can eradicate poverty, combat climate change, predict disasters, improve education and agriculture, and provide timely primary healthcare.” It is instructive that Nigeria was given a special opportunity to address the world at the conference to inform the world of its state of ICT development and the direction of investment frontier the country is currently craving for, particularly in the area of broadband development. Leader of Nigerian delegation to the conference and Nigeria’s Vice President, Namadi Sambo, said the country cannot be allowed to be left behind in the global development train, stressing that that more investments would be channeled to key sectors of the economy to ensure rapid transformation of the country. Sambo, who noted that major economic breakthroughs of other nations, came strictly from huge and sustainable investments in the Information and Communications Technology sector, disclosed that readiness of Nigerian government to significantly open up its ICT sector for foreign investment to jump-start broadband infrastructure development, in a bid to make Nigeria a major player in the global economy driven by ICT. According to him, “It is a known fact today that the ICT sector is one of the major areas for wealth and job creation. Our participation at the ITU is part of the developmental process. It is important to have cooperation in the country, so that we can develop like other countries. This is one of the reasons why the country needs to expand and open up the ICT sector to create more jobs and empower the people.” While calling for support of world leaders in meeting Africa’s growing challenges, he stressed that the continent must improve on the present level of ICT development to meet Millennium Development Goals. According to him, Africa can only be competitive if the power of ICT can be unleashed and positioned properly to meet y growing needs of the society, adding that for Nigeria and indeed Africa’s economy to come out of the woods, especially the real sector, ICT infrastructure was critical. “We need to build our economy and the place of ICT is critical. All economy in Africa must be supported for growth. We must develop technology to meet human needs.” he stated. Unveiling Nigeria’s broadband poten-

Taking Nigeria’s broadband crusade to global stage Nigeria’s current penchant to develop ubiquitous broadband infrastructure for faster economic growth was on the global centre stage at the recently-concluded International Telecommunication Union World Conference held in Dubai and attended by high profile delegation from Nigeria’s public and private sector, reports KUNLE AZEEZ.

Toure

tial to investors at the global IT confab, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said the country currently has huge terabytes of bandwidth capacity at the shores, courtesy of Main One Cable Company; Glo1; SAT3 and the West African Cable System being co-funded by MTN and other investors. The NCC boss, however, stated that, “Despite the capacity availability, broadband penetration is still very shallow in Nigeria and this can be addressed with support from the government and encouragement of foreign investment.” He stressed that operators currently face the challenge of distributing the huge bandwidth to end users. “Therefore, we call on investors to please explore the potential in Nigeria and invest in the broadband sub-Sector of the Nigerian economy,” he stated, adding that Nigeria’s ICT sector has contributed 7.5 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product in the last few years, stressing that the country’s economy remains the second fastest growing economy in Africa. But Juwah believes that though over 30,000km inter-city fiber has been laid already by private sector corporate individuals to improve connectivity in Nigeria, albeit, such effort was also being backed by the government through the creation of the right environment, “Government still need to assist investments by creating the environment for private sector participation in the broadband ecosystem.” He believed that broadband infrastructure investment drive can further be bolstered by the government through special “stimulus packages” to intending investors in the ‘Open Access’ model of broadband

Juwah

DESPITE THE CAPACITY AVAILABILITY, BROADBAND PENETRATION IS STILL VERY SHALLOW IN

NIGERIA AND THIS CAN BE ADDRESSED WITH SUPPORT FROM THE GOVERNMENT BY ENCOURAGING FOREIGN INVESTMENT development which the Commission has adopted as its strategy for fast-tracking widespread access to high-speed internet connectivity. The growth of the telecommunications sector in Nigeria and indeed in sub-Sahara Africa in the last 12 years has been impressive. In Nigeria for example, teledensity has risen from 0.44 per cent representing about 400, 000 active phone lines in 2001 to 75.17 equivalent to 105.2 million active telephone lines as at the end of August, 2012. However, replicating the growth in voice telephony penetration in the data/ internet segment requires a whole new strategy as well as learning gained from the rollout of the voice telephony services. Without doubt, studies have shown that the economic impact of broadband penetration has been found to be quite impres-

sive. For instance, a World Bank studies show, quite conclusively, that in low and middleincome countries, which many developing countries fall under, every 10 per cent percentage point increase in broadband penetration accelerate economic growth by 1.38 percentage points. The study revealed that the impact is greater in mid- to low-income countries than what is obtainable in high income countries and equally greater than the impact of any other telecommunication service. Notwithstanding the benefits that have been associated with broadband, in developing countries, experts say it had to be understood that broadband for all citizens is a medium to long term strategy and the main beneficiaries, in the short term, of the broadband revolution will be businesses. “Because broadband networks need to generate traffic to lower their costs and increase their profitability, and in light of the fact that broadband is an ecosystem in which users play a central role, stimulating demand is very important as this will provide the means for further expansion of broadband services and increase penetration,” said the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson at the conference. Currently in Africa, broadband penetration is said to be less than 5 per cent, a development that points to a huge opportunity for growth and subsequent increase in penetration to un-served and underserved areas and populations. Consequently, government or private enterprise alone cannot ensure universal access to broadband services. To make this possible, therefore, stakeholders believe that government and private sector need to collaborate; even as they stressed that several factors will determine how successful broadband rollout in Nigerian and other Africa countries and indeed in other developing countries will be. Some of the factors include, according o the stakeholders, in clued importance of having an overall plan to rollout broadband at a national level in consultation with industry; political backing at the very top levels to ensure broadband rollout as this will ensure bureaucratic bottlenecks and access rights are speedily addressed; synchronous manner of working approach among ministries and government departments of government. Others are required availability of spectrum; public partnership with the private sector and the use of Universal Service Funds; devising regulatory frameworks that ensures non-discriminatory access to back-haul; technology neutrality as well as parallel initiatives to stimulate demand for broadband services.

Info Tech

Thursday, October 25, 2012

New HP technology gulps N46.8bn in R&D CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

nformation Technology giant, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has said it invested about $300m (about N46.8bn) in research and development in the development of its new ProLiant Generation 8 (Gen8) technology. The corporation’s Blade Systems Manager in Africa, Mr. Zied Majid, who disclosed this during the launch of the product for the public sector customers in Abuja, said the HP has gained 55 per cent market share in the African market. Explaining the significance of the new technology, Majid said the two new HP ProLiant Generation 8 (Gen8) four-socket servers facilitate customers’ move to cloud while delivering increased compute power in less space and a return on investment in real time. “In Gen8 we have devised the first intelligent server, redefined the data centre where every-

thing is smart” The industry’s first four-socket servers to incorporate HP ProActive Insight Architecture, the HP ProLiant BL660c and DL560 Gen8 servers significantly reduce the time spent on maintenance tasks through high levels of automation and continuous monitoring of system health, saving IT staff more administration time. “Clients are continuously virtualising their computeintensive applications in order to achieve greater utilisation and efficiency, and to facilitate the move to private and hybrid clouds,” Majid said, adding that many clients have virtualised the basic infrastructure and smaller workloads but a challenge still remains with more complex and higher-end workloads. He said clients often face performance bottlenecks, datacentre footprint and power limitations, and inadequate memory capacity from traditional two-

socket servers. “We needed to modernize our data centers in order to keep up with rapid growth and to ensure continued service to our customers across 140 countries. “We chose the HP ProLiant DL 560 Gen8 server over the competition because it offered increased virtual machine densities to reduce space and cost, while improving performance, which enabled us to develop a platform to build private clouds,” he said. Also speaking, the Manager, Public Sector Division, HP, Mr. Chucks Opkala, noted the HP has been very aggressive in Africa over the few years. According to him, HP has opened over 15 offices within the region since 2011, adding that by November this year Ghana will no longer by supported by Nigeria. He said the ProLiant brand has particularly enjoyed wider acceptance in Nigeria than any other competition.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tech Box MTN’s CSR investment in Nigeria hits N5bn KUNLE A ZEEZ

igeria’s largest telecoms network, MTN said it has spent in excess of N5bn in corporate social investment in Nigeria, even as it made another donation of relief materials to communities affected by the flood disaster in some parts of the country. The social investment, being driven through its corporate social investment vehicle, MTN Foundation, is focused on rendering services in the critical areas of education where the telecoms operators provides digital laboratories and ICT laboratories to universities and secondary schools respectively across the country. It also includes provision of healthcare where. among others, MTN has provided mammography and dialysis machines respectively to public hospitals across the country as well as economic empowerment where it supports a wide range of activities designed to enable job provision, skills acquisition among other benefits. In the same vein, the relief materials to the flood effected communities, valued at several millions of Naira, include beddings, cooking utensils, food items and many others were delivered through MTN Foundation.

The Executive Secretary of MTN Foundation, Ms. Nonny Ugboma, said the first phase of the donations were been made to several communities across 13 states where thousands of families have been displaced by the flood. She added that more communities will benefit from the gesture in the weeks to come. “The scale of suffering that has been occasioned by this disaster is simply unprecedented and as a public-spirited corporate entity, we want to contribute as much as possible to ameliorating these problems,” she added. In addition to its structured initiatives in such critical areas as education, healthcare and economic empowerment, Ugboma said the MTN Foundation has also been one of Nigeria’s leading players in the area of corporate philanthropy. She noted that the current intervention joins a long list of public spirited philanthropic interventions by MTN Foundation over the years, stressing that the foundation had regularly supported the treatment and full rehabilitation of dozens of infants and children, afflicted with life-threatening heart and other conditions, and contribute materially and financially to hospices across the country.

Samsung targets smart phones’ penetration in Nigeria, others L-R: The Ikoloba of Olubadan, Oloye Lekan Alabi; Chief Sales Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Inusa Bello and Deputy Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Tunde Olaniyan at the corporate relaunch of Airtel Nigeria in Ibadan recently.

Poor electricity slows cloud services uptake in Nigeria – Oracle KUNLE A ZEEZ

lobal software and business processing giant, Oracle has identified poor electricity as one of the major challenges slowing down uptake of cloud-based services in Nigeria. Cloud service is the use of computing resources both hardware and software that are delivered as a service over the internet. The business models saves orgainsations more than 50 per cent investment but relies on constant availability of connectivity made possible by constant power source. Regional Sales Director, West and Central Africa, Oracle, Mr. Elexander Jenewen, who stated this during the 2012 Oracle OpenWord Day forum organised by the company in Lagos recently also lamented the poor last-

mile broadband connectivity in the country, which he said, was also critical to effective cloudbased services to businesses, government and individuals. Noting that Nigeria has huge bandwidth capacity to drive cloud devices, Jenewen said investment in long-distance internet access through broadband should be encouraged. Jenewen further said Oracle is currently deploying lots of awareness and sensitisation campaign about its new Oracle Cloud Services, which are seven in all. “They include Oracle planning and budgeting Cloud service, Oracle financial reporting Cloud service, Oracle Data and insight cloud service, Oracle social sites cloud service, Oracle developer Cloud service and Oracle Cloud service. The seven new Oracle Cloud Services ugment Oracle comprehensive of

platform services, application services and social services,” Jenewen said. Speaking on the increased commitment of Oracle to the Nigerian market, Jenewen announced the company’s intention to open a solution centre for its Nigerian customers in Lagos. He said Oracle has realised the need to render better and efficient services to its numerous corporate customers in a way that will save them stress, resources and time. “We hope to have in place a customer solution centre in Lagos with the hope of ensuring that our customers have best of our services without having to travel to Oracle World Centre in Francisco “It is our belief that when we have this solution centre in place, it will save money, resources and time for our customers.”

KUNLE A ZEEZ

eading electronics and mobile phone maker, Samsung Electronics has announced its plan to push smart phone penetration in Nigera and other African countries as part of measure to further expand its share of the smart phone/devices market across Africa as this is in line with its strategy to bridge the continent’s digital divide. This announcement was made at the Africa Regional launch for the new Samsung Galaxy Note II and Samsung Galaxy Camera, held in Cape Town, South Africa. Speaking at the launch, the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Samsung Electronics Africa, Mr. George Ferreira, disclosed that Africa is now the second largest and fastest mobile phone market in the world after China, with Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana leading the pack in smart phone sales. Ferreira said that smart phone penetration in Africa is led by Nigeria with 41 per cent and followed by South Africa with 31

percent and Kenya 7 per cent. He explained that usage has grown from a base of 90 million in 2005 to a current estimate of 450 million handsets in 2012. Also speaking at the Africa Regional launch in Cape Town, Samsung Electronics West Africa’s Mobile Business Leader for Nigeria, Mr. Emmanuel Revmatas, said that the advent of new privately owned submarine cables and their landing on the coast of many East and West African nations including Nigeria as significantly reduced cost of internet access and increased the adoption of smart phones on the continent. “Mobile broadband penetration has increased tremendously over the last few years and all across Africa we are witnessing continued investment in infrastructure by most of the network operators making it possible for telecom subscribers to take full advantage of world of endless opportunities that smart devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note II offers,” said Revmatas.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Brands & Marketing

Reviving the practice of Pulic relations As the advertising and PR budget of companies continue to go down as a result of economic realities, public relations consultants strategise on how to move the subsector forward. ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI reports.

ublic relations, as a profession, has come a long way in Nigeria. Even though not so popular as its sister profession advertising, PR practice has its roots from the pre-colonial West Africa Publicity Company, a forerunner of the United Africa Company. But decades down the line, the sub sector cannot pride itself high among other areas of professional communication such as direct marketing, advertising, personal selling in terms of attracting businesses. This foggy trend has become a major concern for stakeholders as lack of enforcement of industry standards have given rise to quackery, breach of professional conduct. Perhaps lack of will of the practice regulator, National Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to sanitise the profession has made the sub sector not earn the desired respect. To chart the path for sector revival, the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) after rising from its Annual General Meeting and election of new executive council has said the industry is set to correct the past mistakes and attract increase business interest from corporate organisations to enhance sectoral growth. Pledging to deliver reformation in the overall best interest of members the new team led by Mr Chido Nwakanma of Blueflower Limited as President, Mr John Ehiguese of Mediacraft Associates, Vice President; Mr Muyiwa Akintunde, Leap Communications, General Secretary; Mr Tola Odusote, CMC Connect, Assistant General Secretary; and Mr. Israel Jaiye Opayemi, Chain Reactions Limited, Publicity Secretary has made resolution to deal with issues which has dragged the profession backward . Experts have said that PR more than any other segment of marketing communication profession deserves greater growth. For instance they say all the states and federal government agencies and parastatals have rules well designed for PR practices as against advertising and other mix. An indicationn that PR practice has membership force that could help it drive growth. However PR consultants are advised to use advocacy among other tools to tackle some of the albatross to the profession’s growth under the platform of PRCAN, a creation of a bye law of the NIPR which groups together agencies that renders public relations consultancy services. Accordingly, the NIPR Act, only persons registered with NIPR are eligible to practice public relations in Nigeria. For companies, only those registered with PRCAN, whose key executives must be members of NIPR are eligible to offer public relations services and earn income for it. But the incursion by lots of briefcase practitioners who corner account at cheaper budgets have made matter worse. According to the new PRCAN president, Nwakanma, “deliberate policy actions and legislation have underpinned growth of professions. Public Relations need policy and legislative support to grow. As such, PRCAN would adopt advocacy visits to key government officials at Federal, State and Local Government levels to raise aware-

L-R: Assistant Secretary General, Adetola Odusote, Publicity Secretary, Israel Jaiye Opayemi, Secretary General, Muyiwa Akintunde, President, Chido Nwakanma, Vice President, John Ehiuese, Immediate Past President and now Ex Officio Member, Dr. Phil Osagie, Ex Officio Member, Nn’emeka Maduegbuna

ness and the right policy environment that would create jobs for member firms. The visits would also enable these key stakeholders realise as well as implement the law.” With readiness to work with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), for needed reform, the Chief Strategist, Chain Reactions Nigeria, Mr. Israel Jaiye Opayemi, lamented what he called the near collapse of barriers to entry and standards regulating PR practice in Nigeria saying, “this is a disturbing trend that a number of foreign agencies are beginning to take advantage of by coming to set up consulting shops in Nigeria without any recourse to the laws regulating the practice in the country.” He queried, “How many of us here seated in this hall can relocate to South Africa and set up a PR consulting firm without regard to the laws regulating the trade in that country?” He called on members to take interest in the activities of PRCAN and the battle to rid the industry of unqualified professionals saying, “even for those of you staying in the comfort zone of your current marriage with your foreign partners should know that, unless we sanitise the industry now, your professional spouses will divorce you and set up a new home next door and take your clients because of the penchant and preference of our people for anything foreign.” The CEO of CMC Connect, Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, strengthened the concern by citing the example of two state governments that have in fact appointed a foreign PR Consultant to handle public relations for their states. He suggested that PR consultancy firms should consider mergers and acquisitions to play on their various strengths rather than building

DELIBERATE POLICY ACTIONS AND LEGISLATION HAVE UNDERPINNED GROWTH OF PROFESSIONS what he called “silos”. The Managing Director of Mediacraft Associates, Mr. John Ehiguese, observed that “unlike the advertising profession, what is still restraining more foreign PR agencies from coming to take advantage of the near absence of enforcement of the laws regulating PR practice in Nigeria is the peculiarity of our media environment. But for the fact that they do not understand our media landscape more of them would have been here to set up.” Also, the Chairman of C & F Porter Novelli, Mr. Nn’emeka Maduegbuna urged NIPR to play its regulatory role effectively just as the Advertising Practitioners Council (APCON) is in partnering with the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) to regulate the advertising industry. According to the former PRCAN president, “we must find a way to relieve NIPR of its dual role as a regulatory body and a trade union. PRCAN and NIPR must work together to cleanse the industry. Make no mistake; the Nigerian Medical Association is a trade union. The Medical and Dental Council is the regulator. The Nigerian Society of Engineers is a trade union while COREN is a regulator. This is the symbiotic relationship that should exist between NIPR and PRCAN.” Following this robust debate and a motion by Badejo-Okusanya which was seconded by Opayemi, the PRCAN Executive

Committee was mandated to constitute a Standardisation Committee to work in conjunction with the NIPR. As part of the process to build equity for PRCAN, the CEO of Neo Media and Marketing, Ehi Braimah moved a motion for the body to set up a Marketing Committee to reposition the professional association in the minds of stakeholders. The third resolution followed a motion by the CEO of Winning Concepts Public Relations, Mr. Mike Meze, to the effect that a study group be constituted to determine the future of PR practice in Nigeria in view of effects of globalisation. One of the ways to achieve resolutions for the cleaning up drive is plan by the the Nwakanma-led team of consultants to embark on job advocacy visits to institutions and bodies such as the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and similar bodies to change the order and build reputation for the practice. The association of PR agencies pledged to build training programme of the association into a strong Public Relations Masterclass brand as well as introduce the Sterling Reputation Awards to recognise and reward best practice in public relations by companies, governments as well as PR firms. This, the group believes, would increase awareness and relevance of public relations in organisational management and governance. Participants at the well-attended PRCAN AGM in key resolutions asked the new executive committee to empanel committees and take action to ensure standardization of public relations practise in Nigeria, map out size, structure and future of public relations practice in Nigeria.

Brands & Marketing

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

APCON’s budget allocation slashed by 42% in 2013

Lifebuoy leads pledge to help children reach their fifth birthday

STORIES: ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI

This year marks the fifth birthday of Global Handwashing Day (GHD) – a day co-founded by Unilever’s health soap brand Lifebuoy to raise awareness of handwashing with soap as a simple but lifesaving habit. To commemorate five years of GHD, Lifebuoy has announced the start of a new initiative to defeat diarrhoea in Nigeria. Lifebuoy aims to reduce the number of preventable diarrhoeal deaths in the country through hygiene interventions like handwashing with soap. Mr. David Okeme, Brand Building Director, Unilever Nigeria Plc at the event said with little over three years to go until the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including MDG 4 - to reduce the mortality of children under five by two-thirds - Lifebuoy and its partners are calling on governments, schools and communities in Nigeria to focus on handwashing with soap as an intervention that can help save millions more lives. “Over the past two years, Lifebuoy has successfully changed the handwashing behaviour of 48 million people – edging towards its goal to reach one billion people by 2015. But Lifebuoy cannot do this alone. With the support of Unilever, Lifebuoy aims to bring Global Handwashing Day to a wider audience and influence government policy, to make hygiene behaviour change education part of every school curricula. “Handwashing with soap is one of the most effective and low cost ways to prevent diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea which stop 2.1 million children every year reaching their fifth birthday . We know from clinical research that handwashing with soap at key occasions can reduce the risk of diarrhoea by up to approximately 45%. That means that handwashing with soap could help a lot more children reach their fifth birthday.” He said.

ccording to the proposed 2013 budget by President Goodluck Jonathan, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) of budget allocation will drop by 42.4 per cent from N294.8m in 2012 to N169.6 in 2013 even as the council needs more money for reforms in the sector. The agency last week inaugurated 44 members into six committees as part of efforts to up standards and enforcement in the industry. With the progress recorded in 2012 part of which will be opening of another zonal office in Uyo by December to expand its operation, the agency’s hope to sustain the momentum in 2013 may become an uphill

task due the drop in budget allocation to the agency. The APCON chairman, Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi had said during the inauguration of the committee, “We looked at where we are, where we are going, what we have done so far and looking at the future, we felt if we are to sustain the momentum, we need to look at ways of refreshing and re-strengthen membership. I am very happy to have very talented people to drive the regulation of advertising through these committees in this challenging period of advertising business in the country,” said Akinwunmi. He stated further: “We felt there is need to bring other stakeholders including those in the business providing models, people who produce jingles and others connected to services of advertising business, to hear

their challenges and looked at how these could be addressed in the interest of the growth of the industry generally.” With the financial power needed to drive the enforcement, the agency might have problems in embarking on some of the agenda for 2013 part of which is the re-registration of ad agencies and completion of ongoing projects. The APCON register was not available to comment as the chairman of the agency, Akinwumi told National Mirror “Under the protocol of our operation the Registrar who is also the CEO should address queries like this. He managed the budget preparation process and will answer your questions.” Attempt to get APCON registrar, Alhaji Garba Bello-Kankarofi, react proves abortive.

L-R Managing Director/CEO, Mouka Limited, Mrs. Peju Adebajo, Commissioner for Special Duties, Delta State, Dr. Tony Nwaka, Special Adviser to the Governor on Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Ann Chalokwu-Orumade, Special Adviser to the Governor, Health issues, Mrs Angela Nwaka and Head of Commercial, Mouka Limited, Mr. Jude Abonu during the donation of mattresses and pillows by Mouka Limited to the flood victims in St. Patrick College Camp in Asaba, Delta State recently.

FrieslandCampina WAMCO appoints Kwara governor’s wife as ‘Peak Milk Ambassador’

n furtherance to FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria’s flagship brand Peak Milk current campaign tagged ‘Drink Milk Everyday’, the Kwara State Governor’s wife, Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed has been named the milk ambassador during the flag off of the campaign in Ilorin. Ahmed preference as the first milk ambassador for the brand, according to FrieslandCampina WAMCO, is as a result of the motherly role she demonstrates towards every indigene of Kwara State. The company believes this would further enhance and drive the Peak Milk’s

brand effort to ensure per capita milk consumption in state is increased. Speaking at the kick of the campaign in Kwara State, the Senior Brand Manager, Joshua Abuh stated that the campaign is as a result of research the company carried out in the country with respect to how Nigerians use milk. He said, “What we discovered was that even though Nigerians appreciate the goodness of milk and know that it is nutritious, they do not take it regularly. On the average, people consume milk twice a week which is too low if they will get all the benefits that are there in milk.” He however, appeal to the first lady to

use her growing influence to encourage her people to imbibe regular intake of milk. Responding to her appointment, Ahmed thanked Peak for the honour and pledged to be a good ambassador of such a novel initiative. She emphasised the need for everyday milk intake was an essential necessity for daily growth. The campaign which had already engaged consumers in Edo, Benue and Oyo, moved to Kwara State to engage consumers via community forum, where governor’s wife presided over, campuses, primary and secondary schools.

New category to feature in 2012 LAIF awards

s the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria celebrates seven years of creative Awards in Nigeria, the association in partnership with Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria is set to introduce a new category titled “Young LAIFERS Award”. According to the AAAN President and Chairman of LAIF Management Board, Mrs. Bunmi Oke, the Young LAIFERS Award to be held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos will provide a platform for young practitioners to unleash creative potentials in a competitive environment as well as im-

prove their craftsmanship. The Registrar of APCON, Alhaji Bello Kankarufi, who commended the association for the new category, said, “As Government Agency saddled with the responsibility of regulating the Advertising industry, APCON will support credible initiative aimed at improving the knowledge based of practitioners as well as encourage the continued growth of advertising education.” Entries for the competition were opened on 8th of October 2012, and will close on Friday 19th October 2012 and forms are

available at the AAAN secretariat and various member agencies. To qualify for participation, practitioners must be not be more than 30 years in October 2012, and must be APCON registered as well as must be working within an AAAN member agency. Participants can enter individually and as a group with maximum of 3 people in a group. LAIF Awards was instituted in year 2006 as an international status awards ceremony that compares favorably with global practice.

Super Screen TV adopt NGO as CSR initiative To deepen brand equity, Super Screen Television, a foremost television station in Nigeria, has underscored the importance of corporate social responsibility. This was manifested in it adoption of Inner City Mission, a faith-based nongovernmental organisation, that delivers solution to the problem of child poverty in communities as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. According to the Chief Operating Officer, Super Screen Television, Mr Dipo Isaacs, Super Screen Television adopted the organization because of its concern for the underprivileged. He added that “We felt it is imperative to use our platform to create awareness on the activities of Inner Cities mission. If we ignore them the entire society will pay a large price in the future”. Isaacs stated that “Beyond making available our media platform, we also solicit support from other media houses to get them involved in this lofty initiative. One of the things we are planning is a media day out for our friends in the media to have a fly on the wall experience in the inner city where the less privileged and the poor live. The Executive Director, Inner City Mission Pastor Solayinka Agboola said since the establishment of the NGO, deliberate programs in education, shelter, food, family support, health care, back-to-school and many more has been designed to give a new hope to the deprived.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Brands & Marketing

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Odigbo honoured as Brand Personality of the Year ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI

eading advertising practitioners such as, Mr. Biodun Sobanjo, Chairman of Troyka Group; Mr. Willy Nnorom and others have described Mr. Enyi Odigbo, Chairman of Casers Group “a workaholic, thorough and brilliant advertising practitioner that deserves to be honoured as the industry Brand Personality of the year 2011.” Sobanjo who won the 2010 edition of the award conferred by Marketing Edge magazine, said while Odigbo was working at Insight where he caught his training in advertising, was a perfect gentleman with dogged passion for advertising. Also, Nnorom, a fellow of advertising said since Odibgo days in secondary and university days where both attended never dreamt to be an advertiser. He

said but destiny has seen him moved from Zoology to the brand building industry where he rose to become a force to reckon with. The Publisher of Marketing Egbe, Mr. John Ajayi said in deciding who wears the crown as brand personality of year, services of industry experts who are versatile in contemporary issues and developments especially in the area of business success and volume growth as well as contribution to the industry were engaged. “The choice of Odigbo was no doubt informed by some of these considerations. Most charming and incontestable but admirable entrepreneurial spirit. This he has painstakingly and passionately demonstrated over the years in championing the cause of advertising and marketing practice over the years,” Ajayi said. He said Odigbo’s recent nomi-

nation as one of the world’s top agency innovators and breakthrough thinkers at the 2011 Global Innovators summit in New York clearly places him in the elite group and pantheon of advertising agency executive and marketing leaders worldwide. Reacting to his award, Odigbo whose group was recognize for its unique business model which OMNICOM Worldwide considers as the best in the OMNICOM group, said he was happy with the honour. He said the award should inspire young generation of advertising practitioners to be more creative. “Award is good. It should inspire the young generation. I appreciate it especially the organizers who made it possible,” Odigbo said. Sobanjo, however, unveiled a special edition of Marketing Edge featuring Odigbo on the cover page.

L-R: Partner Manager, Developer Experience, Nokia West Africa, Mr. Olumide Balogun; winner of a Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone, Mr. Germaine Ogunwole; winner of 12 months fuel Voucher, Mr. Joseph Osadolor; Winner of an HP Laptop, Miss Funmilade Mustapha and Marketing Manager, Nokia West Africa, Mr. Kesiena Ogbemi at the 3rd prize presentation of the on-going Nokia 30 Amazing Days Promo, held at Nokia Office, Victoria Island, Lagos recently

Reality TV show judges and their communication pattern

once watched a reality TV show some years ago and a lady contestant attracted my attention. I was in the barbing salon and I had to pause to listen to the inspirational words of the lady. She lost during the competition but when interviewed, she exhibited optimism that she was a bundle of potentials. Her failure then could not deter her from exploring other platforms! I was very pleasantly surprised at her comportment which was very encouraging and inspiring. I have narrated the above story to critically analyze the style of the judges of TV reality shows. If measures are not urgently taken, the communication pattern of some of the judges can undermine the laudable goals behind reality TV shows. The judges have the right to assess the contestants and challenge them to deploy showcase their talents and innate potentials. This should however be done in a very cautious and ap-

propriate manner. One may need to critically look at what influences the comments by the judges as a way to enable contestants put their very best in the competition. The judges should realize that even though they want to make the programme entertaining, they should be mindful of their communication. It is not ideal to use words to break the spirit of the contestants. One major thing noticed is also that the judges use people’s emotions to play games. This is a very serious issue because emotional imbalance causes a lot of havoc for individuals. While it has been posited that some comments have entertaining value but this should be done in a very careful manner. There is a way to motivate an individual to achieve excellence without necessarily making the person look like an outcast. Reality TV shows are designed to leave enduring impact on not only the brands but

ad VA NT AG E icon

n accomplished marketing professional with 22 years experience in themarketing and communications industry covering brand mmanagement, market research,field sales, new product development and integrated marketing communications with work and short project experience in five countries, Rotimi Olaniyan, the Chief Executive Officer of Proximity Communications, a rapidly growing consortium of specialist marketing services firms and independents serving blue chip multinational brand names within the West African sub region, and is recognised as one of Nigeria’s leading direct and customer relationship marketing practitioners. In his previous engagement as managing director of Tequila Nigeria, he was involved in major customer projects on behalf of clients such as Guiness, Indomie, MTN, Flour Mills, Procter and Gamble, Cocacola, GT Bank, ARM, GT Assurance, Leadway Assurance, BusinessDay and Unilever where he secured an approximately N1bn three year commissioning. He was also brands manager at Cadbury Nigeria Plc. He has passion for marketing and a strong entreprenuerial streak, now

Brand X-Ray with Ayodeji Ayopo Tel: 08023448199 E-mail: mayomipo@yahoo.com also the target audience. The key objective of reality shows is to discover new talents and also help them (contestants) develop their innate potentials and capabilities. This should be strongly focused on in terms of aligning with goals of the brand. The impact of reality TV shows on brands cannot be underestimated because of the long term benefits on the brand. Reality TV shows gain more relevance and acceptability with the youth audience. This is one major reason the judges need to be mindful of the core target segment of the reality TV shows. I read with dismay in the Saturday Punch edition of October 20 how Kate Henshaw, during the

auditions for Nigeria Got Talent Show sponsored by Airtel told a contestant that he wasn’t in his right element and she also fumed, “I hated it, every bit of it”. This is not the way to communicate during such an important programme. It has become expedient for judges to be conscious of the character of the brand. There is the need to align their communication process with the aims of the programme to discover gifts and develop potentials of the young generation. This is because some of the comments can create image problems for some brands and this need to be addressed, before it gets to damage control in terms of perception. The companies

Olaniyan

interested in contributing to base and new enterprise development ventures and programmes within emerging economies Olaniyan has degrees in Accountancy, Marketing and an MBA from IESE Business School, University of Navarra. He has CRM systems design and administrator’s training as well as being a certified CRM consultant from the Instutute of Direct Marketing, United Kingdom and an alumnus of the London Business School. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Marketing Institute. He is married with children and enjoys literature, badminton and golf for leisure. and brands involved should ensure the judges’ panel exercises a considerable restraint in their communication approach. To further consolidate on the gains of the reality TV show, brands custodians should also engaged in proper monitoring and planning. This goes a long way in evaluating the goals of the programme in line with stipulated objectives. There are indeed ways to challenge contestants when the judges are not impressed with their performance. The communication process should not aim at running down the contestants just like I stated previously with Kate Henshaw’s comments. The audience interest factor should also be considered as there are several young ones desiring to participate in TV reality shows. While contestants may need to be challenged to enable them prove their mettle, this should be done in a way to further stimulate their interest in actualizing their dreams.

Global Business

Thursday, October 25, 2012

RBA cuts rates to lowest in 53 years

ustralia’s central bank will reduce its benchmark interest rate to the lowest in the body’s 53-year history, according to credit markets that more accurately picked yesterday’s cut than economists. Traders are pricing in an 80 percent chance the overnight cash-rate target will be 2.75 percent or less by February 5, swaps data compiled by Bloomberg show. Governor Glenn Stevens and his board lowered the rate 0.25 percentage point to 3.25 percent yesterday, a decision predicted by nine of 28 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Australia’s record-low benchmark was the 2.89 percent set in January 1960, RBA figures show. Stevens said Australia’s record mining boom will peak at a lower level than expected, as he joined peers from Europe to the U.S. seeking to boost growth. That marked a reversal from June, when he said “cheerleading” was needed to rebut pessimists. The nation’s benchmark yields are 2.93 percent, almost double the average for top-rated peers, and Australia’s dollar gained 7.3 percent over the past year even as prices plunged 39 percent for iron ore, the nation’s biggest export. “This was the first time the RBA has acknowledged the need to provide stim-

Gleenn

ulus as the mining investment boom begins to fade,” said Adam Donaldson, head of debt research in Sydney at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest lender. “We’ll end up seeing multiple rate cuts that may take the

benchmark to about 2.5 percent in the next year or so.” Stevens, in a June 8 speech titled “The Glass Half Full” expressed optimism about the nation’s economy and cautioned against monetary policy settings that could reignite asset bubbles. Responding to audience questions, Stevens said he felt the need to do some “cheerleading” for the economy in response to negative commentary on the nation’s prospects and weak consumer and business confidence. Since then tumbling commodity prices have spurred miners including BHP Billiton (BHP) Ltd., Xstrata Plc and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. to delay some of the projects in a resources development pipeline the Australian government estimated in June at A$500 billion ($511 billion). At the same time, companies from Bluescope Steel Ltd. to surfwear maker Billabong International Ltd. and the local unit of Ford Motor Co. have been struggling to cope with the local dollar’s strength. Stevens will probably cut interest rates again next month, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg after yesterday’s reduction, in what would be his seventh-straight move on the day of the Melbourne Cup, Australia’s richest horse race.

Global services weaken as Europe slides into recession

ervices industries from Asia to Europe cooled last month after the euro-area debt crisis pulled economies including Spain and Italy into recession and damped global growth prospects. The purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.7 in September from 56.3 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing in Beijing said yesterday. That’s the lowest since at least March 2011. In the euro-area, a gauge slipped to 46.1 last month from 47.2 and a U.K. measure also fell. Readings below 50 indicate contraction. China’s weaker services number underscores a slowdown that spurred the Asian Development Bank to lower its 2012 regional growth estimate. As Europe’s economic slump deepens amid a fiscal squeeze and weakening confidence, the ADB said the threat of a “shock emanating from the unresolved euro-area sov-

In Britain, a services measure dropped more than economists forecast to 52.2 in September

ereign debt crisis” is among the biggest downside risks to Asia. “The global environment will remain challenging,” said Silvio Peruzzo, an economist at Nomura International Plc in London. “In the euro area, there’s a lack of demand because of austerity; some countries have suffered more than others. We expect the economy to shrink

again in the third quarter with a significant chance for another contraction in the fourth.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.3 percent today. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1 percent yesterday in Frankfurt. The euro was little changed versus the dollar, trading at $1.2905.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Poland unexpectedly holds rates as expansion slows

Poland President, Bronisław Komorowski

oland’s central bank unexpectedly left borrowing costs unchanged, rejecting calls to undo the European Union’s only interest-rate increase this year even after the economy expanded at the slowest pace since 2009. The Narodowy Bank Polski kept the benchmark seven-day interest rate at 4.75 percent today. Eight economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted no change, while 27 expected a 25 basis-point reduction. While central banks around the world have eased borrowing costs to avert a recession, Poland has kept rates at the highest since 2009 to tame inflation as the economy proved resistant to Europe’s debt crisis. Still, the expansion slowed in the second quarter to 2.4 percent from a year earlier, after growing 3.5 percent in the January-March period. “They decided to err on the conservative side,” Lars Christensen, a Copenhagen-based economist at Danske Bank A/S (DANSKE), said by phone yesterday. “The market was quite aggressively priced for cuts and now we have to see why they’re hanging back, but 12 months ahead, we’ll still have rates 75 to 100 basis points lower.” The zloty strengthened 0.6 percent after the decision, trading at 4.0894 per euro in Warsaw, compared with 4.1171 before the release. The five-year government bond yield jumped as much as 9 basis points after the decision and traded at 4.19 percent, up 4 basis points on the day, yesterday in Warsaw. Consumer-price growth has exceeded the bank’s 2.5 percent goal since October 2010. While inflation slowed to 3.8 percent in August from 4 percent in July, the central bank forecasts it will remain above the target until early next year.

Employment rise on restaurants in U.S doing quick service

Obama

achael Wright had culinary training, a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and a dream of putting her education to work. After a couple of years waiting tables and trying to launch her career, Wright finally went where the jobs are: quick-service food. In September, she started at Protein Bar, a Chicago-based eatery specializing in low-sugar, high-fiber menus. The company says it seeks to marry fresh ingredients with convenience: Food is served in easy-to-carry bowls so customers can nosh while they walk. After multiple interviews, Wright landed an assistant man-

ager job at the company’s new store in Washington. I was looking for something in product development,” said Wright, 26. “Even if that doesn’t happen, having this background in the healthful food industry should help me along the right path instead of going from restaurant to restaurant.” Restaurants and bars are heading toward their strongest year of job growth since 2004, according to the National Restaurant Association, a Washington-based trade group, led by a proliferation of fastfood and quick-service outlets. Food services accounted for nearly 30 percent of the

96,000 jobs created in August, which also marked 19 consecutive months of growth for the sector, according to the Labor Department. The industry this year expanded payrolls by 2.9 percent as of the end of August, more than double the 1.4 percent increase in total U.S. employment, according to Labor Department data. Fast-food chains including Wendy’s Co. (WEN), snack-and-beverage shops such as Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), and a newer crop of eateries like Protein Bar and Nando’s Peri-Peri, which offer made-to-order meals, are leading the growth.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Capital Market

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, October 25, 2012

ETI,Sterling Bank gross N304bn in Q3 JOHNSON OKANLAWON

he combined results of Ecobank Transnational Incorporation and Sterling Bank have showed gross earnings of N304bn for the nine months ended September 30, 2012. Specifically, Ecobank declared gross earnings of N254bn for the period, an increase of 63.2 per cent when compared to N155.9bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2011. According to the result presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, profit after tax increased to N24.1bn in 2012, from N19.1bn recorded in the same period of 2011, while income tax expense dropped to N6.39bn,

from N8.27bn in 2011 nine months. Cash and Balances with the Central Bank of Nigeria stood at N287.4bn, from N273.1bn in 2011 nine months, while total operating expenses increased to N143.3bn, from N84.5bn in 2011 nine months. Further analysis of the result showed net assets of N305.1m in the review period, from N233.4m recorded in 2011 nine months, while the total assets stood at N2.92bn, from N2.74bn in 2011 nine months. Meanwhile, Sterling Bank declared a gross earning of N50.7bn for the period ended September 30, 2012, an increase by 92.6 per cent when compared to N26.3bn recorded in the same period of 2011. The bank’s profit after

tax rose by 58.3 per cent to N4.49bn, from N2.74bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2011, while taxation stood at N276.5bn in the review period, from N268.9bn recorded in 2011 nine months. According to the result , operating income increased by 77.7 per cent in 2012, from N15.9bn in 2011 nine months. The bank’s total expense stood at N23.5bn in 2012 nine months, from N12.9bn in the same period of 2011, while earning per share increased by 31.8 per cent, from 22 kobo in 2011 nine months to N29 kobo in 2012. Further analysis of the result showed a net assets of N44.5bn in nine months, from N41.6bn recorded in the corresponding pe-

riod of 2011, while total liabilities stood at N519. bn in the review period, from N463.1bn in 2011 nine months. The bank had reported a profit after tax of N3.01bn in the second quarter of the year, compared to N2.19bn recorded in the same period in 2011, indicating a growth of 37.6 per cent. Profit before tax also increased from N2.35bn in 2011 to N3.25bn in the 2012 half year, showing an increase of N902m or 38.38 per cent. The bank’s net assets increased by N1.44bn or 3.47 per cent as it recorded N43.05bn in the second quarter of the year, compared to N41.61bn recorded in the same period of last year.

Source: NSE NIBOR QUOTES 23 OCTOBER & 24 OCTOBER 2012 20.00 19.00 18.00 17.00 16.00 15.00 14.00 13.00 12.00 11.00 10.00 9.00 8.00 7.00 6.00 5.00

2 3 -Oc t-1 2

Source: FMDA

Market indicators All-Share Index 23,105.05 points Market capitalisation 7,354 trillion

ASI sheds N133bn in three days on profit taking JOHNSON OKANLAWON

he value of equities dropped further on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, as profit taking by investors continued. The All-Share Index dipped by 1.54 per cent during the week to settle at 26,876.07 points, as against the increase of 0.03 per cent recorded the preceding week to close at 27,296.35 points. Market capitalization shed N133.2bn to close at N8.56trn, in contrast to the appreciation of N2.71bn recorded the preceding week to close at N8.69trn. The Financial Services

subsector emerged the most traded sector in the week in terms of volume, as 659.75 million shares valued at N6.37bn were exchanged in 8,298 deals, compared to 1.42 billion shares worth N10.57bn traded in 17,630 deals the preceding week. Zenith Bank Plc led the market volume for the week to displace United Bank for Africa Plc as top traded stock on the transaction volume chart last week. Consumer Goods subsector followed with 44.00 million shares valued at N1.7bn traded in 2,733 deals, compared to 114.17 million shares worth N3.08bn exchanged in

5,067 deals the preceding week. Academy Press Plc led the gainers’ table during the week with 69 kobo or 20.2 per cent to close at N3.41 per share, followed by Cutix Plc with 20 kobo or 14.8 per cent to close at N1.35 per share. Wema Bank Plc gained seven kobo or 12.3 per cent to close at 57 kobo per share, while DN Meyer Plc appreciated by 30 kobo or 10.2 per cent to close at N2.93 per share. Evans Medicals Plc rose by 12 kobo or 10 per cent to close at N1.2 per share. On the flip side, Sterling Bank Plc lost 23 kobo or 12.6 per cent to close at N1.83 per share, while PZ

US stocks records little change

nited States stocks were little changed yesterday, as a slump in technology shares tempered signs that a slump in China’s factory output is easing and America’s housing market is improving. D.R. Horton Incorporation) and Toll Brothers Incorporation added at least 1.8 per cent to pace gains in homebuilders, while Facebook Incorporation, the biggest social networking site, surged 21 per cent after reporting sales that topped analysts’ estimates. Boeing Company rose

1.3 per cent after boosting its full-year forecast for the third time this year, while Apple Incorporation fell 0.1 per cent, reversing a rally of as much as 2.2 per cent. Netflix Incorporation plunged 14 per cent as it cut its forecast for domestic growth. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell less than 0.1 per cent to 1,412.74 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 12.62 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 13,115.15 points, as trading in S&P 500 companies was about 4.1 per cent lower than the 30-day average.

“The market was encouraged by signs of stabilisation in China, and the better-than-expected home sales data in US suggest that the housing recovery remains in track,” said Alan Gayle, a senior strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees about $47bn. “Yet the market is still struggling, trying to determine the damage in corporate profits growth.” Equities gained as a survey signaled a smaller contraction in China’s manufacturing. Purchases of new

Cussons Plc fell by N3.43 or 11.4 per cent to close at N3.43 per share. Skye Bank Plc depreciated by 40 kobo or 9.30 per cent to close at N4.3 per share, while Fidson Healthcare Plc dipped by 11 kobo or 8.94 per cent to close at N1.23 per share. Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc dropped 11 kobo or 8.87 per cent to close at N1.24 per share. Transaction volume in equities declined by 57 per cent, as a total of 794.04 million shares valued at N8.51bn were exchanged during the week, compared to 1.85 billion shares worth N16.3bn traded in 28,383 deals the preceding week.

2 4 -Oc t-1 2

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

DNMEYER

1.16

1.27

0.11

9.48

FIDSON

1.06

1.13

0.07

6.60

REDSTAREX

3.02

3.18

0.16

5.30

NEIMETH

1.20

1.26

0.06

5.00

TRANSCORP

1.20

1.26

0.06

5.00

NASCON

5.80

6.09

0.29

5.00

NESTLE

573.00

601.65

28.65

5.00

GUINNESS

264.00

277.20

13.20

5.00

VITAFOAM

3.21

3.37

0.16

4.98

CONOIL

19.70

20.68

0.98

4.97

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

GUARANTY

20.98

20.11

0.87

-4.15

RTBRISCOE

1.77

1.70

0.07

-3.95

CCNN

4.90

4.75

0.15

-3.06

ETERNA

2.30

2.23

0.07

-3.04

ACCESS

8.95

8.70

0.25

-2.79

NAHCO

5.99

5.84

0.15

-2.50

ETI

11.20

11.02

0.18

-1.61

RTBRISCOE

1.82

1.73

0.09

-4.95

UBN

8.74

8.31

0.43

-4.92

MANSARD

2.06

1.96

0.10

-4.85

Primary Market Auction homes in the US rose in September to the highest level in more than two years. The Federal Open Market Committee will conclude a twoday meeting in Washington today and release a statement on policy. Forty-four companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to release results. Earnings at about 70 per cent of the index’s companies beat analysts’ estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Third-quarter sales missed forecasts at 60 per cent of companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, the data showed.

TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

91-Day

21,838.51

14.09

24-Oct-12

182-Day

59,081.14

15.05

24-Oct-12

364 -Day

Open Market Operations TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

356 Days

193,954.35

16.20

24-Oct-12

289-Days

12,963.25

16.39

22-Oct-12

Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED

MARKET DEMAND

AMOUNT SOLD

DATE

$200m

N/A

$177m

20-Oct-12

$200m

N/A

$200m

24-Oct-12

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Stock exchange daily equities summary Equities as at October 24, 2012 1st Tier Securities Sector

Company name

1st Tier Securities No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘Young people are giving too much to entertainment’ LEONARD OKACHIE

igerian youths have been accused of giving too much to entertainment, thereby having warped perception about life and so do not understand the future. A medical doctor, Dokun Adedeji, said this recently at the leadership summit & mentorship programme for secondary school children tagged Inspiring Nigeria’s Vanguard of Noble Talents (I.N.V.E.N.T 2012).The event, which held at Ikeja GRA, Lagos had participants drawn from many schools in Lagos. Adedeji, who was a facilitator at the event, told them that they should be focused in life, know what they want to become and start early to prepare themselves, rather than being distracted by the buzz in the entertainment industry. He stated: "Nigeria is 52, but look at the quality of people that we have. And it is going to speak to our future. To be honest with you, I am not impressed with Nollywood at all. Unfortunately, I have met some of them in circumstances that are very revolting to me in terms of decency and I don’t think they represent the best of Nigeria. They can entertain. It is their duty to entertain. But you will not see America use Hollywood as their quality national figures because you cannot bring decadence to super impose on what is decent. They can do their entertainment, but let them also be decent about it. “If you watch the Nigerian films, by the time you watch five, you can predict the scope and the sequence of the others because they are not imaginative, there is nothing profound about them. I don’t think that young people should grow up with those people as role models." Adedeji, who coordinates a ministry that rehabilitates drug addicts, regretted that young people are not being prepared for leadership in Nigeria. “We are not preparing them by the things they see around them. There is a sense of dissonance that they can’t understand. A father says to his son, ‘don’t steal, don’t do this’ but he himself steals. So, the son begins to ask himself, ‘why should my father say I should not do what he does to be successful? So we are not preparing them, we are not introducing them to leadership, because we appreciate the level of ignorance they exist in. It allows us to perpetuate ourselves and then to continue to destroy the future,” he added. He commended the organisers, saying that such a mentoring programme is what the country needs as it makes young people to understand the concept of life and living. Another facilitator, Mr. Jerome Onipede who spoke on “the life today and tomorrow- using time to bring them together”, told participants that what they needed to be successful in life is not money, but time. “What we look out is basically helping

Some of the participants and organisers in a group photograph

WE NEED A MORE PRAGMATIC, INTEGRATED AND ABSORBING PLATFORM WHERE PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY GO THROUGH A PROCESS AND COME OUT FULLY AS A WHOLE HUMAN BEING.

people to understand the use of time. One thing that God has given us time; it is not money and we are going to use it to meet up goals, time to accomplish goals and time to work within certain plans and purpose that we have. Time is the best resource we have,” he put. Onipede corroborated the views of Dr. Adedeji that today’s leaders are not prepared for leadership, stating, “Some of them have been very terrible mentors and models to them and because of that, they are not really prepared. But I believe that with INVENT 2012 we can be properly prepared.” One of the mentors of the programme, Seyi Ogunro, who is also a legal practitioner, shared her life experience with the participants, saying that the can be successful with hard work.He regretted that most youths don’t see hard work as key to success any more. Ogunro remarked: “ A lot of people think that success is driving a nice car. My parents are not politicians, but I have worked hard and because I have worked

Onipede with two of the particiapnts

hard, God has crowned my efforts. I am an example of success and because I am, you can also do it.” President/CEO of Elderberry Integrated Resources Ltd, organisers of the events, Mr. Elijah Olupona explained that they decided to organise the programme because Nigeria is presently defaced as a nation. “We are not getting the quality of output in our human resource management. We need a more pragmatic, integrated and absorbing platform where people can actually go through a process and come out fully as a whole human being. We want to take ourselves away from the Nigeria that we used to know, a country of fool-hardy, corrupt- minded individuals.” Director of Publicity at Elderberry, Olatubosun Lasisi, further stated that the programme was organised to give teenagers and youths an opportunity to meet their role models who would, in turn, guide on ways to be successful in life.“This is the first edition and we will not relent until every Nigerian teenager

Dr. Adedeji

and youth is informed to take the right decisions about life, “he said. A participant, Miss Vivan Eze who is a student of Baptist Girls Academy, Obanikoro, expressed happiness, saying that young people have a lot to learn from such programme. “I’ m looking forward to seeing programmes like this because young people have a lot of things to learn. I am grateful to the organisers,” she remarked.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Young & Next Generation

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Femi Knight unleashes ‘Porairo’ LEONARD OKACHIE

or the third week running, wave-making Finesse entertainment continues to roll out fresh music ahead from its talented signees. After releasing the runaway hit "Sama" and club banger ‘Opio’ from BlaQshyne, the multi-talented Olorunfemi Asani aka Femi Knight, unleashes a sexy new single enttitled ‘Porairo’ which was produced by Finesse Entertainment’s in-house guru, SuperSoniq. ‘Porairo’ experiments with an exciting blend of Femi Knight’s R&B vocal mastery and a fastpaced afro-pop beat from Supersoniq. “It is a unique love-song that is inspired by women of all ages.” the smooth talking Femi Knight says. “Instead of saying honey and sweetie pie, make it more relatable; call her ‘Porairo’,” he adds with a smile. Porairo also features Finesse Entertainment’s Classiq with an irresistible rap hook. Knight is a graduate of Business Marketing and Management from the Cambridge Polytechnic and the University of Anglia. He also has a diploma in Music and Vocal Technology from the London Music School. After graduating from the University, he bowed to parental pressure, working for a full year for telecommunications giant, Zain now known as Airtel. Femi is a self professed ‘entrepreneurial optimist’ and is guided by the motto ‘Seek Knowledge because knowledge is power’. His work is influenced by a fusion of pop, R&B and soul greats including Michael Jackson, R. Kelly and Brian McKnight.

Coss section of participants at the event.

Preparing youths for nation building AJOBIEWE TOLULOPE

he youths are confronted with the challenges of bad leadership, moral degeneration, insecurity and other menaces and in a bid to proffer solutions to these problems; I-Create Initiative Mina Club recently held her first national youth summit in Minna, Niger State. The event was held on October 1, 2012 in commemoration of the country’s Independence at the Ahmadu Bahago Secondary School Hall. The participants were drawn from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, some youth corps members in the capital city of Minna, as well as secondary school students in Minna. I-Create Initiative Minna Club is a life changing interested group of youths driven by social responsibility. The club reaches out to young people from various backgrounds, nationalities and professions to stand out with the right message and effect positive changes in the community. The summit entailed lecture series, musical breaks, and an interactive session. Engr. Olamide Abioye, in his keynote address, quoted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as saying that people between the ages of 15 and 35 are regarded as youths. He reiterated the

theme of the summit ‘‘Youth and nation building’’ and noted that the word nation building in the past was mainly used by nations that had just been granted sovereignty, “during these era, these nations venture into changing their national anthem, national flags and most importantly, a total shift from the colonial system of government to an indigenous system of government.” The speaker added that nation building has gone far beyond that which political independent states believed it to be in the past, even as he stressed that the youths themselves are the nation that needs to be built. The youths, he said, needs to imbibe ideal and correct ideologies that will help them prepare for the future instead of waiting for our leaders to prepare the future for them. Engr Olamide hinted that vibrancy in youths should be well channeled to foster development in any nation, saying “all revolutions in the world were initiated by youths. Martin Luther king Jnr was a youth when he started a revolution in the United States of America that up till date the African Americans will never forget.” He charged the youths to be more open to change; be future oriented, courageous, idealistic and innovative and challenged them to be agents of positive change in their immediate communities.

The interactive session was facilitated by prominent Nigerians and youth leaders, among whom were Mr. Jide Oritunsin of the Nation Newspaper, Mrs. Faith Aminu and Pastor Emmanuel Ohere of the Transformation Chapel Minna. Mr. Jide popularly known as National Uncle looked back to the good old days, where in Nigeria a secondary school student, upon his graduation from school, chooses the option of either going to the university or to accept the offer for employment by the government or multinational companies; a Nigeria where both the primary and secondary school students always waited in high anticipation for the independence day because they will certainly go for match past. Mrs. Aminu also charged the participants to always have at the back of their minds that they themselves are the change Nigeria is anxiously waiting for and that anything is possible once they think it is possible. Kevin Chukwuyem, a youth corps member, also stressed the need for unity in Nigeria before the issue of development can be totally addressed. He stated that youths are the stock of a nation’s potentials and charged his colleagues to discourage any form of ethnic and religious differences as this would be help in building the nation.

Nigerian Idol audition berths in Owerri

he energy levels went through the roof as Africa’s biggest music reality show, Nigerian Idol, made its second stop this season in the city of Port Harcourt on Saturday, October 20, 2012. Hotel Presidential, the venue for the audition, played host to a lot of young and aspiring acts from the excitable to the nervous - all revved up to be Nigeria's next superstar. “I have come back to finish what I started last year," said Oguadu Chinedu, who was evicted from the show last year. “I have always dreamt of being discovered on a large platform like the one Nigerian Idol provides," said another hopeful, Felicia Pako. "I was sad when I realized Calabar wasn't selected as one of the states for the auditions, but I was advised to come to Port Harcourt.” As usual, lead sponsor, Etisalat was on hand to ease the tension and entertain the hopefuls. There was music and comedy - headlines by Kay Switch

who performed his hit song, ‘Sister Caro’ and Waconzy who performed his song, ‘I Celebrate’. "We've been to Port Harcourt twice before and yet we had an even larger turnout!" said an excited Tiwa Medubi, who is the show's Project Manager. "It proves something we have come to find out young people passionate about their dreams and talent are passionate about the platform that Nigerian Idol offers, and it certainly adds a spring to our step as we move to Owerri, where we anticipate even larger numbers." The Nigerian Idol auditions now move to Owerri on October 27 and will hold at the IMO Concorde Hotel, Owerri-Port-Harcourt Road, New Owerri Layout. After this, Benin is the next stop on November 3 and Lagos will host the grand finale on November 9 and 10, 2012. This season’s prize is valued at $100,000 and the elements are thus; N7.5 million cash, a recording contract worth N7.5million and an SUV.

Cross sectionof Nigerian_Idol Season3 Port Harcourt audition contestants.

Media

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Transitioning from print to digital media LEONARD OKACHIE

ast Thursday, esteemed U.S weekly current affairs magazine, Newsweek joined the growing list of victims of digital age when it announced that it would stop its 80year old print edition on December 31 and move to an all-digital format in early 2013. The top executives of the magazine’s parent company gave the reason as the challenging economics of print publishing and distribution, stressing “We are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it.” According to them the all-digital Newsweek will be called Newsweek Global and will be a single, worldwide edition. The transition will entail job cuts, they added. Over the last decade, the traditional print media industry has been undergoing an evolutionary change by transitioning from hard copy version to digital edition, from print advertising to online marketing. This is because it is the era of new media, where Internet and websites dictate the pace. The introduction of broadband, smart phones like iPhones and Blackberries have become veritable tools in communication and have dramatically shrunk appetite for newspapers. The world, as we know it, is going through a major transition from printing everything to digital (paperless) technologies. There are several reasons for this change from print to pixel. Apparently, since the coming of computer and the Internet, many individuals and groups have gone green in their businesses. This involves using less paper or even going paper less, thereby avoiding much waste and conserving resources. One area in which this transition is prominent is in the marketing & advertising industry. The 2011 Social Media Marketing Report by Social Media Examiner showed that a significant 55% of marketers either have no plans to use or will decrease their use of print ads. Slightly less than half (46%) marketers plan on increasing their online advertising efforts. Large businesses (1000 or more employees) were most likely to increase online advertising (53%). Another recent study has also shown that as newspaper circulation continues to fall, so do newspaper revenues. All told, losses amount to 27.2% or ad revenue lost year-over-year between 2008 and 2009. More and more consumers are using the web to stay updated about current events. Today, smart newspapers have cashed in on this opportunity and have gone online. They provide better content than they do offline. For instance, in March, the publishers of Encyclopaedia Britannica announced that the 2010 edition of the 244 years old paper was the last one in print. Encyclopaedia Britannica was first published in 1768.It became a status symbol for families in the 1950s.

A newsstand in Nigeria

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku

Newsweek going out of print

Sales of the encyclopedia peaked in 1990, when 120,000 editions were sold in the U.S. Now, only one percent of the Encyclopaedia Britannica’s revenue comes from its print editions. Curriculum products and online subscriptions make up the bulk of it. President of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., Jorge Cauz reportedly said: “We are energized by the fact that our efforts of the last few years have been successful. We have completed our transition from print publisher of the Encyclopaedia Britannica to a digital provider of knowledge and e-learning solutions.” “The encyclopedia will live on—in bigger, more numerous, and more vibrant digital forms,” the editors said in a blog post. “And just as important, we the publishers are poised, in the digital era, to serve knowledge and learning in new ways that go way beyond reference works. In fact, we already do.” In September 2011, a reputable Nigerian newspaper, NEXT Newspaper became a victim of the dwindling fortunes in print media. It stopped publication after two and half years. Its publisher, Dele Olojode had said that the paper was “losing a lot of money”

and decided to stop its print edition to revaluate its finances. But lovers of traditional print media are of the view that those who take advantage of the opportunity that the Internet has provided are not true writers or broadcasters, but mere hobbyists. On the other hand, the tech-savvy ones who perhaps, are incredibly busy believe that they don’t have the time to sit do and read newspapers anymore. As they become busier they have been forced to digest news in smaller bite sized pieces mostly online, leaving little time to sit down with the newspaper. Interestingly, Nigeria media is also imbibing the culture of digital communication. Many newspapers and magazines across the country now have their online editions just as they have their hard copy versions. Newspapers like Vanguard, Thisday, National Mirror, The Guardian, Punch, The Nation, The Sun, Tribune and others have fortified their online editions with freshness of contents. The print media owners do this in order to meet up with the challenges of digital communication and to conquer the fear that the tradi-

tional media would die with the emergence of digital media. However, veteran journalist and copublisher of Entertainment Express, Mr. Dimgba Igwe had, in an interview with the National Mirror, posited that the emergence of digital media would not bring about the death of traditional print media. Rather, the traditional media would only experience some challenges. He said: “The print media will not phase out. It will experience challenges. The doomsayers have always been there. When radio came, people thought it would affect the print media. When television came, people thought it would eclipse radio and destroy print journalism. It didn’t. Now Internet has come. The fact of the matter is that who are the people that are practising their journalism through the Internet? Most of them are not professional journalists. They are people that develop competence as bloggers. In other words, they are not professionals. “What should keep the print media going is that they should go deep in providing specialised information. The television has a lot of razzmatazz, but what about depth? When you finish listening to the story on television, you will not remember 10 per cent of it. But if you have a paper, it is concrete in your hand; it is convenient. So, I believe there is nothing that beats the freshness of waking up in the morning, pick a paper, open it and it is fresh. It has a smell, an aura that is unmatchable.” Apparently, the rapid growth of digital media in the last decade has totally reshaped the media landscape. Online media audience in Nigeria and in the globe is growing exponentially .This has provided excellent opportunities as well as challenges for advertisers and the media planners to capture the divided attentions of their increasing online customer base. Experts have, however, advised that the traditional print media in Nigeria not to be left of this evolution.

L-R : Mrs. Mustapha-Koiki, Mass Comm Department,UNILAG; Segun Ayobolu , Member of Editorial Board, The Nation Newspaper; Funke Egbemode, Editor Sunday Sun and Lanre Arogundade,former, Chairman, NUJ, Lagos State Council at the Press Week Lecture of NUJ, Lagos Information Chapel

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

LEONARD OKACHIE

ivil servant s and public institutions have continued to use the existence of the Official Secrets Act and other such laws and guises to deny citizens their right to information despite the clarity of Section 1 and other provisions of the FOI Act about the supremacy of the Act over other laws. This was the observation of the civil society organisations at a one-day sensitization and awareness generation workshop on the Freedom of Information Act for civil society and grassroots organisations held recently at Newcastle Hotels in Owerri, Imo State. The workshop which was organised by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) was intended to reach out to organizations in the South East geo-political zone of Nigeria, to familiarise them with the content of the Act which will enable them create further awareness about it in their communities; and seek ways of ensuring that the organizations mainstream the Act in the work that they do. The group in a communiqué therefore called on the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to increase efforts in creating awareness and enlightenment among public institutions and within the civil service about the superiority of the FOI Act to others laws, especially the Official Secrets Act. They also urged the AGF to provide guidelines to all public institutions making it clear that applications for information under the FOI Act may also be made by email and that such email requests should be treated as valid applications for information under the Act. Accordingly, public institutions are required to put in place facilities and systems for the receipt of requests by email, such facilities and systems should be adequately publicised by the institutions and should have the capacity to generate automatic responses to requesters in the form of acknowledgements of receipt. The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and all relevant authorities in the public sector were also advised to undertake activities to widely publicise the Act and ensure adequate awareness of its

Media

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Official Secret Act hampers FOIA implementation –CSOs

Media Abroad

MTV Networks Africa debuts new name

Participants at the workshop in Owerri.

provisions both within public institutions and among the general populace. The AGF, they equally recommended, , should in accordance with his oversight responsibilities, put in place a fee structure that is standardized across all public institutions in order to ensure that the system of charges is consistent, reasonable and is not used to deny requesters information. Participants urged civil society organisations to ensure that they have a good grasp of the contents of the FOI Act to avoid being intimidated and manipulated by public officials and institutions that are ready to play on their ignorance and are unwilling to grant access to information and records in their possession.

Apart from these, they noted that there was need for civil society actors to come together so as to monitor the levels of compliance and implementation of the FOI Act by public institutions, with special focus on public institutions that are within their thematic areas of focus. Furthermore, they urged the citizens, particularly civil society activists, to continually test the FOI Act through collaboration, networking and sharing of experiences in the use of the Act. The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Edetaen Ojo, the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda; Mr. Tive Denedo, Director of Campaigns; and Ms Jennifer Onyejekwe, Programme Officer.

Abaribe, Tambuwal challenge broadcasters on local content CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

hairman Senate Committee on Information, Senator Enyinaya Abaribe has challenged stakeholders in the African broadcast industry to improve on local content, saying that programmes’ contents should be tailored to reflect true African values. This is even as the Speaker of House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal urged the broadcasters to consider community broadcasting as a veritable tool to reaching out to people in the local areas. Senator Abaribe who gave the advice Tuesday during the opening ceremony of the 9th Biennial Conference of African Broadcasters (Africast 2012), decried the amount of foreign contents in African stations. Abaribe who noted that broadcast contents impact on the lives of the younger generation pointed out the need to review the contents of the programmes that occupy the continent’s airwaves. “There are a whole lot of foreign contents in our airwaves; most of what we see in movies affect our lives one way or the other. I challenge stakeholders to improve on local contents to reflect African values. Let us look at what we pres-

ent, how it is presented and its effects on younger generation” he said. Represented at the occasion by the Deputy House Leader, Honourable Tom Ogor, Tambuwal urged journalists to always uphold public interest as guiding principle and insist on the ethics, truth, and fairness at all times. He said the community broadcasting will encourage rapid development and shape opinion and values of people in the local areas. Also the Chairman House Committee on Information, Honourable Umar Jibrin called on African broadcasters to brace up for the influx of different types of channels when the digitalisation goes full swing in 2015. According to him, Africa must learn to protect itself from the expected bombardment of all manner of channels and broadcast contents. Earlier, former Director General of Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, (NBC) Dr. Tom Adama called all other participating African countries to organise similar forum to address their peculiar issues. The Director General of NBC Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa who delivered a speech “Africa has come of age” urged stakeholders to resist the media colonialism by the West and promote African treasures.

TV Networks Africa, will make its first appearance at DISCOP Africa under its new name, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa. The multimedia entertainment company will bring its multi-genre portfolio of content solutions to DISCOP Africa, taking place from 31 October to 2 November 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa, representing channels such as MTV, MTV Base and VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and general entertainment strand BET. Key offerings at DISCOP Africa will include series targeted at audiences from 4 to 40+ including thematic content blocks, international and African-produced programming, plus targeted content solutions for regional, national and panregional broadcasters, and pay-TV platforms from DTH to DTT, IPTV and Mobile TV. The network will be showcasing properties from major international awards shows such as the Video Music Awards and The BET Awards to chat shows, reality shows, drama, documentary, animation and more. Titles include The Big Friday Show, the entertainment show fronted by Nigerian comedian Basketmouth, MTV Base Meets... a powerful youth empowerment series, reality series Jersey Shore, and kids shows Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants. Source- Bizcommunity

Egyptian TV host jailed for Morsi insult

n Egyptian court has sentenced controversial television presenter, Tawfiq Okasha to four months in prison for defaming Egypt's President, Mohamed Morsi, state media report. The court in the southern province of Luxor on Monday sentenced Okasha - who was not present at the trial - to four months in jail and ordered him to pay a fine of 100 Egyptian pounds (about $A15) following a lawsuit by a former MP, Nasreddine Moghazi. Okasha, who heads his own TV channel Al-Faraeen and is known for his lengthy anti-Islamist rants on a talk show, faces several lawsuits including a case for alleged incitement to kill Morsi, judicial sources said. His channel was suspended on August 16 after it aired a show that was stridently anti-Morsi, a long-time member of the Muslim Brotherhood who quit the organisation when he was elected president in June. On Saturday, a court ruled that Al-Faraeen was allowed to resume broadcasting. Last week, Okasha was detained overnight for former convictions passed in absentia, after visiting a police station to check on the status of his court case for alleged incitement. He was notified of two six-month convictions for issuing bad cheques and one-month terms for stealing electricity, and was then released again after spending nine hours in custody, according to a security source. -Skynews.com.au

Cocktail

Thursday, October 25, 2012

FOR YOUR SUCCESS

WITH DR. DEJI FOLUTILE

Today's Tonic (29)

If the only prayer you can offer to God is to thank Him, that will be enough. * * * Gratitude Is Wisdom! To thank our Creator is a perpetual debt that we owe Him as long as we have life. No one can exist today without the great benevolence of God. We cannot thank Him enough! Thanksgiving is a powerful act. No one can sincerely thank God and not be happy. Gratitude expressed as thanksgiving has a way of opening more doors of favour for us. No wonder they say the attitude of gratitude is the way to the altitudes of life. As the year draws to a close, incessant thanksgiving should be our pastime. Whenever we take the pains to pick up our pens to count our blessings, joy will arise in our hearts to thank our Creator deeper and deeper! TEL 08104942999 E-MAIL deji.folutile@gmail.com Follow me @TwitterOWOTIDE

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Oddities

Brazilian man interrupts own funeral

Brazilian family said they did not realize a body had been misidentified as a family member until the “dead” man interrupted his own funeral. The family of Gilberto Araujo, 41, of Alagoinhas, said they had not seen the car washer for four months when they misidentified the body of a similar-looking man as their family member Sunday, G1 reported Tuesday. Araujo said he learned about Monday’s funeral plans from

an acquaintance and called a friend who was attending the service, but the mourners refused to believe he was still alive until he showed up in person and interrupted

the ceremony. Araujo’s brother said the family does not see him very often and he is often found living in different places, so they had no reason to believe

Deer jumps into motel room, wakes couple

olice in Pennsylvania said a deer jumped through a window into a motel room and shocked a sleeping couple. Law enforcement officers were called to the Econo Lodge in Lancaster around 11:45 p.m. Sat-

urday after a report of a deer in a motel room, WGAL-TV, Lancaster reported. The officers said they arrived to find the deer, which was bleeding from broken glass in the shattered window, bouncing off the walls of the room.

They said the animal jumped back out the window, was struck by a vehicle and disappeared into a corn field. Police said the couple had locked themselves in the bathroom and were not injured.

A man posing with a sculpture Photo: creativenerds.co.uk

the body was not Araujo. The body has been returned to police, who are trying to determine the dead man’s true identity.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Community Mirror “With much influence of governors, they would want to move state universities to their home town.”

Man, 39, jailed for beating wife

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF NUC, PROF. JULIUS OKOJIE

FCTA tasks Kuje residents on flood control

he Federal Capital territory Administration (FCTA) on Wednesday called on residents of the Kuje Area Council in the FCT to take proactive measures on flood control to protect lives and properties. The Minister of State for the FCT, Ms Olajumoke Akinjide, who made the call in Kuje at the flag off ceremony of the campaign against flooding in the Area Councils, blamed flooding

on human activities. Akinjide, who was represented by Mrs Jumai Kwanashi, a Senior Special Assistant to the Minister, identified blocking of drains, drainage channels, overflow of river banks and wanton destruction of vegetation as causes of flooding. ``Since man’s activities contribute significantly to cases of flooding and associated disaster, man can also prevent flooding. ``This can be done by avoid-

ing the erection of buildings, dumping of refuse and farming on areas prone to flood and wanton destruction of our vegetation,” she said. The Secretary of the FCTA, Alhaji. Alhasan Gwagwa, who noted that flood had no cultural barrier, expressed the need to guide against its occurrence. He said that flood in the past had affected some areas in the FCT, adding that the ``fight against flooding is a collec-

tive one since its effect has no boundary. ‘‘Now that we are about to enter the dry season the water level might recede and there is always the assumption that flood plains are buildable. ``It must be understood that when the rainy season is at the peak, every flood plain is always covered by water,” he said Gwagwa called for attitudinal change and positive response to the current climate change ef-

fects on the environment. The Chairman of the Kuje Area Council, Mr Danladi Zhin, pledged the commitment of the council to ensuring that issues bothering on flood control were given due attention. Zhin, who was represented by Mr Dantani Dogo, the Vice Chairman of the council, said the council was committed to refuse evacuation and drainage clearing to enhance free flow of water.

Teenager docked for allegedly stealing NITEL cable

he police on Wednesday arraigned an 18-year-old man, Joseph Dacub, before an Ikeja Magistrate’s court in Lagos for allegedly stealing NITEL cable valued at N80,000. The accused is standing trial on a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and willful damage to government property. The prosecutor, Insp. Roman Unuigbe, told the court that the accused on October 3, stole NITEL cable valued at N80, 000 belonging to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He said that the offence was committed at the Ijora-Olopa area of Lagos State. ``The police arrested him when he could not explain how he came about the cable,” he said. Unuigbe said that the offence contravened Sections 285, 349 and 409 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

Dilapidated portion of Ikere round-about in Ekiti State.

PHOTO: OLUWASEGUN IJABIKEN

Rosicrucian, others task FG on power, national character rebirth TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

he Lagos Zone of Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, has urged the Federal Government to make the delivery of steady power supply central to its current transformation agenda. The faith-based organisation also advocated a character rebirth for the country, saying it is by so doing that Nigeria will experience not only socio-economic prosperity but peace and corrupt free- system. Speaking at a pre-biennial public lecture in Lagos recently, AMORC’s grand administrator

in Nigeria, Dr. Kenneth Idiodi, decried the poor condition Nigeria still finds itself at 52 years of political independence despite available huge human and material resources at its disposal. On his part, Provost, Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Epe, Lagos, Prof. Olu Akeusola, said good character and morality would bring about peace and progress in the country. According to him, religion us practice without good character will only promote nothing but a chaotic society. He stressed that pervasive corruption led to the high level

of poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and socio-economic dislocations, among others, currently confronting the country. “So the inablity of many people to exhibit good character traits such as honesty, probity, righteousness, loyalty, patriotism, fairness, civility, among others, are hindering the country’s devlopment in all ramifications,” Akeusola insisted. Similarly, the Head of the Philosophy Department, University of Lagos, Prof. Friday Ndubisi, said for significant development to take place in the country it would require an atmosphere of social order ob-

tainable through practical integration of moral and core national values into the system. Ndubisi delivered a paper, entitled: “Entrenching national core values as a foundation for sustainable development,” at the forum. In his own speech Prof. Femi Otubanjo, a guest speaker, at the forum, observed that although Nigeria might be described as the most religious nation on earth, it has, however, remained one of the most corrupt and chaotic on the planet, while blaming various state governments for larger part of Nigeria’s woes.

Fire destroys 1,700 shops at Keffi Main Market

fire outbreak has destroyed 1,700 shops at the Keffi Main Market in Nasarawa State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the inferno destroyed properties worth four billion naira belonging to traders and companies in the market. The inferno started at around 12.30 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday, but firemen failed to put it off due to a lack of access road to the market. An eyewitness disclosed that the fire started at around 12 a.m. in the section occupied by dealers in textile materials.

Community Mirror

KAYODE KETEFE

Customary Court sitting in Agege yesterday sentenced a 39-year-old man to 14 days imprisonment for beating his wife in defiance of an earlier court order mandating him to maintain peace with his estranged wife. It would be recalled that the court President, Mr. Emmanuel Sokunle, had, at the last adjourned date, ordered the couple in the divorce suit to maintain the peace and desist from any act of violence. This order was, however, flouted by the husband, Ibu-

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Man, 39, jailed for beating wife kun Oluwadamilare, who reportedly pounced on her wife, Adesewa Oluwadamilare and beat her thoroughly just days after the restraining order was given. The Court president, in sentencing Oluwadamilare to terms of imprisonment, said, “The court hereby sentences you, Ibukun Oluwadamilare, to 14 days im-

prisonment for contempt of court for beating up your wife. “I believe that if you get there, you will learn one or two lessons and you will control your temper thereafter,’’ Adesewa, aged 33, had filed the suit in September, praying the court to dissolve her 12-year-old marriage to Oluwadamilare

over allegations of battering and threat to life. She had made a number of allegations against her husband. She told the court “My husband had wanted to make love to me in the presence of our children but I refused. He then beat me mercilessly to the extent of removing one of my teeth. If

my husband has money, he won’t give me and the children. He prefers to go to the club and declare surplus and when the money is finished, he comes home to steal my money, she alleged. “We live in one room, but my husband won’t wait till midnight when our children will be asleep before

drawing my pants. My husband started going to a white garment church in April, and so, brings home different colours of candle. He left the church we were both going because he accused me of going out with our pastor and I am fed up with all of his behaviour,” she added.

Wateraid partners govt to eradicate open defecation in Enugu DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

nugu State Government, in collaboration with Wateraid Nigeria, has commenced activities aimed at eradicating Open Defecation, (OD) in Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu state. The programme is billed to check open defecation in the council area within six months of launching the campaign, using the Community, Led Total Sanitation, (CLTS) approach. To ensure that the programme bears the desired result, officials of Wateraid Nigreria, STU, EN-RUWASSA, ASERNGO as well as Civil Society Organisations, CSO, have visited eleven communities in the council area. The communities visited include Ohodo, Ozalla Uwani, Ohebedim, Umudule, Ekwegbe, Onyohor, Ukehe, Diogbe, Udeme and Umuofiagu. The team, using the CLTS approach sensitized the communities on the negative effect of open defecation in bushes, shrubs, and thickets. The communities were encouraged by the team to start constructing toilets to dissuade open defecation practice. The team intimated the communities during the scheduled visits that the communities would be monitored from time to time to ensure that within the six months target, open defecation is totally eradicated in the local government areas.

A class at Gangere Primary School in Jos, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Lagos trains 200 LASTMA, KAI men on emotion management MURITALA AYINLA

agos State Government yesterday began training of additional 200 men of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority ( LASTMA) and Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI)) on emotion management, just as it assured residents in the state that enforcement of the much publicised Lagos Traffic Law would not be aggressive. At least 600 law enforcement officers had been trained in the last two months on non-aggressive measures of enforcing the law. Speaking during the training of the third batch of 200 LASTMA and KAI officials at the Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC) Magodo, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Fashola on Transport Education, Dr Mariam Masha said

the enforcement of traffic law and other laws of the state would no longer be aggressive, adding that the state government is intensifying training of officials on emotion management. She added that the residents in areas where the trained officials had carried out field work recently now have different stories to tell about the state law enforcement agents. Dr Masha said: “They have embarked on arrays of developmental projects in some areas in the state. I am sure if you visit places like Ojota, Apogbon, Ladipo and Mile 12, you will see the difference. They have been able to go into the communities, identify players in the communities and worked with them. So, it is a kind of enforcement through advocacy strategy. “They have embarked on projects like tree planting, urging people to use

the pedestrian bridges while crossing highways. And all these are really impacting on the lives of the pedestrians and motorists. People are using the pedestrian bridges more than they had actually done before. At Ladipo, the marketers had to shut down their businesses to cooperate with LASTMA officials in cleaning their environments.” On the preparedness of the of the law enforcement officer in enforcing the restriction of commercial motorcycle operation in the state metropolis, she said: “We are working on their emotional intelligence , so that they will know how to deal with people. Some of the things we are training them for, is how to manage their emotion and how to work with the residents in ensuring that the laws are voluntarily complied with. They will be more of advocacy;

they will educate and enlighten them. In Ojota for instance, where the riders are used to flouting traffic law. There are a lot of sensitisations going on there on the need to educate the motorists. The officers are employing community relations techniques in enforcing the law. Dr Masha appealed to the members of the public to abide with the law, saying the task of maintaining civilised society is a collective responsibility of everyone. She said: “The people must also obey the law and be responsible. It is one thing to say that the officers have excesses, but is also another thing for people to obey the law and order, if you obey the law, nobody will necessarily come to you for anything. If you don’t offer bribe nobody is going to collect it. We have the obligation to ensure that the officers have the proper knowl-

edge and we have our ways of ensuring that an officer has a level of decorum.” On the thrust of the training, the General Manager of LASTMA, Engr Babatunde Edu said the training would offer them some of the skills expected of civilised law enforcement officers adding that continuous training and re-training of the officers will promote service delivery. “What the state government is preaching is voluntary compliance; traffic law should be seen as a way of life which dictates how thing should be done normally. If the law is voluntarily complied with, the risk of accident and insecurity would reduce. The most honourable thing for the motorist is to be civil about it. If we all abide by it, it make things better rather than to be running after recalcitrant motorists,” he said.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

World News

Iran weighs tougher action in stalled nuclear talks

PAUL ARHEWE

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

he Sudanese government says it believes Israel was responsible for explosions at a military factory in the capital Khartoum on Tuesday. Culture and Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said four Israeli planes attacked the factory and two people were killed. Israel has not commented, BBC reported yesterday. Sudan has blamed Israel for such attacks in the past. Correspondents say Israel believes weapons are being smuggled through the region to Gaza. Leaked US State Department documents three years ago suggested that Sudan was secretly supplying Iranian arms to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In April 2011, Khartoum held Israel responsible for an air strike that killed two people in a car near the city of Port Sudan. Israel, again, did not comment on the incident. At this stage there is no way of knowing who was responsible for the air attack against the Yarmouk arms factory in Khartoum. While the Sudanese authorities are yet to provide any evidence for their accusation that it was Israel, this is by no means as outlandish as it might sound. For a bitter secret war has been going on for a number of years between Israel and Hamas, with Sudan apparently very much one of the battlegrounds.

“If you want to change Jordan for the better, there is a chance, and that chance is through the upcoming elections” – Jordan’s King, Abdullah II

Sudan blames Israel for blast in Khartoum

Colleagues say a Somali journalist was shot to death in northern Somalia, bringing the number of journalists killed in Somalia this year to 16. Ahmed Farah Sakin, a reporter for the Somali television station Universal was shot by gunmen around 9 p.m. Tuesday in the town of Lasanod in the breakaway region of Somaliland. The death was confirmed Wednesday by Abdullahi Ahmed Nor, a colleague. Nor said the death was part of an “anti-media” campaign in the country. Somalia has been one of the most dangerous places to operate as a journalist this year. Mogadishu is far safer than it was in previous years, since alShabaab rebels were forced out of the city.

Kenya bans ‘hate’ texting for elections Police man standing guard in Khartoum, Sudan

US diplomatic cables have revealed alleged arms smuggling networks running through Sudan. In January and February of 2009 there were two mystery air attacks on convoys in the Sudanese desert. More recently, in April last year, there were reports that a senior Hamas figure, thought to be responsible for arranging arms supplies, was killed near Port Sudan. The Sudanese government

said that Israeli attack helicopters had destroyed the car in which two individuals were travelling. Again there is no confirmation of any of this and the Israelis are saying nothing. Israel was also blamed for a strike on a convoy in north-eastern Sudan in 2009, but neither confirmed nor denied involvement. In the latest incident fire engulfed the Yarmouk plant and

PHOTO: REUTERS

nearby buildings after the explosions, with flames visible over a wide area. Residents reported seeing aircraft or missiles overhead before a number of explosions. Speaking to reporters in Khartoum, Sudan’s Information Minister Ahmed Belal Osman said: “We think Israel did the bombing. “We reserve the right to react at a place and time we choose.”

Seized Argentina navy ship’s crew leave Ghana he crew of an Argentine navy ship, which was impounded as part of a debt dispute more than three weeks ago in Ghana, have boarded a plane for Argentina.

WORLD BULLETIN Somali reporter killed, toll rises to 16

Almost 300 sailors will leave on an Air France plane chartered by the Argentine government. A skeleton crew will stay on board the three-masted Libertad to maintain it.

The Libertad has been held in the Ghanaian port of Tema since the beginning of October PHOTO: BBC

The tall ship was prevented from leaving Ghana after a local court ruled in favour of a US fund. The fund, NML Capital, argued it was owed $370m (£231m) by Argentina’s government as a result of its debt default a decade ago. It is seeking $20m (£12.5m) in return for the release of the ship. An earlier plan for the sailors to fly back on an Argentine plane was scrapped because of fears that the aircraft might itself be impounded as part of the debt dispute. On Tuesday, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner condemned the Libertad’s seizure and made it clear there would be no negotiations with creditors.

She said Argentina will not bow to “blackmail by vulture funds”. “As long as I am president, they can keep the frigate but nobody is going to keep the liberty, sovereignty and dignity of this country,” she said. NML Capital is a subsidiary of US hedge fund Elliot Capital Management, one of Argentina’s former creditors. In 2001 and 2002, Argentina defaulted on more than $100bn (£62bn) of debt. Most of these loans were subsequently restructured, giving creditors about 30% of their money back. However, some creditors including Elliot chose to hold out, pursuing the Argentine government through the courts.

Kenya’s political parties have been banned from sending any bulk text messages to voters without the approval of state regulators. The move is intended to prevent parties from sending out hate messages during next year’s elections, the state regulator said. More than 1,000 people were killed in ethnic violence that hit Kenya after the 2007 disputed elections. Some analysts say hate-filled text messages helped fuel the conflict. Francis Wangusi - the directorgeneral of the regulatory body, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) - said parties would have to submit to it bulk text messages for vetting 48 hours before sending them out.

Senegal jails journalist for four years A judge sentences a wellknown Senegalese journalist to four years in prison for acts of homosexuality, illegal possession of arms and battery. Tamsir Jupiter Ndiaye’s lawyer said he is surprised by the court’s decision and that it is not based on the rule of law. Khassimou Toure, the lawyer, said they will appeal. Ndiaye was arrested on Oct. 10 after getting into a fight with his male partner. The court says that Ndiaye used a knife and stabbed his partner in the stomach. The court has sentenced Ndiaye’s partner to two years in prison. Homosexual acts are illegal in the predominantly Muslim West African nation. With the exception of South Africa, homosexuality is a criminal offense in many African countries.

World News

WORLD BULLETIN 4,000 to lose Ford’s jobs in Belgium Ford has announced it will shut down its factory in Genk, Belgium within two years, moving the production of three models produced there to Spain. More than 4,000 workers will lose their jobs when the factory closes and many are already worried about finding new jobs in difficult economic times. Car sales across Europe have slumped since the economic crisis began, and Ford expects to lose more than $1bn in the region this year. Ford said the decision to close the factory could save the company about $500m. The US company is not the only car maker who will need to trim production, manufacturing across Europe has been continually contracting for more than a year. On Friday, the French government offered Peugeot a $9bn lifeline and to keep the car industry moving more deals between governments and major manufacturers could follow.

Attacks kill eight people in Iraq Iraqi insurgents launched a new wave of attacks targeting security forces and others across the country yesterday, killing eight people including a 7-year-old child, police and health officials said. Militants in a speeding car attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint, opening fire from pistols fitted with silencers in Baghdad’s western Mansour neighbourhood, a police officer said. Two soldiers died in that attack. The officer added that a roadside bomb exploded shortly afterward as a police patrol was heading to the scene of the Mansour attack, killing one policeman and wounding six people. Shortly before dawn, a sniper shot at a police patrol on foot in the capital’s eastern Mashtal neighbourhood, killing one policeman, another police officer said. In the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a parked motorcycle packed with explosives went off near the passing convoy of a local politician, killing the child and wounding four other people, a police officer said. Politician Ali al-Hashemi, an ethnic Turkomen, escaped unharmed, he added.

Mexico declares end to bird flu outbreak Mexico says an outbreak of the H7N3 bird flu virus in western Mexico has been “totally controlled” after 68 days without any reports of new cases. President Felipe Calderon said yesterday that more than 22 million hens had been slaughtered throughout the country since efforts to contain the outbreak were announced in July. The outbreak caused price increases in chicken and egg products in Mexico. Calderon said the outbreak caused significant damage because of the outbreak. The United States was among the countries that began exporting eggs to Mexico to help lower egg prices.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Iran weighs tougher action in stalled nuclear talks T

Taliban’s insider attacks will increase – Leader

ran is weighing a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions. Such a gambit — outlined by senior Iranian officials in interviews this week — could push Iran’s nuclear program far closer to the “red line” set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for possible military options. But it also suggests that economic pressures and diplomacy have pushed Iran to the point of considering an ultimatum-style end game in efforts to seek relief from the U.S. and European sanctions, which have targeted Iran’s vital oil exports and its ability to use international banking networks. Mansour Haghighatpour, deputy head of Iran’s influential National Security Committee in parliament, told The Associated Press that the hardline negotiating formula under consideration would put Western negotiators on notice that failure to ease sanctions could open the way for uranium enrichment above 20 percent — currently the highest level acknowledged by the Islamic Republic. That would mark a dramatic move toward the threshold for warhead-grade material at about 90 percent and certainly bring a sharp escalation in calls for military action from Israel and others in the West. Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons, but there have been suggestions it could

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

ramp up uranium enrichment for future projects such as nuclear-powered submarines. “The West now has a chance to strike a deal with Iran,” Haghighatpour told the AP in an interview. “Perhaps we may need to produce nuclear fuel for large commercial vessels that need 60 percent purity.” There are no immediate plans to resume nuclear talks between Iran and a six-nation group including both Tehran’s foes and allies: the permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany. Full-scale negotiations have been on hold since the last round ended in stalemate in June. At the time, the West stuck to its major demands: Iran must stop enriching uranium to 20 percent purity, shut down its underground Fordo enrichment site

and ship its 20 percent stockpile out of the country. In return, Iran was offered civilian plane spare parts and 20 percent-enriched nuclear fuel for its medical research reactor in Tehran. But there was no move to ease sanctions — which have grown even tighter since the last negotiating session. To Iran, the proposed package was a nonstarter. Many compared it to swapping diamonds in return for peanuts. So far, Iran has publicly repeated its positions that it was willing to bargain over 20 percent enrichment as part of stepby-step moves to lift sanctions. Iran also wants an international pledge that it has the “right” to make its own nuclear fuel — at least at lower levels for its energy-producing reactor.

Obama has slim lead over Romney – Poll

resident Obama claimed a slight lead over Republican rival Mitt Romney after the third debate, a United Press International poll indicated yesterday. Forty-nine percent of likely voters said they would vote for Obama if the election was held now and 47 percent said they would back Romney, results of the UPI-CVoter poll indicated. However, the race remained statistically too close to call because of the 4.5 percentage point margin of error. Obama relinquished his months-long advantage over Romney after he was generally panned following the first debate at Denver Oct. 3. Obama began making up ground after a better performance at the second debate in Hempstead, N.Y. 50 per cent of likely voters said they approve of Obama’s performance as president while 45 percent said they disapprove, results indicated. Results also found 34 percent

said they thought Democrats would better tackle various issues facing the United States than Republicans while 38 percent said they thought Republicans could better address issues that include the economic crisis, unemploy-

ment and the war on terror. The results are based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted Oct. 17-24 with 1,115 adults who said they likely would vote on Election Day. The margin of error is 4.5 percentage points.

L-R: Romney and Obama during a presidential debate recently

PHOTO: UPI

aliban insurgents will increase the number of insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 52 foreign troops so far this year, the movement’s reclusive leader said yesterday. In an emailed statement congratulating Muslims as they prepare to celebrate the Eid alAdha holiday, Mullah Mohammad Omar urged “every brave Afghan in the ranks of the foreign forces and their Afghan hirelings ... to strike them.” “Jihadist activities inside the circle of the state militias are the most effective stratagem. Its dimension will see further expansion, organization and efficiency,” he said. “Increase your efforts to expand the area of infiltration in the ranks of the enemy.” Also yesterday, NATO said in a statement that two of its soldiers died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan. It did not provide further details about the attack or the nationality of the victims. The surge in insider attacks is throwing doubt on the capability of the Afghan security forces to take over from international troops ahead of a planned handover to the Afghans in 2014. It has further undermined public support for the 11-year war in NATO countries. The attacks have not been limited to members of the NATO-led international coalition. More than 50 Afghan members of the government’s security forces also have died this in attacks by their own colleagues. The Taliban leader also claimed his fighters were winning the war and vowed to continue the struggle “against the invaders who have invaded our country until the occupation ends completely.” “We told the enemy 11 years ago that their coming (to the country) will be easy but their presence and exit will be full of complications,” he said. Omar also exhorted his fighters to “pay full attention to the prevention of civilian casualties,” saying the enemy was trying to blame them on the insurgents. Last week the United Nations called on the Taliban leadership to stop the use of homemade roadside bombs and mines. The Taliban say they use only remote-controlled roadside bombs which — unlike the mines automatically activated by pressure-plates — allow a bomber to choose the time of the blast and specifically target coalition troops and their Afghan allies.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

North

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Katsina promises uninterrupted power supply by 2013 JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

atsina State Government has promised to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply in the state before the end of next year. The Special Adviser to the governor on Economic Affairs, Hon. Garba Matazu, who gave the assurance, said everything was being done by state and the Federal Government to commence electricity generation at the 10 megawatts wind-propelled power project in Rimi Local Government Area. The wind-propelled power project was funded by the Japanese International Corporation Agency, JICA, and installed by

Vergnet. But efforts to complete the project, reputed to be the first of its kind in the country, and commission it last July failed. However, Matazu said work at the project site would soon end to ensure its commissioning, hopefully by the end of the year. He said the state government had signed an agreement with a German company for the setting up of a 20-megawatt solar-powered station in the state, with work expected to begin in the coming months. The special adviser also disclosed that a committee had been set up to liaise with stakeholders on how to find lasting solution to the power problem in the state.

Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako (right) being received by some commissioners and special advisers at Yola International Airport, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

FG may revoke Panyam-Bokkos-Wamba Road project –Minister

he Federal Government will decide the fate of the contractor handling the PanyamBokkos-Wamba Road in the next two weeks. The Minister of State for Works, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, disclosed

this on Tuesday at Bokkos in Plateau State when he led the National Good Governance Tour team to inspect the project. The minister, who was disappointed at the work done by the contractor, said his ministry was al-

ready discussing with the contractor’s bankers to recover the mobilisation fee the contractor had collected to execute the job. He said N86 million had so far been recovered from the contractor while over N1 billion was still out-

Declare defected lawmakers’ seats vacant, ANPP tells Kogi Assembly OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

he All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, has begun moves to remove the two lawmakers in the Kogi State Assembly, who dumped the party last year for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. The two lawmakers are Hon. Michael Folusho Daniel, representing Mopa-Muro Constituency, and Hon. Henry E. Ojuola, representing Yagba East Constituency. Daniel defected to the PDP on September 13, 2011, while Ojuola served as running mate to the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, gubernatorial candidate in the December 2011 election. The party said it had to take the action following an antecedent provided by the Senate Ethics Committee’s recent decision to declare the seat of Senator Ajayi Boroffice vacant for defecting from the Labour Party, LP, to ACN. The ANPP State Working Committee submitted a letter of notice entitled: ‘‘Declaration of the seats of Hon.

Michael Folusho Daniel and Hon. Henry E. Ojuola as vacant in Kogi State House of Assembly,’’ to the Speaker of Assembly on October 20. The Clerk of the Assembly acknowledged the receipt of the notice the same day. The letter quoted violation of Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as the grounds for seeking the removal of the lawmakers. The letter reads in part: ‘‘The State Working Committee of ANPP, on behalf of our great party, hereby convey to you resolution of our party thus; that the seats of Hon. Michael Folusho Daniel representing Mopa-Muro constituency and Hon. Henry E. Ojuola representing Yagba East constituency in the state House of Assembly, currently in parties other than the ANPP that sponsored them in the 2011 general elections, be declared vacant if they refuse to denounce membership of their present parties on the floor of the House immediately.’’ The letter, which was signed by the state Chairman of the party, Patrick Daudu

and Secretary, Ainoko Adaji, also listed the grounds for the party’ demand as: ‘‘Violation of Section 109 (1) (g) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). “All Nigeria Peoples Party is an existing party, assuming but not conceding that it ceases to exist, it cannot be denounced under Section 97 of the Electoral Act, 2010. “All Nigeria Peoples Party had no record of division or merger with the later parties the members under reference choose to belong under the provision of section 109 (1) (g).’’ Daudu was at the ANPP National Secretariat in Abuja yesterday to inform the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party about the development in Kogi State. The chairman told journalists that the state executives were not aware of the illegality of the defection of the former ANPP lawmakers until they got to know about National Assembly’s decision on Senator Boroffice.

standing. Yuguda said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration was prepared to work with only contractors who were ready to work. He said: “This kind of contractor will not have a place in the new Ministry of Works.” Meanwhile, Mr. Titus Alams, the member representing Bokkos constituency in the Plateau State House of Assembly, said the people of Bokkos would continue to believe in the Federal Government, and agree that its transformation agenda was real. He, however, expressed disappointment over the failure of the contractor to deliver on the project five years after he was mobilised by the govern-

ment. Commenting on the issue, the National Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Mr. Liman Shuaibu, urged the Federal Government to set up a tribunal to try contractors who failed to execute jobs according to the terms of the agreement. He said mere revocation of contracts for poor job done would not be enough to deter other contractors. “Government should take decisive steps to punish failed contractors; revocation is not enough,” Shuaibu said. In the same vein, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, expressed disappointment over the poor work done by the contractor.

He queried the absence of the contractor after he had been informed of the visit by the National Good Governance Tour team. The minister said such contractors would no longer be patronised by the Federal Government for disrespecting constituted authority. He urged the people of the community to remain law-abiding and assured them that the government was taking steps to address the issue. The project, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, was awarded to Stateco Nigeria Limited in 2007. The new road, when completed, will connect the western part of Bauchi State, Plateau South and Wamba in Nasarawa State.

Promote peace, stability, Yakowa urges Muslims

aduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa yesterday urged Muslims in the state to always be positive in their dealings with other Nigerians to promote peace, stability and development. The governor said in a Sallah message issued in Kaduna and signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Reuben Buhari, that such attitude would help the state to achieve its development agenda. He said: “While we celebrate the Eld-el-Kabir, let

it be a sobering moment for our state, so that we will increase our prayers for our state and country, and adopt positive attitudinal change that will help the state in hastening its developmental agenda. “I hope that we will allow the sacrificial spirit of the occasion to impact on our lives and transform into continuous peaceful coexistence among all inhabitants of Kaduna State.” Yakowa also called on Muslims to pray for peace, love and unity among the diverse people of the state,

and country at large. He said: “All adherents of the Islamic faith must be willing to sacrifice their time and resources for the good of their fellow men and the nation.’’ The governor advised Muslims to remain steadfast to the tenets of their religion which, according to him, promote peace and harmonious coexistence. Yakowa also appealed to them to pray for the successful conclusion of the 2012 Hajj and the safe return of the pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.

Insight

Thursday, October 25, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Corruption: How judiciary workers Corruption among judiciary workers tends to tarnish the image of the third arm of government. KAYODE KETEFE, Assistant Head, Judiciary Desk, reports how this vice is plaguing the administration of justice in the country.

ar back March 1938 in the colonial days, corruption was prevalent among the judiciary workers. At that time, for instance, Chief Duruibe, was a member of the Northern Isu Native Court in Owerri, in the present day Imo State. He was tried and found guilty of judicial corruption for receiving three pounds bribe from an accused person. When he lodged an appeal at the West African Court of Appeal (WACA) against the verdict, the court dismissed his plea and affirmed his conviction. Duruibe’s clerk, Paul Mbam, who was charged and convicted along with him for corruptly enriching themselves by an Okigwe High Court was however lucky. The appellate court allowed his appeal and he was freed. Seventy four years after Duruibe’s conviction, corruption among the lower cadre of workers in the judiciary has not abated. Whenever corruption in the judiciary is mentioned, many easily think of judges. People hardly realise that the judicial personnel--court registrars, clerks, bailiffs, and messengers also play an active part in the administration of justice. Even many practising lawyers, who are always pointing accusing fingers at judges, are culprits in the perversion of justice in Nigeria. Be that as it may, the most visibly seen players in the arena of justice administration are judges and lawyers. The judges are the lords while the lawyers are the ministers in the temple of justice. But these two conspicuous operators require the supporting service of the legion of other workers, notably the court registrars, stenographers, clerks, and bailiffs. These Judiciary support staff undertake diverse functions which are at the heart of justice dispensation system. In the process, they deal with not only lawyers and litigants but many members of the public on a daily basis. In the process, they seek inducements in the course of performing their legitimate duties. Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina -Alu had in June last year shortly before his retirement said that ‘’a judiciary comprised of corrupt court registrars and clerks would promote maladministration of justice.’’ This practice of asking for bribes by the judiciary workers, ironically at the very fountain of justice, is so rampant that it has been accepted as the norm. National Mirror investigations revealed that these workers often frustrate lawyers and litigants by not dispatching the court processes to the appropriate places if they are not motivated with monetarily outside

Ozekhome

the official charges. Many documents have suffered the fate of “stagnation” in hands of these staff. Not even the fast track suits are immune to this unethical frustration in the hands of registrars. Many lawyers including senior ones, who have understood “the rules of the game” often voluntarily, give “motivational offerings” to the court registrars and registry clerks in order to facilitate the processes. It was gathered that many of these registrars would ask for their palms to be greased as a matter of joke first, if no offering is forthcoming the matter would be turned to a kind of subtle threats that the processes would not be attended to on time. Investigations also showed that scores of sworn affidavits deposed to by touts on behalf of deponents are done with “negotiated fees’’ and thereafter endorsed in the registries without necessarily seeing the real deponents. A report titled ‘’14-Point Programme for Promoting Ethics and Integrity at the Magistrates’ Courts ‘’ and released recently by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) said ‘’a survey carried out revealed that 70 per cent of Nigerians believe there is corruption in the Nigerian judiciary as a whole.’’ According to the Executive Director of SERAP, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, “Our research reveals that the absence of a national action plan and policy to comprehensively address corruption and the impunity of perpetrators is a major contributory factor for the prevalence of judicial corruption in Nigeria. It is no surprise that standards of integrity, independence, and impartiality are rarely enforced at the magistrates’ courts.” The report, written by SERAP consultant, Mrs Modupe Atoki, and supported by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, identifies the major causes of corruption at the magistrates’ courts to include “the lack of judicial independence and accountability which stems from factors including: undue influence from the executive and legislative branch of government, low remuneration and poor condition of service, the administrative nature of the roles of judges [magistrates] which gives far reaching discretionary powers but weak monitoring of the execution of those powers, lack of transparency and the absence of

An effigy of Justice at Federal High Court, Lagos.

computerised, comprehensive and regularly updated database and backlog of cases which further worsen the effects of corruption in the judiciary.” According to the report: “Corruption in the Judiciary is not confined to magistrates’ courts only; indeed it is more pervasive among the support staff of the court. Bailiffs will locate an address for service of court process after a negotiated tip; ‘lost’ files will suddenly reappear after a ’settlement’ with the registrar; access to previous decisions and other documents filed have to be negotiated for.’’ Evidently, corruption thrives in the judiciary and particularly, among its workers notwithstanding the fact that many of the allegations are unproven. Last September, the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Justice Kate Abiri had during a special session marking the opening of 2012/12 legal year, warned the judiciary staff against corruption and acts of indiscipline. While urging them to exhibit honesty, discipline and accountability in the dispensation of justice, the CJ said the state judiciary had had enough of indiscipline and corrupt practices in the third arm of government. The immediate past CJ of Lagos State, Justice Inumidun Akande (rtd) had in an interview with National Mirror recently admitted that it was not easy to have a corrupt- free judiciary. According to her: ‘’When I became the Chief Judge we tackled corruption in the probate section by introducing devaluation unit in the judiciary. Then we have a website and we also have the closedcircuit television in most of the sections in order to monitor what each section is doing. The officer who is taking bribe, the officer who is hiding files, we were able to see all these when we played the tape. Most times because there had not been a detailed watchfulness and monitoring, the staffers

THE IMMEDIATE PAST CJ OF LAGOS STATE, JUSTICE INUMIDUN AKANDE (RTD) HAD, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH

THE NATIONAL MIRROR RECENTLY, ADMITTED

THAT IT WAS NOT EASY TO HAVE A CORRUPT- FREE JUDICIARY take advantage of this and so many files got missing. But, we tackled the issue of corruption.” The Chief Registrar, (CR) of the Lagos State High Court, Ganiyu Safari, at a media roundtable organised by SERAP recently maintained that the state judiciary was doing everything possible to ensure that those who are appointed as judges are people of proven integrity. The CR ,who admitted that corruption had reached a controversial level that some prominent Nigerians do not mind what it takes to deviate from recognised societal norms to achieve their goals, said the few members of the judiciary who are corrupt could not do this without those who approached them. The Chief Registrar said corruption had reached a hydra-headed level in the country that most public officials, especially those working on the Bench are threatened by litigants, their lawyers and their families to achieve their aims by all means possible. Safari, who disclosed that on several occasions he received serious pressures and threats from prominent Nigerians who mostly asked favour from him in order to have their ways in either securing bail for their relatives or on other issues, said he

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Insight

Thursday, October 25, 2012

undermine administration of justice

Obiagwu

THEY WOULD TAKE THE PAPER FROM YOU, OPEN THEIR DRAWER AND PUT IT THERE.

YOU WOULD WAIT ONE WEEK, TWO WEEKS, THREE WEEKS, FOUR WEEKS, ONE MONTH always insisted that things should be done normally. Specifically, the CR shared his experience that he was threatened by some aides to a prominent government official in order to secure urgent bail for the detained oil marketers who were ordered to be remanded at EFCC custody after he was approached to bend the rules in order to secure their freedom from custody. According to him: “There was an instance when I was approached by an aide to a senior government official in Abuja who said I should bend the rule to get bail for one of the oil marketers. The court imposed a condition that they should produce a surety with landed property in Lagos, but they got a surety from Ogun State. They want my office to confirm the surety, but luckily for me I was in Abuja for a programme then. They called me severally; I said there is nothing I can do to confirm it. They even promised to fly my secretary with the file to Abuja but I refused. “There are serious pressures from prominent Nigerians, including lawyers. How many people can stand face to face with these people?. Sometimes when they want to stand surety for their relatives, I asked them to appear personally, but they will request that we should interview them on phone. I always maintained my stand that how will I know or recognise a surety if I did not see face to face. “They will issue threat that they will call on the governor who will direct the CJ to influence it. But eventually they will still have to show up.” He said: “The duty of cleansing the system lies in the hands of all of us. The Judiciary in Lagos State has been doing everything to ensure that corruption is fought to a standstill in the country.” But in spite of this claim, it was gathered that corrupt practices in the various divisions of the state high court is still rife. National Mirror investigations showed

AND NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN that the demand for bribes by the workers of the lower cadre of the state judiciary before they could perform their official duties cut across all the divisions of the state judiciary, notably , the Lagos, Ikeja, Ikorodu and Badagry divisions and all the magistrates’ courts in the state. Investigations also revealed that in Otta High Court, Ogun State Judiciary, the practice of demanding subtle bribes from lawyers is very rampant. Sources said that the registry staff are emboldened that they would expressly demand “to be settled” by lawyers who come to file processes. Some lawyers who spoke under condition of anonymity in Otta judicial division said they were often made to pay extra official fees ranging from N200 to whatever their magnanimity could afford at numerous desks during the filing procedure. This is because the filing process is departmentalized in the judiciary. It entails a situation whereby one person will assess the document for payment, another will stamp, one will endorse the process while another will accept copies for onwards transmission to bailiffs sections. National Mirror learnt that the leadership of Lagos State judiciary can no longer pretend that the supporting workers are not undermining the justice delivery project. The Lagos Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Phillips had in a seminar organised for low cadre Judiciary staff last August urged the support staff of the State High Court to shun all forms of corruption in the discharge of their duties. The matter is even worse for the bailiffs who are charged with the responsibilities of serving court processes on individual and institutions. A charge for service of the court processes is already built into official fees levied on lawyers and litigants during the

filing of the documents at the court registries. A part of this is officially given to the bailiffs as transport commission to whichever destination they are sent. Nonetheless, a number of lawyers told National Mirror that if they depend on this fact that the bailiffs are already officially given the transport costs, their processes would not be served on time and these bailiffs would keep giving one excuses or the other” A Lagos lawyer, Mr. Muyiwa Adewale stated that “ It is either the bailiffs could not locate the address, or they could not see the person to be served with the court processes. If this trick could not be played for some reasons, they might still keep postponing the execution of the service on the grounds they have more pressing jobs on hand that is preventing them from carrying out particular ones”. It is said that one way or the other the frustrating game would continue until the lawyer got the message and play along. Other antics of the judiciary workers included refusal to make available tools like staplers, pins and other stationeries which are often necessary to put the numerous court documents in the “ready mode” before filing. Many lawyers including a number of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who spoke with National Mirror, lamented the scope of the corruption being unleashed in the Judiciary by the supporting staff and called for pro-active measure to curb the menace. Giving insight into the seriousness the menace of corruption by the support staff could inflict on the administration of justice, a lawyer, Mr. Chino Obiagwu narrated his personal experience of how court registrars and bailiffs almost frustrated a particular case he was involved in. He said “ Obiagwu said: “Most of the corruption in the Judiciary has to do with the bailiffs of court, if you want to serve a court process they would ask you for money. If you want to get records from the court registry you will have to give them non-official fees. There was a time I was compiling a record of appeal in Ikeja High Court and I was asked to pay the sum of N10, 000 for the registrar to take the record to the Court of Appeal. That is a non-official fee, basically a bribe. I told them I did not have such money to pay. Really it was a case we were handling free of charge, I declined to pay them one kobo outside the official fees. The registrar carried out his threat and refused to transmit the record. When the case came up, the matter could not go on because the Record of Appeal had not been transmitted. Just because I could not pay ten thousand naira, the registrar succeeded in frustrating the case. I blamed the Judiciary authorities for this because the judges and the administrators are well aware that all these nefarious activities are happening and they turn a blind eye. “There was another particular occasion when we filed a case and the file was not moved to the CJ’s office because we refused to give one thousand naira to the bailiff and the case was never assigned. We wrote a protest letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and yet nothing happened up till now.

“On yet another occasion, the judge of a Federal High Court ordered that a matter should be transferred to the Security and Exchange Commission. The enrolled order had to be typed out and the registrar insisted that we had to pay the sum of N5, 000 before the order could be typed out. It is their official duty to type out the order but they refused. We did not pay the order. For about two years after the case could not be moved. We wrote a petition to the judge, nothing happened; we did not even get an acknowledgement. “So the judges could not say they don’t know that their clients collect bribes from litigants and lawyers. The Chief Judge of the State and the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court should not tell me that they don’t know that there is bribery going on in the Judiciary. These are the people giving the Judiciary bad names. One of the reason why corruption thrives in the Judiciary and indeed in any institution is that there is no effective complaint mechanisms. If a bailiffs says I would not serve a court process unless you give me ten thousand naira, there nobody to complain to. That is the sad aspect of the whole things.” Another lawyer, Mr. Johnson Ezesoboo corroborated this position that corruption among judiciary workers had reached its peak stating that for every process filed, the workers would ask for inducements. Chief. Mike Ozekhome (SAN) confirmed that ‘’the demand for bribe by court registrars and bailiffs is not a hidden thing. Do you think lawyers do depend on the filing fees that have been written on the paper? After paying the official fees for the filing, the bailiffs would demand between three and N10, 000 naira depending on the distance. If you get angry and say you have paid the filing fees and the transport fees on paper, they would not argue with you, they would say “We are very sorry sir. That is ok Goodluck to you.” “They would take the paper from you, open their drawer and put it there. You would wait one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, one month and nothing would happen. On one occasion, we realised that a case we filed had not been served three months later. Then we sent a senior lawyer to go and found out what was happening. They said “Oga the court process is here, if you do not mobilise us by way of incentives to go and serve, we would not have the means to go and serve”. The SAN said ‘’ So within the personnel of the Judiciary the corruption is also there which is symptomatic of the corruption in the society. “The welfare of the Judiciary support staff must improve drastically if we don’t want corruption to keep thriving in the organ. If a judge knows that he receives about N1.5 million per month aside other perquisites of office, and that when he retires he would have a good roof over his head and his children can go to the decent schools why should he be corrupt?” “For corruption to go away you also have to put in motion those factors that drive away corruption because corruption needs a fertile ground to thrive. Once the ground is not conducive corruption will not thrive. There must also be leadership by example.”

WORLD RECORD

Most expensive tank Vol. 02 No. 477

Kenya: A lesson for Nigeria

enya was recently in the news when President Mwai Kibaki, bolstered by public outrage, rejected attempt by the country’s legislators to raise their salaries and allowances to $110,000 per month. Following this, the President told the lawmakers that he would not accept such egregiously selfish demand, when millions of fellow citizens are struggling to make ends meet. The people are central to the democratic system and, therefore, their interest is paramount. In Nigeria, however, the reverse seems to be the case. Our National Assembly members pay themselves whopping salaries and allowances outside what is recommended by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. The former chairman of the commission, Hamman Tukur, publicly accused the legislators of paying themselves illegal salaries and allowances. What we have here is a situation where lawmakers abuse their powers by fixing their salaries without

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

The K2 Black Panther main battle tank is a completely new tank produced in South Korea. It will enter production in 2009 and, although originally some 680 were planned for the ROK army, currently the number has been reduced to 390.

igeria’s Super Eagles were last night drawn against the defending champions, Chipolopolo of Zambia, for the 29th Africa Cup of Nations holding in South Africa next January, reports ADENRELE NIYI from Durban. Former Zambia skipper, Kalusha Bwalya, picked Nigeria for the group. Other countries in Group C that will

Guest Columnists

Na-Allah Mohammed

Zagga

regard for the state of the economy or the dire living conditions of those who elected them. Our lawmaker’s have become the albatross weighing down our economy and democracy. How do you justify each of 109 Senators collecting N45 million per quarter? How do you also rationalise each of the 360 House of Representatives members collecting N27 million every three months? Given such monumental waste in a developing country like Nigeria, how can democratic governance make any positive impact on lives of the ordinary people? How do you explain a Senator receiving salaries and allowances two times higher than the U.S President, even when the United States has a higher GDP? Public outrage does not move our lawmakers because our electoral system has made it almost impossible to remove selfish leaders from office, using the vote. If dictatorship of the President is not acceptable, the despotism of t lawmakers defying public opinion over their salaries is not good either for our democracy. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar recently lamented that the country’s President is the most powerful in the world and, we must put a curb on the powers, which are subject to abuse. However, the powers of our lawmakers are just as dangerous. The French philosopher, Charles Montesquieu, who originated the concept of the separation of powers, argued that excessive concentration of powers in the hands of one person, body of persons, groups, individuals or institution, can lead to tyranny and abuse. Abuse of power or breaching public trust

DEMOCRACY IS FOR SELFLESS AND HONEST SERVICE AND NOT FOR MAKING OVERNIGHT FORTUNES AT EXPENSE OF THE PUBLIC.

for personal advantages or making laws to advance the selfish interest of the lawmakers couldn’t have been the noble intention of the framers of the 1979 and 1999 constitutions. In an interview, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General during the Second Republic, Chief Richard Akinjide, said the problems of our democracy have nothing to do with whether we are operating a presidential or parliamentary system of government. Rather, the problem lies in the character of persons elected to power. If we elect those who perceive public office as a gravy train rather than a call for selfless service, then we should not expect different results from the present cast of lawmakers. If their salaries and allowances are legitimately deserved, why do they shroud them pay in secrecy? A civil society organization recently went to court, seeking an order to compel Clerk of the National Assembly, to reveal the salaries and allowances of Senators and House members. When a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, went to court to challenge the salaries and allowances of lawmakers, he was told that he had no locus standi in the issue.

This is not our idea of people-oriented democratic order. How can lawmakers be more powerful than the voters who put them in office? In a country where leaders are loath to pay the N18,000 minimum wage, why should lawmakers set their own salaries given the shocking levels of poverty in Nigeria? A University Professor earns N3 million per annum, while each federal lawmaker earns more than the Chief Justice of the Federation and other hard working professionals holding public offices. Do these lawmakers not have a duty to tell us how much they earn? When are we going to have a public hearing to enable Nigerians debate on the burning issue? When CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, questioned the rationale for 25 percent of the national budget going to welfare of federal lawmakers, he became their “enemy”. Democracy is for selfless and honest service and not for making overnight fortunes at expense of the public. Former American President, Bill Clinton did not accumulate money while in office because that was not his mission. He started making money after leaving office. His memoirs, “My Life” earned $15 million. In fact, former British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair also received $17 million for his memoirs, entitled, “A Journey.” They also earn money for speaking at conferences. In Nigeria, elective offices are for selfenrichment. That is why politicians can kill you if their political ambitions are threaten. When you see the choice properties they owned in Abuja and exotic cars they drive, one’s heart will surely bleed for Nigeria. Is this the kind of democracy we deserve? Why do lawmakers lobby to be appointed into lucrative standing committees? In the words of Prof. Pat Utomi, of the Lagos Business School, “what we have in Nigeria today is not democracy but a government of politicians, by politicians and for politicians.” Zagga, a journalist based in Abuja, is a writer on national issues.

Sport Extra

SA 2013: Eagles draw Chipolopolo play their first round games in Mbombela are: Burkina Faso and Ethiopia. Host South Africa will be based in Durban and the Bafana Bafana will play the opening match on January 19 with debutant Cape Verde. Speaking after the draw, Super

Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, said that he respects every team in the group and that Nigeria “will go back to strategise on how to prosecute the tournament.” The placements are as follows: Group A: South Africa, Angola, Mo-

rocco, Cape Verde Group B: Ghana, Mali, Niger, DR Congo Group C: Zambia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia Group D: Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Algeria, Togo

Champions League Results Arsenal

Schalke

Dortmund

Real Madrid

Ajax Amsterdam

Man City

FC Porto

Dynamo Kyiv

Zagreb

Paris S.G.

Malaga

AC Milan

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