African Voice Newspaper issue 599

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015 ISSUE 599

SINCE 2001

B R I TA I N ’ S N O . 1 A F R I C A N N E W S PA P E R Government overturns turban workplace rule

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NIGERIA @55 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT INSIDE

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Delaying HIV treatment costs lives AND money ‘Treat all’ regime can yield $15 per dollar spent – WHO

By Alan Oakley The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revised its HIV guidelines to recommend that anyone who tests positive for the virus that causes AIDS should be treated immediately.

The UN health agency’s previous recommendation suggested doctors should wait to treat people with HIV until their immune systems suggested they were getting sick.

In a statement on Wednesday, WHO said the new recommendations are based on recent trials that have found early treatment “keeps people with HIV alive, healthier and reduces the risk of transmitting the virus.”

Continued on page 2

The British High Commissioner in Ghana,Jon Benjamin

WHO no longer believes medical professionals should wait for patients to display physical signs of illness before prescribing antiretroviral drugs

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Have You News Got News Sam Gyimah visits Paris to share best practice in childcare For Us Newsdesk: 020 3737 3077

Email: africanvoicenews@gmail.com

Government introduces increase to apprentices’ wages National Minimum Wage goes up by 57 pence to £3.30 for apprentices and rises by 20 pence to £6.70 per hour for adult workers.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid said:

As a one nation government we are mak-

ing sure that every part of Britain benefits from our growing economy and today more than 1.4 million of Britain’s lowest-

paid workers will be getting a well-deserved pay rise.

The increase for apprentices is the larg-

est in history making sure that appren-

ticeships remain an attractive option for young people. While the National Mini-

mum Wage will see the largest real-terms increase since 2007.

Publisher and Editor-In-Chief Mike Abiola Editorial Board Adviser Dr Ola Ogunyemi Managing Editor Alan Oakley News Editor Peter Olorunnisomo Sports Editor Abiodun Teriba Arts Editor Golda John Columnists Milton Tella Photo Journalist Isaac Adegbite Graphic Designer Edward Mirza Accountant Fanla Agboola Chief Correspondent, Nigeria Olubunmi Omoogun London Office: Unit 7 Holles House Overton Road London SW9 7AP

Tel: 020 3737 3077

Email: africanvoicenews@gmail.com

African Voice is published by African Voice UK.

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Education and Childcare Minister spent 2 days in Paris to exchange ideas on expanding access to highquality childcare.

Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah visited Paris last week, where he exchanged ideas with his French counterpart around their shared priorities of expanding high-quality childcare, and ensuring all children get the best possible start in life.

The importance of early years cannot be understated - a child’s life chances are already being decided before they have even fastened their shoes on their first day of school.

That’s why this government is committed to making sure every family has access to high-quality childcare so that more parents can return to work if they choose to, without being restricted by the cost of childcare.

Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah said: We are committed to making sure that every family regardless of their background has access to high-quality, affordable childcare.

And in France, high-quality childcare is central to efforts to support families to balance their work and home life. That’s why

I’m keen to find out what works for them, and share best practice with our European neighbours.

The minister spent 22 to 23 September in Paris, finding out how French childcare providers not only provide early education for children, but support parents in getting back to work.

He met with practitioners and visited a number of providers, including Crèche la Maison de Gavroche, to see how childcare can be scaled up in disadvantaged communities, and the Crèche l’Arc-en-Ciel, where he learned how unemployed and single parents can be helped back to work, with support such as wrap-around care and CV writing workshops.

He also met with the Deputy Head of Mission, where he discussed strengths and weaknesses of the French system with key leaders in the early years, and had lunch with the National Family Benefits Fund Agency, to explore funding reforms and the delivery of additional childcare places focused on disadvantaged communities.

The minister also paid a visit to the OECD headquarters, where he met with Andreas Schleicher, Montserrat Gomendio and Yuri Belfali, and found out about

Ministry of Education, Sam Gyimah with his French counterpart

improving the international evidence base on early childhood education and care.

And at the Ministry of Education, Sam Gyimah took part in in-depth policy discussions on the latest reforms of early education, training of early years teachers, and how resources can be allocated to tackling disadvantaged children.

The visit comes after the French Minister for Childhood, Family, Ageing and Autonomy, Laurence Rossignol, visited London in February. While in the UK she met with Sam Gyimah to discuss childcare provision and support for parents.

‘Treat all’ regime can yield $15 per dollar spent – WHO

...Continued from front page The new guidelines are a central plank of the United Nations agency’s aim to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

“Everybody living with HIV has the right to life-saving treatment. The new guidelines are a very important step towards ensuring that all people living with HIV have immediate access to anti-retroviral treatment,” said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, who added: “According to UNAIDS estimates, expanding ART [antiretroviral treatment] to all people living with HIV and expanding prevention choices can help avert 21 million AIDS-related deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.”

The new guidance means that all 37 million people with HIV globally should be offered immediate treatment, a prospect that may be unrealistic in poor countries where many patients are still unable to get medicines. Last year, only about 15 million people with HIV were being treated.

Medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) applauded the new guidelines but warned that turning this new recommendation into reality would require dramatically increased support from donors and governments.

Dr. Tom Ellman, director of MSF’s Southern Africa Medical Unit, said: “Test and treat can turn the tide on HIV, but to work as a tool to control the epidemic will require drastic changes and greatly increased investment.

“HIV care has to move out of clinics and into the communities with mobilized, empowered and engaged people living with HIV that actually are part of the response. This will need effort and money.

“At the United Nations last week world leaders agreed to a Sustainable Development Goal to make AIDS history within fifteen years, but they are going to need to show that they’re serious about it. Nobody’s going to end AIDS with business as usual.”

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria will hold its replenishment conference next year, which will be the first test of donors’ commitment to using the best science to treat all people living with HIV and further decrease the rates of HIV transmission worldwide.

MSF says experience from its HIV programmes shows that over the last ten years, one third of people who were diagnosed with HIV, but not eligible to start treatment, never returned to the health facility. Offering such individu-

als treatment once they test positive could substantially reduce the number of people who may never return.

Dr Marc Biot, MSF’s operational coordinator for HIV, says: “In order to reach as many people as possible, as soon as possible, simplified models of care and self-management strategies are needed that allow people to take more control over their own treatment and care.

“It’s no longer only a question of when to start people on treatment, but also how to help people stay on treatment for life and to maintain ‘undetectable’ levels of virus in their blood. We need to make sure HIV treatment fits into people’s lives better, just like with any other chronic disease in industrialised countries.”

The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2020 low- and lower-middle income countries will need $18.4 billion annually for the expanded HIV fight. However, fast-tracking the response should yield economic returns of $15 per dollar invested, based on improved health and infections averted.

Since it began spreading 30 years ago, AIDS has killed around 40 million people worldwide.

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Dele Ogun, the Partners and staff at OGUN The Law Firm send their best wishes to all Nigerians on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence.

OGUN The Law Firm 16 Babatunde Kuboye Street Lekki Phase 1 Lagos Tel: +2341 293 1085, Email: law@ogun.com, Web: www.ogun.com

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News UK signs deal to send Jamaican prisoners home An agreement between the UK and ca. The prison is expected to be built Jamaica allows Jamaican prison- by 2020 and from then returns will get ers serving time in British prisons underway.

Welcoming the agreement, the Prime to return home.

More than 300 Jamaican prisoners serving time in British jails will be returned back to Jamaica to serve their sentence under an agreement signed by the UK and Jamaica.

The agreement was concluded after years of negotiations as the Prime Minister made the first visit by a UK Prime Minister to Jamaica in 14 years.

The Prisoner Transfer Agreement is expected to save British taxpayers around £10 million a year once the first prisoners are returned from 2020 onwards.

The UK will provide £25 million from the government’s existing aid budget to help fund the construction of a new 1500 bed prison in Jamaica, overcoming one of the sticking points in the negotiations which had been the conditions in existing prisons in Jamai-

Minister said: It is absolutely right that foreign criminals who break our laws are properly punished but this shouldn’t be at the expense of the hardworking British taxpayer.

That’s why this agreement is so important. It will mean Jamaican criminals are sent back home to serve their sentences, saving the British taxpayer millions of pounds but still ensuring justice is done.

And it will help Jamaica, by helping to provide a new prison – strengthening their criminal justice system.

While the UK has Prisoner Transfer Agreements with a number of countries, the new deal with Jamaica is an important step forward because Jamaicans account for the third largest group of foreign national offenders in UK prisons.

Prime Minister David Cameron in Jamaica on a 2-day visit to the Caribbean.

UK Minister for Africa speaks about South Sudan at UNGA

Minister for Africa, Grant Shapps

Grant Shapps congratulates leaders on reaching peace agreement and calls for fast progress on implementation.

Minister for Africa, Grant Shapps, spoke at the High Level Event on South Sudan during the UN General Assembly’s 70th meeting. He welcomed South Sudan’s leaders’ bold and irreversible decision to sign a peace agreement, calling on them to ensure this means South Sudan’s guns will be silenced for good.

Mr Shapps also highlighted the importance of accountability, reconciliation and healing in moving the country forward and welcomed the decision of the African Union to publish its Commission of Inquiry report on South Sudan. He looked 4

forward to seeing progress on establishing the Hybrid Court and the Truth, Reconciliation and Healing Commission mandated by the peace agreement.

The UK’s commitment to peace and security in South Sudan was underlined by the Prime Minister’s announcement that up to 300 British troops would participate in the UN Mission in South Sudan. This comes on top of the £260 million already committed to the humanitarian response since the outbreak of the crisis in December 2013.

Speaking at the event Mr Shapps said: I have one clear message for President Kiir and Riek Machar: You are responsible for implementing the agreement. Be bold. Respond to the people’s overwhelming plea for peace. Silence the guns for good.

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Health News

Smoking in cars with children banned To protect children from the dangers of secondhand smoke, it’s now illegal to smoke in cars and other vehicles with someone under 18 present.

formaldehyde and tar, and people often wrongly assume that opening a window, or letting in fresh air, will lessen the damage.

The new law applies to any private vehicle enclosed by a roof, even if the window is open, the air conditioning is on or the smoker is sitting in the open doorway of the vehicle. It follows an experiment by Newcastle University, Public Health England and Fresh Smoke Free North East which revealed that even with a car window open, levels of dangerous chemicals were over 100 times higher than recommended safety guidelines.

Professor Kevin Fenton, National Director for Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England, said: This experiment unearths shocking data, reflecting again that there is no safe way to smoke in a car with a child. Not matter what the situation, they will always be exposed to dangerous chemicals which can put them at risk of developing serious health conditions.

From now, new legislation in England and Wales makes it illegal to smoke in a vehicle carrying someone who is under 18. It is now also against the law for a driver not to stop someone smoking in these circumstances. The fine for both offences is ÂŁ50.

The change in the law is to protect children and young people from the damaging effects of secondhand smoke, which can put them at risk of serious conditions such as meningitis, cancer, bronchitis and pneumonia, and make asthma worse.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, said: This legislation is a landmark in protecting children from secondhand smoke. Smoking just a single cigarette in a vehicle exposes children to high levels of air pollutants and cancer-causing chemicals like arsenic,

TB rates in England continue to decline A total of 6,520 cases of TB were notified in England in 2014, a decrease on the 7,257 cases reported in 2013 according to figures published in the Public Health England (PHE) annual TB in England report.

Latest figures give an incidence of 12.0 cases per every 100,000 people in England, down from the peak of 15.6 per 100,000 in 2011. As in previous years, London accounted for the highest proportion of cases in England, with 2,572 cases of TB in 2014, down from 2,965 cases in 2013.

These are very welcome reductions in TB cases and continue the downward trend of the last 2 years. The reductions are mainly due to a reduction in cases in the non-UK born population, which make up nearly three-quarters of all TB cases in England. Whilst there has not yet been a similar reduction in the rate of TB in those born in the UK, in January 2015 PHE and NHS England committed to implement a collaborative TB strategy, which includes the key actions required to achieve a year on year reduction in all aspects of TB in England and a reduction in the inequalities associated with the disease.

Professor Paul Cosford, Director for Health Protection and Medical Director for PHE said: This is the third year in a row that we have seen a reduction in the number of TB cases in England, which is excellent news. This decrease is likely due to a number of factors, including 6

Professor Paul Cosford, Director for Health Protection and Medical Director for PHE

changes in migration patterns, and the impact of pre-entry screening, in addition to interventions to improve the control of TB, both in England and abroad.

TB remains one of the key priorities for PHE, and we are working with key partners to oversee the development of a stronger national approach to TB control.

In January we launched a comprehensive collaborative TB strategy focused on supporting and strengthening local services, especially in areas of high incidence, and the implementation of systematic testing and treatment of individuals who may have latent TB.

The offending organism TB

Migrants on visas with a duration of 6 months or longer who are from countries with high rates of TB continue to be screened for active TB before they enter the UK. Dr Lucy Thomas, Head of TB Surveillance for PHE, said: The recent decrease in TB cases is very welcome,

although TB rates in England still remain among the highest in Western Europe. To achieve further reductions in TB in England we will build upon existing achievements through the sustained and co-ordinated action of all key stakeholders, as set out in the collaborative TB strategy.

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News

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Pan-African agreement on fibre connectivity BHARTI Airtel’s mobile broadband subscribers in Africa will soon gain access to faster Internet speeds on its 3G and 4G networks. This follows an announcement that Airtel will use Liquid Telecom’s terrestrial fibre network to connect its mobile base stations and enterprises.

The framework agreement enables Airtel operations to leverage Liquid Telecom’s existing 20,000 km-long fibre network across East, Central and Southern Africa, as well as enjoy new purpose-built fibre infrastructure, to connect Airtel’s mobile base stations and enterprise customers with fibre.

According to Liquid Telecom, the agreement answers the need for mobile operators to increase the Internet speed delivered over their mobile broadband networks.

Group Chief Executive Officer of Liquid Telecom, Nic Rudnick, said: “Mobile operators are relying on Internet access and data services to grow their revenues. MNOs, and in particular Airtel, have managed to attract a large number of customers on their 3G and 4G networks and

now need to strengthen their backhaul to deliver a super-fast Internet access service. Liquid Telecom’s extensive and fast-growing terrestrial fibre network is the perfect solution for Airtel to rapidly do so.”

Commenting on the agreement, Airtel Africa CEO, Christian de Faria, said: “The agreement is a milestone in providing fast broadband services to customers in a cost-effective way. Airtel has invested significantly in mobile broadband technology across its African footprint and this agreement will deliver end-to-end fibre connectivity to our 3G and 4G base stations.

This collaboration reinforces our commitment to providing affordable and innovative mobile services to all.”

The agreement enables Airtel operations to gain access to Liquid Telecom’s fibre infrastructure and to benefit from new fibre routes on an on-going basis. This will enable Airtel to rapidly connect its mobile base stations and enterprise customers with unlimited capacity.

Airtel has African operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

£7 million Growth Programme funding for rural businesses

Minister for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment George Eustice

Rural businesses in 12 areas across the country are set to benefit from almost £7 million to get their businesses off the ground and promote tourism, Farming Minister George Eustice announced.

This is the latest funding round after £15 million was made available at the end of July and August through Defra’s Growth Programme.

Inviting businesses to apply, Minister for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment George Eustice said: This funding plays an important role in supporting our plans to grow the rural economy and bring high-quality jobs to rural areas.

I strongly encourage businesses from across the country looking to expand to 8

apply. This way we can ensure our rural towns and villages remain thriving and are attractive places to work and raise a family.

Already hundreds of rural businesses have benefited from Rural Development Programme funding, with entrepreneurs using the money to expand and promote local tourism. Successful applicants include cookery schools, garden centres, tea rooms and farm shops, alongside cutting edge food producers who are taking the gastronomic scene by storm with their local ciders and new charcuterie and cheese products.

Individual grants in this round are worth upwards of £35,000, depending on the individual project, and will now be offered in 12 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas.

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Theatre, Shows and Musicals

Arts Culture

By Edward Mirza

MEMPHIS Now – Oct 18th

The producers of hit Broadway musical MEMPHIS are delighted to officially announce that multi award-winning recording artist Beverley Knight will star as club singer ‘Felicia Farrell’ when the show comes to London’s West End this autumn. MEMPHIS, winner of four 2010 Tony Awards® including Best Musical has Grammy® Award-winning original score

by Bon Jovi founding member David Bryan and book by Joe DiPietro.

Inspired by true events from the underground dance clubs of 1950s Memphis, Tennessee, MEMPHIS follows the fame and forbidden love of a radio DJ who wants to change the world and a club singer who is ready for her big break.

“David Bryan evokes the powerhouse funk of James Brown, the hot guitar riffs of Chuck Berry, the smooth harmonies of the Temptations and the silken, bouncy pop of the great girl groups of the period” Charles Isleworth, New York Times.

Directed by Christopher Ashley and with Choreography by Sergio Trujillo, MEMPHIS has Scenic Design by David Gallo, Costume Design by Paul Tazewell, and Lighting Design by Howell Binkley.

Shaftsbury Avenue Theatre, 210 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8DP

OCTAGON, BY KRISTIANA RAECOLÓN Now - Oct 17

‘Some poems are better written in flesh...’

After Wall Street and Tahrir Square, after ISIS and the NSA, after Ferguson and Eric Garner: here come the poets.

In a downtown poetry slam with a place on the team to be won, eight young poets prepare to do battle. But backstage it’s all kicking off with love triangles, families to feed and wounds to rip open. And in the end, is it about winning – or finding the words that need to be said?

Director Nadia Latif reunites with American playwright Kristiana Colón for the follow-up to their acclaimed 2012 Arcola sell-out but i cd only whisper.

Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL

MACBETH, TARA ARTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH QUEEN’S HALL ARTS & BLACK THEATRE LIVE Now- Oct 31st

Macbeth is the first production from Black Theatre Live, a pioneering consortium of 8 regional theatres committed to increasing the amount of Black and Ethnic Minority theatre on the touring circuit. Spun together with a blend of Indian music and movement, this brand new production from one of the UK’s leading cross-cultural theatre companies sees Shakespeare’s tragedy reimagined in a contemporary context, as a brew of treachery and ambition sets an Asian family on a road to destruction. The production sees the engineers of Macbeth’s downfall depicted as three Hijras. A strand of Indian society little-known in the west, Hijras are a centuries-old “third gender” community (including transsexuals, transgender people, eunuchs and crossdressers).

Tara Arts Artistic Director Jatinder Verma, who will direct Macbeth said “Spirits in Indian traditions combine vivacity with viciousness. By casting the Witches in Macbeth as provocative Bollywood queens, I aim to explore the dangerously vain ambition driving Macbeth.”

For information on Black Theatre Live: www.blacktheatrelive.co.uk | For information on Tara Arts: www.tara-arts.com .

A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes with Lucian Msamati, Tricycle Theate

A WOLF IN SNAKESKIN SHOES THE ETIENNE SISTERS 8 Oct - 14 Nov Lucian Msamati stars alongside Sharon

BY CHÉ WALKER D. Clarke in the Tricycle Theatre’s latest Sept 10 - Oct 3 ‘I can’t believe my own sister would come with this thievery and anarchy to my door...’

Tree and Ree Etienne are laying their mother to rest when an unwelcome arrival at the graveside intrudes on their grief. It’s Bo, their troublesome estranged half-sister.

To comfort her sisters Bo moves in for a while and things begin to look up. But can a leopard ever change her spots? Cracks appear as childhood memories, deep resentments and long put away dreams come to the fore. Tensions build before erupting in a confrontation during which harsh truths are said that cannot be unsaid. Will the sisters destroy all that is left of their family and each other?

This thought-provoking and honest is new play is written by Chè Walker with songs by Anouskha Lucas (Klook’s Last Stand). Set to a contemporary soulful jazz soundtrack, The Etienne Sisters explores what it means to be part of a family today.

By Chè Walker, with songs by Anoushka Lucas Additional songs by Sheila Atim Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, London E15 1BN

world premiere.

Award-winning playwright Marcus Gardley returns to the Tricycle Theatre following 2014’s critically-acclaimed The House That Will Not Stand. This fresh take on Molière’s Tartuffe, set in a world of fast-food tycoons and megachurches is a wicked new comedy that rocks the foundations of trust, faith and redemption.

Given just days to live, multi-millionaire Archibald Organdy puts his faith in the flamboyant Archbishop Tardimus Toof, a prophet, preacher and part-time masseur who arrives in Atlanta from the deep, deep south.

Toof promises to absolve Archibald’s sins and heal his disease, but his family suspect there’s more to this healer than faith, virtue and snakeskin shoes.

The Tricycle Theatre’s Olivier-Award winning Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham (Multitudes, Red Velvet, Handbagged, The House That Will Not Stand) directs.

Completing the cast: Adjoa Andoh, Ayesha Antoine, Michelle Bonnard, Wil Johnson, Karl Queensborough and Angela Wynter.

The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR

NINE LIVES BY ZODWA NYONI NATIONAL TOUR

Now - Jan 2016

Presented by Leeds Studio in association with West Yorkshire Playhouse Performed by Lladel Bryant Directed by Alex Chisholm Fleeing from his home in Zimbabwe where a fresh wave of homophobia threatens his life, Ishmael has sought sanctuary in the UK. Dispersed to Leeds, Ishmael waits to hear his fate, he waits for a new life to begin amongst strangers. Strangers who don’t trust him and don’t want him there. But not everyone is bad… can he find a place to call home again?

Some of us wanted to stop being afraid.

Some of us wanted to find ourselves.

Some of us wanted to belong.

Zodwa Nyoni (West Yorkshire Playhouse/ Channel 4 Writer in Residence 2014) threads together humour and humanity to tell the real personal story behind asylum headlines.

Oxford Playhouse, Oxford 12 October 2015 The Bikeshed Exeter, Exeter 17 October 2015 Trinity Bristol, Bristol 23 October 2015 The Cube, Malvern 06 November 2015 Upstairs at Western, Leicester 12 November 2015 Cast, Doncaster 16 November 2015 Waterside Arts Centre, Trafford 19 November 2015 Arc Stockton, Stockton on Tees 10 December 2015 Brighton, Brighton January 2016 Arcola, London

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Opinion

NNPC Appointments: Much Ado about a Conflict of Interest

by Akintokunbo Adejumo I was as usual browsing the noted and respected Sahara Reporters website when I came across a Petition/Press Release by a group named Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) who claimed to be a “coalition of over hundred and fifty Anti-corruption organizations whose primary aim is to constructively combat corruption vigorously and to ensure the effective monitoring of the various Anti-graft agencies in the fight against corruption and contribute towards the enthronement of transparency, accountability, probity and total commitment in the fight to eradicate corruption in Nigeria”.

The petition was written against the appointment of one Dr. Babatunde Victor Adeniran as the Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC) and that Dr Adeniran ought to have declined the appointment on ground of conflict of interests.

Now, I am a very naturally curious and inquisitive character, and an anticorruption campaigner myself, and a few questions popped into my mind. Why is an anti-corruption organisation interested in a “conflict of interest” circumstance?

Shouldn’t this be a case of governance and constitutional matters? So, I went to the website of the organisation, and browsed through, saw the press release on this matter, and saw other noble deeds of CSNAC, was quite impressed and I must commend them for their vigorous fight against corruption. But, in my opinion, this issue of Dr Adeniran does not fall under their remit. It does not, at all.

Again, the organisation claims to be a coalition of “over a hundred and fifty anticorruption organisations”, I will presume, in Nigeria, but on their website, I could not find any of those listed one hundred and fifty organisations. I will if course defer to them that it is not feasible or practical to list so many organisations in the petition, but heading an anti-corruption organisation myself, and belonging to at least three others in Nigeria, I was sur10

NNPC Boss, Dr Emmanuel Ibe kachukwu

prised I had never heard of CSNAS or any attempt made to be a member of such a noble and large organisation.

However, if indeed such a large number of anti-corruption organisations exist in Nigeria (and perhaps with some of them based outside Nigeria), corruption must be a thing of the past in Nigeria by now.

So, my considerations went to the famous pastime of “PHD – Pull Him/Her Down” syndrome of Nigerians. I immediately discounted the idea, because, with such a very well-designed website and the quality content, I find it improbable that CSNAC will be just another run of the mill, one-off organisation that some individuals are using to carry out personal vendettas and campaigns of calumny against miscreant and fallible public and political officials, corrupt or honest.

My next step was to search the internet, via Google, for this unknown Dr Adeniran.

In fairness, I did not find a lot about him, except his appointment as Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. I could not even find out where this man comes from – his village, town or even state in Nigeria, except from his name, I know he comes from the SW Nigeria. He must have been an unusually quiet achiever for 22 years in the oil and gas industry.

So what is the problem here? I read the petition again. And the crux is that of Conflict of Interest because “As the Senior Technical Adviser on Oil and Gas Commercial of Total E & P Nigeria Ltd Dr Adeniran for over 22 years, Dr. Adeniran has fundamental disagreements with NNPC

over the interpretation of the AK1 Carry agreement. The dispute which arose over the agreement is currently pending before a panel of arbitrators. Dr. Victor Adeniran had recently given damning evidence against the NNPC before the Arbitrators.

Check the word “fundamental” – important, essential, vital, necessary, etc. Apparently, Dr Adeniran’s has been having a running battle with the NNPC, a very corrupt organisation, important to Nigeria’s lifeline, wealth and international status as an oil-producing country, and which now, is being reorganised by the new government of President Buhari.

Well, in my opinion, this should be a positive thing for both the newly re-organised NNPC, the new MD and Nigeria, because here is a man (the said Dr Adeniran) who would apparently know the in and out of this corrupt organisation, and who, armed with this vast knowledge, will have the wherewithal to internally tackle the cankerworm within this monster. This is to Nigeria’s benefit.

I am not trying to fight Dr Adeniran’s battles for him, in fact, I can’t. To me, I don’t even have a clue about his antecedents, but from what I found out about him online, he is an expert in his field, a wellread and well-travelled technocrat, with 22 years’ experience and skilled in the important area of oil and gas. He is certainly not a greenhorn. So, why should any conflict of interest disqualify him from holding such an important position in Nigeria’s troubled oil and gas sector? People who are of less and more experience and knowledge than him have managed to mess up this institution, and indeed, Nige-

ria and have gotten away with their deeds.

In this new dispensation of Change in Nigeria, and knowing those who appointed him, the least we can do is try him out, as we are doing others, and if he messes up, he will end up disgraced.

Again, the petition reads “in his witness statement for Total E & P Nigeria Ltd, dated and signed on June 30, 2015 Dr. Adeniran claimed that his address is “Plot 247, Herbert Macaulay Way, Central Business District, Abuja, the head office of the NNPC. It is the height of abuse of office on the part of Dr, Adeniran to use the address of a public institution to serve his personal interest. In any case, why did Dr. Adeniran use the address of the NNPC before the announcement of his appointment as a top official of the NNPC?” I take the phrase “his address”. The petition failed to mention if Dr Adeniran claimed the NNPC head office address as his personal/home address or his corporate/office address, as should be declared in official documents. If it is claimed as corporate/office address, I would think this is usually the case with directors of companies all over the world.

I will not query the use of the NNNPC address “before the announcement of his appointment as a top official of the NNPC” because I was not aware of the date of the announcement of his appointment nor have I access, like CSNAC did, to official documents.

At any rate, I believe this petition is misdirected and misapprehended, and must be discounted. I believe Dr Adeniran’s “personal interest” is yet to be tested and established to be in “conflict with his duties and responsibilities”.

How much longer will we be a nation of petition writers, with hidden agendas and personal vendettas, against people who can serve the country with sincerity of purpose and selflessness? Should the NNPC MD have appointed a complete greenhorn to man this position?

Again, please see my use of “can” and not “will”. Dr Adeniran himself has to prove he can and will serve Nigeria selflessly, without enriching himself, if he’s not rich already anyway, whereby he will be vindicated. He has to also debunk the Conflict of Interest allegations, if there is any elsewhere. That should be our concern, not alleged conflict of interest. CSNAC should direct its well-recognised and noble energies to fighting corruption proper. While conflict of interest may of course lead to corruption, I believe in this case, it has not been properly and evidentially established.

We need a few good men, and women!

Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

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Nigeria @55

President Buhari’s Independence Day Speech

“October 1st is a day for joy and celebrations for us Nigerians, whatever the circumstances we find ourselves in because it is the day, 55 years ago; we liberated ourselves from the shackles of colonialism and began our long march to nationhood and to greatness.

“No temporary problems or passing challenges should stop us from honouring this day. Let us remind ourselves of the gifts God has given us. Our Creator has bequeathed to us Numbers – Nigeria is the ninth most populated country on the planet. We have in addition arable land; water; forests; oil and gas; coastline; and solid minerals “We have all the attributes of a great nation. We are not there yet because the one commodity we have been unable to exploit to the fullest is unity of purpose. This would have enabled us to achieve not only more orderly political evolution and integration but also continuity and economic progress.

“Countries far less endowed have made greater economic progress by greater coherence and unity of purpose.

“Nonetheless, that we have remained together is an achievement we should all appreciate and try to consolidate. We have witnessed this year a change in our democratic development.

“The fact that an opposition party replaced an entrenched government in a free and fair election is indicative of the deeper roots of our democratic system. Whatever one’s views are, Nigerians must thank former President Jonathan for not digging-in in the face of defeat and thereby saving the country untold consequences.

“As I said in my inaugural speech, I bear no ill will against anyone on past events.

Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view to join me in working for the nation.

“My countrymen and women, every new government inherits problems. Ours was no different. But what Nigerians want are solutions, quick solutions not a recitation of problems inherited.

“Accordingly, after consultations with the Vice President, senior party leaders and other senior stakeholders, I quickly got down to work on the immediate, medium-term and long-term problems which we must solve if we are to maintain the

confidence which Nigerians so generously bestowed on us in the March elections and since then.

“As you know, I toured the neighbouring countries, marshalled a coalition of armed forces of the five nations to confront and defeat Boko Haram. I met also the G-7 leaders and other friendly presidents in an effort to build an international coalition against Boko Haram.

“Our gallant armed forces under new leadership have taken the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and infrastructural capabilities.

Boko Haram are being scattered and are on the run.

“That they are resorting to shameless attacks on soft targets such as I.D.P. camps is indicative of their cowardice and desperation. I have instructed security and local authorities to tighten vigilance in vulnerable places.

On power, government officials have held a series of long sessions over several weeks about the best way to improve the nation’s power supply in the safest and most cost-effective way.

“In the meantime, improvement in the power supply is moderately encouraging. By the same token, supply of petrol and kerosene to the public has improved throughout the country. All the early signs are that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change for the better.

“Preliminary steps have been taken to sanitize NNPC and improve its operations so that the inefficiency and corruption could be reduced to a minimum.

“Those of our refineries which can be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be stopped.

“In addition to NNPC, I have ordered a complete audit of our other revenue generating agencies mainly CBN, FIRS, Customs, NCC, for better service delivery to the nation. Prudent house-keeping is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources.

“We have seen in the last few years how huge resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted. The new APC government is embarking on a clean up,

President Muhammadu Buhari

introducing prudence and probity in public financing.

“At an early stage, the federal government addressed the issue of salary arrears in many states, a situation capable of degenerating into social unrest. The APC government stepped in to provide short-term support to the debtor states and enabled them to pay off the backlog and restore the livelihood of millions of Nigerians.

“Fellow Nigerians, there have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the apparent delay in announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be anxious. Our government set out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handing over notes from the outgoing government only four days before taking over. Consequently, the Joda Transition Committee submitted its Report on the reorganization of Federal Government structure after studying the hand over notes. It would have been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not finalized the number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of governance.

“Anyway, the wait is over. The first set of names for ministerial nominees for confirmation has been sent to the senate. Subsequent lists will be forwarded in due course. Impatience is not a virtue. Order is more vital than speed.

Careful and deliberate decisions after consultations get far better results. And better results for our country is what the APC government for CHANGE is all about.

“I would like to end my address this morning on our agenda for CHANGE. Change does not just happen. You and I and all of us must appreciate that we all have our part to play if we want to bring change about. We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behaviour in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being lawabiding citizens.

“Happy Independence Celebrations.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

News

UK Government overturns turban workplace rule New rules mean Sikhs across the UK will no longer face the prospect of disciplinary action for wearing turbans in the workplace.

Diaspora Champion, Priti Patel, said: This change demonstrates that, whoever you are, whatever your background, and whatever industry you choose – if you work hard and want to get on in life, this government will be on your side.

As the Prime Minister’s Indian Diaspora Champion as well as Employment Minister, I’m delighted to be part of the government that has made this change. It makes me proud that the UK is the home of such a talented, ambitious and hardworking community.

Spokesperson for Sikh Council UK, Gurinder Singh Josan, said: We are pleased that Parliament listened to our campaign and enabled this vital change in the law.

It will make a real difference to Sikhs in the UK by increasing the number of workplaces that turban wearing Sikhs can work in whilst maintaining their religiously mandated identity.

For more than 20 years, Sikhs working in the construction industry have been exempted from rules requiring head protection – but because of a legal loophole, those in less dangerous industries, such as those working in factories and warehouses, were not.

This meant that Sikhs in many jobs who chose to wear turbans rather than the required head protection could be at risk of disciplinary action or even dismissal.

Turban-wearing Sikhs will now have the right to choose not to wear head protection and will be exempt from legal requirements to wear a safety helmet in all workplaces.

Minister for Employment and Indian

Tunisia

Minister wants anti-gay law scrapped

Amazing, your Grace

A case where a 22-year-old student was sentenced to a year’s jail after his same-sex relationship was uncovered as part of a murder investigation has prompted Tunisian Justice Minister Mohamed Salah Ben Aissa to comment on the future of the country’s anti-sodomy law.

The unnamed student was arrested on 6 September in the resort city of Sousse after his number was found on the body of a man he had been sleeping with. He denied any involvement in the killing but confessed his relationship with the deceased to explain his connection to him.

Authorities believed his story after subjecting him to a medical examination but handed him over to prosecutors as a result of his confession.

The case provoked outcry by human rights groups both inside and outside Tunisia including Human Rights Watch (HRW), prompting the group’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director Eric Goldstein to call out the Tunisian government over the continued use of the law.

“The Tunisian government should not be prosecuting people for private and consensual sexual acts,” Goldstein said on Monday.

“If Tunisia truly aspires to be a regional leader on human rights, it should lead the way in decriminalizing homosexual conduct.”

Goldstein also warned against the use 12

Aretha belts out Amazing Grace as only she can while Pope Francis looks on

Tunisian Justice Minister Mohamed Salah Ben Aissa (Getty images)

of so-called medical tests to ‘prove’ a person’s homosexuality.

“Medical professionals who participate in forced anal examinations of people suspected of homosexuality violate medical ethics and facilitate serious miscarriages of justice,” Goldstein said.

Reacting on a non-state owned radio station, the justice minister addressed the issue, saying he was personally in favour of scrapping the law.

“My problem is Article 230 … Nothing can justify infringement on private life,” Ben Aissa said, according to reports.

Article 230 of Tunisia’s Penal Code of 1913 (largely modified in 1964) decrees imprisonment of up to three years for private acts of sodomy between consenting adults.

Aretha Franklin cannot have taken second billing many times in her glittering career; so it may have been a strange feeling to experience all eyes on someone else on stage while she is performing.

Such was the case as Pope Francis and an admiring throng of thousands enjoyed a little music from the Queen of Soul along with Italian classical tenor Andrea Bocelli and other pop stars at the end of his first day in Philadelphia on his first-ever US tour.

Franklin led an all-star line-up at the Festival of Families, one of the events organized by the Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families, which brought the head of the Catholic Church to the city after visits in Washington and New York.

The festival included song, prayer and testimonials from people from different

continents on the joys and challenges of family life, including an Argentine couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.

Aretha sang Amazing Grace with passion and fervour that belied her 73 years.

She said earlier she planned to present Pope Francis with a gift: a box set of sermons by her father, civil rights activist and preacher C.L. Franklin.

She later came out and performed “Nessun Dorma” from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” which she intended as a surprise, but the Pope had left by the time of her encore.

Before Francis’ arrival, seventies disco performing family Sister Sledge sang a special rendition of their hit “We Are Family,” adding another gender to proclaim, “I’ve got all my sisters and my brothers with me,” and referring to Jesus as “the Way, the Truth, the Light.”

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Friday, 25 September - Thursday, 1 October 2015

USA

Mugabe anti-gay outburst finds support President Robert Mugabe shouted “we are not gays,” in a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York criticising what the 91-yearold leader since independence referred to as “new” human rights.

“Respecting and upholding human rights is the obligation of all states, and is enshrined in the United Nations charter. Nowhere does the charter abrogate the right to some to sit in judgment over others, in carrying out this universal obligation,” Mugabe said, adding: “In that regard, we reject the politicisation of this important issue and the application of double standards to victimise those who dare think and act independently of the self-anointed prefects of our time.

“We equally reject attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions, and beliefs,” Mugabe said. “We are not gays.”

Robert Mugabe was in New York for the UN General Assemby

The line reportedly drew light applause and audible laughter from the assembled

UN audience. Mugabe is no stranger to controversy. Last year he called same-sex

relationships “inhuman” and threatened to expel any diplomats who supported the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. In 2013, he used remarks against homosexuals to attack U.S. President Barack Obama.

Anti-gay rhetoric has been essential in Mugabe’s effort to keep his position of power in Zimbabwe, where sodomy is illegal and the Sexual Deviancy Act of 2006 criminalises any contact between men that would “be regarded by a reasonable person to be an indecent act.

Many sub-Saharan countries have railed against Western pressure to expand LGBT rights to citizens by imposing ever harsher penalties on anyone found to be engaging in or promoting homosexuality. It is estimated that more than 80 percent of subSaharan Africans consider homosexuality to be morally unacceptable. Many believe that Western leaders are attempting to impose homosexuality.

Jamaica

Cameron dodges injustice of slave-owning cousin’s compensation Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to confront his own family’s role in the Slave Trade on a visit to Jamaica this week.

The PM arrived at Norman Manley International airport in the island’s capital, Kingston, promising a £200 million infrastructure aid boost to “reinvigorate” ties with the former British West Indies region - with UK firms set to compete to build roads, ports and bridges.

He said the cash would make the UK the largest individual donor to the region and that he wanted to concentrate on future relations between the countries not on centuries-old issues.

But his mission was at risk of being overshadowed by a row over whether the former colonial power should apologise and make financial amends for historic slavery.

Jamaican Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, said she had raised the controversial question during one-to-one talks with the PM at her official residence in Kingston. She said she told him that while she was “aware of the obvious sensitivities”, Jamaica was “involved in a process under the auspices of the Caribbean Community to engage the UK on the matter”.

Mr Cameron made no mention of the issue after the talks - but Number 10 said he had made clear to his opposite number that he “understood it was an issue for some people”. However he “reiterated the longstanding position of the United Kingdom that we do not believe reparations is the right approach”.

Speaking to reporters on the flight to the Caribbean, Mr Cameron made clear he did

David Cameron’s cousin James Duff (inset) was paid the equivalent of £3m for forfeiting his 202 slaves, who were paid nothing

not want to focus on the issue.

“This is about the future relationship and about what we should be doing together economically in terms of trade and investment and this significant infrastructure fund I am announcing,” he said.

“So that is what the visit is about, it’s talking about the future.”

One Jamaican MP has threatened to boycott the PM’s speech at the country’s parliament if he does not engage on the issue.

Bert Samuels, a member of Jamaica’s National Commission on Reparations, told

Television Jamaica: “His lineage has been traced and his forefathers were slave-owners and benefited from slavery. Therefore he needs to atone, to apologise personally and on behalf of his country.”

He said his countrymen had been “left behind because of racism” and should now be compensated.

The issue of slave-owning nations compensating former colonies for the trade is a hot one in the Caribbean, where national commissions have calculated the sums could run into trillions of dollars. One suggestion has been that the money could be

provided in the form of debt relief.

Mrs Simpson Miller told the United Nations in 2013 there should be “an international discussion in a non-confrontational manner” and its parliament had passed a motion backing reparations.

Jamaican MP Mike Henry told The Gleaner newspaper “If it is not on the agenda, I will not attend any functions involving the visiting Prime Minister, and I will cry shame on those who do, considering that there was not a dissenting voice in the debate in Parliament.”

Critics have pointed to compensation paid to one of Mr Cameron’s own ancestors for the slaves he lost when slavery was abolished in 1834 as a reason he should personally apologise. Records show General Sir James Duff, an army officer, MP and Mr Cameron’s first cousin six generations removed, was compensated to the tune of £4,101 when he forfeited 202 slaves on the Grange Sugar Estate in Jamaica – equal to more than £3m today.

Mr Cameron was less evasive about the £25 million Britain will spend on a new prison in Jamaica so hundreds of criminals can be sent home to the Caribbean rather than serve their sentences in the UK. The cash, which will come from the UK’s foreign aid budget, has been agreed to help break the deadlock in lengthy negotiations over a compulsory prisoner transfer deal between the two countries.

More than 600 Jamaican nationals behind bars in Britain cannot be repatriated because of fears that poor jail conditions on the island would lead to successful challenges under human rights law.

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

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CRIME

Cocaine dealers sentenced, Sutton Two men who dealt high-purity cocaine in Sutton were jailed alongside four women they used as drug runners, on Friday, 25 September.

Croydon Crown Court heard how the ring leader - Layne Campbell, 21 of Chaucer Gardens, Sutton North - and Danny Back, 25, of Crispin Crescent, Beddington, arranged to sell drugs to clients via phone.

Detectives from the London Crime Squad (LCS) observed the pair meet with women to give them around 33g of the drugs, some of which was 95 per cent pure.

One of the women was Campbell’s girlfriend Louise Tolan, 38, who returned to the home she shared with Campbell and her young children at Chaucer Gardens, and sold the drugs to the client.

Detectives observed the women deal drugs on nine occasions between January and April 2014. On one occasion, Tolan’s daughter, Courtney Bailey-Tolan, 19 (07.08.96), was the dealer.

On four occasions, Jessica Wadman, 22 of Spitfire Road, Wallington in Sutton - a friend of Campbell’s sister Michelle Brown, 38 - carried out the deals on the Roundshaw Estate in Wallington.

Mathies = 18 months’ imprisonment,

suspended for two years;

Bailey-Tolan = 15 months’ imprison-

ment, suspended for two years.

Investigating officer, Detective Consta-

ble Paul Fagence of the LCS, said: “The

gang was peddling dangerous, high-purity cocaine.

“Drug dealers attract antisocial behav-

iour and crime to communities. Innocent people living in these areas often live in Montage of six people convicted

Her friend Erica Mathies, 20 of Defiant Way, Wallington, Sutton was also seen carrying out a deal.

Afterwards, Campbell and Back met the women to collect the cash.

On 15 April, the LCS executed dawn raids at the homes of Campbell, Back, Tolan, Wadman and Brown. They arrested all five and seized more than £1,500 cash found in Campbell’s Gucci bag, under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Tolan claimed not to know who the money belonged to.

Their investigation continued and on 6 June they arrested Bailey-Tolan, then Mathies on 26 May.

fear, so it is important that we bring people All appeared at Croydon Crown Court, where Wadman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a class A drug on 1 May. Back pleaded guilty to the same offence on 22 May and Bailey-Tolan pleaded guilty to it on 17 June.

Campbell, Tolan and Mathies all pleaded guilty to the offence on 31 July.

They were sentenced as follows at Croydon Crown Court on Friday, 25 September 2015: Campbell = four years in jail; Back = three years, four months in jail; Tolan = two years in jail; Wadman = two years in jail;

like Campbell and Back to face justice.

“In total, we seized around £3,000

found at the gang’s homes. This is money

which goes back into the criminal justice system and fighting crime.”

+ Campbell’s sister, Michelle Brown,

38, of McIntosh Close, Wallington, pleaded guilty to possession of Class B drugs,

after the LCS executed a search warrant at her house during the investigation, recovering 76grams of amphetamine. She

was sentenced to one month’s conditional

discharge and ordered to pay £85 costs, at South London Magistrates’ Court on 22 May 2015.

Smash-and-grab robber pleads guilty

A man who was part of a moped gang that robbed a Brent jewellers armed with hammers and axes has admitted his crimes in court.

Lookman Shekoni, 24 of Josephine Avenue, Lambeth, pleaded guilty at Harrow Crown Court on Monday, 28 September to robbery having being caught by passers-by at the scene.

Police continue to appeal for information about seven other suspects involved in the smash-and-grab robbery in Kingsbury Road, which saw up to £400,000 of jewellery stolen.

Detective Inspector Scott Hartley, of the Flying Squad, said: “Shekoni was pulled off his moped while trying to flee the scene by members of the public appalled at what was taking place in their community.

“While we would never encourage people to get involved directly in this way, I would like to commend the brave actions of passers-by that led to Shekoni being promptly arrested. They acted with little regard for their own safety, intent on catching those who had carried out such a brazen robbery in broad daylight.

14

Lookman Shekoni

“The evidence against Shekoni was overwhelming and he had little choice but to plead guilty.

“Enquiries continue to trace the other suspects and we are keen to hear from anyone with information.”

On Monday, 7 September at 14:10hrs four mopeds, with two riders wearing crash helmets on each, pulled up on the pavement outside the Jewellery Gallery shop in Kingsbury Road NW9.

Three of the suspects stayed with the vehicles while one stood outside the shop armed with an axe to scare off anyone who might try to intervene.

The rest of the suspects forced their way inside the shop with a large metal ram and used hammers and axes to threaten staff members.

They then smashed all the displays and removed the Indian and Iranian jewellery inside, placing it in large laundry bags.

The robbers then ran out of the shop and got back onto the mopeds.

By this stage a large crowd of people had gathered outside and members of the public started to close in on the suspects, throwing various objects to try to knock them off the mopeds.

As the suspects made off up Kingsbury Road, one of the mopeds was surrounded and the riders pushed off by the crowd.

The passenger - Shekoni - punched a man in the face but was detained by the crowd until police arrived and arrested him.

A significant amount of jewellery was recovered from the scene and handed back to the shop owner. However, items valued at between £300,000 and £400,000 remain outstanding, with £50,000 damage caused to the premises.

Anyone with information about the remaining suspects should call the Flying Squad on 020 8785 8655 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Shekoni will be sentenced on Monday, 2 November for the Brent robbery and a separate incident, a night-time burglary at an opticians in St John’s Wood High Street on Friday, 14 August where £20,000 of designer glasses were stolen. He also pleaded guilty to this offence on Monday, 28 September.

Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

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Sounds of Diaspora People of America

Chris Brown gets shared custody ruling

It was a good day in court for Chris Brown on Monday as his custody battle with his baby’s mother, Nia Guzman, was concluded in the singer’s favour.

“Court went great today. Glad this all worked out,” Brown, 26, tweeted.

The court decided that the pair’s 15month-old daughter, Royalty, will share her father’s last name and split her time between each parent, with the singer getting 12 days per month, according to TMZ. It’s reported that Brown will be required to pay $2,500 a month in child support along with financing the tot’s schooling, health insurance, medical bills and nannies.

According to TMZ, Brown underwent a drug test which came back positive for marijuana and codeine, but the star had a prescription for both and supervised visitation will not be required.

Since confirming rumours about fathering a child earlier this year, Brown has remained very active in the baby girl’s life, even naming his next album after her.

He’s also been vocal with his opinion on his responsibility as a father.

“Some men my age run from their responsibility as fathers. I embrace mine.

Just sucks that some females use children as meal ticket,” Brown tweeted in the midst of the custody battle.

Brown’s next battle will be against authorities in Australia who are threatening to ban him from entering the country because of his “substantial criminal record”, including his assault on former girlfriend Rihanna.

A 14,000 signature petition calling for a ban was handed in to the Ministry of Immigration after Brown’s promoters announced an Australia tour starting in December.

Australia’s Migration Act gives Immigration Minister Peter Dutton the power to refuse the visa but he can also exercise discretion. Anyone who has been sentenced to 12 months’ jail or more — as Brown has — can be refused entry on character grounds.

On Sunday, Brown was formally issued with a “notice of intention to consider refusal”, giving him 28 days to present evidence as to why he should be allowed to enter the country.

Chris Brown’s chequered criminal history may stymie his Australia dates

Jermaine surprises Jackson brothers on morning TV Jermaine Jackson handed his bandmate brothers diamond rings to mark 50 years in the music business during a live TV chat earlier this month.

The brothers formed their group in 1964 but only found success after changing their name to The Jackson 5 the following year.

Following massive success with Berry Gordy Jr’s Motown Records, Jermaine’s brothers left the label for Sony label Epic in the mid-1970s, leaving Jermaine to carve out a solo career while showing loyalty to Gordy, whose daughter Hazel had become his wife.

Gordy owned the rights to the Jackson 5 name, forcing the rebels, who were by now a 5-piece again with the addition of youngest brother Randy, to re-brand themselves The Jacksons.

Always somewhat in the massive shadow cast by Michael’s unparalleled talent, the other brothers basked in the success his fame bestowed until they became his limiting factor.

Carrying on as a group without Michael seemed implausible, but carry on they did . . . intermittently and with limited success while Michael went stratospheric with his collaborative albums with Quincy Jones and former Heatwave keyboardist Rod Templeton.

Paris Jackson and boyfriend Chester Castel-

Having performed alongside his older siblings a few times since Michael’s untimely death in 2009, Randy has reverted to performing solo. However, the remaining Jacksons, including Jermaine (he and Hazel Gordy divorced in 1987), appeared for an interview on Good Morning Britain ahead of a prestigious concert in London’s Hyde Park last week, and Jermaine, 60, surprised his brothers with a special gift live on air.

He handed out custom made diamond rings to his fellow singers and even made sure there was a personalized gem for late brother Michael, which he hopes to hand down to the King of Pop’s son Prince.

Handing out the rings, Jermaine said, “This is our 50th anniversary and there is a surprise I have for the brothers which I wanted to present to them. This is 50 years of being in the business... There is one for Michael... I will probably give it to my mother to make sure that Prince has it.”

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

Gospel

WHAT FOUNDATION IS YOUR LIFE STANDING ON?

By Michael Adekoya

Jesus says, “Take heed that no one deceives or misleads you.” Mat. 24:4.“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32

Dear Readers, illiteracy is a plague on human development; likewise, scriptural illiteracy or ignorance hinders spiritual development.

Building a godly life on the sand of scriptural illiteracy is impossible.

There will be nothing to stand on when tough times comes

I receive lots of emails everyday but few weeks ago, a lady sent one to my box asking for advice about her marriage. Apparently what happened was that she and her husband both attended the same church until her husband decided not to go there anymore. He told his wife that the Pastor did not provide him with the kind of teaching -spiritual food - he longed to have. But being involved in many activities, she felt duty-bound to stay in that church.

She went to her Pastor for advice, and he agreed she should stay while she let her husband go elsewhere. “He was never really a part of this congregation, and you were,” the Pastor said to her. She wrote to me because her husband had read some of my status posts on Face book and she thought I could help him since they were “drifting apart” in their marital relationship.

“What shall I do?” she asked. In the quandary and confusion of her writing, she indirectly disclosed that she was not intimately familiar with the Bible. In other words, she has not been “studying the Word of God to show herself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).

No wonder she could not discern between “good” advice and “godly” counsel. My friend, that’s the terrible result of wrong counsel being given and followed

In this 21st century, she is not alone in her predicament. Innumerable people who are Christians are suffering from the same malady today. Today, the souls of many are misled or misdirected to error or destruction. They attempt to live a Christian life based on what people say, advice given, articles read, radio programs listened to and

Christian TV programs viewed; and when the tough times come, they realize that trying to build a solid foundation of faith on such ephemeral underpinnings is akin to attempting to build Empire State Building on the ocean. My friend, are you one of these people?

Do you leave major decisions in the hands of your Pastor, friend, colleague or somebody? On what foundation is your Christianity, family, ministry, business, politically or professional career stands on?

Listen! Jesus gave us the wisdom of God in the parable about building on a rock or sand (Math 7:24-27). Building on sand may seem safe but until storm or flood comes. On what foundation is your life, marriage or children built? Is it on the Word of God, selfish ambition or solely on money that has wings?

People find construction details boring; they would rather spend their money on glitzy stuff? Yet it’s the foundation that determines the height, the width, the strength, and ultimately the value of any house. My friend, are you putting all your efforts into maintaining your image, but neglecting the foundational things of life, like love, faith in God and in His Word; godly character and attitude, integrity and sense of purpose?

Jesus says, “These words – the Word of God - I speak are foundational; ensure that you work [them] into your life like a smart carpenter who built on solid rock. Nothing moved that house (Matt 7:24-25).

Houses built on sand are quick, cheap and easy; they provide temporary comfort and instant gratification. But building on rock is hard: it takes time, effort, foresight and perseverance - but the results are worth

­­

Are you looking for a church?

Not settled in any particular congregation?

Perhaps now is the time to pray about it If you are not yet saved try one of the following: Jubilee International Churchmeets at 2,30pm on Sundays at Kings Avenue School, Park Hill. London SW4. Part of Jubilee International Churches Worldwide. For information, you may call (020)8697 3354 New Wine Christian Church- 11am holds meeting at Ringcross Tennants Club, Lough Road, Holloway, N7. a member of the Icthus Fellowship

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Worldwide. For more information call 020 7609 959 or 07957 757 663.

Praise Tabernacle- 10:30am holds meetings at 620 Western Avenue (A40), Park Royal Business Centre, opposite Warner Bros. Cinema Complex, W3. part of The Redeemed Christian Church of God. For information you may call 020 8993 3010 New Life Christian Centre 10.30am & 6.00pm. meetings at Cairo New Road, Croydon. The church has

it. My friend, if you’re not sure what kind of house – marriage, family, ministry, business, career - you’re building, watch and see what happens when the next storm hits! The house built on rock will withstand the same storm that levels all the others around it.

There are no shortcuts. Successful Christian living is the result of love, faith, commitment, consistency and building according to God’s Word – the truth. When you make those things the foundation of your life, you’ll make it through any storm!

Building a godly life, marriage, family, ministry, business or career on the sand of scriptural illiteracy is impossible. There will be nothing to stand on when tough times come.

I’m not a prophet of doom but tougher times are ahead!

When the foundation crumbles even the most expensive house will fall. Today there’s a lot of flaky stuff being pedalled in the name of truth. When you examine it closely it’s a teaspoon of truth in an ocean of error. My friend, are you a Christian? Listen! There are many well-meaning but contradictory voices around us today, and many of them are giving false, deceptive and misleading directions today. You need discernment! But any time you take a Scripture out of context you’ll end up with a pretext (a reason for doing as you please!). You will be deceived and misled. “When the foundations are being destroyed, the righteous can do nothing, than suffer deception, frustration and destruction” (Psa 11:3) You may say, “What should I do?”

Do what the Bereans did. The Bible says, “They received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures ev-

a Bible school, primary, is involved in extensive mission work in Eastern Europe, Italy and India. For information you may call 020 8680 7671 Ruach Ministries - holds meeting at 9am, 11am and 6pm. For information you may call 020 8678 6888 International Central Gospel Church - Battersea Chapel, holds meetings on Sundays from 2.00pm. . For information you may call 020 8684 4934 Jesus Arena International- Sunday service at 11.00am at Broadwater Farm Centre, Adams Road N17 The Bible Life Church UK- They meet on Sunday mornings at 2.30pm at St Giles Centre, Camberwell

ery day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). The Bible says, “You will discover the truth when you search for it as for buried treasure.” (Pro. 2:4). Whose teachings were the Bereans putting under the searchlight of Scripture? It was Paul’s! My friend, hear me. No leader, regardless of the size of their followers is beyond such scrutiny. Indeed, true godly leaders welcome it.

Anytime someone claims special revelation from God that doesn’t line up with Scripture, run in the opposite direction! If anyone asks you, tell them Michael says so!

You may say, “That sounds a little harsh and too African.” My friend, so is surgery but it’ll save your life. Does God have more to say to us today? Absolutely! When you take your last breath you still won’t know it all. Does God have better strategies for reaching others with His Word? Yes and we must embrace them if we’re to reap the final harvest before the Lord of the harvest returns but never at the cost of God’s eternal, unchanging Word. That’s the message Paul was proclaiming. He says, “From your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:30-32). We must be scripturally literate to know the deceivers and the fake. Good advice is not always godly counsel. Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” is called and ordained by God. We must be careful about whose counsel we accept.

In the Bible, counselors - anointed men and women of God who are called by God, not those who call themselves - determine the destiny of kings and nations (see 1 Kings 14: and 2 Sam 16:23). As it was in the beginning, so it should be now. My friend, are you a Pastor or a Counsellor? When a traditional ruler, government official, professional, politician, president, professor, practitioner, house wife, widow, single lady, single parent, youth or anyone needs counsel, he or she needs godly counsel, not just good advice. One is divine, the other one is human. Good advice is based on human wisdom but Godly counsel is based on the wisdom of God’s Word. Always remember that!

Remain blessed!

Church Street, London SE5 Christ Apostolic church (Full Gospel & Pentecostal) Surrey Docks District 163 Ilderton Rd South Bermondsey London SE16 2UT. Tel. 020 7252 2086.

Time of worship: Sunday English service 9- 11.30am. Yoruba service 11.30 -2.30pm. Prophetic counselling: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 12noon- 5pm, Saturday only 5- 7pm.

Holy Cross Church InternationalSunday 10.am- 1 pm at Crown House 71-73 Nathan Way London SE28 0BQ Tel: 07904 234 126, 07809 381 886 Times of service:Bible study: Thursdays 8pm. Night Vigil: Friday Forth-

nightly 12am Sunday Service: Sundays 10am - 1pm Winners’ Chapel London- part of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, at 1 Churchill Close, Green Street, Green Road, Dartford, Kent, DA1 1QE meets Sunday 7.30am, 9.15am and 11am and Wednesdays at 7pm.

For details call: 01322 292097 Christ Apostolic Church, Surrey Docks District, Solution Centre, 47-47 High Street, Swancombe, Kent, DA10 0DA Tel: 07956 38 38 70 Time of worship: Wednesday Bible study: 7:30pm to 9:00pm Friday, Night Vigil: 9pm to 11pm Sunday Worship: 12:30pm to 3:00pm

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

Africa Newsround

Kenya

Pay hearing deadlock as striking teachers object to judges In their ongoing pay dispute, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) wants Chief Justice Willy Mutunga to appoint a new bench on grounds that the Executive had a hand in the picking of justices Erastus Githinji, Philomena Mwilu and Festus Azangalala.

Knut lawyer John Mbaluto filed the application in the appellate court’s registry on Monday (September 28), in which teachers expressed fears that the final determination by the three judges might not be independent.

The application alleges that the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Kihara Kariuki had been micro-managing the case. “The applicant has received reliable information to the effect that the court was directed on what to do by the President of the court, quoting the Head of State as his authority,” the application filed Monday read in part.

In the court papers, the union claims Justice Kariuki was heard saying President Uhuru Kenyatta was furious about the adjournment of the case and that the whole award by the Employment and Labour Relations Court ought to have been set aside.

Justices Githinji, Mwilu and Azangalala replaced the bench composed of justices Jamilla Mohamed, Mohamed Warsame and Sankale ole Kantai. Mohamed, Warsame and Kantai had initially ordered the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to pay the

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has been tasked with appointing a neutral bench

50-60 per cent pay rise from August 1 as it argued its case, but when the case came up for hearing on September 22 they were replaced.

“The interference of the Executive with the Judiciary is a brazen attack on its independence and the rule of law,” Knut states in the court papers, adding: “...the applicant’s faith and confidence in the

said president is utterly destroyed, and it’s only fair and just that a new bench be constituted.”

A letter from Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion accompanied the application to the CJ seeking a probe of the appellate court’s president. Mr Sossion, in the letter received by the CJ’s office on Sep-

tember 25, alleged that Kariuki sought to know why the hearing had been adjourned by the three-judge bench on Tuesday last week. “...and said President Kenyatta who, according to him (Kariuki) was following the proceedings on television, “was furious with the adjournment,” wrote Sossion to Mutunga.

The Knut boss claimed Kariuki was of the view that the judgment of the Employment and Labour Relations Court should be set aside in accordance with the Government’s wishes. It is the same allegations in the letter that are contained in his sworn affidavit: “The pronouncements and the conduct of the president of the Court of Appeal points to an orchestrated scheme for the appeals to achieve a pre-conceived end.”

At the same time, the case to stop the ongoing strike was postponed to Thursday on the basis that the judge handling it was unwell.

Thereafter, Knut officials held a press conference during which they insisted the strike is still on until they get further direction from the court on Thursday. Meanwhile, Form Four practical examinations went on smoothly Monday, according to the Kenya National Examination Council Chief Executive Officer Joseph Kivilu. He said all 185 examiners were present to administer the French, German, Arabic and Music practical exams.

Egypt

Al-Jazeera journalists receive Eid pardon Two journalists jailed in Egypt for disseminating “false news” have received a pardon from President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Egyptian ex-pat Mohamed Fahmy, who now resides in Canada, and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed, both of whom work for Arabic news network Al-Jazeera, were released along with some 100 other prisoners in what has become a traditional annual amnesty in which Egyptian presidents free a number of prisoners for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Eid is celebrated this week, but the latest releases also came on the eve of a trip to New York by Sisi, who is attending the UN General Assembly where he would inevitably have faced questions about a case widely criticised as a political charade by human rights groups and international observers.

Fahmy, who was released outside his old high school in Cairo after being driven there, said he was preparing to celebrate freedom. His lawyer, Amal Clooney, welcomed the decision to correct “a longstanding injustice” but said her client had endured a protracted ordeal.

Reunited with his wife, Mohamed Fahmy salutes well-wishers

A friend, journalist Samer al-Atrush, posted pictures of Fahmy, his wife and Mohamed shortly after the men were released.

Both were still wearing prison clothes.

It is not yet clear if Sisi also pardoned a third man, Australian journalist Peter Greste, who was tried with his colleagues and spent 400 days in an Egyptian jail before being deported in February under a law allowing prisoners to serve out deten-

tions in their home countries. While the state-run Mena news agency said a third person from the Al-Jazeera case had been pardoned, there were several other foreign defendants sentenced besides Greste who only avoided jail because they were outside Egypt when police arrested the three men.

“Reminder that as well as Baher and Fahmy, there are seven other [Al-Jazeera

journalists] convicted in absentia whose lives have been affected,” the network’s spokesman Osama Saeed said on Twitter.

The case had drawn condemnation from around the world, including from the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and Australia’s new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who had promised Greste he would push for a pardon.

A spokeswoman for Canada’s foreign affairs department, Rachna Mishra, reportedly said Canada was pleased with the pardon and would help facilitate Fahmy’s departure. “We look forward to Mr Fahmy reuniting with his family and loved ones, and his return to Canada,” she told reporters. Fahmy gave up his Egyptian nationality during the trial in hope of being deported to Canada.

He has also distanced himself from AlJazeera, where he worked for the Englishlanguage channel, accusing the network of placing him and his colleagues in danger, lying about the channel’s legal status in Egypt and displaying editorial bias in favour of Islamists. He is suing the network for damages in a Canadian court. Al Jazeera denies the claim.

17

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

Nigerian News

Governor Aregbesola Charges Nigerian Universities On Entrepreneurial Skills

The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has charged universities in Nigeria to turn out graduates that will be able to stand on their own in terms of entrepreneurial skills.

The governor made this charge on Tuesday at the 10th anniversary, 7th convocation and Honorary Award ceremony of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun.

He noted that graduates of Nigerian universities should be one that cannot afford to fail the country in the area of development.

The governor held that the Redeemer’s University must not relent in its rating as one of the leading lights in the area of research in Africa.

Advising the graduating students, the governor noted that education is the greatest weapon against poverty, urging them to employ everything positive at their disposal for the development of their different professions as they move into the competitive world.

Aregbesola also admonished them not to forget what they have learnt while in school, saying the graduating students having acquired the character and education needed to succeed in life, they must all aim for the tops.

He said, “You cannot pass through this institution and fail in life, passing through a university is the ultimate after secondary education, you must acquire the character and the courage to succeed in life.

“You must put to use all that you have acquired during your period of stay in this school, you must strive to be an employer of labour, the entrepreneurial skills among other things must be put to use for the development of the nation,” the governor stressed.

Aregbesola urged the graduating students to be good ambassadors of their various communities, states, Nigeria and the entire world, stressing that they should continue to showcase to the world the virtues of patriotism, love, peace, professionalism and nationalism in all their endeavours.

Earlier in his speech, the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo admonished the graduating students to imbibe the ultimate spirit of truthfulness, God fearing, credibility and openness, adding that in as much as these exemplary qualities are embedded in them, they would surely succeed and triumph in life.

Osinbajo who described education as light that illuminates darkness stated that the road to fulfillment in life is characterized with the ability of one to strive for quality education.

18

The Vice president stated that the administration of President Muhamaddu Buhari led Federal Government was irrevocably determined to provide qualitative education for citizenry.

He said the current administration is committed to solve the power problem and encourage small scale businesses, stressing that their administration would improve technology and agricultural development to provide jobs opportunity for the teeming youths.

“As we are committed to the fight against. Corruption in the country, we shall equally do all we could to provide qualitative education as well as providing enabling environment for Nigerian people to survive.

“Our Government is currently partnering with 7 states to increase food production in order to make this country to be self-sufficient and sustainable through massive agricultural produce”, Osinbajo affirmed.

In his goodwill message, the General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enock Adeboye implored the graduating students to always remains focused, determined and resilient in all their endeavours as they are transiting to the new world of fulfillment, challenging and accomplishment.

Pastor Adeboye admonished the graduating students to learn from his life as he was brought to the world through a poor parents, but remained determined to achieve greatness and success in life.

In his earlier remark, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Redeemer’s University, Pastor Tokunbo Adesanya said the university is excelling well beyond expectations as it continuously placing emphasis on academic excellence and the nurturing of personal values and ethics that have become the standards of communities, government and corporate Nigeria.

He said within a decade of existence, the University has made a remarkable contribution to intellectual and professional capacities, and to the very high skilled needs of the economy, adding that the university has made considerable investments in research as research remains vital to national and global prosperity.

Pastor Adesanya said University must strive to become wells from which imagination, invention and creativity are drawn to the benefit of society, where the future leaders learn the lessons that universities teach, where students’ discoveries and innovations will be the source of national prosperity in the coming centuries.

He urged the graduating students to always remember the sacrifices and commitment attached to their success as they hold

the key to the door of their future professional triumphant.

“As you are graduating today, you have become part of elite group of the graduate population of Nigeria and beyond that have obtained academic and career focused qualifications in a higher education environment that mirrors the democratic ideals of our world.

“As students, you have had the honour of studying at a fine university that deservedly commands an enviable academic reputation as you have learnt the valuable lesson of rethinking education in all of its facets and you have experienced independence in decision-making that has made you found yourselves immersed in a multicultural environment that challenged and inspired you.

“For our part, we have tried to impart the values required in you, but there is need for you all to form friendship strong enough to last you a lifetime, gain skill sets that you will build on continuously and take away unforgettable experiences and memories.

“This convocation is a reflection of your achievement, but you should always remember the sacrifices that others have made to ensure that you stand here today.

As future leaders, I trust that the leadership qualities that you demonstrate in the future ascribe to the highest levels of academic distinction, academic freedom and accountability; values that strive to promote integrity and respect for diversity and human dignity”, Pastor Adesanya stated.

Highlights of the ceremony was the awards to Prof. Folagbade Olajide Aboaba, a renowned academic and Engineer and the wife of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Mrs. Foluke Adeboye who bagged Honorary Doctor of Science and Doctor in Science management respectfully.

Dignitaries at the convocation ceremony included the Vice-President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Deputy Governor of Osun, Mrs. Grace Titi-Tomori, the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Bishop Francis Wale Oke among others.

Vice President Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori and Pro-Chancellor/ Chairman of Council, Pastor, Tokunbo Adesanya, during the 10th Anniversary/7th Convocation of Redeemer’s University, at University Auditorium, Ede State of Osun

Vice President Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (2nd right); Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (3rd left); Pro-Chancellor/Chaiman of Council, Pastor, Tokunbo Adesanya (2nd left), Vice Chancellor, Professor Debo Adeyewa (left) and the Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Adesola Lawal, during the 10th Anniversary/7th Convocation of Redeemer’s University, at University Auditorium, Ede State of Osun

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

Nigerian News

By Olubunmi Omoogun

Owo, the city endowed with great and influential personalities such as the politician and educationalist, His excellency, former civilian governor of old Ondo state Adekunle Ajasin and a first class king the Olowo of Owo kingdom, Oba Olateru Olagbegi whose palace is arguably the biggest in West Africa. Owo, today is clamouring for that political status it deserves.

As people of Ondo state anxiously await the Local Government elections to happen sometime in December 2015 as pronounced by His excellency, governor Olusegun Rahman Mimiko. One person that has garnered a wealth of experience in Local government matters, administration and procedures is Lawal Opeyemi Kehinde.

By virtue of his role as a former Local government Vice Chairman, party chairman in the Local government and now Chairman, interim committee of Owo Local government in Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria, Lawal has traversed the whole Owo division and is sufficiently armed himself with a posterior knowledge of the political landscape and terrain of the ancient and historical city of Owo and how to take the Owo city back to the great height it had enjoyed during the Action Group (AG)/Chief Adekunle Ajasin era.

And saw it even better by bringing in new ideas of governance.

Lawal Opeyemi Kehinde is also widely acknowledged as an exceptional grassroots campaigner and mobilizer and a man of deep religious faith.

His posture so far has ensured the creation of a credible template for good governance and the commencement of people friendly programmes even few weeks in office.

Being a democrat, his focus will be the strengthening of the Local government area and seek to ensure that he positively impact as many lives as possible. Beyond the Local government, he is a rising star in

“I want to put Owo back to the centre of Politics in Western region and Nigeria at large”, says Hon. Lawal Opeyemi Kehinde

Hon. Lawal Opeyemi Kehinde

the political firmament of Ondo state whose views have become increasingly relevant in the state. He wants to deliver ‘life more abundant’ to the common people as he possesses a vision and passion to make the Local government work for all. He spoke to AfricanVoice’s Olubunmi Omoogun on sundry issues: AFV: Owo, in yoruba parlance incidentally means respectful, how significant is this to the people of Owo as a great city?

Hon. Lawal: Owo is an ancient City and generally refers to as Land of honour the People are generally hospitable and love Visitors Action Group Party of our late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo was founded in Owo and nothing politically the Western region does today without starting from Owo. So Owo is a fantastic city with political history.

AFV: You are a son of a prominent Owo industrialist, in fact, a one time doyen of cocoa industry in Ondo state and during his time he was known for his philanthropic gestures across board, was he involved in

politics at his time?

Hon Lawal: My late father was a big time trader in Owo he traded Cocoa and other commodities and equally traded in Ram, Goat and food stuffs.

He was indeed a follower of Pa Adekunle Ajasin and Pa Obafemi Awolowo, he seriously believed in their ideologies but not necessarily a Politician.

He was disciplined and forthright.

AFV: You have been a strong political figure in Owo polity and you are not new to grassroot politics in your constituency.

What are your thoughts on the forthcoming local government elections in Ondo state?

Hon Lawal: I think it will worth while if Our amiable governor can conduct LG Election to usher in democratic norms and have democratically elected Officers at the Local Govt level.

AFV: What are your plans for the people of Owo? Hon. Lawal: I want to put Owo back to the centre of Politics in western

region and Nigeria at large I have intention of building a befitting Town Hall in Oke Mapo as one there was built in d 1950s before I was born. It will be nice to bring back the aesthetics of a modern town hall. The Present Owo Town Hall was built same time as Oke Mapo in Ibadan so its really old.

I like to build a Public Cementary for our People as its becoming out fashion and unhygienic for our People to keep burying their People at home. I equally like to engage in capacity building for our graduates unemployed so that they can do something on their own instead of continuing to wait for white collar Job that is no longer available.

AFV: What are your thoughts regarding the new government at the centre in Abuja?

Hon Lawal: We will keep praying for them to succeed because whatever step they take will affect us one way or the other and they should stop playing Politics but embrace good governance as they now should belong to everybody and be fair to all. God guide their steps.

19

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South Africa’s class ready for Chile 2015 It is said that a good coach needs to understand his players, and former teacher and psychology graduate Molefi Ntseki certainly fits that bill. FIFA.com spoke to the coach who will be in charge of the South African team at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile later this month.

When asked what playing and coaching experience he has, Molefi Ntseki rattles off dates, clubs and places as if he was reading them from his CV. But he is not. He simply knows them off by heart. It is an indication of his coaching philosophy: Everything is done with meticulous planning. “It comes from my teaching background. That is how I obtained my teaching diploma. The methodology and the way to present to players comes from a teaching background and from what I learnt when I was doing my coaching courses.”

Ntseki, whose hopes of taking his own playing career to notable heights were scuppered by injury, was teaching a vernacular language (Sesotho) and working as a guidance counsellor when he decided to resign in 2002 and concentrate on football coaching. He went to Germany for a course and has not looked back, combining his former life working with youngsters with his love of football. “Knowing the methods of teaching, having gone through learning those stages, it is a very similar challenge with a football team. I don’t miss

Jubilent South African U17s

teaching because I am really still doing it.

Just football teaching, which people happen to call coaching.”

Facing challenges When he took over the South African U-17 team in April last year, Ntseki faced numerous challenges, but he pinpoints the players’ self-esteem as the biggest hurdle.

“South Africa had many very talented players, but they did not believe in themselves.

They gave opponents too much respect.”

It was something that he started to work on straight away as the team embarked on the difficult journey toward Chile. “During the qualifiers for the African champi-

onships, we kept on saying that we were going to the finals in Niger. And then once we were there, we changed our goal to be getting to Chile, and we focused on that.

And in that way we came to the belief that this could be the team to take South Africa to the World Cup.” In Niger the team drew with Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, and they secured the tense victory they needed against Cameroon to qualify for the semi-finals, which ensured qualification for Chile.

In the semi-finals, they managed to beat bitter rivals Nigeria and although they lost the championship match against Mali,

Ntseki was satisfied with the performance.

“It was a great feeling, not only for me as an individual, but for the whole country.

Everybody rallied behind us, and it was a very exciting moment to see the team qualify for the U-17s for the first time.”

In Chile, South Africa will face Korea DPR, Costa Rica and Russia in Group E. “We are expecting very strong, very organised teams that will dig deep to win, and so we will go to Chile with a lot of respect for every country. Just as all the countries that have qualified should also have a lot of respect for us.”

With a target of getting out of the group, Ntseki says anything can happen once a team gets into the knockout rounds. “By then we will have seen what the other teams are doing, and we will have improved. Every game you play becomes an experience on its own, and by the time you get to the fourth game we should have an excellent understanding of what we can achieve.”

He said that it is likely that the nucleus of players who took the team to Chile will make up the squad and he is confident that not only can they do well in Chile but that they can also help the country develop further. “This team is a foundation for the future. Just in terms of having played at the African championships and the World Cup, they will have gained a lot of experience, and they will be coming to a good age for the 2022 World Cup. So yes, the future looks very bright for our country.”

Oliseh names 19 for CHAN qualiflier Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Sunday Oliseh, has released a list of 19 home -based professionals who will start a camp in Port Harcourt on Monday, ahead of a 4th African Nations Championship final qualifying fixture against Burkina Faso next month.

Top joint-scorer in the on-going Nigeria Professional Football League season, Tunde Adeniji, is joined by Warri Wolves’ ace Gbolahan Salami, Solomon Kwambe, Idris Aloma, Usman Mohammed, Ezekiel Bassey and Bature Yaro.

There are also goalkeepers David Obiazor and Okemute Odah, defenders Kalu Orji and Jamiu Alimi, former junior international midfielder Ifeanyi Mathew and forwards Dayo Ojo and Godwin Obaje.

All the invited players are expected to report in Port Harcourt on Monday, 4th October, ahead of the first leg clash with the Etalons at the Adokiye Amiesieamaka Stadium on Sunday, 18th October. The return leg comes up in Ouagadougou on 22

Sunday, 25th October.

All six home -based professionals who will be in Belgium with the full senior squad for the two international friendlies against DR Congo and Cameroon, on 8th and 11th October respectively, will join the 19 players on their return to the country on Monday, 12th October.

These are goalkeepers Femi Thomas (Enyimba FC) and Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Sunshine Stars), defenders Chima Akas (Sharks FC) and Austin Oboroakpo (Abia Warriors), midfielder Paul Onobi (Sunshine Stars) and forward Prince Aggreh (Sunshine Stars).

THE LIST: Goalkeepers: David Obiazor (Heartland FC); Okemute Odah (Warri Wolves) Defenders: Kalu Orji (Enugu Rangers); Solomon Kwambe (Warri Wolves); Idris Aloma (Enyimba FC); Samson Gbadebo (Lobi Stars); Jamiu Alimi (Shooting Stars); Stephen Eze (Sunshine Stars) Midfielders: Abdulrazaq Abdul (Enyimba FC); Ifeanyi Mathew (El-Kanemi

Coach Sunday Oliseh

Warriors); Usman Mohammed (FC Taraba); Bature Yaro (Nasarawa United); Osas Okoro (Enugu Rangers) Forwards: Ezekiel Bassey (Enyimba FC); Gbolahan Salami (Warri Wolves);

Godwin Obaje (Wikki Tourists); Tunde Adeniji (Sunshine Stars); Bright Onyedikachi (FC IfeanyiUbah); Dayo Ojo (Sunshine Stars)

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015

Scholes slams City star Toure as ‘a liability’ Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes believes Yaya Toure’s performances lie at the heart of Manchester City’s struggles in Europe – branding the Ivory Coast star “a liability”.

Toure has helped to inspire City to two Premier League titles since moving from Barcelona in 2010, also scoring in FA Cup and League Cup final triumphs.

The 32-year-old, who won the Champions League playing as an emergency centre-back in the Barcelona team that beat Scholes’ United 2-0 in Rome in 2009, has largely failed to scale similar heights in European competitions while at the Etihad Stadium.

City beat Bayern Munich and Roma in consecutive games to salvage their groupstage campaign last season as Toure sat out following a red-card received in a 2-1 home loss to CSKA Moscow.

His return could not inspire a last-16 success against eventual winners Barca and he was on the losing side once more when City began their current Champions League tilt with a 2-1 Group D defeat against Juventus.

It may damage our chances of getting the perfect ten [wins], but I’m prepared to accept that. I won’t be sacrificing the game in any shape or form, but I would argue the changes I make in Lithuania could make us stronger because certain players are confident.”

There was no place, however, in Hodgson’s 24-man squad for Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, even though he has recovered from injury. Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand is recalled to the squad in place of Luke Shaw, who broke his leg in two places playing for Manchester United against PSV last month.

John Stones is also back in favour and could add to his haul of six caps for his country. The Everton defender is joined in the party by Manchester United centre-back Phil Jones, who has recovered from a blood clot in his calf. Jones’ United team-mate Michael Carrick is included in the squad for the double-header despite recent injury concerns.

England host Estonia at Wembley on Friday 9 October before they travel to Lithuania for their final qualifier three days later.

Roy Hodgson’s side have already qualified for France 2016 after winning all eight of their matches so far.

Tottenham forward Son Heung-

min is a major doubt for Thursday’s Europa League clash with

Monaco and this weekend’s Pre-

mier League trip to Swansea City with a foot injury.

The South Korea international has made an impressive start to his time at White Hart Lane with three goals in his first four appearances in all competitions.

However, he looks set to miss at least the next two fixtures after suffering a foot problem during Tottenham’s 4-1 victory over Manchester City last Saturday.

YAYA Toure

Manuel Pellegrini’s men will look to atone for that false start at Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday but Scholes, speaking in his role as a pundit for BT Sport, was unimpressed with the manager’s team selection and suggested he would have picked defensive midfielder Fernando over Toure.

“I don’t think City’s problem is scoring

“Heung-Min Son sustained a foot ingoals, they have goals all over the pitch,” he said.

“In big European games, Toure has been a liability.

“He is one of the best midfielders going forward but he switches off defensively.

“I thought Pellegrini might have gone with Fernando but it’s a case of City not changing anything [in Europe] again.”

Nigerian-born Bamidele Alli makes England squad Continued from back page

Tottenham lose Son to foot injury

The 18-year-old youngster just like Victor Moses, Omasone Aluko and Shola Ameobi, had played for England at the junior level where he represented the country in the U-16, U-17 and U-19 categories, but despite these, he still has a feeling that he would someday play for his fatherland, Nigeria. Alli, has been a very reliable player for MK Dons helping to bang in the goals in crucial games.

He want to do the same thing for Nigeria playing for the national men’s soccer team, but just like other prospective young soccer stars who want to wear the green and white colours of Nigeria in international games, the MK Dons star is waiting on the fringe to be tagged along by the Nigeria Football Federation. Already, as the new president of the football federation in Nigeria extends his tentacles to woe Nigerian-born soccer stars across the world with special interest on players based in England, Bamidele Jermaine Alli stands a better chance to don the Nigerian jersey.

Like Omatsone Aluko and Victor Anichebe, the Tottenham Hotspur star if convinced to join the legion of Nigerian foreign stars, would also start from either the Under-20 or Under-23 level. Former England and Nigeria international, John Fashanu, it was gathered has taken it upon himself to convince Dele Alli to

embrace the Nigerian federation when they demand for his services to play for the country.

Fashanu is optimistic Alli would give the NFF a consideration to switch nationality if they present a very strong case. The 18year-old England youth international, who signed for Tottenham Hotspurs for £5million from Dons in January, has had an ankle injury which he suffered in a 1-0 victory at Colchester United on February 17.

England squad Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke City), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley) Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton) Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) Forwards: Danny Ings (Liverpool), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

jury in a challenge during Saturday’s win v Man City and has spent the past few days being reviewed,” the club posted on Twitter.

“Our medical staff will monitor Son’s progress during his rehabilitation in order to determine when he will be fit to return to training.”

Liverpool tried to buy Sane - Heldt Liverpool chased Schalke starlet

Leroy Sane in the close-season, according to the Bundesliga club’s general manager Horst Heldt.

Germany youth international Sane, 19, already has three league goals in seven matches this campaign.

Brendan Rodgers’ men wanted the teenager in the transfer window, with reports a bid in the region of €15million was offered.

Ajax have also been interested in Sane in the past, according to Heldt.

“There was one or another prestigious club that contacted us,” he said.

“Liverpool was ready to pay money.”

Heldt added: “These offers didn’t at all interest us or the player. I am totally unagitated concerning this player.”

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Friday, 2 October - Thursday, 8 October 2015 ISSUE 599

WWW.AFRICANVOICEONLINE.CO.UK

South Africa’s class ready for Chile 2015 SEE PAGE 22

NIGERIAN-BORN DELE ALLI MAKES ENGLAND SQUAD

Bamidele Alli

By Agency Reporter

Roy Hodgson has handed first England call-ups to Dele Alli and Danny Ings for the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania. Alli has been in fine form for Tottenham Hotspur this season since arriving from MK Dons, and Ings has scored

two goals in his last three games for Liverpool.

Hodgson said: “Danny is someone we followed very closely at Burnley last year, but didn’t have a chance to bring him in because of the U-21s - we never felt we could rob them to have him with us - but now is a good opportunity to bring him in.

“Dele is, I suppose, the more offbeat one in the sense he’s so young and has only just broken into the Tottenham

team, but we’re very impressed with what we’ve seen. It’s a good opportunity with so many midfielders away through injury.

Who knows where he will end up? He’s a very exciting talent.”

Turning to Sturridge, Hodgson said: “We can survive without him and are hoping he comes to us in November super-fit, fully recovered, and in great form.

“I think it’s a strong squad. The game in Lithuania is the one where, if any experimentation takes place, it’ll be there.

Continued on page 23

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