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Business leaders endorse Jonathan Ï 6ƆôƋƋ ƆƐ ơƠƠü ƒ ƐƆ ƈ Ƒƅ ƈè ƕ LƑô ƖƑ

Emmanuel Ogbonnaya & Daniel Jolly, Ƒƅ ƈ

ÏÏÏThe Corporate Forum,

a group of Nigeria’s eminent business leaders, on Monday, formally endorsed the candidature of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for a second tenure.

In Bauchi State, the president was assured of 100 percent vote next Saturday.

Giving the endorsement at a press conference held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, the business leaders said they took the decision CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Chairman, Corporate Forum (CF), Otunba Funsho Lawal (middle); Director, Amb. Greg Mbadiwe (left) and another Director, Chief Francis Kudayah at a press conference endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for the forthcoming presidential election held in Lagos… on Monday Photo: BOLAJI OLASUNKANMI

INSIDE

Life&

TIMES Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Tonye Garrick

Alluring and musically gifted L2 Traditional wear revolutionised P

Buhari pledges to make Naira at par with Dollar

Obama canvasses peaceful elections in Nigeria 25 Ï ^ ƅƅƑ Ɔ ^#^ Ƈ ƍƆ Ɨƈ MơƐƏ ƐƆ ƅ ƌƍ ƈ Court stops troops deployment for polls

6

OKPEKPE

XT Exclusive

BALOTELLI

RACE WINNERS TO RECEIVE $75,000

ANGERS MAN UNITED FANS X8

Val Okara Owerri

X7

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

ÏÏÏNigerians

agonising over the crashing value of the naira relative to the dollar may soon have cause CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Leaving APC has freed my conscience – Amaechi’s Dep.

L4

P

BA GAR S VICTORY DREAM AT FIFA U-20 Liverpool

5

X2

WORLD CUP

Mignolet

plot £19.5m sure of move for Reds

Yarmolenko X8

recovery X8

2

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Politics Page Three

3

s

Editorial

Water, water everywhere...

E

very March 22, the international community marks the World Water Day. The day has been observed since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed it as a day for sensitisation of the public on the critical issues of water and how it affects humanity. This year’s theme, “Water and Sustainable Development”, is intended to highlight its role in the sustainable development agenda. Although around 71 percent of the earth surface is covered with it, fresh water constitutes only 2.53 percent of the total amount. Surprisingly, most of it exists in the North and South Poles as ice.

The real available freshwater resources in the world comprise only 0.2 percent.

As a result, freshwater is becoming more and more valuable following the increase of population.

From food and energy security to human and environmental health, water contributes to improvements in social well-being and inclusive growth, affecting the livelihoods of billions. The importance of water in human existence cannot be overestimated. It is a necessity for health, sanitation, industries, agriculture and maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Yet, it is being depleted at a rate never ever seen since the beginning of civilisation.

Everywhere, groundwater table is declining at alarming rate due to over extraction. This has put people to arsenic threat. Today, more than one billion people are exposed to drinking arsenic contaminated water, especially in poor countries, while overdependence on groundwater, as a source of safe water,

is accelerating drying up of natural aquifers.

According to United Nations, one million people move into cities every week due to the impacts of climate change and water scarcity. The projections show that another 2.5 billion people will move to urban centres by 2050.

In cities, pollution and continuing urban migration aggravate the problem.

Also, in the countryside, insufficient irrigation continues to affect agricultural production, while in impoverished communities, the lack of access to clean water even for washing hands has been a factor in poor health especially among children. In Nigeria, over 60 million people lack access to improved water sources, even as more than 120 million lack access to basic sanitation.

The country still suffers periodic water borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhea due to inadequate water and sanitation facilities. Even studies on worst-case scenarios have warned that wars between countries will be fought over fresh water supplies.

Therefore there is the need for policies to promote water conservation and support wastewater treatment and recycling. Alarmingly, the problem of water shortage is getting worse due to irregular rainfall attributed to climate change and a global water demand that is projected to soar by 55 percent within 15 years.

It is time Nigeria and the international community reflects this urgency as time is running out. Definitely, there is need to do whatever is necessary to secure the world’s water supply and prevent a calamitous new norm.

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Pirate radio: Buck up, NBC Sam Nzeh

ÏÏÏThe

existence of a pirate radio, Radio Chanji, whose signals have for some time now been beamed across some northern states apart from being a national embarrassment, has once again shown the extent some Nigerians and their foreign collaborators are willing to go in subverting the laws of the land for personal purposes.

Last week, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) confirmed the existence of the illegal

broadcast outfit which broadcasts in Hausa from undisclosed locations and operates with 500kw transmitters on 11720 kHz on the 25 meter band shortwave.

The existence of the pirate radio which was brought to the limelight by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last week, has no doubt, further pitted the party against the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) with the former accusing the latter of being behind the radio and planning to use it to announce false results after the elections are held, incite their supporters to kill as well as subvert the government.

Though the APC has dis-

Words On Marble :

dailytimesng

tanced itself from the pirate radio, many commend the PDP for drawing the attention of Nigerians to the illegal broadcast outfit, whose mission, many allege, remains suspect.

But while the PDP and APC are free to trade words over the pirate radio, the NBC whose core mandate is to regulate and monitor broadcasting in Nigeria has not got such luxury. It should with the assistance of security agencies quickly unravel the sponsors of the radio and permanently put it off air. Those behind the radio should also be prosecuted for violating the laws of the land and embarrassing the nation.

STATEMENTS BY THOSE WHO MATTER

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Publisher

Fidelis Anosike

Group Managing Director

Editor, Standard, Archives and Special projects

Chief Commercial Officer

Deputy Editors

Noel Anosike

Doyin Awomosu

Group Managing Editor Gabriella Osamor

Editor

Yinka Olujimi

Tunji Okegbola

Yemi Ogunsola Sam Nzeh

Bureau Chief, Northern Operations Celestine Okafor

Group News Editor

Online Editor

Editorial Page Editor

Business Editor

Segun Adio Okay Osuji

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Adetayo Adelaja Emmanuel Ogbonnaya

Head ICT (Shared Services) Banjo Ayorinde

Head Graphics King Ododoru

The opinions expressed in the articles published in this newspaper are solely those of the authors. Articles may be reproduced, provided that the original source is indicated.

Wole Soyinka

Philip Emeagwali

Colin Powell

I am convinced that Nigeria would have been a more highly developed country without the oil. I wished we’d never smelled the fumes of petroleum.

Nigeria is a West African nation of over 100 million energetic people. It is endowed with lots of natural resources but lacks human resources.

Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.

News 4

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Business leaders endorse Jonathan Continued from page 1 after considering the Jonathan administration’s transformative efforts in repositioning the economy.

President Jonathan had in January this year held an interactive session with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in the state.

The chairman of the Corporate Forum, Otunba Funsho Lawal, who addressed the conference, disclosed that the body had observed the various achievements of the administration and came to the conclusion that it must be supported so that the good projects that he started would continue.

“We have resolved to ask this administration to do more in or-

der to consolidate on the gains made and in asking them to do more, we therefore endorse President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for another four years,” Lawal said.

He explained that the Strategy Research Group (SRG), a unit of Corporate Forum, had been engaged in analysing data from the government and pushing it out to the public as well as the corporate community through various print and online publications on their website.

Earlier, Ambassador Greg Ozumba Mbadiwe, who also attended the press conference, noted that the January interactive session with the president was attended by major business leaders, including Alhaji Aliko Dangote,

Oba Otudeko and other industry captains.

Mbadiwe said that the interaction convinced the members that the present administration deserved a second term to complete the transformation and diversification of the country’s sources of income and revenue.

Another member of the body, Mr. Francis Kudayah, stated that the Corporate Forum was endorsing the President on the strength of the administration’s achievements, adding: “You need a focused and strategic government to succeed in making these kinds of transformation in a very short period.”

Kudayah continued: “We have seen the impact in fiscal manage-

ment reforms; financial sector reforms; pension reforms; local content reforms; job creation reforms; manufacturing reforms; agriculture reforms; housing reforms; aviation sector reforms; ports and harbour reforms; water and sanitation sector reforms; information and technology reforms; human capital reforms and education reforms”.

Other sectors he mentioned include: social development (women and youth empowerment); power reforms; trade and industry reforms; new solid minerals policy; health sector reforms; the freedom of information Act and the convening of the National Conference.

According to Kudayah, the

score card of the transformation virtually cuts across all sectors of the economy, stressing that the railway sector for example has witnessed a boost such that there is an increase from one million to five million passengers with the introduction of more trains and expanded routes linking various states and ports in the country.

He noted that the cumulative effect of these reforms has resulted in positioning Nigeria as the number one economy on the continent, by a wide margin; one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the number one destination for foreign direct investments in Africa.

“All these reforms are verifiable and some of them endorsed by international financial institutions and global rating agencies,” he said.

In his remarks, the Director General of NIIA, Prof Bola Akinterinwa, commended the Corporate Forum for helping the electorate in distinguishing between the act of voting and having a reason to vote.

Continued on page 6

L-R: Director, Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), Parminder Vir; Founder, TEEP, Tony O. Elumelu; CEO (TEEP), Reid Whitlock; and CEO and Founder of Java Foods, Zambia and Member Selection Committee TEEP, Monica Musonda during the official announcement of the selection of the first 1,000 African entrepreneurs for TEEP in Lagos… on Monday.

Buhari promises to make Naira at par with Dollar Continued from page 1 for cheer. That is, if the pledge of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is anything to go by.

Buhari has also made a passionate plea to the South-East electorate not to cast their votes for President Goodluck Jonathan on sentiments.

But a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Imo has dismissed the APC as a party doomed to fail.

Speaking during the SouthEast presidential rally of the party at Dan Anyima Stadium, Owerri, Imo State, Buhari pledged to bring the naira at par with the dollar when voted in.

“It is sad that the value of the

naira has dropped to more than N230 to one dollar; this does not speak well for the nation’s economy,’’ he said.

He urged the people to vote for APC, noting that he would also ensure that corruption was tackled headlong.

Earlier, Governor Rochas Okorocha had urged APC supporters to vote for the party’s candidates at all levels, noting that a vote for Buhari only without support from other levels would amount to nothing.

Okorocha said Buhari would address the problem of electricity, bring back the kidnapped Chibok girls and promote industrial growth.

He said Buhari was loved by the people in the region and urged them to elect him and

other APC candidates during the March 28 and April 11 general election.

Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Chinwoke Mbadinuju and former Minister of Education, Chinwe Obaji, were also formally welcomed to the APC at the rally.

The rally was attended by APC supporters from Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra, Enugu and Imo. Also on Monday, Buhari made a passionate plea to Ndigbo not to cast their votes for President Jonathan on sentiments.

Buhari, said a vote against Jonathan and the PDP would be in the best interest of Nigerians as only such action could save Nigeria from imminent collapse.

The APC presidential candidate who made the plea while ad-

APC accuses Jonathan, PDP of spending N1 trillion on hate campaigns ÏÏÏThe

dressing political and religious leaders from the South East at a Town Hall meeting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, stated that no amount of sentiment would justify the re-election of President Jonathan.

He further noted that Jonathan had already spent six years in office but lacked the vision and political will to solve the problems of corruption, insecurity and high rate of unemployment.

According to him, the economy of the country, is in a state of near-collapse because of corruption.

He said, “I am here for the second time to appeal to you that it would not be justified for the people of the South-East to vote

All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of spending N1 trillion on campaigns aimed at discrediting Major General Muhammadu Buhari.

Gen. Buhari is the candidate of the APC, while Jonathan is the flagbearer of the PDP in the coming presidential elections, The opposition party, at a press conference addressed by the director of its presidential campaign, Mallam Garba Shehu, said that the alleged sum could have been spent to better the lot of Nigerians.

“We will like to bring to your attention and that of Nigerians how the President Goodluck Jonathan led Peoples Democratic Party government is wasting one trillion Naira that belongs to Nigerian people in his self-serving and desperate bid for a re-election at all

Continued on page 6

Continued on page 6

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Polls: Ekiti Police ban street procession Gbenga Sodeunde Ado Ekiti

ÏÏÏBarely a week to the much-

All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at a Town Hall Meeting in Owerri, Imo State… on Monday

awaited March 28 presidential poll, the Ekiti State Police Command has placed embargo on street procession.

The embargo, according to the Police, was to forestall breakdown of law and order, and loss of innocent lives, as witnessed during the June 21 governorship election.

In a statement, in Ado Ekiti, on

Shell to generate $50m from Afam VI power plant Tayo Adelaja

ÏÏÏShell

Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) and its joint venture partners are to generate about $50 million from the SPDC’s Afam Vl power plant.

The Afam VI power plant began generating electricity, fed by natural gas from the Okoloma gas plant in October 2008.

The power plant began producing over 400 MW to the national grid, via the open cycle phase and has attained a generation capacity of 624 MW, through the full com-

bined-cycle phase.

The revenue generation figure, according to Shell’s Vice President, Nigeria and Gabon, Mr. Markus Droll, who spoke at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference, in Abuja, was to be realised over a ten-year period.

Gas from Okoloma also serves industrial and other users within the eastern grid network. The Afam VI power plant is an example of the integration of new technology in domestic power generation. By utilizing combined cycle technology, the plant uses 40 per-

cent less gas than open cycle plants Droll said that Shell had been at the forefront of developing a robust gas market, saying it remained the only international oil company in Nigeria with a dedicated gas distribution companyShell Nigeria Gas. The Shell boss maintained that the company remained a crucial part of the overall gas energy mix, with SPDC’s Afam Vl power plant contributing 14-20 percent of the electricity delivered into the national grid. ‘‘It is also noteworthy that the

Leaving APC has freed my conscience – Amaechi’s Dep. ÏÏÏRivers State Deputy Gover-

nor, Mr Tele Ikuru, on Monday said he was deceived by his boss, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) and called on the people of the state to fight the APC which he described as an evil at the gate.

Also, the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Felix Obuah, has boasted that about 16 members of the 32-member state House of Assembly and about 21 commissioners had abandoned Amaechi.

The duo spoke in Port Harcourt, the state capital, at a reception to formally receive the deputy governor into the PDP following his defection from APC on Sunday.

Ikuru said the content of the address announcing his resignation

from the APC was the truth and from the depth of his heart, stressing that it was with no iota of pretence.

He added that he felt relieved with his defection as he had freed his conscience.

His words: “For the first time in 18 months, I slept well yesterday (Sunday) and I woke up hale and hearty this morning (Monday).

This is because I have freed my conscience.

“What is happening in Rivers State today will haunt us if we allow it to pass. It will haunt our future generation if we allow it to go unchallenged. For the sake of posterity, we must fight the evil. If it takes our blood, so be it because there is an evil at the gate.”

He thanked the people of the state

for resisting what he described as the “devilish onslaught”, adding that it would have been disastrous if they had folded their arms.

He said by his defection, he and his supporters were “upholding what is right and true”, and thanked the Rivers PDP Governorship Candidate, Chief Nyesom Wike, for rescuing the PDP from the “devilish onslaught”.

“He (Wike) stood against oppression and said, ‘if I perish, I perish’. He stood up and said the oppression against Rivers PDP will not stand.

Ikuru stated, “I must confess, I was deceived. I was told APC is a new order but it is all lies. It is just about the ambition of one man.

God bless Nigeria; God bless Rivers State; God bless Wike.

United Nations Executive Board for Climate Change approved and registered Afam as a Clean Development Mechanism Project in 2013.This is the first such project within the Shell Group and the first registered energy efficient power generation project in Nigeria.

We should all be proud of this distinction, which affirms Shell companies ‘commitment to the environment and is also expected to generate $5 million every year to the SPDC JV over the next ten years,’’ he said.

FG to end incessant doctors’ strikes Daniel Jolly Bauchi

ÏÏÏPresident

Goodluck Jonathan has reiterated his administration’s commitment to bring ing to an end incessant strikes by doctors.

He added that government would implement policy and programmes that would improve their well-being.

Jonathan stated this while inaugurating a newly constructed 300-bed Specialist Hospital in Bauchi, on Monday.

Said Jonathan: “The present administration is doing everything possible to create a conducive working environment, where a professional neurologist, for instance, should be able to work anywhere in the country.”

5 News

Monday, by its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alberto Adeyemi, the Command said the step was taken in view of the peculiarity of the State, particularly in terms of perceived high level of political intolerance among the political class.

Adeyemi said : “Intelligence at the disposal of the Command indicates that some political parties intend to stage street processions in large numbers as part of their campaign strategies.

“Considering the peculiarity of the political situation in Ekiti State, coupled with the level of political intolerance, such street processions, if allowed, will inevitably cause conflict , chaos and breakdown of law and order with possible disastrous consequences.”

Gunmen attack UNIUYO, injure several Eno-Obong Okon Uyo

ÏÏÏThe

town campus of the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Akwa Ibom State, was on Monday thrown into disarray, following a raid of its post-graduate hostel, leaving no fewer than five persons – including a woman – injured.

The gunmen, according to the victims, stormed the hostel at about 1.00a.m., ransacking the entire 20 rooms and made away with over 10 laptops, 20 mobile phones, cash and other personal belongings of the graduate students.

“Some of us were deeply asleep after reading, while some of our colleagues were still working on their dissertations. Suddenly, we heard a hard kick on the fragile doors to the hostel.

“Next thing was a group of armed men pointing guns and ordering everyone to remain calm with faces downward throughout the operation, which lasted more than an hour”, one of the postgraduate students told our correspondent.

“The gunmen took away my new phone, cash and my laptops containing essential documents including part of my dissertations and research work that I have been working on since the last five years”, he lamented.

Narrating her ordeal, one of the students, whose head was injured with a gun butt, said the robbers made away with her research materials stored in her laptops and other personal effects including cash.

News 6

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Court stops deployment of soldiers for election Peter Fowoyo

ÏÏÏJustice

Ibrahim Buba of a High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, granted an order of perpetual injunction restraining President Goodluck Jonathan and the Service Chiefs from deploying soldiers for the forth-coming general elections.

Justice Buba held that they cannot deploy soldiers without the approval of the National Assembly.

A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, had approached the court to declare that deployment of soldiers for elections is unconstitutional.

Joined in the suit were President

Jonathan, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Air Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The plaintiff said the Federal Government’s deployment of soldiers during the governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states ran contrary to the Constitution.

Justice Buba upheld the arguments by the plaintiff ’s counsel, Mr. Seni Adio, adding that even President Jonathan does not have the power to deploy soldiers at a whim.

In his ruling, Justice Buba said any election that is militarised

through deployment of soldiers where there is no insurrection is “anti-democratic,” and not in consonance with constitutional democracy and civil rule.

The judge dismissed the defendants’ objections to the court’s jurisdiction and to the plaintiff ’s locus standi, saying Hon. Gbajabiamila had the legal right to demand an interpretation of the constitution by the court.

The judge disagreed with the defendants who said soldiers were only deployed to ensure peaceful elections, holding that the army was not needed for such civil duties.

Justice Buba said he was bound

L-R: Director, Dams Operations, Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR), Mr. Reginald Ikepeawujo; National President, Association of Water Well Drilling Rigs Owners Practitioners, Mr. Micheal Ale; Permanent Secretary, FMWR, Mr. Musa Istifanus and Director Planning Research and Statistics, FMWR, Mr. Wakil Adamu, during the World Water Day in Abuja… on Monday Photo: Temitope Balogun

I’ll bring Naira at par with Dollar – Buhari Continued from page 4 President Jonathan back to power based on sentiment.”

He added that the PDP had failed to deliver on its promises for the past 16 years and if voted into power for another four years the country would totally collapse.

“No security, no jobs for our youths and today the naira has terribly depreciated to a terrible state. It is in the best interest of Nigerians and Ndigbo to sack the Peoples Democratic Party at all levels.”

Governor of Lagos state, Mr Babatunde Fashola, in his remarks, said that President Jonathan’s touted performance was largely driven by propaganda and deliberately designed to mislead the people.

He dismissed as false, claims

by the Jonathan administration of having created over two million jobs and constructed about 25,000 kilometres of roads across the country.

Also speaking, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State alleged that the PDP had perfected plans to rig the election by changing all the heads of the security agencies in the state and charged the people to resist any attempt to manipulate the results of the polls.

“If the PDP thinks that they can rig the elections by changing all the heads of the security agencies in the state, then they don’t know what they are up against because the people of the state are battle- ready to resist them against any manipulation.”

But responding, the PDP dismissed APC as a party doomed to fail. “Okorocha is aware that

he has failed the people of Imo State and would be issued his well-deserved red card on the 11th of April and the honourable thing to do is to begin to pack out of Government House and not to incite the youths and his thugs against constituted authorities.

If he wants our children to tout for him in the election, he should also bring out his children on the streets. 2011 was a political error that would not happen again.”

The former publicity secretary of the PDP, Chief Enyinnaya Onuegbu, said in a statement.

Present at the event were General Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon . Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi; Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola; Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Chris Ngige, Chief John Oyegun among others.

by the recent Court of Appeal decision which nullified soldiers’ deployment for elections, which he quoted extensively, adding

that he was also persuaded by the judgment of Justice Mohammed Rilwan of the Federal High Court, Sokoto.

PDP spent N1 trillion on hate campaigns, says APC Continued from page 4 cost in the midst of grinding poverty his party and government has subjected Nigerians to in the last 16 years,” Shehu stated.

He continued: “It is unconscionable and height of betrayal of public trust that a government and a President who should preside over the husbandry and judicious use of our national patrimony is superintending over its massive squander in a futile attempt to stop the idea of change.”

Noting that the PDP had “laboriously and wantonly” spent huge sums on print, broadcast and social media campaigns against Buhari, the APC stated: “An average cost of a wrap-around in Tier 1 and Tier 2 newspapers in Nigeria is between N15 million to N20 million and the Jonathan campaign buys average of five wrap around

and front pages in a day in the last three months, coupled with the hundreds of billions that have been spent on negative TV exposures on AIT, NTA and other television and radio stations across the country.”

It alleged that the President had been criss-crossing the country, “giving an average of N50 million each to traditional rulers, most especially in the South West and the Northern parts of Nigeria.”

It alleged that the President’s campaign money is currently being shipped to the North, adding: “Letters in English and Hausa backed by millions in cash are being dispatched to willing rulers in the region. Religious leaders, trade unions, youths organisations, professional bodies, entertainers are not ruled out of the money sharing jamboree of President Jonathan.”

Business leaders endorse Jonathan Continued from page 4 “The Corporate Forum is saying that we endorse and are also giving reasons that clearly show that with President Jonathan, we are very consciously advancing democracy. The critical point now is to take the better choice. Without mincing words, we should commend the Corporate Forum for giving us these research materials to ponder on,” he said.

The President was assured of 100 per cent vote in Bauchi state.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Ahmadu A. Muazu gave the assurance on Monday during a PDP North- east stakeholders meeting held at the multi-purpose hall in Bauchi State. Muazu described the president as a visionary leader who has all the needed qualities to move the country forward.

He said that the President has transformed various sectors of the economy that were hitherto dead.

He called on the electorate to vote for the PDP in order to enjoy positive change.

On education, the National Chairman noted that of the six

states in the North east, only the four PDP states have both state and federal universities.

He therefore called on the electorate in Borno and Yobe states to vote for the PDP to continue enjoying the dividends of democracy.

The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to bringing to an end, the incessant strikes by doctors in the country.

He pledged to implement policies that will improved the wellbeing of doctors.

Jonathan stated this while he was commissioning a newly constructed 300-bed Specialist Hospital in the state.

He said: “The present administration is doing everything possible to create a conducive working environment where a professional Neurologist should be able to work anywhere in the country.”

He also commended Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda for embarking on such a giant project that had direct bearing on the people in the state.

Jonathan described the PDP as a party that had been delivering dividends of democracy to the electorate in the country.

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

7 News

ECOWAS chairman, Jonathan meet over polls Egena Egena, Abuja

ÏÏÏBarely five days to the presi-

dential election, Chairman of Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States and Ghanaian President, John Draman Mahama, on Monday, held a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan and other stakeholders at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Speaking to State House correspondents after a closed-door

NUJ president commends INEC over card reader machines Victor Jibrin Kaduna

ÏÏÏThe

President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mohammed Garba, has applauded the use of card readers introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the rescheduled March 28 and April 11 elections.

Speaking on Monday in Kaduna, at a one day workshop, Garba, who is also the President, Federation of African Journalists described, the card reader by the electoral management, as an innovation that would enhance the credibility of election, stressing that the system will eliminate rigging.

The workshop tagged “Media Role in Making the 2015 General Election Violence Free’ was organized by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kaduna State chapter, with a view to refreshing the knowledge of working journalists in the state on election reporting.

Recalling that rigging of the 2011 election, led to the post-election violence, he opined that with the use of card reader in this election, the issue of rigging is virtually eliminated, thereby reducing the incidence of electoral violence.

Groups petition Ambode, Agbaje over Lagos water privatisation

meeting, Mahama called on politicians to ensure a violence-free election, and admonished them to accept the wishes of the people in good faith.

The Ghanaian President, who declared ECOWAS support for a free, fair and violence-free poll in Nigeria, noted that Nigeria is very important to the ECOWAS region.

He added that the country’s safety would guarantee safety and security in ECOWAS, thus the need to ensure that Nigeria

continues to be stable.

“As you know, Nigeria is a very important member of ECOWAS. The largest economy, the largest nation in the ECOWAS region and so Nigeria’s safety and security, is the safety and security of the whole of ECOWAS region and so, I stand on behalf of all the Presidents of ECOWAS, and wish that all Nigerians will come out and express their votes and their votes would count towards electing who becomes the next leader of this country.”

He described the election as “critical for Nigeria and that it would reassure the whole world that Nigeria is a democratic nation, which also upholds the rule of law and that the country is committed to tenets of good governance.

“As you are aware, our sub-region this year, has five countries that are going through elections and ECOWAS has been involved in ensuring that this elections are held in a peaceful and transparent environment”.

Jonathan

Jonathan launches Development Bank of Nigeria Egena Egena Abuja

Drought: Nigeria donates food items to Namibia Lateef Ibrahim Abuja

ÏÏÏThe

Federal Government has donated various food materials/commodities to the victims of drought that ravaged Namibia between 2013 and 2014.

The food materials, which consist of 300 metric tons of rice, 700 metric tons of maize and three metric tons of fish fillets and powder, according to a statement by the Head of Chancery, Nige-

ria High Commission in Namibia, Barr. Dayo Adeoye, were all produced locally in Nigeria.

While presenting the materials to the government of the Republic of Namibia few days ago in Windhoek, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, explained that the donation was based on the recommendation of the Nigeria High Commission in Windhoek, Namibia.

It drew the attention of the

Federal Government to the drought that ravaged Namibia in 2013/2014, and which led to the death of human beings and livestock due to unavailability of food.

Dr Adesina, who was represented by the Nigerian High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia, Dr. Biodun Olorunfemi, expressed Nigeria’s solidarity with the people of Namibia on the occurrence of the “unpreventable natural disaster” in the country.

Ghanaian President, John Mahama (left) and President Goodluck Jonathan during a visit of Mahama to Jonathan in Abuja… on Monday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

Lara Adejoro

ÏÏÏA

coalition of advocacy groups, on Monday, wrote the governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode and Mr Jimi Agbaje, to state clearly

their positions on the issue of water privatisation in the state.

Made up of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Public Services International for Africa and Arab Countries, Corporate Accountability International and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service

Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), the coalition said they were worried that the Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC), with the support of the World Bank and private water corporations, is pushing very hard for a dangerous privatisation of water in Lagos.

The copy of the letter made

ÏÏÏPresident

Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, performed the official launch of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN).

The bank is expected to provide long term loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

The Federal Executive Council had recently approved a multidonor credit facilities from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, Germany and French Development Agency in the sums of 500 million US dollars, 450 million US dollars, 200 million US dollars and 130 million US dollars for the establishment of the bank.

Speaking at the launch, President Jonathan stated that the inability of the existing developmental institutions in the country, including the Bank of Industry (BoI) and other commercial banks to satisfy the funding needs of the MSMEs, necessitated the establishment of the DBN. According to him, the small and medium enterprises have always been the backbone of the nation’s economy, pointing out that the sector has never had the opportunity of accessing cheap funds for its development.

The President disclosed that the nation had over 17 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which employ over 32 million people while contributing over 45% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

available to Daily Times states: “Since 1979, the Lagos State government has obtained loans from the World Bank, French government, and international donor agencies to fund water supply expansion schemes, such as the iju, Adiyan, and Ishasi Waterworks, as well as expansion of distribution networks.

8

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Politics

s

SOKOTO INEC

We will use NURTW members for polls

Jega

Malam Muhammad Musa is the Head of Voters Education and Publicity of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) in Sokoto State. In this Interview with NASIRU SULEIMAN in his office at the INEC, State Headquarters, Sokoto, he spoke on the readiness of the commission among other issues. Excerpts: The elections is here, how prepared is INEC for the election in Sokoto?

Yes, we are 100% prepared,

even before the postponement of the election, we have already recruited staff and trained them and we have distributed 80% of the non-sensitive materials. So, when the postponement came, it also gave us the opportunity to distribute the remaining 20%.

That is why I say now we are ready, We have also recruited over 20,000 ad-hoc staff and we have trained them, we even trained them twice; the first training was done before the postponement and after the postponement we

also trained them again. So the postponement has afford us the opportunity to retrain our staff.

And in terms of logistics, we have serviced and maintained all our vehicles and distributed them to local government areas.

And we have also entered into partnership with National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) that they are going to supply us with all the vehicles we required from them during the conduct of the election, accordCONTINUED ON PAGE 9

Akwa Ibom PDP in disarray Ï Defection by Attah, Etiebet to APC stirs disquiet Akinjide Akintola Just few days to the Presidential elections, a major setback may have hit the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State as two of the former foundation members of the party have switched to the opposition All Progressives Congress, (APC).

The chieftains who crossed over alongside over 50,000 supporters across the state included the immediate former governor of the state, Chief Victor Attah and a one-time Petroleum Minister, Chief Don Etiebet.

The development, coming at a crucial moment is seen as a tactical move to ditch the incumbent governor, Godswill Akpabio as well as President Goodluck Jonathan.

Though it was Attah who handed over to Akpabio after

How Adamawa PDP stormed LGs for votes

ensuring his emergence, both of them have never seen eyeto-eye ever after. Indeed, for the almost eight years of Akpabio administration, Attah virtually had to relocate outside the state.

In what is seen as payback, Attah completed the routing and Mass Exodus with Etiebet and 50, 000 other members.

The latest development was confirmed during a rally held by the Campaign Organisation of the APC governorship candidate in the state, Umana Okon Umana at the Ibibio Park Grounds in Uyo, last Saturday.

Attah and Etiebet respectively, raised the hands of Umana, stating that they were no longer interested in the PDP as they had found an alternative in the opposition party.

This latest development is exCONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Wale Akintunde, Yola The chances of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to reenact its political feat in Saturday’s polls by producing the three senators and other national assembly candidates in Adamawa State as it did in 2011 general polls now appear uncertain due to the recent political

“Though it was Attah who handed over to Akpabio after ensuring his emergence, both of them have never seen eye-to-eye ever after.”

Akpabio

logjam the party found itself few weeks to the general election.

While majority of the political parties that fielded candidates across the nation are fine tuning their preparation towards the polls, the same cannot be said of Adamawa State chapter of the PDP as its stakeholders are presently in dilemma.

Keen political observers have

said that the party needs to cross some big hurdles if really it wants to make any significant impact in the elections as a result of internal crisis rocking it.

The crisis surfaced after its last year’s primaries which was held in Abuja as some candidates were aggrieved which led to their defection to other platforms to actualise their dreams.

Some aggrieved persons who stayed back in the party were said to have sinister motives to work against the party’s candidates at the general polls.

Political watchers in the state are wondering what will become the future of the PDP which its founding fathers have predicted CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

9

Politics

We are 100% ready for the election – Sokoto INEC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

ing to the peculiarity and the need of each local government The 20,000 Ad-hoc staff, what is their composition?

You know, when we were asked to recruit, we ask for application, and we specify there that; number one, you have to be a serving corps-member in Sokoto State, or a post NYSC member from 2011 to date, or a university staff or lecturer from the university or staff of Federal organisation in the state, or students of federal institution in the state. These are the categories of the staff we recruited for this exercise. But majority of them are serving corps-members, and the serving corps-members are to be used as the Presiding Officers PO, while the other recruited ad-hoc staff will serve as Assistant Presiding Officer II (APO II) or Assistant Presiding Officer III (APO III). But the main staff that are to conduct the election are corps-members. though the breakdown of the number of the corps-members recruited is not handy now, but I am assuring you that, almost all the serving corps-members cutting across all the batches in Sokoto State have been recruited for this exercise.

The issue of neutrality, how confidence is INEC on this adhoc staff, that they are going to be neutral in the conduct of the election?

If you look at the category of the staff we recruited, we assure you that they will be neutral, because a corps-member, doesn’t know anybody here, he doesn’t even know the local politics. So he be 100% neutral. And then, the staff of the university, the academicians, lecturers, doctors and professors, we can say today that they are not partisan, because, they are from the university community, they are not under the influence of any politician. So, we believe they would

Suleiman Abba, IGP

do what is right in the conduct of the election.

And also, we served them with oath of affirmation, we gave them a form called oath of affirmation, where they will fill it and we take it to court, where they swear that they will do the job according to the rules and regulations and the guideline of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC. With the recent security concern in Sokoto, particularly the rasing violent act of the political thugs in Sokoto, what are the security measures put in place for your ad-hoc staff ?

We have put in place adequate security arrangement, because we have what we call ICCES that is, Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, which the Commissioner of Police is heading. And all the security agencies in the state are members of that organisation, and also working with INEC. So, we meet regularly to review and fashion out ways of how to ensure security of these corps-members and we have met before and we are also going to on Monday (tomorrow).

We have put in place a lot of security measures, which is only going to be revealed on election day. But I want to assure you that, the corps-members that are going to participate in this election, not only corps-members, but all our ad-hoc staff are going to be safe.

With people raising concerned over the neutrality of NURTW, and you said you are engaging them for the election duty. How sure are you the NURTW will not be compromised during the election?

Okay now, let me ask you one question, how do you think they will be compromised and affect the election? Their involvement is limited to supplying us drivers and vehicles and our staff would be transported from local govern-

Jega

“If you look at the category of the staff we recruited, we assure you that they will be neutral, because a corpsmember, doesn’t know anybody here, he doesn’t even know the local politics.”

“We have put in place adequate security arrangement, because we have what we call ICCES that is, Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, which the Commissioner of Police is heading.”

ment to ward level. That is the only job they have, they are not going to handle any election material. Theirs is just vehicle and the driver, that will be transporting men and material where they are going to conduct election, under the Supervision of a Supervisory Officer of the R A. So, there is no way they are going to affect the election, and they are not going to part take in any distribution whatsoever, but rather, there own is just to transport men and material and wait for them, when they finish, they transport them back to the local government headquarters.

On PVC collection here in Sokoto, what is the number of

“We have put in place a lot of security measures, which is only going to be revealed on election day. But I want to assure you that, the corps-members that are going to participate in this election, not only corpsmembers, but all our ad-hoc staff, are going to be safe.”

the PVC distributed so far in Sokoto?

In Sokoto State, we have 1.659 million registered voters and we received the same number of PVCs and we distributed 1.572 PVCs so far. We have balances of 75-80 thousands PVCs not collected now with us, which we are hoping by the end of the exercise, the owners will come and claim them.

But one thing is certain, it is not possible to distribute 100% of the PVCs, because some people have died, some people are students and have finished their studies and relocated. So definitely we must have some remnant of the PVCs left with us.

Alex Badeh, Chief of Defence

Politics 10 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

pected to send shock waves into the camp of the ruling party at the state and national levels following statements of confidence ahead of next week’s election.

In spite of Akpabio’s eight – year rule, Both Attah and Etiebet still control a handsome followership in the state especially with the governor’s dwindling popularity.

The governor’s popularity which had all the while been waning for sometime took a downward spin following last year’s primaries of the party in the state where many of the aspiring candidates lost out due to widespread allegations that the governor imposed his own people.

All efforts made to reconcile the feuding parties had yielded no result as the governor stuck to his guns insisting that his candidates would go to the polls.

Among those also aggrieved in the party is Senator Ita Ennag who wanted to succeed Akpabio but who lost out and has since been at loggerheads with the governor even though he has refused to leave the PDP form the opposition party.

He insisted that he would work for President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Akwa Ibom: PDP implodes before polls “In spite of Akpabio’s eight – year rule, both Attah and Etiebet still control a handsome followership in the state especially with the governor’s dwindling popularity.” election while he could not guarantee that his supporters would back Akpabio because according to him, they have been shortchanged.

Attah

Akpabio

Etiebet

Why Nigerians should re-elect Jonathan – Jallo Victor Jibrin, Kaduna The rescheduled 2015 general election in Nigeria is now at it’s peak. At the counts of days and hours from now, we are expected to have Presidential and National Assembly elections.

To this end, though they have since rounded off their national campaign tours and therefore relaxed the tempo of their conventional rallies, it is not as if political gladiators have gone to bed.

To them, the game is not yet over until it is over and so, political horse-trading has intensified.

In maneuvering the electorate has to get their mandate, wives of the various political parties’ flag bearers have abandoned their domestic responsibilities for political activities and stepped up antics in marketing their husbands to the people for the national assignment just as the various candidates’ foot soldiers are engaged in neighborto-neighbor or call it door-todoor campaign for votes.

There are over 10 presidential candidates struggling for the

souls of Nigeria. But out of the number, only two of them are the serious contenders. These are the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and former head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, his archrival, flying PDP and APC flags respectively. The duo are tested and trusted hands.

It is on record that in 2011, the race was between Buhari and Jonathan but eventually, Jonathan was voted into power. After the election, Buhari decided to say goodbye to the game of politics, having given it a trial three times without realising his dream.

However, the warhorse rescinded his decision to contest again, when pressure on him became tense, in the spirit like of Abraham Lincoln, an American President who made it to presidency after his 7th attempt to rule his country.

With the pressure arising from the political history of Abraham Lincoln, Buhari is back to the ring to slug it out with Jonathan who is out to keep date with history, despite the attempts to nail his ambition. Now that the die is

cast, who will emerge victorious in this election adjudged crucial between these two political titans, is the question to be answered by Nigerians in a matter of days from now.

At their various rally grounds, APC had always accused PDP particularly at the center of not doing enough to deserve the Nigerian people’s mandate. On the other hand, the PDP had dismissed such claims.

Kaduna is the political and administrative headquarters of Northern Nigeria and so, the state is like a mini-Nigeria.

It is therefore obvious that no presidential candidate will not want to win a state like Kaduna in pursuit of his election. Thus, one of the arrowheads of the campaign for the reelection of President Jonathan in Kaduna state is the former Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Hon. Hussaini Muhammed Jallo, who serves as the State Deputy Coordinator, Goodluck/ Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization Kaduna state.

In this case, Jallo who is arguing that PDP is doing its best to develop Nigeria had always insisted that the Federal government under the leadership of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has embarked on many projects for the benefit of the people of Kaduna state.

Among these achievements are: Power Sector: In this sector, Jallo said Jonathan’s administration has made reasonable impact. He argued that “it has constructed 10 gas power plants and generated 4700 Megawatts of electricity”, a development which he described as an improvement, noting that “before Jonathan’s administration, ,power generation was only 2000 Megawatts’.

“The administration also provided 3500 Kilometers of transmission lines and 295 Pump Stations”. Thus, “the 215 Megawatts thermal power plants at Kudenda industrial area in Kaduna are at completion stage. This will provide employment and improve the economic activities of the area.

“Another project worthy of note is the ongoing works on the 30mw hydro-power component of Gurara multi-purpose Dam in Kaduna State. This will, no doubt, enhances economic activities and provide employment to the people of the area. Similarly, CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

Jallo

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

11 International Politics

Between Buhari and Jonathan:

Again, the die is cast CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

a 132KVA high voltage transmission line of 140Kilometres to Kaduna is being mounted from Gurara to evacuate power to the industrial areas”, he articulated.

Road Projects: While thumping up the present administration that it has made considerable progress in infrastructural development, Hon. Jallo said “roads across the country have been rehabilitated and new ones constructed”. And to buttress his point, he gave the example of the dualisation of Jere-Abuja road, access roads to Kaduna refinery and Mararaba -Pambeguwa -Saminaka-Jos road, which “have since been rehabilitated”.

Similarly, the Abuja- KadunaKano expressway, he recounted, is being rehabilitated to make it free from pot holes”. With this development therefore, “President Jonathan’s administration has made over 5,400KM of federal roads in Northwest motorable”, giving the programme managed by FERMA with the aim at creating Jobs. So far, “370,000 young Nigerians are engaged to maintain 17,000, Kilometers of federal roads across Nigeria”, he stressed.

Transportation: (Railways) “The President Jonathan and Sambo’s administration has made giant strides in railway industry. While The KadunaAbuja fast train rail line is currently at 90% completion, the existing narrow gauge from Zaria to Kauran Namoda in Zamfara State has been rehabilitated, just as the administration has completed rehabilitation works on

1,124KM western line railways from Lagos to Kano”.

Jallo said: “flour mills now transport wheat from Apapa to Kaduna and Kano”, adding “Lafarge now moves 1,500 tons of cement, equivalent of 50 trailers, by rail”.

Likewise, “the downstream oil now moves the equivalent of 30 tankers by rail”, he disclosed and declared that “undoubtedly, the transformation of the railways has contributed to the economic well being of the citizens of Nigeria”, particularly, the northern region.

Aviation: He said while a number of new airports were built during the period of Jonathan under review, old ones were rehabilitated across the country, to make them airworthy. Among those rehabilitated include “Kano, Enugu Port Harcourt and Lagos airports. These airports have been provided with standard facilities and equipments” for the comfort and safety of passengers.

With the assistance of Federal government, “some state Governments have also constructed standard airports. The benefiting states include Bauchi, Jigawa, and Kebbi States”, he announced and remarked that against some criticisms, “economic benefits of these investments are indeed enormous”.

Education: In this regard, the campaign director noted that the impact of Jonathan administration in the last four years is reflected in the establishment and construction of a new Petroleum institute in Kaduna, as well as financial in-

Jonathan

Buhari

terventions accruing to various higher institutions across the country, using Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

In what looks like presenting the report card of his principal to the Nigeria electorates for scrutinizing and considerations ahead of Saturday poll, Jallo disclosed that “through the TETFUND, the federal Government has resuscitated 173 institution based journal; 1,480 institution based research project and the takeoff of 33 cutting-edge National research projects worth N738mil-

lion as at November 2014.

“Evidently, within two and half years of Jonathan and Sambo’s administration, 14 new Universities were built across the country in states that have no federal University. The universities are in Katsina, Birnin Kebbi, Jigawa and Zamfara States. Just as the Police Academy wudil in Jigawa State was converted into a degree awarding institution, the maritime institution in Oron is transformed into a specialist degree awarding institution.

And for the benefit of our pu-

pils, the administration has also distributed a total of 96,326,675 books for primary Schools and library resource materials for schools in the Northwest.

“This administration has also established over 200 Almajirai Schools across the federation.

The Northwest Zone is the greater beneficiary’ stressing that “the aim is to remove the “Almajirais” from the streets and give them sense of belonging. The Jonathan and Sambo’s Administration has also provided 4million Children access to formal education in the northwest. The distribution of flash drives and laptops also deserves mentioning”, Jallo chronicled.

One other area of development where Jonathan administration Jallo claimed to have made impact, despite the public criticism, particularly the distressed textile workers, is Industrialization and Solid Minerals. The largest employer of labour all over the world is textile industry. In view of its importance to human dignity, successive administrations have attempted to see textile industry revived in Nigeria. But none has been able to bring the attempt to fruition.

Prior to the election of late President Umoru Musa Yar’adua/ goodluck Jonathan in 2007, while the companies were operating skeletally in the south west, they slept off in the north with Kaduna feeling the worse hit. This is reflected in the number of jobless men and women with attendant despair on the lives of their dependants and of course, security situation in the state.

Adamawa PDP in final push for polls CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

will rule the nation for the next 100 years. This is as a result of the internal crisis that engulfed the party across the nation. They are of the view that if preventive measures are not taken, it may lose some of the seats it presently occupies to opposition parties.

However, while not taking things lying low and barely 48 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan’s reconciliatory meeting with aggrieved PDP stakeholders in Adamawa State, the party is putting its acts together by embarking on the final leg of its campaign for the elections.

Leader of the party in the state

and Governor, Barrister Bala James Ngillari led a massive mobilisation of the PDP strong campaign team to Girei and Song Local governments on last Monday.

At Girei, the party was received by a fairly large crows of party faithful who despite the crisis bedeviling the party still came out in solidarity for the aspiring candidates of the party.

Majority of those who spoke at both rallies in Girei local and Song local governments stressed the need for supporters of the party to bury whatever differences they have to work for the common good of the party.

Governor Ngillari told the

gathering the good plans of President Jonathan for the development of the state if voted into office again. He dwelled on many federal projects already attracted to the state while assuring the more are still coming.

On the security situation in the state, Governor Ngillari narrated how the continued efforts of President Jonathan brought peace back to the state after sending the insurgents packing.

He also listed a lot of the people of the state who are also in key positions in the Jonathan’s administration as a reason to vote him back into office.

At Song, the heavy presence

of youths and women described as the handiwork of the party’s central senatorial candidate, Dr. Aliyu Idi Hong, former minister of state for health left no one in doubt about his towering influence in the area as the fairly large turn of party faithful was ascribed to him.

On Tuesday the campaign train moved to Yola south and Fufore. However, contrary to the notion that the PDP has been deserted, the turn out at Yola South and Fufore local government areas proved otherwise as the crowd gathered in large numbers to meet the visiting campaign train.

Zwingina

Africa 12

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Son of ex-Senegalese leader jailed for graft ÏÏÏ A special court in Senegal

sentenced the son of former president Aboulaye Wade to six years in prison on Monday and ordered him to pay a 138 billion CFA franc ($228 million) fine, dashing his hopes of competing in presidential election due in 2017.

Karim Wade went on trial in June 2014 charged with illegally acquiring companies and real estate worth almost $240m while serving in various government posts during his father's 2000-2012 presidency. He has been in custody since April 2013, while justice officials investigated claims he abused his position to accumulate vast riches.

Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison term and a fine of 380m in the case.

Wade, 46, denies the charges, and his supporters - led by his father - claim the trial is politically motivated. In reaching its decision, the court will have to sift through issues of business ambition, political influence, and a father's unwavering advocacy.

After pursuing a successful career in finance in the City of London, Karim Wade returned to Senegal two years after his father's 2000 presidential victory, and was soon tapped for a series of increas-

ÏÏÏ Trial has begun in a remote

Karim Wade (foreground)

ingly important public positions.

Those included simultaneous appointments to several key portfolios, earning him the nickname "minister of heaven and Earth".

He was also chosen to head the National Agency for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (ANOCI), which successfully oversaw the transformation of Dakar in time to host the 11th Islamic Summit of 57 Muslim countries in 2008 - but was also criticised for a lack of financial transparency.

Backed by his father, Wade was also selected to oversee the construction of a new international airport in Dakar, the restructuring of Senegal's chemical industry and the creation of a special economic zone. But the younger Wade also inspired mistrust and derision among voters in Senegal, who resent his long stays in Europe for school and business, and mock his affection for traditional Senegalese clothes despite having never mastered the country's

Wolof language.

Voters made their disdain clear in 2009, when Wade campaigned to become the mayor of Dakar - a bid interpreted as setting the table for higher national political ambitions, but which resulted in his electoral drubbing. Despite the trouncing, the elder Wade sought to pass a bill creating the post of vice-president, which many observers viewed as designed to facilitate his son's eventual ascension to the presidency.

Tunisian PM fires security chiefs after attack ÏÏÏTunisia's

Essebsi

Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan sign accord over Nile

Guinea begins trial of suspected killers of Ebola workers

prime minister has fired five leading security officials after three gunmen attacked a Tunis museum, killing 21 in the deadliest attack on tourists in Tunisia in 13 years, the government said on Monday.

The ousted officials include the director of Tunisia's tourist police and the police chief for the neighbourhood around the National Bardo Museum, government spokesperson Mufdi Mseddi told The Associated Press.

The decision was made after the prime minister visited the neigh-

ÏÏÏEgypt, Ethiopia and Sudan

have signed an initial agreement on how to share water from the Nile River that runs through the three countries, as Ethiopia constructs a massive new dam it hopes will help alleviate some of its electricity shortages.

Egyptian President Abdel-

bourhood of the attack and noted security problems, the spokesperson said. President Beji Caid Essebsi had also criticised security failings around last week's attack.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for attacking the museum, a trove of Roman mosaics and Tunisia's leading historical museum.

Several well-armed groups in neighbouring and chaotic Libya have pledged allegiance to ISIS. Tunisia is also fighting extremists claiming allegiance to al-Qaeda in its western mountains.

A Tunisian defence official said on Monday one soldier was killed and three others wounded when a mine blew up their vehicle in a mountainous area known to be a refuge for al-Qaeda linked Islamic radicals.

Lieutenant Colonel Belhassen Oueslati, a Defense Ministry spokesperson, said the incident occurred on Sunday in a mountainous region near the Algerian border. Al-Qaeda linked radicals have staged attacks against army and politicians in the area for the past two years.

Fattah al-Sisi, Sudanese President Omar Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn welcomed the agreement in speeches in Khartoum's Republican Palace on Monday.

They earlier watched a short film about the Grand Renaissance Dam that highlighted how it could benefit the region.

Officials from the three countries had worked out the agreement beforehand in recent meetings in Khartoum.

Egypt previously had voiced fears that Ethiopia's $4.2bn hydro-electric project would diminish its share of the Nile, which provides almost all of the desert nation's water needs.

region of Guinea of suspects in the killings of five Ebola health workers and three journalists last September.

Ministry of Justice spokesperson Ibrahima Beavogui said 78 suspects are on trial in N'Nzerekore, 900km from the capital Conakry.

Defence lawyers maintain their clients are not the real perpetrators of the attack, just innocents picked up in military sweeps.

In September, a team of health officials and journalists came to Womey village to educate people how to avoid contracting Ebola, which is raging through the West African state, and were attacked.

Eight members of the team were killed by knives and rocks, underscoring the fear and mistrust people felt for health workers — often believing they had brought the deadly disease with them.

Libyan air strike kills eight civilians near Tripoli ÏÏÏ

Eight civilians were killed in an air strike near Tripoli on Monday, the US ambassador said, an attack that was claimed by Libya's official government.

War planes belonging to the country's internationally-recognised government attacked Tarhouna, a town near Tripoli which is held by a rival armed group, air force commander Saqer alJoroushi said.

"Terrible news today from Tarhouna where eight innocent displaced Tawergha killed in air strikes," US Ambassador Deborah Jones said in a tweet, referring to a minority group in Libya.

"This violence serves no one's interests," said Jones who is currently based outside Libya.

Jones

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

13 Foreign

Greek leader warns Merkel over debt

Italy's Prime minister Matteo Renzi (l), Greece's Prime minister Alexis Tsipras, European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel talk before a working session during an European Council summit in Brussels, March 19, 2015.

ÏÏÏ

Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, has warned German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, ahead of their meeting that his country will not be able to pay its debt without help from the European Union, according to a report in Monday's Financial Times.

The Times said it had acquired a copy of a letter, dated March 15, in which Tsipras "warns that

his government will be forced to choose between paying off loans, owed primarily to the International Monetary Fund, or continue social spending."

"I am urging you not to allow a small cash flow issue, and a certain 'institutional inertia,' to not turn into a large problem for Greece and for Europe," Tsipras wrote.

Chancellor Merkel wants her

Greek counterpart to make and enforce tough spending cuts and reforms in order to receive more bailout money, the biggest share of which is financed by Germany.

Meanwhile, Tsipras blames the German chancellor's stringent approach to Greece's economic predicament for his country's "humanitarian crisis" of poverty and mass unemployment.

Earlier this year, Athens was

Argentine King Richard III's remains archaeologists reburied at battlefield probe 'Nazi ÏÏÏ A cortege carrying the re- came a mystery until it was found hide-out' for clues mains of King Richard III began under a municipal car park in a ÏÏÏ Archaeologists are trying to

determine whether ruined buildings in a remote nature reserve in Argentina were built as a hide-out for German Nazi officers.

Researchers said they found German coins minted during World War Two in the ruins in northern Argentina.

The researchers said that the buildings were probably never used by fugitive Nazis, because they found they could live freely in Argentine towns.

The researchers from the University of Buenos Aires said they decided to investigate the buildings because of a local legend claiming they had been used as a hide-out for Martin Bormann, a close aide to Adolf Hitler.

a solemn tour on Sunday to the battlefield where he was slain 530 years ago.

Rediscovered under a car park in 2012, Richard's remains will be reinterred at Leicester cathedral on Thursday in a ceremony led by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual head of the Anglican Church, and members of the royal family.

Richard, the last English king to die in battle, was killed at Bosworth Field in 1485, at the end of the bloody Wars of the Roses.

After his death his body was taken to the Gray Friars Church in the nearby city of Leicester and buried in a hastily dug grave which was too small to house his body.

The location of his grave be-

discovery which stunned archeologists and captivated the world.

On Sunday, Richard's coffin left the University of Leicester where it has been since the remarkable discovery, accompanied by the team who made the find, in a hearse to Fenn Lane Farm in the village of Dadlington, the site believed to be the closest to his death.

Richard fell fighting to hold onto his crown against the invading forces of Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII. William Shakespeare famously depicted him going down fighting shouting “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” Philippa Langley, a screenwriter who led the search for Richard III, said it was the end of an “extraordinary journey.”

granted a four-month extension on its European bailout through the end of June. In exchange, creditors have asked for a detailed list of reforms before any money is released.

Left-wing Prime Minister Tsipras won Greece's January elections with a promise to renegotiate the austerity measures imposed in return for the $270 billion bailout.

to be “It's re-ignited our interest in this period of history,” she said in an interview.

“It's got people talking and it's got people debating and it's got people reading widely about Richard III, and realizing that there's far more to this man than people ever knew.”

Richard III

Indonesia detains alleged ISIS recruiters ÏÏÏIndonesian

anti-terror police have arrested five men, who allegedly arranged for a group of, mostly, women and children to try and enter Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS) group, an official said.

The 11 children, four women and one man, detained in the Turkish border town of Gaziantep, are the latest example of Indonesians heading to battlegrounds in the Middle East.

Fears have been growing about the influence of ISIS in Indonesia, which is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation and has long struggled with Islamic militancy. Hundreds of Indonesians are feared to have joined the jihadists. In a series of raids in and around Jakarta at the weekend, elite anti-terror police rounded up the five men, who are suspected of helping the 16 people who were recently caught. The men are accused of involvement in "coaching, guidance, and recruitment of sympathisers of ISIS to depart to Iraq and Syria... and the collection and distribution of funds for the activities of ISIS volunteers in Indonesia," said national police spokesperson Rikwanto, who goes by one name, late Sunday.

Hindu group attacks cathedral in central India

ÏÏÏ Indian police said on Monday

that they have arrested six people, after Hindu fundamentalists were shown vandalising a cathedral in central India, the latest attack on Christian establishments in the Hindu-majority country.

CCTV footage showed a group of men smashing plant pots, breaking down doors and shattering windows in the grounds of the cathedral in Madhya Pradesh state late on Friday.

The right-wing Hindu Dharma Sena group had accused the church of converting around 200 people from local tribal groups to Christianity, although it denies causing any damage to church property. "We arrested six men last night in connection with the vandalism. We are trying to identify more people... there may be more arrests," HC Mishra, a senior state police official, told AFP by telephone. Religious conversions are highly controversial in India, a secular country where religious freedom is considered a fundamental right. Critics say Hindu hard-line groups have become emboldened since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won power in India last year.

News 14

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Sunday Isuwa Abuja

ÏÏÏA group, One Plateau

L-R: Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; wife of Enugu State Deputy Governor, Rita Nwoye; her husband, Rev. Ralph Nwoye; First Lady Patience Jonathan and wife of Cross River Governor, Mrs Obioma Imoke at the PDP women Presidential Rally In Enugu… on Monday

APC full of unstable people – Dame Jonathan Doris Nnabuenyi Awka

ÏÏÏNigeria’s

First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a party of unstable people.

She said this on Monday, while was campaigning for the second term bid of President Goodluck Jonathan in next Saturday’s election at the All Saints’ Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra State.

Mrs. Jonathan described APC as an “unstable party that was always changing

from one name to another”, adding that the party was an expired drug that had been rejected by Nigerians and would be rejected again as a party that could not offer anything good to anybody.

According to her, “They have changed their name again, a very unsteady party, this time, it is APC, the name of an “analogueexpired drug” that Nigerians rejected because of its ineffectiveness, they will change (their) name again to Ebola and then, they will die their final death on

Saturday, March 28. That will mark the end and final death of APC, because they will be disgraced again by Nigerians, who have always rejected them”, she said.

She said that the party would die finally on March 28, 2015, after the presidential election, when Nigerians would vote her husband in for a second term.

Describing the APC presidential standard bearer as “analogue and unschooled”, while her husband was “digital”, she urged Nigerians not to vote APC because it was a back-

ÏÏÏThe Minister of State,

Patience

ward party that would not offer them any reasonable thing, instead it would destroy all the things President Jonathan and his predecessor built.

Abuja

ÏÏÏThe

Muazu

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, has pledged that the leadership of the party will, henceforth, put the ‘small boys’ in PDP in check from heating up the polity and making inflammatory remarks.

Mu’azu made the pledge on Monday at the party’s national secretariat, when members of the National Peace Committee for the 2015 Elections, led by Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, a for-

mer Chief of General Staff, visited him.

While responding to an admonition from Ukiwe that politicians should respect the Abuja Peace Accord and caution their followers on the need for non-violence, before, during and after the elections, Muázu said “I want to assure you, the PDP will be running a very fair campaign, led by me.

“If you watch my utterances, personally, you will find that there is nothing I do than to be a good resource man or what I should be for my party and

for Mr. President, to make people love him and vote for him.

“Unfortunately, when the opposition go haywire, some of our “small boys” in our own party shout back and that is why you have this”, he added.

“But believe me, I will give them a very serious signal that we don’t expect that again. It would have gone even much worse because it is absolutely unnecessary to call somebody’s product a bad product. It is better for you to sell your product and show how better your own is than the other.

ers to vote against the PDP during the general election. It is an open secret that Governor Jang is not prepared to cede power to any other person outside his tribe, as confirmed from his continuous insistence that the rotational arrangement of the gubernatorial slot between the senatorial zones must begin with Plateau North, which is his zone.”

Obanikoro, Agbaje fete vulcanisers in Lagos Jonathan Eze

We’ll check ‘small boys’ syndrome in PDP – MU’azu Lateef Ibrahim

Movement, has said that it is mobilising protest votes for the All Progressives Congress (APC), against the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State.

The group, in a communiqué issued at the end of its meeting in Abuja on Monday and signed by Levi Ladan and Ponfa Audu, Chairman and Director, Media and Publicity, respectively, said the state was, gradually, grinding to a halt under the threat of ethnic and religious differences which Jang had failed to address.

“We are mobilising vot-

Plateau indigenes to give APC protest votes against Jang

Foreign Affairs, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro on Monday held an interactive session with the Lagos State Association of Vulcanisers (LSAV), urging them to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday and for Mr. Jimi Agbaje as Governor of Lagos State on April 11.

The event, held at the association’s secretariat at Mushin, Lagos, had over 5,000 members, who displayed their Permanent Voter’s Cards to the Minister and promised that they would vote for the PDP in all the elections.

Obanikoro said:”Nobody

Four injured in Ogun auto crash Abiodun Taiwo Abeokuta

ÏÏÏAbout

four people have been critically injured in an accident that occurred at Sango area of Ado-Odo/Ota local government of Ogun State.

The ghastly accident occurred on Monday, 24 hours after seven persons died

knew that the President set up a scholarship fund for the brightest students. The beneficiaries were showcased to all of us. The benefit of this is that Nigerians can now compete with the best brains in the world and it also means that our future is guaranteed.

“This is the way Singapore and China were developed. Our country is 55 years old. Why is that it is only President Jonathan who is thinking and planning for the future of our youths? Jonathan has invested, massively, in agriculture. Nigeria will soon be self-sufficient in rice production. Not just in Ofada rice but in other species of rice too.

and 23 others were injured in a multiple accident along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, occurred along Ota-Idiroko Road, in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area, when two trucks, coming from opposite directions, reportedly had a head-on collision on a bridge close to Iju town.

The two vehicles were a DAF truck, with number plate BDG 43 XB and a MACK truck, with number plate KMC 598 XZ, while their drivers and motor boys were said to have suffered serious injuries, but, were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

15 Opinion

Are we really better off now than in 2011? (ll)

T

CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY

Nnanna Ude

he Eastern Narrow Guage Line now runs more frequently and efficiently from Port Harcourt to Gombe through Aba, Enugu, Makurdi, Lafia and Bauchi. The first phase of the Central Standard Guage Line, the first in West Africa, has been completed to run from Kaduna to Abuja. It will ultimately go all the way through Itakpe and Ajaokuta to Warri. In the roads sector, Nigeria has about 35,000 km of federal highways.

As at 2011, only 5,000 km were in good condition. Today, an additional 20,000 km are now in good condition.

A drive across the country easily reveals that our cars are now more likely to be on a smooth road than on potholed and dilapidated ones across our interstate federal highways. Road transport users have reported a sharp drop in vehicle maintenance just as the Federal Road Safety Commission reports an equally sharp decline in road accidents. All these have helped in improving the quality of life of the average Nigerian. To strengthen these developments in rail and road transportation, the President has sent very important Bills that had been gathering dust in executive shelves before his presidency to the National Assembly.

They will ensure that the gains made will be institutionalised, especially in the areas of maintenance and new developments. Also by creating a Ministry for ICT, the government has paced up our linkage to the wired world and there is now wider and deeper internet penetration for the good of the economy.

Without good governance, positive developments in the economy will not be sustained and sustainable.

Good governance is built on accountability, openness and the rule of law. These are, in turn, also built on institutions and not just the goodness of man. In a 2004 article, I wrote that building institutions require qualitative human capital, increased social capital, modern technolo-

Jonathan

gies as well as (competent and independent) leadership. In the last four years, President Jonathan has strengthened the institutions necessary to deepen good governance. He signed the Freedom of Information Bill into law, which his predecessors did not do. Just like in some other societies, this now gives Nigerians the power to interrogate the activities of their government. He appointed competent people to head the Independent National Electoral Commission, National Human Rights Commission and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to deepen electoral reforms, stop perennial human rights abuses by supposed agents of the state thereby opening up the public space and tackle that incubus called corruption. In doing these, he has invited the Nigerian people to join government in the task of building our nation, a task that is better achieved together. Take INEC, as an example, just a few years ago, we were witnesses to the frequent meddlesomeness by the presidency in the affairs of the Commission wherein the Chairman was seen to be taking orders from ‘the Villa’.

Today, Prof. Jega can attest that he has never gone ‘there’ to take any instructions from anybody whatsoever. The same goes for the NHRC that has consistently released statements and reports that may not sound good to government but which has had the effect of changing behaviours not

removal from office as was the case with Mr. Bukhari Bello during Obasanjo’s presidency.

At the helm of affairs in EFCC today is a man that was seen to be the backbone of the Commission during the Ribadu days and so with the FoI Act in place the instruments of eviscerating corruption have long been aligned for a responsive citizenry and civil society to act.

However, there is still work ahead to be done and if the next set of reforms are carried out in the Nigeria Police and the Judiciary along with the cooperation of nongovernmental organisations like the Nigeria Bar Association wherein some (senior) lawyers apply legal gymnastics to diffuse corruption cases, Nigeria will be on track to winning the war on corruption. A good part of that work now lies with the citizens and the civil society. In addition, new technologies such as IPISS are constantly been deployed to block leakages and reduce waste in government spending.

Of course, the security of lives of every Nigerian must be the paramount purpose of government. While no government can guarantee total security of lives of all its citizens, every effort must be deployed towards ensuring that citizens feel safe and secure in their country. The insurgency in the North East part of Nigeria has been the major security challenge for this administration.

For long, the gory activities of these criminals have terri-

fied our psyche and bled our hearts. As I write these lines, our Chibok girls are still in captivity. The Nigerian people have a right to expect their government to provide effective security, protect them from these criminals and bring back our girls alive.

Unfortunately, with the “clash of civilizations” predicted by Samuel Huntington, similar activities in differing degrees and colourations have been part of our globalized world since Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history”. This literally began when 19 men beat the American security and intelligence apparatus to fly 4 airplanes into American cities on a fine September morning. Governments across the world are struggling to understand and confront this global phenomenon. It has not been easy but one successful attack by these criminals captures our imaginations and rattles our minds. However, to understand a difficult topic like this takes patience and care.

More than ever before, the times demand it because the alternative—politicized, haphazard evaluation, without the benefit of time and facts—may well result in a country that is even more at risk.

According to the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, other nations that have been directly affected by terrorism have shown us how difficult it is to eradicate because the terrorists utilize their abundant imagination for evil, to inflict the maximum horror on communities conscious of the fact that states must be guided in their responses by rules, the law, their own values and respect for civilian lives and property. I also agree with him that any response to terrorism must be long term, holistic and robust enough to address its root causes, which must be guided by a law and order approach that utilizes both hard and soft methods. The fact that they embed themselves within civilian populations helped to prolong the situation.

–Nnanna Ude is Deputy Director (Civil Society) in the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW

16

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

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Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Features EZINATO:

Anambra community used, dumped by politicians

OKEY CHRIS recently uncovered a community under Awka, the Anambra State Capital, deliberately sidelined by politicians His report.

It may be hard to believe that Awka, the capital of Anambra State, which came into existence upon the creation of the present Anambra State in 1991, still harbours a community where there is neither a public secondary school nor a hospital.

Ezinato community located

s

Features Editor: Gbubemi God’s Covenant Snr. E-mail: gbubemi.godscovenantsnr@dailytimes.com.ng

in Awka South Council Area of Anambra State is among the communities in Awka Capital Territory Development Authority Board (ACTDA) headed by a nine-man committee under the leadership of Mr. Chike Egwuatu.

But the people have been living with political imbalance since the town was teamed up with another town – Isiagu--- to form the Isiagu/Ezinato Electoral Ward.

That is despite the fact that the community boasts of prominent

sons and daughters in government like Hon. Chike Ezeudu, Councillor representing Ezinato/Isiagu Ward at Awka South Legislative Chamber and Humphrey Emeka Nwafor, the State Chairman, Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), among others.

The latest storm in Ezinato now, Daily Times learnt, is the ongoing distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) which CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Ezeudu

The herdsman’s wife caters for the needs of the family

24 hours with herdsmen (ii)

Page 18

A herdsman’s wife cooking for the children

17

Features 18

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The cows, donkeys and us GBUBEMI GOD’S COVENANT SNR concludes his narrative on the Fulani herdsman’s wife in managing the family’s health, finances, her pregnancy and childbirth amongst others.

Health emergency Although health emergency may be considered rare when you talk of a people whose life is surrounded by healing plants and herbs, Jubril is convinced if they had access to medical care when his infant sisters were born in the bush, the babies would be alive today.

“We are taught to drink the urine of the cows, especially that of the female cows directly as it is urinating and it is believed to be very potent against disease-causing microbes, malaria parasites etc.”

But if and when such emergency occurs, Alhaji Kolo said the solution can be difficult.

“If they have serious health condition which medicines within their reach cannot manage, the herdsman will locate the nearest town or village where there is dispensary or government hospital; they will camp near the place and the man or wife will take the sick person to be treated properly, but I admit sometimes they may not find one, depending on how far they are from the nearest village, and the village may not even be near to any healthcare centre.

“The cows and the rest of the family will camp near the village or even in the village so long as there are places the cows can graze without offending the host community.”

While treating the sick, the wife or wives prepare the cow milk into furadenono which they sell at the local market; sometimes the woman would

have gathered a good stock of fresh medicinal herbs, roots or tree backs known to the community women. There she sells for cash, then buys things they need to augment what she has in the camp and also save money. The Fulani woman is a economist.

Pregnancy in the bush Now, the Fulani wife, when she is pregnant, and is about to put to bed, the husband knows, and the woman knows.

After delivery, the mother and infant child would be put on a donkey which is always a part of the herd, and the family continues migration, but the nursing mother and child move at their own pace, about some hundred meters behind the herd.

But when the nursing mother cannot go with them as it happens sometimes, the herd and the rest of the family would leave them behind, but the herdsman would leave a pony and two cows, a female and a male with the nursing mother and her child.

The nursing mother is required as a tradition to sell one of the cows and use the money to buy things convenient for the new born.

Before they leave the pregnant or nursing mother, the herdsman will speak to the male cow, ‘meet us at so and so town along this path’ and the cow will understand, Abdul told Daily Times.

And when the woman and baby are ready to move, the cow will put its snout close to the ground and follow the smell of the footprints all the way until it locates the herd; it is said that it can never miss the tracks.

“One of the things that help the cow to follow the track is the cow dung and the urine; both CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

Chairman Kolo

Fulani household: the wife’s responsibility

INEC distributed only 10% of CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Obiano

stakeholders and the general town folks say is being manipulated for another brazen rigging of the election just a few days away.

A top official of the ruling party told our correspondent in confidence that only two INEC

officers have visited the town for just one day and left after two hours without distributing up to 10% of the cards to the electorate.

The worry everywhere now is how citizens will exercise their franchise in the four polling booths located in the community come March 28 and April 11 gen-

eral elections.

Prominent stakeholders in Ezinator told Daily Times that that was how the Anambra 2013 Local Government Election was rigged. “They stood us up all day waiting for the arrival of voting materials till the results of the said elections were announced at

ANSIEC office in Awka!” a resident lamented.

Farming and fertilizer scam Daily Times also learnt that peasant farmers have been grieving over the multi-million naira micro loans for farming and CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

19 Features

understand ourselves CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

smells are so distinct that the tracking cow cannot miss its way,” Daily Times learnt.

Food stock The mobile Fulani family has healthy stock of food in the live stock with them besides carrying some raw foods like soya beans, corn, millet, and so on.

The women usually milk the cows daily, make fresh fura and sell at the local markets. After they sell, they buy needed stuff to make food for the family.

Communication It is thought that there must be something strange in the way herdsmen communicate with the animals, but the herdsman debunked that. “The cows, the donkeys and us understand each other; they hear when we speak and we sense their moods and body movement. It is the same with anyone raising or breeding dogs; the pets will hear instructions, and communication between them is always normal and natural. There is no charm involved. From the time I was born, I understood their every move and thoughts and they hear when we direct and instruct them.

“That is why a cow can lead the woman left behind after childbirth to meet the family; it might take weeks, sometimes months but they will be reunited because when the woman delivers in the bush, the cows also know what will follow.”

The story was told to Daily Times of a case when some policemen in one of the Northern states intercepted and seized a trailer load of cows suspected to have been stolen. The policemen made an announcement on the radio that the owner of the cows

should come to the station with proof of ownership.

The herdsman who heard the news eventually showed up at the station and was asked for proof of ownership. He said, ‘take me to the cows, I will show you.’

When they got to the trailer, the Fulani man climbed up, and called one of the cows by name and spoke to it; the cow struggled forward and came down after the Fulani man. Other cows got up too and followed the first cow and in minutes, all the cows came down and the Fulani man stood in their midst. “You see?

I know my cows, and my cows know me. I hear my cows, and my cows hear me.” He headed for the bush and all the cows followed him.

Future of Fulani children The boys grow up studying and imitating whatever the father does. Always with his small sonda behind his neck, he is learning the ways of his father and family, and when he becomes a man, he may branch out and raise his own family, or he will take over from the father when the old man can no longer continue.

But for the Fulani girl, Alhaji Kolo, with a shrug, said she has no future. “She cannot do anything; there is no going to school, she will continue with the family from place to place, learn how to cook and manage the woman’s part of the herd’s family as she is growing up.

“Then when she is of age, she will marry inside the bush into another herd’s family and continue her life there as she has seen her mother do; and so also her daughters will continue after her.

That is the life of the Fulani girl.”

Abdul, who had two female siblings before he lost them, CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

our PVC – Ezinato Elders CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

fertilizers which government claimed was distributed to rural farmers for merchandised agriculture.

However, many of the farmers, including officials of the farmer’s association who spoke to Daily Times denied ever receiv-

ing micro loans or fertilizers or anything from the government or their agents.

“This is how they shortchange and maginalise us, but when it is election time, they start holding secret meetings with town union officials.” A senior member of the farmer’s association lamented.

On his part, Chief Edwin Nwankwo, one-term President General of Ezinato Town Union and current Traditional Prime Minister (Onowu) of Ezinato told Daily Times that their plight is due to political instability and clash of interests.

The Onowu, who doubles as

the Catechist of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Ntoko, alleged that their representative at the state Assembly had never visited the community to know their problems, not to talk of addressing their plight.

“We people of Ezinato want CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Obi

Features 20

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

24 hours with herdsmen (ii) CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

explains the tie that guides the girls into their future.

Exposure of the Fulani girl child born and raised in the bush is very limited, usually tied to the mother-father-siblingcows relationship.

Anytime they have to go to their host community either to sell their milk or hawk their herbal medicines, they always stick together; not that they are intimidated, but they feel safer in the close-knit bond as peculiar people.

“As for her future, the Fulani girl doesn’t have much of a variety to make a choice. She has no ambition, so as it is with her mother, so she expects it to be with her. Whenever you find the young ones milking the cow, plucking some leaf, or the boys watching out or inspecting the cows, they are rehearsing for their tomorrow.”

Marriage in the bush Kolo who had witnessed many of such marriages in the beginning of his business, gave a summary: “When a Fulani girl is going to marry; the two families will agree on a date. They will set up their camps near a village because they have to buy things they will give to the maiden. After buying everything, they will do the marriage in the bush, and after that, she follows her husband and continues her life there.”

Bride price?

Dowry depends on the capacity of the herdsman. If he has up

to 50 cows, he can give 10 as dowry or as they agree; the father of the girl too will give some cows to his daughter as her own contribution to her new husband.

Except they are not pastoral Fulani, if it is those few who just sell their cows and live in the city, then their children can go to school and learn whatever they want to become, but for the pastoral Fulani, life begins and ends with the cow.

Almost all Pastoral Fulani family members wear amulets; even now, Jubril still wears a leather bound amulet around his waist and neck. What is the history behind this?

Chairman Kolo of the Kara Cattle Market told Daily Times it is a tradition with Fulani families.

Fulani baby girls are given amulets for fertility as soon as they can walk and the boys wear theirs for virility. In all my life I have never seen a barren or impotent or sterile Fulani. It is the responsibility of the Fulani wife to ensure the fertility of the children.

Place of the donkey Traditionally, the donkey is the herdsman’s time keeper. The burden-bearer bleats out the hour all round the clock, naturally.

The sound, like the blast from a horn, is inherent in the pony’s nature; Abdul said he had wondered as a child if God gave the donkey that ability just because of the Fulani migrants. The male cock too does that, but not as consistently and accurately as the donkey.

A Herdsman resting Daily Times also gathered that the donkey’s mouth emits fire when it bleats; and that the fire can be seen at night hours when the pony bleats out the hour, but that could not be verified.

These are the sum total of the Fulani herdsman’s family and business life. It has been since animal husbandry became a trade, and for as long as earth life continues, this culture and

lifestyle are unlikely to change, especially when they are continually separated from Western technologies, vogues and influences, and there is no peer pressure to challenge the thinking of the younger generation.

On a final note, Daily Times asked why the core Fulani must be a herdsman.

“There is a strong connection between the Fulani and cattle.

It is proof and identity of core Fulani ethnicity”, Jubril said with feelings. “If you don’t inherit cows from your parents to start with, the wife or wives you will marry will come with cows given them by their families, so whichever way, you cannot remove the Fulani from cattle. The cattle is their life and I don’t think anything can change that.”

We received no fertiliser loan – Farmers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

the state government to carve us out of Isiagu Ward. We especially want government to divide the town into three wards, because our people are grossly underrepresented.”

It would be recalled that Ezinato, one of the communities in ACTDA, headed by a nine-man committee under the leadership of Mr. Chike Egwuatu, was constituted by Governor Willie Obiano alongside the Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency under the leadership of the traditional ruler of Umuoji, Igwe Cyril Igweze, in order to champion the course of

lifting the state capital to Dubai standard.

The Traditional Ruler, Igwe Timothy Nwachukwu Ezenwaka (Ochiagha 2 of Ezinato) could not be reached at the time of filing this report.

Also, attempts by our reporter to hear the side of Hon. Harford Oseke and other persons mentioned in this report, including the Awka Territory Development Authority proved abortive as their special assistants refused our reporter access to them either in person or through phone calls.

Ezinato comprises three villages, viz, Ntoko, Ndi-Ikpa and Ndiora, but politically falls within Obizi (Awka South 2 State

Constituency currently represented by Hon. Harford Ikechukwu Oseke, the Majority Leader of the Anambra State House of Assembly and second tenure candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance(APGA), on the 2015 polls.

Although less than one hour’sdrive from the state temporary Government House located along Enugu/Onitsha Expressway, the deplorable road makes Ezinato town difficult to access.

The people of Ezinato and surrounding communities are predominantly farmers, producers of palm oil, fish, gari, abacha (African salad), yams and other cash crops.

Anambra House of Assembly, Awka

21

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

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73,124.89

3,107.81

9”X6

350,122.50

14,880.21

FPS 6”X3

671,835.94

28,553.03

5”X2

48,749.95

2,071.87

9”X5

291,827.10

12,402.65

FPS 6”X2

447,890.63

19,035.35

4”X2

38,999.96

1,657.50

9”X4

233,461.68

9,922.12

BPS 6”X3

652,640.63

27,737.23

3”X3

43,874.94

1,864.68

9”X3

161,635.50

6,869.51

BPS 6”X2

435,093.75

18,491.48

3”X2

29,249.98

1,243.12

8”X6

311,282.25

13,229.50

ROP2”X6

152,382.01

6,476.24

2”X2

19,499.98

828.75

8”X5

259,401.87

11,024.58

FPS 2”X6

447,890.63

19,035.35

1”X2

9,749.99

414.37

8”X4

207,521.50

8,819.66

BPS 2”X6

435,093.75

18,491.48

1”X1

4,875.00

207.19

8”X3

143,693.55

6,106.98

13”X5

368,842.50

15,675.81

BPS 2”X2

268,734.38

11,421.21

8”X2

95,786.12

4,070.91

13”X2

126,749.88

5,386.87

7”X5

226,976.64

9,646.51

11”X5

356,677.57

15,158.80

7”X4

158,886.00

6,752.66

11”X4

285,342.06

12,127.04

7”X2

68,249.93

2,900.62

11”X2

107,249.90

4,558.12

6”X4

143,693.55

6,106.98

EARPIECE 2”X2

281,531.25

11,965.08

CENTRE SPREAD

1,151,718.75

48,948.05

DOUBLE SPREAD

1,023,750.00

43,509.38

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511,875.00

21,754.69

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1

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309,684.38

13,161.59

16

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73,734.38

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44,240.63

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H/PAGE

176,520.09

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17

9”X6

264,780.15

11,253.16

32

5”X5

92,160.88

3,916.84

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95,073.11

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18

9”X5

220,687.29

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33

5”X4

73,734.38

3,133.71

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14”X5

300,393.28

12,766.71

19

9”X4

176,566.55

7,504.08

34

5”X3

55,300.74

2,350.28

5

14”X4

240,315.08

10,213.39

20

9”X3

119,483.60

5,078.05

35

5”X2

36,867.18

1,566.86

6

14”X2

121,533.92

5,165.19

21

8”X6

235,399.77

10,004.49

36

4”X2

29,493.75

1,253.48

7

13”X5

278,936.62

11,854.81

22

8”X5

196,185.05

8,337.86

37

3”X3

33,180.45

1,410.17

8

13”X2

95,847.32

4,073.51

23

8”X4

156,948.04

6,670.29

38

3”X2

22,120.32

940.11

9

11”X5

269,728.90

11,463.48

24

8”X3

108,668.25

4,618.40

39

2”x6

48,173.99

2,047.39

10

11”X4

215,783.12

9,170.78

25

8”X2

58,987.50

2,506.97

40

2”X2

14,746.87

626.74

11

11”X2

81,107.81

3,447.08

26

7”X5

171,661.92

7,295.63

41

1”X2

7,373.44

313.37

12

10”X6

294,200.16

12,503.51

27

7”X4

121,533.92

5,165.19

42

1”X1

3,686.72

156.69

13

10”X5

245,208.10

10,421.34

28

7”X2

51,614.05

2,193.60

43

DOUBLE SPREAD

774,210.94

32,903.96

14

10”X4

196,185.05

8,337.86

29

6”X4

108,668.25

4,618.40

15

10”X3

147,138.80

6,253.40

30

6”X3

66,360.90

2,820.34

44

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55,476.05

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44,380.56

1,886.17

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7”X2

38,832.99

1,650.40

5

6”X2

33,282.11

1,414.49

6

5”X2

27,736.42

1,178.80

7

4”X2

22,187.85

942.98

8

3”X2

16,640.27

707.21

9

2”X6 (BOTTOM STRIP)

33,283.03

1,414.53

10

2”X2

11,094.96

471.54

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1”X2

5,547.58

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1”X1

2,773.79

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Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Today in History Compiled by ‘Tunji Okegbola

s

Cartoons from our Archives

1998 A school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas, kills five Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shut their classmates and teachers in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Golden, the younger of the two boys, asked to be excused from his class, pulled a fire alarm and then ran to join Johnson in a wooded area 100 yards away from the school’s gym. As the students streamed out of the building, Johnson and Golden opened fire and killed four students and a teacher. Ten other children were wounded.

The two boys were caught soon afterward. In their possession were thirteen fully loaded firearms, including three semi-automatic rifles, and 200 rounds of ammunition. Their stolen van had a stockpile of supplies as well as a crossbow and several hunting knives.

All of the weapons were taken from the Golden family’s personal arsenal. Both of the boys had been raised around guns.

They belonged to gun clubs

2002 On this day in 2002, the 74th annual Academy Awards ceremony is held at its brand new venue, the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Completed the previous November, the $94 million Kodak Theatre would be the first permanent home for the Academy Awards ceremony.

At the first Oscar ceremony since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the mood was relatively subdued, and security was tighter than ever. That year’s Oscar race had been seen as particularly close, with a number of high-profile films in the running for Best Picture: besides the frontrunner, Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind, many were predicting wins for the musical Moulin Rouge or The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first instalment of Peter Jackson’s bigscreen adaptation of the popular J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy. Two sleeper picks, Robert Altman’s ensemble murder mystery Gosford Park and Todd Field’s In the Bedroom,

and even participated in practical shooting competitions, which involve firing at simulated moving human targets.

Golden reportedly shot several dogs in preparation for the actual shooting.

Because Johnson and Golden were thirteen and eleven, they could not be charged as adults in Arkansas. They were both adjudicated as delinquent and sent to reform institutes.

They were to be released when they turned eighteen, as they could legally no longer be housed with minors, but Arkansas bought a facility in 1999 that enabled the state to keep the boys in custody until their twenty-first birthdays. Johnson was freed in 2005; Golden was released in 2007. Neither has any criminal record. Arkansas changed its laws following the Jonesboro tragedy so that child murderers can be imprisoned past twenty-one.

Daily Times March 24, 1961

Halle Berry, Denzel Washington triumph at Oscars rounded out the Best Picture category.

Before Best Picture was announced, however, the Oscars made history, when Halle Berry was presented with the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as the wife of a death row inmate in Monster’s Ball. Berry was the first AfricanAmerican performer to win in the Best Actress category and only the second African-American actress ever to be honoured by the Academy (the first was Hattie McDaniel, who won for her supporting role in 1939’s Gone with the Wind). As an emotional Berry clutched her Oscar, she tearfully called the moment “so much bigger than me” and declared that “the door had been opened” for actresses of colour.

On the heels of Berry’s historic win, Denzel Washington became only the second African-American man to win in the Best Actor category, accepting the statuette for his role as a corrupt Los Ange-

les police officer in Training Day. It was the first time that AfricanAmerican performers had taken home both of the year’s top acting awards. Sidney Poitier, the first black Best Actor winner (for 1964’s Lilies of the Field ) received an honorary Oscar that night as well.

In another Oscar first, the animated film Shrek, produced

by DreamWorks SKG (a studio formed in 1999 by Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen), won the first-ever Academy Award given in a brand new category: Best Animated Feature Film. With Mike Myers voicing the titular character, a lovable green ogre, and Cameron Diaz voicing his adored Princess Fiona, Shrek beat out the two other entrants in its category, Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron.

The night ended with Howard taking home the Oscar for Best Director and A Beautiful Mind winning Best Picture.

around2007 Ferrari’s the-world relay stops in L.A.

On this day in 2007, an around-the-world relay celebrating Italian sports car maker Ferrari’s 60th anniversary passed through Los Angeles, California.

The relay began earlier that year, on January 28, in Abu Dhabi and continued on through 50 countries including Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Australia, Mexico, America, Canada and Russia, before ending on June 23, 2007 at Ferrari headquarters in Maranello, Italy. Thousands of Ferrari owners and their cars participated at various points of the relay, serving as symbolic bearers of a relay baton featuring 60 badges representing key innovations in the luxury automaker’s history.

The relay was officially kicked off in January 2007 by Piero Ferrari, an executive at the company founded by his father Enzo.

The elder Ferrari was born in Modena, Italy, on February 18, 1898 (although his birth wasn’t registered until two days later due to bad weather). Starting in

1920, he began racing cars for Alfa Romeo and later became head of the company’s racing division.

After leaving Alfa Romeo in 1939, Ferrari went on to found his own manufacturing firm; during its early years, which coincided with World War II, the company built machine tools, not race cars. In 1947, the first Ferrari sports car, the 125 S, which featured a 1.5 litre, V-12 engine and a prancing stallion logo, made its debut. In the decades that followed, Ferrari earned a reputation for producing powerful, pricey sports cars and high-performance racing vehicles.

The company experienced one of its first major racing victories in 1949, when a Ferrari driven

by Luigi Chinetti won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 24 Hour race. In 1951, Ferrari collected its inaugural Formula One win at the British Grand Prix. The next year, Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari won the Formula One World Championship.

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 23, 2015

23 News

US, Nigeria partner against ÏÏÏ bird flu

Dilionye Dilibe Onitsha

Opeoluwani Akintayo

ÏÏÏ

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has partnered Nigeria in the health sector to combat the Avian Influenza, popularly known as bird flu, in Nigeria.

Bird Flu is a viral disease that, largely, infects birds, but, rarely, infects human beings.

Speaking at the opening session of a training workshop for over 160 participants from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Health in Ibadan on Monday, United States Consul-General, Jeffery J. Hawkins, said that the

training was part of his home country’s contribution against Bird Flu. "I am encouraged to see you all here today. I know each person trained here represents a ripple effect of knowledge and power to stop the spread of this epidemic. So, this is the United States’ contribution to stop the spread of the flu”, he said.

Hawkins added that the poultry industry was important to the Nigerian economy and a great source of feeding, hence, “the U.S believes Nigeria can tackle the flu, like it did during the Ebola outbreak.

“The poultry industry is important to Nigerians

and Nigeria. We love our chicken dishes. Just as Nigeria tackled Ebola, it will control Bird Flu." He added, "The ability of Nigeria to quickly detect and respond to the Avian Influenza, will be enhanced by the partnership, platforms and knowledge built over the past decade."

In addition to the training, USAID and Nigeria promised to contribute personal protective equipment, surveillance gear and disinfectants to relevant authorities.

In 2007, there was one human case in Nigeria. However, with the break of the flu recently, there had been no known human case in

Nigeria, so far.

Globally, the majority of cases of infection are associated with contact with infected live or dead poultry.

The Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke has urged politicians and the electorate to shun all acts of violence as Nigerians go to the polls on Saturday.

In his homily at the dedication of a new church building for St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Awada, Obosi, Anambra State last Sunday, the cleric charged Christians to always contribute to the work of God, stressing that it was only God that has the capacity to change every situation in life.

The parish priest, Rev. Fr. Ignatius Okwuonu and

Cleric urges politicians to shun violence a parishioner, Chief Linus Ezenkwu (Nkwubego) said that the early completion of the building was as a result of commitment of the parishioners and friends of the parish, who worked assiduously to see the building project become a reality.

The Chairman of the Dedication Planning Committee, Chief Law Maduchem, was happy that the project, which was started in 2013, became a reality.

Two arraigned for public disturbance Hawkins

Titilope Joseph

ÏÏÏTwo young men identi-

fied as Aropo Damilola and Abraham Bakare, aged 22 and 24 respectively, alleged to be members of a cult group, which had been terrorising a community in Lagos, have been arraigned in court.

It was gathered that the suspects and others at large, were allegedly disturbing the peace of the community until they were arrested by the police on March 6, 2015 at Okepopo Street, Agbowa Ikosi, Lagos and were in po-

lice custody until March 22, when they were arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court, Lagos.

The suspects are facing a two-count charge of breaching the peace of the community and being members of the Black Axe confraternity.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges before Magistrate A.O Komolafe of the Ikeja Magistrate’s Court 11 and they were granted bail in the sum of N100,000 each with two sureties, who are blood relations, who must also present their three years’ tax clearance.

Court orders YDP to retract statement on ballot paper, logo Andrew Orolua Abuja Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio (right) addressing the wife of the late former Speaker of Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, Mrs. Inem Okon Uwah and son, during condolence visit to the family, recently.

Group faults attack on Aregbesola, APC members Sodiq Adekunle Osogbo

ÏÏÏ

A political group, Ijesa North Patriots (INP), has condemned the attack on the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), at a political rally in Ilesa.

Chairman of the group, Lawrence Kolawole and Secretary, Mr. Tifase Afola-

bi, said this through a press statement on Monday.

According to Kolawole, political violence was becoming frequent in Ilesa, adding "Our appeal goes to those people who want to turn the six local government areas in Ijesa land into a war zone during the forthcoming polls to have a rethink and jettison acts that can cause panic among our people. “No matter the difference in party affilia-

tions now, after the polls, we remain people of same blood."

Afolabi also alleged that supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were also attacked on several occasions, adding "There have been perceived clampdown on many helpless residents of the six local government areas in Ijesa land, believed to be sympathetic to the ambition of politicians," he added.

Aregbesola

ÏÏÏJustice

Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has ordered the national officials of the Young Democratic Party (YDP) to retract their claim that the court ordered the inclusion of the party’s name and logo on the ballot papers for next Saturday’s presidential election.

The "misleading interpretation" by the party’s officials was contained in a statement purported to be part of the court judgement delivered on March 4, 2015.

The YDP had filed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/736/14 against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), challenging the commission's

failure to register it as a political party.

But in its recent judgement, the court held that INEC had not discharged its constitutional obligation of informing the plaintiff why it had not been registered as a political party.

“The effect of INEC's action, as clearly spelt out in Section 78(4) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) was to deem the plaintiff as a duly registered political party”, the court said. Consequently, the court ordered INEC to issue a Certificate of Registration to the new party. Apparently not satisfied with the judgement, the electoral body approached the same court and filed a notice of appeal and a motion for stay of execution of the judgement.

News 24

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Osun guber election: Appeal Court reserves verdict Tosin Ajuwon Akure

ÏÏÏThe Federal Court of

Appeal, sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Monday, reserved judgement on the appeal filed by Senator Iyiola Omisore, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the August 9, 2014 Osun State governorship election.

The court, with a fivemember panel, headed

by Justice Gana Mshelia, withheld judgement against the ruling of the election petition tribunal held in Osun State, which nullified the petition.

In the sitting, which lasted several hours, Justices Mshelia refused to announce the date for final judgement on the appeal filed by Senator Omisore, but said the date would be communicated to all parties involved in the matter through their lead counsels.

Omisore had appealed against the ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal delivered on February 6, 2014, and he is asking the appeal court to set aside the ruling of the tribunal.

He had argued that the tribunal, headed by Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime, failed to examine properly the issues raised in his petition.

The PDP governorship candidate had approached the Elections Petitions Tri-

bunal, following his defeat in the August 14 governorship election, challenging the results of the election in 17 local government areas of the state, where he argued that there were electoral malpractices.

At the hearing on Monday, the lead Counsel to Senator Omisore, Mr. Alex Isiyoung (SAN), argued that the tribunal erred in its ruling, as it failed to examine all the allegations and issues raised by the petitioner.

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson (with microphone); his wife, Rachael, Deputy Governor, Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (retd) (3rd right), presenting an instrument for the sum of N20 million for a microfinance revolving loan scheme, to the Chairman, Swali Ultra-Modern Market Traders Association, Mr. Odumgba Festus, during a visit to the area in Yenagoa... on Sunday

Yola

ÏÏÏThe

Ambassador of Norway to Nigeria, Mr. Rolf Ree, has disclosed that his country’s dream was to see a credible and rancour-free election held on by March 28.

Ree lauded the efforts by the Nigerian government and the political class to es-

Abuja

ÏÏÏThe

Nigeria Police Force has announced the death of one of its most dedicated officers, AIG Wilfred Eje Obute. Obute died on Saturday, after a brief illness.

According to a statement issued by Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, AIG Wilfred Eje Obute, until his death, was the Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police in charge of Armament, Force Headquarters, Abuja.

Obute, who hailed from Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, was born on the May 27, 1956.

He was enlisted into the Force as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police (Cadet ASP) on July 18, 1980 and had his initial training at the Nigeria Police College, Ikeja, Lagos.

AIG Wilfred Eje Obute dies at 59 He held a Bachelor of Education degree in Zoology and attended several professional courses both at home and abroad. He was an alumnus of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Jos. He was a versatile and well- travelled officer, who had served as Commandant, Police College, Kaduna, and in other capacities in the Nigeria Police Force.

An accomplished Police Officer and a caring family man, he would be remembered by his colleagues and friends, within and outside the Force, as an excellent and patriotic officer who gave his best to the service of his fatherland.

Catholic youth president calls for wider political space Nduka Uzuakpundu

ÏÏÏA call has been made

He explained that Norway respected the sovereignty of any nation to handle its internal affairs, stressing that the coming general election was Nigeria’s internal affair, but charged INEC to stick to the rule of the game by being objective and allowing the voice of the majority to be counted.

“No ambassador will in-

volve himself in the internal affairs of host country, but our wishes is that INEC should conduct free and fair polls,” he said.

He explained that Norway – a nation with over five million people – had contributed to global peace and economy through stock fish, sovereign wealth fund and diplomacy.

for an expansion of the country’s political space, in order to accommodate and meet the aspirations of the youths.

The National President of the Catholic Youths Organisation of Nigeria (CYON), Mr. Charles Ekpe, told Daily Times, in the course of the 78th National Executive Council and Leadership Summit of the body, held in Mowe, Ogun State, that a decision to that effect, by all the political parties, was necessary, in fairness to youths, whose great strides in sports and oil exploration, for instance, were moving the country forward.

He said that it was also necessary to have more youths – individuals who are below 50 years – in government, because they are

Danjuma James

Addressing a press conference at his Sama Road residence in Sokoto, apparently to dispel rumour making the rounds that he was dead, Shagari urged Nigerians to continue to give peace a chance, especially during this election

period.

“I thank you heartily for your visit. Let me use this opportunity to appeal to you, and through you to all Nigerians, to continue to give peace a chance, especially during this election period,” he said.

Norwegian envoy seeks credible polls in Nigeria Tom Garba

Andrew Orolua

tablish a durable democracy, with the use of card reader system.

Ree, who was a guest lecturer, at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, said that Nigeria was the centre-piece of Africa, and building on her electoral process, with the use of electronic system, would strengthen her elections.

Ex-President Shagari sues for peaceful elections

Sokoto

ÏÏÏFormer

President Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari, on Monday, appealed to Nigerians to maintain peace in the country.

nation-builders.

They were the youths, who, for instance, were playing their roles well as the ambassadors of the country in global sporting arena, said Ekpe, which is a persuasive pointer to the fact that given an ample opportunity in decision-making quarters and public administration, the same crop of youths would surely excel.

“By inference, it makes little sense,” as Ekpe put it, “to have an unhelpful future of recycling old men in almost all the political quarters, since the inception of the Fourth Republic is much to the disadvantage of the youths. This is a situation that will make it difficult for the youths, who are commonly believed to be the leaders of tomorrow, to contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.

Shagari

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

'Kitchen smoke kills 100,000 yearly in Nigeria' Sunday Isuwa

Abuja Ă?Ă?Ă?The The Executive Director, International Centre for Energy, Environment & Development (ICEED), Ewah Otu Eleri, said on Monday that about 100,000 deaths were recorded yearly in Nigeria as a result of smoke from the kitchen.

Eleri, further disclosed that over 100 secondary schools in Nigeria have adopted energy-efficient wood stoves, as a new energy efficiency technology, that eliminates smoke from school kitchens and helps school cooks to breathe better.

Daily Times gathered from the two pilot schemes in Ebonyi and Niger States,

that schools in Kwara, Nasarawa, Akwa Ibom, Jigawa and Kaduna states, have now switched over to these clean cook stoves that saves over 80 percent of wood fuel and millions of naira.

He said the results of the energy-efficient woodstove project was supported by USAID Nigeria and implemented by the International Centre for Energy, Environment & Development (ICEED).

According to the Executive Director of ICEED, the project seeks to improve the health of female cooks in schools, reduce the wood used for cooking and the emission of harmful gases that cause global warming

as well as create jobs and empower Small and Medium Entrepreneur (SMEs). “Nearly all public boarding secondary schools in Nigeria use wood for cooking. About 30 million households depend solely on wood as a source of fuel for their daily cooking. Nearly 100,000 deaths occured in Nigeria annually as a result of smoke from the kitchen. After malaria and HIV/AIDS, this is Nigeria’s third highest killer of mostly women and children. This USAID supported project, provides an opportunity to scale up the use of clean cooking technologies nationwide,�

Eleri said.

Speaking at a one-day in-

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Reject violent politicians, Obama tells Nigerians Ă?Ă?Ă?President

Barak Obama of the United States of America has joined the hordes of concerned world leaders to urge peaceful electioneering in Nigeria come March 28 and April 11, 2015.

To this end, the American leader has called on President Goodluck Jonathan, who is also the standard bearer of the ruling Peoples Democratioc Party (PDP) and his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to warn their supporters against committing any violent act in the coming polls.

In a video posted on Monday on the White House official website, President Obama conveyed the message to the Nigerian people

to highlight the opportunity that the upcoming elections presents for them to stand together in rejecting violence and extremism and instead show their support for a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous future.

The American president was quoted as saying, “Now you have a historic opportunity to help write the next chapter of Nigeria’s progress—by voting in the upcoming elections.

For elections to be credible, they must be free, fair and peaceful. All Nigerians must be able to cast their votes without intimidation or fear. “So I call on all leaders and candidates to make it clear to their supporters that violence has no place in democratic elections".

I’ll give Yakowa’s kinsmen Lagos a exonerate Yero over clash new look, Sunday Isuwa Abuja says ���Gwong youths, in Anifowoshe Fadan Kagoma, Jema’a LoKwasu Alhamdu

25

newly elected Chairman of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Lagos State chapter, Tpl. Anifowoshe Abiola, said on Monday that Lagos will be the best city in Africa, under his watch, as a town planner.

At his inaugural speech, he said, "My predecessor has done marvelously well, all what I need to do now is to consolidate. On their achievement, the project that is very derma in to me, is the contraction of our 25 story building headquarters at Alausa, Ikeja, which should be completed by the grace of God before the end of the year.

"The plan we have for the past three years is to make Lagos wear a new look in what we call sentimental planning. We have Ikeja model city plan, Agege model city plan, Lagos Island model city plan and Ikoyi model city plan, but we need to have all the master plan of Lagos, including its environ".

cal Government Area of Kaduna State, the hometown of the late Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, on Monday, exonerated the State Governor, Muktar Ramalan Yero, over a clash that occurred during this year’s Gwong Day. Pandemonium had broken out during the foundation laying ceremony of late Patrick Yakowa Centre, following a clash between the supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and those of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

A group, loyal to the opposition APC, through their leader, Franco Byoma, had accused the governor of causing the crises.

But in a statement on Monday, the youths groups, under the auspices of Gwong Youth Council, Gwong Youth Political Forum, Gwong PDP Youth Wing, disassociated themselves from the earlier statement and reaffirmed their support for Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and President Goodluck Jonathan.

The statement signed by the immediate past Coun-

Yero

cilor of Kagoma ward, Hon Nehemiah Madugu, said the Byoma- led group, had no political relevance in the grass root as they all operated in the urban centers. “We want to categorically state that the so-called youth group that accused the governor does not even visit home and they have no political value at home.

Governor Yero, as the chief security officer of the state, cannot stand low by calling for violence at his late boss ceremony. We, the aforementioned groups, pledges our total support and loyalty to President Goodluck Jonathan, Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and the PDP in general. Our votes will vindicate us come next Saturday,� Madugu said.

Law 26

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Law

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Okulaja

Police establishment is bedrock of corruption – Okulaja Chief Yemi Okulaja, an indigene of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, read at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Osun State. He was called to the Bar 40 years ago.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Okulaja plies his trade in Lagos and Oyo States. He spoke with PETER FOWOYO, on the judiciary, the forthcoming elections, the two anti-graft agencies, the need to return to regional system of government and sundry issues.

Few days to elections, a Federal High Court, Abuja has ordered INEC to register a political party called Young Democratic Party. How do you view this judgment?

Well, in a democratic setting where the constitution guarantees freedom of association and all the safeguards for freedom of association, the court may be right to say that the party should be registered. It is one thing for a party to be registered; it is quite another thing for it to be able to

perform effectively. But it is not for the court to decide the effectiveness or otherwise of the party to be registered. I believe the court acted on a principle of freedom of association and the court has nothing to do with what can be the outcome of such order thereafter. That is how I view it.

But don’t you think with this development there might be a shift in the days of election again?

That brings another angle into it because INEC would have printed all the materials where this new party will not feature.

It is for INEC to sort that one out but, I quite see that there might be some mischief in the offing but as we are looking at the law, the law must be fulfilled even though in some occasion it might lead to awkward situation, the law is the law, I don’t see anything wrong with the judgment of the court.

If there was any restriction as to the time within which a new party could be registered that might be a new thing but, if there is no such restriction as to the time within which a party can be registered, it means a par-

“This is Nigeria setting and the doctrine of who pays the piper dictates the tune will come into play but I have no doubt that if we have a government that want to fight corruption, EFCC and ICPC are the effective ways for fighting corruption.”

ty can be registered at any time.

Do not let us look at it to say the court was wrong, the court was deciding based on the provisions in the constitution which is the supreme law of the land. I have not seen the judgment but I am using my experience as a lawyer of many years at the Bar to say that is what must have happened.

But INEC said a party that failed to win any seat will be deregistered; the new party did not win any seat so why should INEC register this party?

No, maybe at previous elections not with a new party, a new party has to be in operation before you can even contest in an election but, if they now make a rule that if you do not win a seat then there will be no justification in keeping you there if you have failed to justify your existence, if you fail to meet the minimum standard, there must be a standard.

Do you see INEC appealing this judgment?

Well, it all depends because if it is going to disrupt their operations, they might want to appeal it but, I don’t have all the facts,

what I am saying is just my own view about the case which might not necessary be in accord with the facts on the ground.

How would you assess the two anti-graft agencies meant to fight corruption?

Well, the two anti-graft agencies are alright but what our experience has been is that the EFCC and the ICPC are as good as the kind of support they are having from the government that established them. In the Nigeria setting, all these agencies are not all that independent of the body that set them up. EFCC did very well. I was very impressed by the performance of that body when Nuhu Ribadu was in charge, he really made an impact but then it got to a point where the executive that set them up was using them to hunt their opponents and at that particular point you see their effectiveness was curtailed.

This is Nigeria setting and the doctrine of who pays the piper dictates the tune will come into play but I have no doubt that if we have a government that want to fight corruption, EFCC and ICPC are the effective ways for CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

27 Law

Good leadership can check the rot in the police force CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30

fighting corruption. There are people when they find it inconvenient and they don’t want to be used they will resign like Justice Mustapha Akanbi formerly of the ICPC, I am sure that is what happened in his case because I’ve known Justice Akanbi for over 35 years now, I know that he is a very strong character and that he is incorruptible.

So, for him to just leave as ICPC chairman seems that he finds it very uncomfortable working with them and maybe he was not willing to dance to their tune but, there is no doubt that these antigraft agencies are good and can be very good at curbing corruption provided that the executive that set up those bodies supports and fund them very well by making sure they do not try to disrupt them in the performance of their duty.

There are suggestions that the establishment of these two bodies made it impossible for the police to effectively deal with corruption. Do you agree?

You see, when you are talking about corruption, my own take and I have been in practice now for 40 years, I have been working with the police, the police establishment actually sponsor corruption and is the bedrock of corruption. Police cannot effectively tackle it; they need intervention of some organizations like EFCC and ICPC to fight corruption.

They told us we don’t have to run the police down but, the truth must be told. Effectively, somebody was saying it as a joke but, it could be true. He said if you assemble all the corrupt people in Nigeria, two third of them are in the police force and one third is in the bank. You might say that is a joke but it is true.

From my own experience, for

instance, take the issue of bail, there was a time whenever a police officer was broke, he would just send his boys to go and arrest innocent people on the street arbitrarily and those people will be made to buy their freedom, they collect money from them as bail. When you get to the police station they will tell you bail is free but you and I know that bail is not free, these are means by which the police enrich themselves illegally and then when a police officer is broke he will send his boys to go and set up check points and we all know what happens at check points, they will ask for your particulars then they will be asking for your birth certificate and maybe marriage certificate if you’re not going to give them money and this is corruption and their principal knows this, every time he announces that there should be no check points because those check points are avenue for corruption.

You will see Constables bribing their ways to be part of the check point team. Police training is not even adequate enough to be able to fight corruption because we are now in technological age where a lot of the social media e being used to perpetrate fraud and when we have ignorant people who are not technically capable to be able to work with all these modern gadgets, they might not be able to cope. I believe there is still a case for the intervention of a special unit like EFCC and ICPC to lead the fight against corruption.

There is outcry that the president, Goodluck Jonathan is not doing enough to fight corruption. Do you share this view?

Well, it is very obvious that he is not doing enough to fight corruption. For instance, a case in point is the NNPC where the

“The leadership in any country is very crucial as to what is acceptable and what is detested in that society. Once you see that the leadership cannot lay good example and do the right thing, the message will be passed down the ladder and you see corruption everywhere.”

Okulaja Minister, Mrs Deziani was alleged to be using millions of dollars to fly out and a lot of stories coming out of there that you know, in saner clime, Mrs. Deziani should not last more than 24 hours on that seat but, she is still there waxing stronger and the president has not come out in clear terms to condemn this, look at the body language of the president, I don’t see anything this president has done to fight corruption.

For instance, they said a lot of money is missing, like $20billion is missing and there is nothing from the president. $20billion is a lot of money, it is 10 times more than the annual budget of some countries and a lot of changes can be put in place but they said that amount is missing he does not feel concerned. I believe this president has not done anything to curb corruption. In fact, my take is that the president is promoting corruption that is the truth.

But does the fight against corruption lie with the executive or the judicial arm of government?

Yes, corruption is everywhere.

Where you have corruption in the judiciary, it is the judiciary that will deal with it and the judiciary has been dealing with it but, a lot depends on the executive. When the executive set the tone, everybody takes their cue from it. For instance, when Buhari and Idiagbon took over the reign of governance in this country everybody felt it, for the first time people were queuing up at bus stops and other places and a lot of things fell into place for that change in government.

The same thing during the reign of General Murtala Mohammed, the few months he stayed there everybody felt the impact. The leadership in any country is very crucial as to what is acceptable and what is detested in that society. Once you see that the leadership cannot lay good example and do the right thing, the message will be passed down the ladder and you see corruption everywhere. But when the leadership is upright everybody will sit up, it is a question of leadership and leadership comes from the executive because the executive is more proactive than the judiciary. If the executive fight corruption, the judiciary will take note and you will see everybody will sit up. I think the fight lies with the executive rather than the judiciary.

Do you agree that the legislative arm of government should be on part time basis in order to save the country from running expensive governance?

Well, we have had something like that in the past when I was much younger. The starting point is that the cost of running

governance is much. For example, if the whole of our budget is N100,000 and the legislatures have cornered about N60,000 then you will wonder what we can be able to do with the remaining N40,000. I believe this idea of part time is more attractive in that it will reduce the cost of governance and only public spirited people will go there because the reason why people are killing themselves and maiming each other saying election is a matter of life and death is because of the money. The most lucrative job in Nigeria now is politics, people go there to go and make money.

The other day, a friend of mine was elected and the next thing I knew was that he was already in the United States buying properties and paying cash and my classmates who are there were telling me that and asking me how can that happen? They in America take mortgage to be able to buy these properties and you see a legislature who was elected few weeks rushed to America to go and buy property and paying cash. If we try to reduce the cost of governance by making legislative work be on part time, genuine people will represent the people. We have done it before.

The government that we had after the colonial era many of them lived in their houses and used their personal cars to go to the House, sit and deliberate on issues but now, people see politics as an avenue to make money and that is why we will not be able to make any headway, all our patrimony is being shared in the House among elected people and how can we really make progress? I actually support part time not only as a way of reducing cost of governance but also say that only those who are public spirited will go, work and contribute to the growth of this country.

“When you get to the police station they will tell you bail is free but you and I know that bail is not free, these are means by which the police enrich themselves illegally and then when a police officer is broke he will send his boys to go and set up check points and we all know what happens at check points.”

28

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Business Times

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Business Editor: Emmanuel Ogbonnaya Email: emmanuelogbonnaya@dailytimes.com.ng

Independent oil establishments evade tax payments Charles Okonji

L – R shows Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON; Honourable Minister of Power, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Chinedu Nebo; Group Managing Director, Omatek Plc, Engr Florence Seriki, MFR and Group Head, Commercial Banking, Lagos Mainland 3, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Ogundipe at the tour of Omatek’s Energy Efficient LED Lightings installed at the Exchange on Monday in Lagos.

Production difficulties slash monthly revenue

by N14.62bn Stories by Funmi Coker The crude oil price which has been falling has continued to lower the country’s monthly revenue prospects as gross receipts for February dropped by N14.62 billion to N401.46 billion compared to N416.09 billion the previous month.

However, total distributive revenue of N522.05 billion was shared among the three tiers of government for February compared to N500.13 billion in January.

After the monthly meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), the Minister of State for Finance, Alhaji Basir Yuguda, said there was a loss of about $24.48 million in revenue due to further drop in.

Crude oil prices fell from $52.33 billion in December 2014 to $48.65 in January 2015.

He added that revenue from gas also dropped from $420.600 per

metric tonnes in December 2014 to $190.226 per metric tonnes in January 2015.

He noted that the persistent shutdown and shut-in of trunks and pipelines at various terminals continued to impact negatively on the revenue performance while the non-oil revenues dipped further to February relative to the previous month.

Mineral revenue for the month in review stood at N306.94 billion compared to N305.39 billion while the non-mineral component was N94.52 billion against N110.69 billion in January The value added tax (VAT) fell to N58.25 billion compared to N63.93 billion the previous month.

Meanwhile, Yuguda also refuted allegations in some quarters that some state governments are currently unable to pay workers’ salaries because of outstanding payment from the federation accounts.

He said the Federal Government did not owe any amount to the states.

“We even gave them what they do not expect,” he said, referring to foreign exchange gain, which are often worked out and shared amongst the three tiers of government.

He affirmed that the value of the excess crude account (ECA) remained at $2.6 billion.

Of the net statutory allocation, the Federal Government received N186.60 billion, while the states shared N94.64 billion as well as the local governments which got N72.96 billion.

The sum of 39.57 billion was allocated to the oil and gas producing regions under the derivation principle.

For VAT, the Federal Government got N8.36 billion, while the states shared N27.96 billion as well as the local governments, which received N19.57 billion.

The independent oil and gas companies may have been breaching on the nation’s petroleum regulations with the high level of defaults in payment of royalties and taxes on the operated oil fields.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which revealed this at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG), said the indigenous upstream operators have failed to perform their operational obligations, particularly in the areas of taxes and royalties.

The Director, DPR, George Osahon, who spoke on the growth of indigenous participation the sector, said the success story has not been significant but the DPR would continue to encourage them.

Osahon however noted that the indigenous contribution to national oil output stands at 10 per cent.

“It is expected that the independent oil firms should be contributing about 40 per cent to the country’s production, but they are currently producing about 10 per cent to national output,” he stated.

The DPR boss however expressed concerns that over 10 years after the last marginal field bid round, only about a third have developed their fields and commenced production.

Although, he was optimistic that the future is bright for the indigenous upstream operators, he urged that the operational rules such as payment of taxes and royalties are fulfilled.

“Many of the independent operators have not been paying taxes and royalties. This is

Madueke

worrisome, but the department is strategising on how to clampdown on them because we do not want to discourage them. Government is promoting local content and wants to do everything to encourage operators, but they must live to their responsibilities and pay royalties,” he said.

He noted that some of them have now found respite from the challenges of financing, as they took bold step to enlist with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Osahon also lauded the local financial sector for its support for the petroleum industry, encouraging the indigenous firms to further explore more opportunities of merger and acquisition.

Besides, he emphasised that they should acquire more advanced technologies in their quest for growth.

The Chief Executive Officer, Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, said the marginal field policies and regulation in the country are archaic and uneconomical and this has largely impacted on the performance of the independents.

The Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani-Alison Madueke, had earlier at the conference, emphasized the need for both oil multinationals and indigenous operators to strategise for innovative funding in the wake of the recent plunge in crude oil prices.

She said: “Under a sustained low oil price, industry must challenge itself to raise funds for projects in order to meet these targets. This will call for radical changes in the cost environment, improved contract/ project management and innovative financing mechanism.

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

29 Aviation

IATA safety audit for African airlines, a steep boost – Woode The chief commercial officer of Africa World Airlines (AWA) Ms. Tosan Katherine-Lois Woode, in this interview with CHUKWUEMEKE IWELUNMO offers an appraisal of the performance, challenges and short-comings of the continent’s aviation sector from an operator’s perspective.

Woode

You have worked in the airline sub-sector for 11 years. Why do you think African airlines have stunted growth and what would Africa World Airlines (AWA) do differently to escape this growth challenge?

One of the reasons I accepted the challenge to become the chief commercial officer of the airline was exactly on that premise. I have worked with British Airways, Virgin Nigeria when Virgin Atlantic was running it and I also worked for Virgin Atlantic.

So, I do feel I have a good history

NIMET: Enhancing weather forecasts with e-SRP

when it comes to understanding the preciseness and compliance with the standard of an international airline. So for me I feel we can provide a unique offering through AWA. Now, I would attribute the problems of African airlines to learning, training and development. These are things we should deal with. A lot of African (airlines) do not really understand the key issues to train the human capital who are the huge internal assets. The moment you refuse to give them the required training, learning and development they begin to change your image and suddenly even though

CHUKWUEMEKE IWELUNMO The Nigerian Meteorological Agency NIMET with little or no fund has continued to forge ahead going digital to predict accurate weather for safety in the country, after the accurate prediction of the 2012 flood disaster.

Every year the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) produces and disseminates Seasonal Rainfall Predication (SRP) which has enabled various governments, departments and Ni-

you are pumping money into the system, the human aspect could become a liability. Another one we would look at is safety and security and cutting corners because we have not got the amount of investment capital it requires to be able to say “look, I am not going to cut corners.”

For AWA, we are going to fly into Takoradi, which is Ghana’s oil city. And we would like to operate from Takoradi to Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. But at the moment, we realize that we are slightly short of the runway and Embraer tells us we need a certain amount of length of runway or we take fewer passengers.

They say your flight takes 50 passengers and for you to land on the facility safely, you have to take 30 to 35 passengers. May be, an African airline would say “what are you talking about? We will fill the aircraft up with 50 passengers.”

But we have chosen not to cut corners when it comes to safety. So, does it provide lucrative option when we take less?

These are some of the things all African airlines have committed to in a recent roundtable discussion. They resolved that they would step up their game and adhere to safety and security standards. And to this end, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said they

would open up safety audit for African airlines. It is an expensive audit which a lot of airlines cannot afford to go through to address operational questions.

IATA has penciled down nine African airlines, including AWA, to be audited. And they taught and trained us for one month. And now AWA is proud that we are the next in line for the actual audit.

So, we are taxiing on the runway, so to speak, with the final IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme and we are very optimistic that we would pass it.

That is the link between the international and African airlines.

When they see the IATA accreditation they know that you have complied. That would open doors of code sharing, interlining, joint venture, etc for us. Other international airlines would bring the world to us. So with IOSA programme the challenges faced by African airlines will be history.

gerians in general to plan ahead.

In 2012, parts of West Africa experienced severe flooding, which affected over three million people between July and October. Nigeria witnessed the impact of devastating floods that affected up to 33 of the 36 states of the country.

According to the report of the Post disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) team, the total value of physical and durable assets destroyed by the floods in the most affected states of Nigeria was estimated to have reached N1.48

trillion. The total value of the damages and production losses was put at N2.6 trillion; 57 per cent of the total effects of the flood was on damage to physical and durable assets while production losses accounted for the remaining 43 per cent.

Stakeholders in the aviation sector have called for proper and adequate funding of NIMET until the agency is self-sustaining.

Abdulrasaq Saidu a renowned aviation labour leader has argued that with little or no funding from

Already, there are competing airlines on Ghana-Nigeria route. What unique things would AWA bring to make air travellers switch patronage?

I agree that there are competing airlines and we are one of the competitors. If you look carefully the competing airlines traditionally going between the two routes, holding the economic fraternity

of the Nigeria-Ghana route have, more often, been Nigerian carriers. In the early days of Ghana Airways, we had to stop unfortunately and for the past 10 years, it has only been Nigerian registered carriers running that route. And now, we are proud to be the first sustained regional carrier which is a Ghana-registered airline. We are offering a brand that comes out of Ghana. The second part is that we have a unique offering, aircraft type that is a Brazilian Embraer 145; it is a single-cabin special offering of 50 passengers.

We all know that a lot of Nigerians go to school in Ghana. So, we have to take care of them from Nigeria and back in Ghana. The aircraft are between four and five years old and because of that we can give you the required attention it takes as corporate travellers, traders, students. We feel that we can adapt quickly and tailor our needs to special target market.

You intend to deploy shuttle aircraft to the route. But there is a high concentration of Nigerian traders and businessmen in Ghana. How would the airline cater for their needs in terms of ferrying their goods from Nigeria to Ghana and CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

government if the agency can predict the ugly flood of 2012 that resulted in the loss of N570billion or 1.4 per cent of real GDP growth in 2012, it be a world Meteorological centre when adequately funded.

According to the Director General of NIMET, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, mankind has no control over the forces of nature that give rise to disasters, there is sufficient scientific knowledge to predict them and put in place CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Aviation 30

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

NIMET: Deploying latest technology to forecast weather CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures. Which remains the duty of NIMET to inform the public.

The NIMET prediction of the disaster of 2012 did not get to the grassroots as a result of lack of logistics to get the prediction translated to local languages to the vulnerable rural people.

According to NiMet the 2015 rainfall prediction has increased the number of cities and communities covered in the forecast from 372 in 2014 to 560 in 2015.

In the aviation sector, Low Level Wind Shear equipment have been installed in some airports across the country. Some crashes would have been avoided assuming Nimet’s warnings were adhered to by pilots as regards weather. In the words of Anuforom. “Wind shear is a major weather hazard that has contributed to many aircraft accidents in the past.

By means of these instruments, the occurrence of low level wind shear can now be detected and early warnings relayed to pilots before take-off and landing.

The existence of these instruments has guaranteed accurate and timely weather forecasts, measurements and observations that have met the International Civil Aviation Organisation standards. With these in place, pilots can now obtain accurate and reliable weather information prior to every flight out of any Nigerian airport,” For the first time, NIMET says it is introducing NIMET e-SRP, a mobile app which delivers the basic SRP information to every Nigerian mobile phone owner on real time basis through ICT solution.

With the recent breakthrough

by NIMET, rural farmers from this year can access basic rainfall prediction with the use of mobile applications by texting the name of the city to either 08054220054 or 08104049537.

NIMET in the last two years has raised safety standards in the industry with the procurement of latest technological gadgets that enhances safety monitoring for industry players. Some of the equipment include the installa-

Anuforom

tion of Doppler Weather Radar and the Calibrated Meteorological Instrument, which are used to detect and track hazardous weather systems on real-time basis and guarantees weather data reliability The aviation minister Chief Osita Chidoka at the recent commissioning of the NIMET’s ICT centre/library urged all agencies to be ISO certified following the certification of NIMET ISO 90012008 of its aeronautical services making the agency a world class forecast centre.

Some aviation stakeholders have argued that with near accurate prediction by NIMET, most foreign airlines flying into the country rely accurately on their weather forecasts for their flights.

According to Dr. Anuforom, Ghana has become the least country to patronize its services with the calibration of that country’s weather equipment. Anuforom says the agency targets more countries as it plans to acquire ISO 17025 certification.

He explained that after the ac-

quisition of the ISO 17025 certificate that the agency’s commercial viability shall be expanded and known all over the world as an international centre.

A labour leader, Abdulrasaq Saidu says NIMET’s becoming a world class weather forecast agency commenced with the installation of Doppler Radars across the country. He says their weather forecast are being used by the foreign airlines for their flights in and out of Nigeria due to the accuracy in the forecast.

Saidu argued that Rainfall Prediction when applied will aid farmers, aviators, Marines, and every Nigerian to plan ahead.

Unlike 2012, the NIMET has warned that the year 2015 will witness less rainfall and serious warm weather advising farmers to take advantage of the prediction to plant special variety of crops that can withstand the weather as there will be early ceasation of rains. Nimet also predicted the prevalence of malaria this year as a result of the hot weather and advised Nigerians to take precautions.

African airlines committed to raising standards- Woode CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

from Ghana to Nigeria?

We have been operating into Nigeria for a better part of one year. From December 9, 2013, we operated right through December 2014. We have studied our market very carefully; we feel that we now have a better offering. We started by erring on the side of caution because we didn’t have so much capacity. But having studied the market, we are coming up with a new concept; we feel that we can take more belly capacity.

So, we are offering our clients between 23 and 32 kilogrammes at a standard price of N6, 000. The next thing we are offering is if you have two of such bags, the price drops by N500. So two bags will be N11, 000 and the big deal is we are allowing a maximum of three extra bags at a price of N3, 000 each which is N15, 000. We know that if we have seven of our required trading customers with a lot of bags, we will work it out with them. So, what we are saying is AWA holds a concept of excess baggage at N6, 000 for the first bag; N5, 500 for the second bag and N5, 000 for the third bag. And that is for the traders; you know we have a large student community attending universities in Ghana and we are there for them too.

How do you handle the marketing aspect of your airline?

We have got something brilliant in this aspect where we feel that the travel agent, we call them travel partners, are our big deal.

When it comes to awareness, when it comes to marketing we have a lot of marketing collateral, gimmicks ad advertising. We are also working very hard with our banking partners. They have a larger reach; they want us to work with them so that they can tell our customers that they can book and bank with them. And how can the customers access us? We have a good product with a good price. Our travel partners can book you from their laptops.

We also go along with the formal airline system but the most important is how an individual can access us. We are working very hard with the Nigerian interswitch, quick teller and all those forms of deployment. So, AWA is going to be accessed through Zenith Bank, interswitch and quick teller system; we will be available on the web link, billing and settlement plan (BSP) and we are doing all these so that accessibility to our products will be seamless.

How would you rate the airline’s one year performance in the Nigerian market?

For one year, we feel that one thing we have been able to keep going is uninterrupted and sustained service from Accra to Lagos and back. Now, we have assessed our operations and I must admit that we did open up a market very aggressively with 14 flights every week. Back in July, we realized that because we were having a few challenges, we had to reduce to seven weekly flights.

What we see and what we have done now is to re-strategise. We are going to introduce weekend flights which would present a good offering for our passengers.

The Nigerian travelling public in Ghana is very excited to come home on weekends; they can come on Friday and return on Sunday.

How many Nigerian professionals are in the airline’s employ?

There is no Nigerian who serves as a security man in our employ. We have what we call a sharing system. In Nigeria, the staff strength is between 10 and 15 employed directly by AWA while the rest is outsourced.

There is no foreign worker in Nigeria here. For AWA, we are local content compliant. Remember, AWA is domiciled in Ghana and we can assure you that if it is what we call ECOWAS persons we have them and they actually tip the scale.

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

31 ICT

’Smart Connect’ to boost Airtel’s consumer growth

Lee Kun-hee, Samsung Chairman

Samsung’s newest mobile phones hit South African April Samsung has announced that its latest launches, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, which was unveiled at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, will be sold in South Africa early next month.

This was disclosed by Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile operator, making South Africa the first African country to take delivery of these devices.

But Vodacom was quick to warn that the limited stock will only be available first at the launch in South Africa. These phones will be made available in black, white and gold. It is still not clear how much these will cost.

Samsung had earlier said that with the launch of the two new flagship smartphones, it was directly targeting Apple as it fights to make up ground it lost to its US rival in the past year.

“Claiming the new phones set the performance bar for the entire industry, Samsung executives took to the stage in Barcelona to declare that the company has developed the most advanced smartphones in the world,” TechCentral reported.

It is understood that Samsung flaunted a new, cleaned-up user interface, which has removed a lot of the clutter and made it quicker and easier to access services. However, it was the hardware of the new devices that seized the attention of most at the Spanish event.

Airtel, one of Nigeria’s telcom firms, has continued its growth trajectory with the launch of the network’s mouth-watering and legacy products and services tagged ‘Smart Connect’.

The ‘Smart Connect’ product which was launched by the Smartphone Network comes with fantastic benefits for its users.

Airtel Smart Connect gives a 200 per cent bonus on every recharge over N200.00, data bonus, bonus on recharge for family and friends, four Sim cards for the price of one and an 11 Kobo per second charge for early night calls across all networks for seven days.

The distinctive thing about Airtel Smart Connect is that there is no limitation on how bonuses are used as it can be used for calls, SMS and data across networks.

Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Maurice Newa, said the four-in-one product will bring more people into the Airtel network.

“This superior product which helps people stay connected in a smart way gives special focus to family and friends and is another avenue for Airtel to provide its customers with the utmost best.

“The beauty of the product is that the benefits spread across the four Sim cards; Airtel is generous and has always thought about giving the best products and services to the numerous customers,” Newa said.

Newa allayed the fears of customers that increase in customer base might impact the network negatively, adding that they have considered that before the product launch.

He maintained that Airtel’s network remains one of the most consistent, customers friendly and easy to connect by users.

“Our network is superb. We do not entertain fears on what the increase in customer base will cause to the network, because Airtel has actually invested on the network. What we are focused on at the moment is rolling out products and services that bring about number of connected people in Nigeria to a more appreciable level,” he said.

Nigeria’s ace comedian, Akpororo, who also doubles as the products ambassador, said this product is a smart way to keep family and friends together.

Newa

Jowah, NCC, chairman

115 Nigerian ISPs risk being declared illegal -NCC Stories by Tony Nwakaegho The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has indicated that about 115 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating in country risk being declared illegal operators by the Commission as their licenses had expired.

The licenses of around 24 other ISPs ended before the end of the 2014. The expired licenses of the 115 are expected to be renewed before the end of this year.

According to a report, Nigeria has about 184 ISPs. Licenses are issued, under the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 (NCA 2003), for a period of five years before they are renewed. Another 22 other ISPs will have to renew their licenses in 2016, 18 in 2017, 21 in 2018 and 20 in 2019.

The 184 ISPs operate in different parts of the country. Apart from the ISPs that are to be renewed in 2016, three GSM operators will also need to renew their 15-year old licenses, namely MTN, Airtel and Mtel, the mobile

Dead CDMA telephone lines litter Nigeria-NCC The once active Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) subsector of the telecoms industry has been declared as a ‘crowd graveyard’ that litter the country, going by the latest statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

According to the telecoms industry regulator, CDMA lines dropped from a whopping figure of 2,187,845 to 2,108,960 between

the period of December 2014 and January 2015, while its GSM counterpart recorded a total of 139 million active lines up from 137 million in December 2014.

Both GSM and CDMA current active lines stood at a little above 141 million lines in January up from the 140 million recorded in December 2014.

CDMAs have continued to perform poorly due to a num-

ber of reasons including the local financiers’ refusal to lend to CDMA operators because of their repulsive financial record.

Further investigations revealed that some CDMA operators had over the years regularly and consciously ignored sustained and systematic red flags as their promoters and managers diverted funds meant for expansion into frivolous projects

like manufacturing, oil and gas, politics and so on.

The deaths of CDMAs were also quickened by corporate mismanagement because of the fraudulent and self-serving practices of some members of board and management and the overbearing influence of Chairmen or Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of CDMAs.

arm of NITEL. According to the report, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Engr. Lanre Ajayi, said majority of the ISPs, especially the big players are connected to the exchange.

Ajayi said that due to the vicissitudes of the business environment, larger percentages of them are no more in operation.

He said there was need for government to create a favourable environment for business growth, adding that it was important to woo investors into the economy, “especially now that the country plans to develop its broadband potential” According to Kehinde Aluko, a telecoms expert, the ISPs may continue to shun the local exchanges because of the country’s under-developed distribution networks, which include national long distance fibre, metro fibre and last mile connectivity, which constitute a huge challenge, especially because of the cost implications.

Business

Features

News

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TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

VOL. 1. NO.72

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Who will Nigerians elect as president?

Ayodeji Ayodeji

ÎÎÎTechnically, contrary to the erroneous views being expressed by the army of restive sycophants in the corridors of power, there currently exists vacancy in Aso Rock – the Abujabased strategically located imposing palatial official residence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The fact that Aso Rock is now visibly vacant and there is urgent need for the vacancy to be filled is the reason the presidential election holds this Saturday with President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as one of the 14 contestants for the juiciest job in the land.

The vacancy in Aso Rock constitutionally remains until the end of the presidential election and the officially recognized electoral umpire – the Professor Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announces a winner of what promises to be a tough electoral contest between the two major candidates hopefully by Monday, March 30, 2015.

It is heartwarming that at last, in spite of the raging rumour from the quarters of desperate politicians that the 2015 general elections would be postponed again, the first leg of the two-legged 2015 general elections will hold as scheduled.

Millions of eligible voters, irrespective of political, religious, ethnic or cultural affiliations, will heave a sigh of relief following the successful kick-off of the long-awaited crucial and decisive elections However, Nigerians with discerning minds hope that having postponed the elections for six weeks, INEC and other relevant agencies had successfully addressed those lapses identified to ensure that the elections which had since political campaigns began in November 2014 generated a lot of heat and tension within the political landscape across the country, will be free, fair, transparent and acceptable to right-thinking Nigerians.

It is the responsibility of INEC and other stakeholders to ensure the elections are successful as this is the

only way to justify reasons for postponement of the elections.

The last round of general elections in Nigeria took place in 2011 and apart from the staggered elections held in some states afterwards, many Nigerians are determined to participate actively in this year’s elections since according to them, there is the urgent need to effect a change in political leadership in order for Nigeria to regain its lost glory.

In view of the importance of the 2015 elections, the level of political awareness among Nigerians has increased considerably and they have vowed to cast their votes for their preferred candidates to ensure the “right” presidential candidate with uncommon sterling leadership qualities emerges winner.

The election marks a significant turning point in the chequered political history of Nigeria and this is why those charged with the conduct of these allimportant elections must put their selfish interests aside and allow their actions to be guided strictly

by national interest. The hitch-free take-off and successful conclusion of the elections will to a large extent, help in not only installing visionary and dynamic leadership that will help in moving the toddling and fumbling 54-yearold country forward from its present pitiable state but the unbroken 16-yearold democratic experience will be deepened. This is why the entire world is focusing on Nigeria. As the “Giant of Africa”, Nigeria carries the inevitable burden of demonstrating exemplary leadership in the conduct of elections. As the most populous black African country and the biggest economy on the African continent, Nigeria cannot afford to shirk its responsibility of conducting credible elections for other African countries to emulate.

Other African countries are anxiously waiting to see if Nigeria will get it right this time around.

This is why Nigeria cannot afford to fail in this regard.

It is quite understandable that of all the elections, the presidential election has

so far generated a lot of political heat, tension and controversy. It is unfortunate and worrisome that the campaigns ahead of today’s elections have been largely divisive and characterized by hate-speeches, hate-documentaries, mudslinging, character assassination, blackmail and unsubstantiated allegations, especially from the camps of the two major presidential candidates.

As usual with past political campaigns during the past 16 years, such campaigns have been largely pedestrian rather than issues cum ideology-based.

Of the 14 presidential candidates, there is one female – Professor Remi Sonaya who is contesting on the platform of KOWA. This first-ever feat in Nigeria’s political history is significant as it will encourage more Nigerian women to seek election into the highest political position in the land. It is also significant that of the 14 candidates, Jonathan, 57 and Buhari, 72, clearly stand out from the crowd. In terms of experience, Jonathan is the incumbent president while

Buhari was once a military Head of State. It will be a neck–to–neck contest between the duo.

Jonathan was elected president in 2011 after defeating Buhari and others.

Jonathan should not take Buhari for granted. Unlike in 2011 when Jonathan of PDP defeated Buhari, the outcome of this presidential election will be a big shocker that will shake the foundation of Nigeria’s political landscape.

In essence, Jonathan should not underrate Buhari as Buhari of 2003, 2007 and 2011 is different from Buhari of 2015. Also, Buhari should not take Jonathan for granted. As the sitting president whose power of incumbency is an advantage if reasonably utilized and the federal government administration’s unlimited access to vast resources to actualize Jonathan’s re-election bid, Buhari should not underestimate Jonathan.

Ajayi is a journalist and public affairs analyst.

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Published by FOLIO COMMUNICATIONS LTD, Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja. website: www.dailytimes.com.ng; email: info@dailytimes.com.ng. Tel: 018447948. EDITOR: YINKA OLUJIMI News Hotlines: 08138773277, 08173901838. Advert Hotlines: 08169118913, 08075038528

Life&

TIMES Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Tonye Garrick

Alluring and musically gifted L2 Traditional wear revolutionised P

L4

P

Interview L2

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday March 24, 2015

- Tonye Garrick

I am happy to be living my dream

Nkarenyi Ukonu Rising singer, Tonye Garrick is one of the many new crops of musical artists, constantly proving, through several platforms that they are here to stay. She opens up in this interview on her music career, her style and why she should be considered watch - worthy.

You have of recent been seen lending your vocal prowess at adding that your name has been on the lips of many. Who exactly is Tonye Garrick?

I like to be referred to as simply Tonye. I am an international recording artist and songwriter. I was born in England but spent most of my childhood and adult years in Paris, Nigeria, and Washington, DC, where I studied International Business and Fashion Merchandising at Marymount University.

Did you make use of your calling?

Before I started music professionally,

both great jobs.

Why did you leave such high always had this big dream to become a singer and I just thought it was time mately took a leap of faith in 2009 to explore and pursue my love for music professionally.

How did your love for music begin?

I have been in love with music all my life, I grew up around music but my talent became evident when I was about 10 years old when I sang in school.

Everyone including my teachers were blown away.

Why do you think you have a in the Nigerian music industry? sional singer/songwriter if I sides, Nigeria is my home, I am from here and it has a booming music industry. Entertainment has grown exthe beauty and positivity it has.

Since your coming, you have released a few singles. How well has your music been accepted?

The response to my music so far has been quite encouraging and that is a sign that my sound is accepted so the future of my music looks pretty good.

How would you

describe your brand of music?

At the moment, I am making sounds that I will like to call R&B fusion.

Who are your role models in the music industry?

There are so many people I consider my role models. On the international scene, I like artists like Brandy, Rihanna, Lauryn Hill and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, while for Nigerian artists I love Onyeka Onwenu and Tiwa Who would you like to collaborate with in Nigeria for a hit?

I would love to work with Timaya again, we both did the remix of my work with Praiz, Flavour, Davido, ed artists here.

What singles do you have out in the moment and when are you thinking of releasing your debut album?

In 2010, I released an emotional accapella titled What About Us, which captured the hearts of many, and was used for the Nigerian Youth Presidential debate in 2011. I also Were Ni Yen and Wait For Me (a cover of Onwenu hit song), they were both successful. In October of 2014, I released my hit single titled, Criminal with a remix of the song with music maestro Timaya which was released in December 2014. Also in December, I released a Christmas themed song Merry Christmas Baby, featurnito, which was accompanied with an interesting video. I just dropped my latest single in February titled Ari Belema. Ari Belema I will have an album out but I am always working in the studio on a lot of content.

What are some of your challenges as a Nigerian artist and how you were able to overcome it?

At the moment, I am taking everything as a blessing and not seeing things as challenges. I am happy to be living my dream each day and glad to have a supportive team that believes in what I am doing and allows me to be me.

What motivates you?

My love for music motivates me daily.

What are some of the things that have shaped you into who you are today?

For one, my upbringing has played a major role, the love and support my parents have always shown me cannot be described and I love them.

Also, I think music has a way of

Life&

T E A M

has shaped me to who I am today.

Editor Nkarenyi Ukonu n.ukonu@dailytimes.com.ng 08029030427

Music Correspondent Akintayo Opeoluwani o.ogunjimi@dailytimes.com.ng 08126223784

Movie Correspondent Mutiat Alli m.alli@dailytimes.com.ng 08115557378

Society Correspondent Isaac Oguntoye i.ogundoye@dailytimes.com.ng 08069489893

Photography Quadri Olowolagba q.olowolagba@dailytimes.com.ng 08029745478

What fond child hood memories can you readily recall? cause my dad was a Diplomat which required us to move to wherever he when I was really young. My fond memories would be learning about different cultures which in turn has made me to embrace every culture.

You are known to always put your best fashion foot forward.

How did this part of you evolve?

I think I got the fashion genes from very fashionable and stylish woman.

I also have a fashion education background as I studied Fashion Merchandising in university so fashion has always been something I have been attracted to. I love dressing up and looking good and I think I am not afraid to standout or try out bold trends, dressing up is really fun for me, I love fashion.

What determines what you wear?

For one, the weather in Nigeria has to determine what I wear, it can be very hot and I like to look chic and comfortable. Also, the event or function I am attending will determine my look.

How would you describe your style?

I would say my style is very edgy, trendy and chic.

wearing?

I think fashion is about trying out new trends, sometimes experimentcourse I will always dress up to suit wear anything.

What is the story behind your signature crop hair? Why the hair extension craze?

I started wearing this pixie-cut in 2014, I think it suits the structure of

With great skin like yours, what is your beauty routine like?

I am a beauty junkie, I love beauty products. I use this amazing skincare and very gentle on my sensitive skin.

As for make up, I only wear makeup if I have to so, most of the time I go without make up as I like to keep my pores open.

How old are you?

They say never ask a lady her age…but, I am in my twenties.

How do you unwind?

I work on songs, I write songs, it truly relaxes me.

Besides music, what else do you do?

I love to exercise and to work out.

Graphics Austine Agbovi a.agbovi@dailytimes.com.ng 07060402397

Daily Times Nigeria

Tuesday March 24, 2015

L3 Relationship

Family pitfalls and pointers Ngozi Ndubisi

Ngozindubisi2013@yaho.com Yes Communication is one of the most important bedrocks for a healthy marriage. But see it this way, when two people from different backgrounds, with different perspectives and concerns come together as a couple, there are bound to be some frictions in communication until there is a better understand of each other.

Susan Heitler, Ph.D, a Denverbased clinical psychologist author of the book The Power of Two: Secrets of a Strong & Loving Marriage, hazards or pitfalls in marriages and the ways to overcoming them.

Pitfall 1: Not knowing the rules

Oh yes! Constructive communication has principles, some of which you or your partner naturally might not have known. As a person, you both may have different expectations and totally different communication styles because of your different childrealize that the way they sometimes communicate, is actually hurting their

partner. This hurtful communication might include the way they interpret, criticize and also in their namecalling. Interpreting for example, in some cases leads to false assumptions and you know what they say about assumptions (it make an ass of one).

So instead of assuming and interpreting wrongly; Ask Questions, Call is needling you. Instead of criticizing and criticizing out of turn, discuss your concerns and worries with your spouse.

proach works best when couples take potentially overwhelming issues and break them down into smaller concrete concerns that can be addressed one at a time. This really works; I saw it work for my parents me too.

Pitfall 2: Compromising

It might surprise you to learn that compromising is a pitfall. According to Heitler, compromise produces two losers. As she explains, compromise is a “lose-lose solution” that leaves both spouse feeling compromised.”

A win-win solution is when her-way meets his-way and it becomes “ourway.”

So Instead of compromises, talk ing concerns, and be responsive to them. When you both understand your concerns, then you can brain-

Pitfall 3: Playing the blame game

Upsetting situations will arise, what matters is what happens when either of you tries looking back at what happened. If your looking back at fault, then its time you stopped beblames the more opened you are to being hurt.

Instead, Look back at your own behaviour and ask yourself what you can do differently in the future to pre-

do differently but what you could or should do differently.”

Pitfall 4: Allowing your anger get the better of you

Getting angrier and angrier in the cessive emotions can derail a conversation and turn it into a full-blown Instead, when a conversation or an argument is going on and you are best to get out of the conversation.

“Give yourself some time to cool off. walk or do whatever else that can calm you down.

to decide what your partner should

Pitfall 5: Taking your marriage for granted

Marriage is more like being a professional athlete; it takes patience, learning complex skills and lots of practice to make a marriage successful. Marriage should not be a spur of the moment thing; you must be well prepared for it.

Instead of thinking your marriage will smoothen out by itself, take the time to attend seminars, lectures, read books, listen to CDs or go online for marriage relationship educational skills. For example, you can learn how to communicate effectively when you are faced with challenges, or how to keep a good communication channel to effectively build a healthy happy marriage.

The Love Dare Week 3:

Day 13:

LOVE FIGHTS FAIR If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

THE DARE

Talk with your spouse about establishing healthy rules of engagement.

If he or she is not ready for this, then write out your own personal by them when the next disagreement occurs. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

Day 14

LOVE TAKES DELIGHT

THE DARE

Choose a way to show honour and respect to your spouse that is above your normal routine. It may be holding the door for her. It might be putting his clothes away for him. It may be the way you listen and speak in your communication.

Show your mate that he or she is highly esteemed in your eyes.

Day 16

LOVE INTERCEDES Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good

THE DARE

when they share personal thoughts and struggles with you. Make them feel safe.

Purposefully neglect an activity you would normally do so you can spend quality time with your spouse. Do something he or she

Day 18

LOVE SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND

THE DARE

Prepare a special dinner at home, ner can be as nice as you prefer.

Focus this time on getting to know your spouse better, perhaps in

really like to work on. Just be together.

you-husband- that is taking the dare

Day 17 He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

LOVE IS HONORABLE

THE DARE

Live with your wife in an understanding way . . . and show her honour as you would to be honoured.

secrets (unless they are dangerous to them or to you) and to pray for them. Talk with your spouse, and resolve to demonstrate love in spite

Day 15

While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.

and in your marriage.

LOVE PROMOTES INTIMACY

Day 20

LOVE IS JESUS CHRIST

Start your today by praying for

THE DARE

the strength and grace to carry on in true love.

Day 19

LOVE IS POSSIBLE Let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

THE DARE

Look back over the dares from previous days. Were there some that seemed impossible to you?

Have you realized your need for God to change your heart and to give you the ability to love? Ask for

THE DARE

Dare to take God at His Word.

Dare to trust Jesus Christ for salvaa sinner. But You have shown Your love for me by dying to forgive my sins, and You have proven Your power to save me from death by Your resurrection. Lord, change my heart, and save me by Your grace.”

Question: I read your articles and really want more on the pimples until your face to look good for my husband; I need is well saturated. Leave on for about an hour then wash off. Do this at care of my pimpled face. Please least twice a day, everyday. You will help me! begin to notice that your acne or Omolare – 37yrs, Abuja pimple is going away, leaving your face smooth and young.

Use this natural remedy to remove your pimples, acne, keep Method 2 your face smooth and feel young Tomato as facial mask: Cut an “X” again! at the top of a tomato and run the tomato under warm water for a minTOMATOES: Yes tomatoes; the cit- ute or two, then peel the skin (which ric acid in it is the key ingredient to should come off rather easily after keeping your face clear, smooth and ever young. Tomato is also an anti tomato seeds entirely and mash up aging agent; the best way to have the remaining pulp into a smooth paste. Apply as a facial mask over it directly to your face and neck. the entire face as you would apply a cream facial mask. Allow the mask Method 1 to harden on your face and work its Slice a tomato, making sure the magic. After the full hour, rinse off thoroughly. This works well for even your face in a circular motion and tough cases of acne

Fashion & Style L4

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday March 24, 2015

Nigerian traditional wear revolutionised Eyola

Eyola@aol.com 1. Gele alternative: Wear a peineta hair comb as an alternative to your gele for a modern take on the traditional iro and buba. Peineta hair combs are part of the traditional and native dress worn in Spain during special occasions such as Holy Week and Church weddings. Apart

from their aesthetic qualities, peinetas add inches to your height and keep your hair in place.

2. Casual gele: Wear your gele with a pair of jeans, a pencil skirt or a tailored dress.

3. Iro and buba: Mix and match your iro, buba, iborun and gele. Wear an iro from one style, the buba from

another, the iborun from yet another style and the gele from a completely different set, and create a whole new wardrobe.

button-up blouse, a tailored shirt or a spaghetti strap top.

4. Ibroun: Make full use of your traditional wardrobe by wearing your iborun casually with jeans or draped over a little black dress.

Borrow style cues from singer Yemi Alade and ing vibrant, embroidered or beaded fabrics for a stylishly feminine take on the androgynous look.

5. Iro: Wear your wrapper with a silk

: For men who are

a bit more daring, try wearing your traditional kaftan and replace your big hat.

8. Fila: Another one for the guys.

Add a hint of West African traditional with a tailored British suit or with casual jeans and T-shirt

Š Eyola Limited

Yemi Alade

1

Š Eyola Limited

2

8 7

Daily Times Nigeria

Tuesday March 24, 2015

L5

Kiddies World L6

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday March 24, 2015

Nkarenyi Ukonu

Fun Facts

Know your heros/heroines

Rabbits and parrots can see behind themselves without even moving their heads!

Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, P.C., GCFR

on top of it! Their taste receptors are in their feet unlike humans who have most on their tongue.

Most of the dust in your home is actually dead skin!

Although the Stegosaurus dinosaur was over 9 metres long, its brain was only the size of a walnut.

Humans get a little taller in space because there is no gravity pulling down on them.

Values Do you have this value - Obedience?

Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s campaigning in the 60s Born in Zungeru in present day Niger State in 1904 to Igbo parents. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe spent much of his early life in Lagos.

Determined to succeed, he later found his way to the United States of America. He returned to Africa in 1934 armed with a mas-

enous Governor-General.

Three years later, in 1963, he

and Anthropology from Lincoln

dential candidate of the Nigerian

victions.

He started off in the Gold Coast, now Ghana, as Editor-in-Chief of but was forced to shift base to Nigeria later that year where he a daily newspaper. In the course of his political career which spanned about sixty years, he held many important positions. pendence on October 1, 1960, -

Commander-in-Chief, Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was removed from ary 15, 1966. At the resumption

1983. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe held the traditional title of Owelle of Onitsha.

Dr Azikiwe was actively involved in sports at every stage of his life, and he was successful in many of the events that he participated in. They include boxing, high jump champion, cross country marathon, swimming, table tennis, cricket and football, most of which he won medals for.

He died on May 11, 1996 at the age of 91

Obeying is doing what is asked or commanded. You must understand that your parents are adults, and you are a child. You must respect your elders; you can never be truly well behaved unless you respect your elders.

When your parents give you an order, obey it at once without questioning it.

think!

You are just a child, even if you are intelligent, the adults know more than

been around longer, respect your elders.

Do chores without being asked, if you can see that something needs

bad language, talk about adults be-

hind their back or act bored when they are talking to you.

Recognize their good qualities and appreciate them for all the good they have done for you.

Riddles ing. The boy is the son of the engineer but engineer is the father of the boy. Then who is the engineer?

Answer: mother.

Everyone in the world needs it.

They generously give it. But never take it. What is it?

Answer: Advice He was driving a black truck in a long road in a great speed. The

Healthy eating What you eat and how much you eat are important.

Food is the fuel for your body.

Without the right food, your too much or too little food are both bad. Too little food and you run out of energy. Too much food and you are carrying around an extra load - it slows you down. You need nutrients – like vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates – to grow up healthy.

These nutrients mainly come

Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe

doing, do it. If you overhear your mother complaining about having to wash the plates, give her a surprise and do them for her. Do not mock

as cars need fuel to run, your body needs food to keep going.

lights on the truck were off. It was a new moon day. An old lady was slowly crossing the road. He should stop the truck otherwise, he would hit the lady.

How did he stop the truck?

Answer: The driver stopped the truck immediately after seeing the old lady, as it was bright sunny day!

Four children and their pet dog were walking under a small umbrella. But none of them be-

came wet. How? Answer: It was not raining!

It is your possession and belongs to you. However, you use it very rarely. What is that?

Answer: Your name.

I will come one time in a minute, two times in a moment, but will never come in thousand years. Tell who am I? Answer:

Daily Times Nigeria

Tuesday March 24, 2015

L7 Teen’s World

Parents-children relationship Ngozi Ndubisi

Ngozindubisi2013@yaho.com Last week we promised starting an advice line for parents-children relationships. Parents need to know the buildup of their teenage children to better manage and understand them. The self-esteem and self-conblow to them and unlike the adults I asked some teenagers what

The Fear of Disappointing

Our parents put a lot of pressure on us. For instance, when we do pointment of not doing well, but also deal with our parents and in addition deal with their anger, disappoint-

The Fear of Failing

I know, sometimes we act like we

this is a cover. We want to succeed want us to. We fear failing on an academic level, in our relationships, in our friendships and even on home projects. I think as a teen, our selfa real blow and we cannot recover

The Fear of Being Misunderstood someone defacing their Facebook page and having gossip spread over-reacting and freaking out about being misunderstood because, as

on us.

We also know that our set of friends could disappoint our parents sometimes. The truth is, If our parents do not like something we do, it like a part of us—and this is something we fear and need our parents to know that whatever we do negadisappointment our parents. Correct

-

even understand this of themselves!

These fears are understandable and I think that parents can address these fears with their kids. Ask them tackle them and make sure the comTeenagers at a summit munication channel remains open.

Movie and Music Chart

Opeoluwani Akintayo and Mutiat Alli

Top 10 music chart

Nigeria

1. Wizkid-Ojuelegba

4. Kiss Daniel – Woju 5. Korede Bello- God Win 6. Mavin- LookuLooku 7. Sean Tizzle- LokeLoke

Top 10 music chart

International

1. Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do 2. Mark Ronson Feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 3. Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud FourFiveSeconds 5. Hozier Take Me To Church 6. Maroon 5 Sugar

Top 10 movie chart

English

1. October 1st 3. Tango With Me 4. Gone Too Far 5. Confusion Na Wa 6. Alanpoza

9. House of Gold 10. Silence

9. M.I Ft Moti- Bad Belle 10. Olamide- FalilaKetan G.D.F.R.

Top 10 movie chart

International 1.Insurgent 2.Cinderella 4.Run all night 5.The gunman 6.The secret service

8.Focus 9.Chappie 10.Sponge out of water

Daily Times Nigeria

Tuesday March 24, 2015

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Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Tech Times

s

Inye Kemabonta, Editor, Technology Times inye@technologylaw.com.ng

Lessons for NITDA from NASSCOM Natural Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology are both sponsors of a Technology Innovation Programme under which the iDEA Hubs (Information Technology Developers Accelerator) in Calabar and Lagos were built. There is also the Technology Innovation Fund set up by the Ministry Communication Technology which closed its first round of fund raising a few months ago at $16 million. NITDA is currently in talks with the Bank of Industry to set up an IT entrepreneurship fund. These are milestones and important strides in catalyzing a suitable innovation ecosystem in Nigeria.

Last December, NITDA sought to further the gains of the innovation program through a visit to India. That visit included a meeting with NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies). NASSCOM is the Indian equivalent of our own NAITEOC (National Association of IT-Enabled Outsourcing Companies).

Obviously, the visit was seminal and should be the precursor to a future, more articulated, outcome. It must have been

a chance for the Nigerian delegates to get sense of what the rest of world is doing to develop or upscale their technology innovation ecosystem. But one of its most important lessons, in my view, ought to be the realization that the Nigerian Technology Innovation Program is on the right path, generally speaking.

Yes, in general, there are similarities between Nigeria and India. Like India, Nigeria now has an industry association of IT services companies (never mind its fledgling state). Like Nigeria, India has also set up an Innovation Fund (the India Innovation Fund) which provides early stage funding for technology startups. In other words, India also runs a technology incubation and accelerator program.

A second lesson for Nigeria must be that while we may be on the right path, we certainly are behind and need to do more. We need to be a lot more aggressive and ambitious. We need to proceed with greater speed because the rest of the world, even though far ahead, is not waiting. For example, the total start-ups in all of the Nigeria’s innovation hubs is far below 500. But India is planning to seed funds into 10,000 technology start-

ups in a few years! Experts have often stated that the survival ratio of start-ups in an incubation program is 25:1 at best.

In other words, for every 25 entrepreneurs only one may survive.

What this suggests is that there is a compelling need for an expansive, deliberate, planned and sustained Nigerian Technology Innovation Program beyond the current pilot schemes funded

by NITDA. It is very important to point out that NITDA and its parent Ministry have pointed the way. Now the private sector must come in more vigorously.

This is not to demean the pioneering efforts of Co-Creation Hub, Tony Elemelu Foundation and many other private initiatives in the innovation space. Rather, it is a call for a fuller and more vigorous involvement of the private sector in technology innovation.

This is the third lesson from the NITDA visit to India. The Indian Innovation Fund (IIF) is a private sector driven initiative by a network of investors. Unlike its Indian counterpart the Nigerian, actually Lagos, Angel Investor Network (arguably the only real investor network in all of Nigeria) needs more vigor. It would appear that the Indian Angel in-

vestment program is consolidated to provide a de-risking incentive to its promoters to invest in start-ups. On the other hand, the Nigerian Angel investment landscape is fragmented.

I do not see any reason why a technology fund in the mold of the IIF cannot be set up by the Organized Private Sector or, better still, by either the Angle Network or Venture Capitalists in Nigeria. This what clearly makes the Indian example different and potentially more successful. A private sector initiative will bring in the agility of the private sector into the innovation program. It will de-risk investments in start-ups.

Most importantly, it may most probably raise and close a bigger innovation fund for an expanded and ambitious innovation program. Only then can we, as a nation, truly begin a transformational and impactful technology innovation program.

Finally, the task before NITDA as a consequence of its Indian mission is to now catalyze a private-sector-led Innovation Program and Innovation Fund.

Inye Kemabonta, inye@technologylaw.com.ng

Tech Times 2

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

ICT holds transformational opportunities for Nigeria-Makwane define most Africans. Secondly, I am fully invested in the success, growth and economic prosperity of Nigeria but also in continuing the work of empowering the youth across this continent with the skills they need to be successful as either entrepreneurs or in finding gainful employment which began in South Africa.

However, the most significant aspect is that I’ve established new roots here because my family and I have fully settled in the country and we are fully immersed in Nigeria’s vibrant culture.

Makwane, MD Microsoft Nigeria Limited

Microsoft has been in Nigeria for decades. The software giant claims to be deeply committed to the evolution of a truly indigenous Nigerian ICT industry. Its Managing Director, Mr. Kabelo Makwane, was one of the guests of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology at the ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum last week. He agreed to respond to questions from Inye Kemabonta of Technology Times. Excerpts…

Many persons regard you as a Nigerian. How true is this?

While one has had fair exposure to the Western world, being an African who grew up and spent the better part of life on the continent means that one cannot but be a child of the soil regardless which country in Africa or culture one is exposed to.

I share a deep connection with the universal African values that

What is the concept behind the 4Afrika Project and how is it relevant to Nigeria and the youth of Nigeria?

The concept behind Microsoft 4Afrika is, essentially, to engage in Africa’s economic development and improve its global competitiveness. To do this, we are focusing on three critical areas: affordable devices for consumers and bringing relevant cloud services from small, medium, to large enterprises. ing world-class skills for entrepreneurship and employability velopment of smart technology based solutions for Africa, by Africans Africa, at the moment, has the largest and fastest growing youth population in the world.

With such a high number, not all of the youth can be absorbed by existing enterprise into the mainstream economy. Therefore, the key focus areas with 4Afrika around the youth in Nigeria is to

‘‘Microsoft has been a catalyst for the development of Nigeria’s local software and information technology services industries’’ create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs and start-ups, so they can create economic and employment opportunities for themselves and others. To do this, Microsoft Ventures recently expanded into Nigeria, we collaborated with the Co-Creation Hub (Cchub). As a start have awarded two promising Nigerian start-ups – Abiola Olaniran from Gamsole and Hugo Ibo from Save & Buy – with 4Afrika innovation grants to help grow their businesses. In addition to the above through our Africa-wide Microsoft Virtual Academy and Biz4Afrika platforms, we are providing young Nigerian start-ups with the tools, resources, expertise and routes to market that they need to succeed.

Uwadia lauds Coderina for promoting STEM in Nigeria Tony Nwakaegho Professor Charles Uwadia, Head of Computer Science, University of Lagos (UniLag), has lauded Coderina, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) vision in promoting Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education in Nigeria.

Uwadia, who spoke with Daily Times during the just concluded FIRST® LEGO® League competition held at the Unilag, ex-

plained that the programme is very important when talking about sustainability of Science and Technology, Engineering and Education in Nigeria, adding that such initiative could only be sustained if you catch them young, that is you address the very foundation of education.

He said that such an exciting and fun global robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids between ages 9 to 16,

deserves support from both the government and the private sector.

According to him, Coderina has shown that sustainability of STEM in Nigeria must not be overlooked, stressing that the choice of the University environment for FIRST® LEGO® League competition is to give the youth a feeling of an educational environment different from where they CONTINUED ON PAGE TT 4

Microsoft has been in Nigeria for decades. What has been the real value of your presence to the local economy?

Microsoft has been operating in Nigeria for 14 years. Since 2000, Microsoft has been a partner in Nigeria’s efforts to help its citizens unleash the power of technology. Microsoft has been a catalyst for the development of Nigeria’s local software and information technology services industries: In 2013 our local partner ecosystem grew to 1,750+ companies employing +45,000 people. In collaboration with our Partners and their workforce Microsoft is committed to expanding local centers of innovation in Nigeria by empowering small businesses, nurturing innovators and enabling workers to compete in the global economy. While Microsoft Partners vary widely in size and occupy a diverse range of market niches, a key to success for all of them is their commitment to developing products and services on our platforms. Our local partners have earned and continue to earn $9.6 for every $1 earned by Microsoft.

Through this partner ecosystem, we have been able to create 45 000 jobs, support 300 start-ups, reach three million students through the Partners in Learning program, and see 65 000 downloads of free Dream Spark developer tools. As mentioned, one of our key focus areas and where we can add a lot of value is on creating a more agile landscape for entrepreneurs. According to a study done by the Boston Consulting Group, between 2010 and 2013

tech-savvy SMEs created twice as many new jobs and grow revenues 15% faster than SMEs using little technology. As we continue to support, train and incubate startups and SMEs, encouraging them to adopt technology for improved productivity and develop cloud-based businesses, we hope to see great and sustained growth in the local economy.

Through our BizSpark initiative we have served clients, reached and mentored 50,000+ startups since 2009 and put bestin-class software and support services within reach for budding entrepreneurs at little or no cost.

Microsoft’s 9jaApps initiative in which it has invested $65,000 has reached over 700 developers, offered over 1,000 hours of training, mentoring and coaching.

Microsoft’s 9jaApps initiative is the biggest one time investment in the developer ecosystem by an OEM in an App competition.

Microsoft has also supported the establishment of 2 iDEA Innovation Centers/ hubs located in Calabar, Cross River State and Lagos with program management assistance.

To bridge the growing opportunity divide, Microsoft has launched its YouthSpark companywide initiative to empower Youth and students obtain the training and tools to pursue their dreams and is targeting to create opportunities both here and for 300 million youth globally in 3 years. Through our Imagine Cup, we have reached 5,000 students.

Via our Partners in Learning (PIL) initiative, we have trained CONTINUED ON PAGE TT3

NCC fixes Broadband frequency auction for May 5 Tony Nwakaegho Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that the 14 slots auction of 2.6GHz frequency for broadband communications services across the country has been fixed for May 5, 2015.

Director of Spectrum Administration, NCC, Mr. Austin Nwaulune, and Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, made this known at a press briefing in Abuja, adding that the frequency auction would now be on national basis, thereby dropping its earlier

plan to issue the licences on regional basis.

Nwaulune said that each slot of the frequency is made up of a pair of 5MHz which translates to mean that the 14 slots that are up for sale contain a pair of 70MHz. He noted that the regulatory agency has put the reserve price for each slot of the frequency at $16million.

Nwaulune also announced a deadline of April 21 for prospective applicants to submit their Expressions of Interest to bid for the spectrum.

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

3 Tech Times

Intel, Genius Illumina urge govts to promote Science, tech fairs Tony Nwakaegho Intel Corporation in partnership with Genius Illumina has called on State governments to promote science and technology fairs in order to further enhance the technological advancement of the Nation.

Corporate Affairs Manager, Intel, Babatunde Akinola, while speaking at this year’s National Festival of School Science, said “Intel believes that young people are the key to solving global challenges. A solid math and science foundation coupled with skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving are crucial for their success. That is why we promote education programs, ambitious policies, and technology access to enable tomorrow’s innovators.

“Intel has invested over $1 billion, and its employees have volunteered over 3 million hours to improve education around the world over the last decade. In Nigeria, we firmly believe that maintaining the country’s competitiveness in today’s global economy will in large part depend on the success of our nation’s students.

Intel’s education programs span

across basic technology and science skills and reach students in all 50 states.”

He lamented that students’ interest in education is declining, adding that any nation that would have a breakthrough economically would have to place premium on Science and Technology right from secondary school.

“This Catch-Them-Young Programme remains the best way to redirect the country to the path of Science and Technology called STEM. If a nation wants to be competitive in the global economy, then it has to focus essentially on this sector, because it is the pivot of any economy,” Akinola added.

Essentially, he said, that the programme will give relevance to the kids by creating a veritable platform for them to realize their potentials.

The organizer of the fair, Executive Director, Genius Illumina, Dr. Jerry Orhue, expressed regret that many of the young and promising Nigerians were dropping out of schools for lack of requisite information, and opined that poor funding of education has become a global phenomenon that needed to be tackled, particularly in a developing nation like Nigeria.

L-R: Dr Jerry Orlue Executive Director Genius Illumina, Corporate Affairs Manager Intel Corporation, Babatunde Akinola, Director Inspectorate Department, Ministry of Education Ado Ekiti State, Mrs Folu Ayeleso,, Mr Olubunmi Jeje, Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education Science and Technology at the 2015 National Festival of School Science held in Ado Ekiti State, recently.

Irhue urged other private organizations operating in Nigeria to take a cue from Intel Corporation which has interest in the promotion of Science and Technology for Nigeria to get better advanced in this sector.

On his part, Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kolapo Olubunmi, disclosed that the State has continued to place priority on education to revitalize the old glory of the state when it was favourably leading in education in Nigeria.

According to him, the State Gov-

ernment had established three specialized Science Government Schools in Emure, Ayede and Iyin Ekiti, that are adequately funded by the government to promote Science and Technology.

Doregos Private Academy, Lagos emerged as the first and second winner while Government College School Kastina emerged as the third winner of the 2015 fair.

The winners were presented with Laptops, 50 different science/ technology books, medals, plaques and to undertake all-expense paid

trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (INTEL-ISEF) in the United State.

Technology Times recalls that apart from Intel’s focus on education, Science competitions and sponsorship of the competitions are at the heart of Intel’s education programs to help identify and celebrate talented young scientists; inspiring younger students to follow in their footsteps; and for communities/governments to invest in high-quality science education.

‘Microsoft engages ministries, agencies in Nigeria’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE TT 2

70,000+ teachers since 2009. Since 2009 our free developer tools software has been downloaded by 138,000 technical students.

Through our Shape the Future Initiative, we have provided digital access to 100,000+ youth.

Microsoft has also invested $500,000 in the Aiki Nigeria Employability Portal and project and has reached 10,000 youth, trained 80 Master trainers and enabling and creating employment/opportunities for 20,000 young people.

Cloud-based services like Office 365, which launched in Nigeria last year, empower Nigerian businesses across every industry to be more productive. Currently we have 75,000+ students using Office 365 for education for free. Also Microsoft’s Office 365 for Nonprofits program has put great technology at the disposal of several organizations addressing Nigeria’s most critical devel-

opment challenges.

Microsoft is also committed to addressing societal challenges through efficient and flexible solutions to enable real transformation in areas such as Government, Health, Skills and Capacity Building. In partnership with the British Council, we have also created 15 Badiliko digital hubs in Lagos, Imo, Rivers, Edo States and the F.C. T (Federal Capital Territory, Abuja).

IT Academy used to be a pet project of Microsoft Nigeria.

What is the status of the project across Nigeria?

Microsoft IT Academy (ITA) program which provides industry-leading technology skills to help bridge the skills gap. With Microsoft IT Academy institutions get digital curriculum and certifications on fundamental technology skills - as well as courses critical for students to be successful in today’s techno-

‘‘Microsoft and the Nigerian government both believe one thing: that ICT holds transformational opportunity and promise for Nigeria.’’ logically evolving world - all at significantly reduced pricing for academic institutions and their educators, students and staff. In Nigeria we are gradually gaining momentum on deploying Microsoft IT Academies – we have over 460 academic institutions

running ITA however poor Infrastructure has been a challenge in successfully deploying IT Academies. We are collaborating with key partners to ensure that the necessary connectivity, power and infrastructure are bundled in to IT Academy deployments across the country. A success example is that of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) where as a prerequisite for graduation the IT Academy program is integrated into the school curriculum, and students of the University on completing these courses, graduate with Microsoft Original ITA Certification. In the not to distance future, our goal is to scale the IT Academy into a national program – enabling global competitiveness of our students through skills and Microsoft certifications.

Also, The 4Afrika Academy has provided an education platform, leveraging both online and

offline learning tools, to help Africans develop both technical and business skills for entrepreneurship and improved employability.

In the last 6months alone over 48k people were trained and 23k employed through the Academy.

The Virtual Academy is one of our core offers, demonstrating how Cloud computing revolutionizes learning and has registered a user base growing by at least 30%, active learning engagements.

What is the relationship of the company with the Nigerian government? What really happened to the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement with the Federal Government?

Microsoft and the Nigerian government both believe one thing: that ICT holds transformational opportunity and promise for Nigeria. The public sector is one of the core audiences for the us and through the Microsoft 4AfCONTINUED ON PAGE TT 4

Tech Times 4

Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, March 24, 2015

ITU advocates Technology, key component regulatory requirements for in diversification of Nigeria economy- Stakeholders small satellite communication Agency,(NITDA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development systems Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Tony Nwakaegho The ITU three-day symposium and workshop on small satellite regulation and communication systems that was held in Prague, Czech Republic ended with the focus on the regulatory aspects of the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits for small satellite communication systems, in particular on the application of the provisions of the ITU Radio Regulations.

The symposium was organized

by ITU in cooperation with ITU Academia Member, the Czech Technical University’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering (CTU FEE) with more than 160 participants from around 40 countries.

Delegates discussed the challenges facing the development of small satellites, including aspects related to national and international legal and regulatory issues, frequency management and radiocommunication standardization considered an important step in preparing for the forthcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15), which will take place in Geneva, 2-27 November 2015.

Participants reiterated the need to ensure the long-term sustainability of small satellites in outer space while stressing on the importance of implementing national regulatory frameworks, clearly defining the rights and obligations of all stakeholders, in conformity with international laws, regulations and procedures established by the UN General Assembly, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) and ITU.

Omobola Johnson

Tony Nwakaegho Stakeholders in the information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector have identified technology as one of the key component in the diversification of the Nigeria economy.

This is the consensus arrived at by experts at the just concluded Signal Alliance Customer Week Workshop organized in conjunction with Cisco; dubbed ‘Diversification & Innovation: A technology roadmap to grow Nigeria economy’ that all stakeholders should work together to do the needful in the following areas; Build an ecosystems that will support start-ups from setting up investment institutions from seed funding to technology backed private equity, and promoting incubators and accelerators; deepening government structures that supports indigenous technology like the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, National Information and Development

among others; encourage consumption of local technology through strict implementation of the local content law; and standardization of local technology products to enable them compete internationally.

In her remark, Chief Executive Officer, Signal Alliance, Adanma Onuegbu said “We are quite satisfied with the outcome of the conversations that took place, considering the challenge the Nigeria economy is currently facing due to fall in global oil prices, exchange rate collapse, and uncertainty surrounding the elections.

This is compounded by the fact that Nigeria is largely an importbased and a mono-product economy.”

This workshop stands out as one of the major activities of the annual Signal Alliance Customer Week that includes; customer visitation across the country, customer appreciation event and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes in Lagos and Abuja.

Among the business leaders in the public and private sectors, technology leaders and entrepreneurs, and media that graced the workshop are: Managing Director Infographics, Chinenye MbaUzoukwu; Founding MD Galaxy Backbone and former General Manager Microsoft Nigeria, Gerald Ilukwe; CIO Skye Bank, Richard Amafonye; Executive Director Commercial Promasidor, Kachi Onubogu, Managing Director Edo State Information Communication Technology Agency, Yemi Keri; Head IDEA Hub, Victor Okigbo, and Pius Eke Jnr. of Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON).

Coderina commended for promoting STEM in Nigeria Uwadia , Head, Computer Dept Unilag CONTINUED FROM PAGE TT 3

are coming from.

Interestingly, the HOD Computer Science, Unilag said that the event which is holding for the first time in Nigeria was made possible due to the penchant and sponsorship of SAP, world leading Enterprise Application Software Provider and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the number one ICT agency of the federal government under the leadership of the Director General, Engr. Peter Olu Jack.

Commenting on the funding of ICT by government, the erudite Professor said “In the area of ICT funding is either here nor there because there is nothing that is really fully funded here in the country. You can only make do with what is available. My own feeling is that even within what is available financially we can still energize our youth to get them to show interest in science and technology, mathematics and eventually take it up as a career.

“The first thing is that government cannot do it alone. Government is doing its own bit and there is need to actually get the private sector to be involved.

They should approach them and lay the cards on the table for them to know what they stand to benefit and I am sure in the coming year they will get more private sector involvement into the programme. With more sponsors and state governments’ involvement, the organisers will be able

to take FLL as an annual event to the 36 states of the Federation.”

He noted that the programme will succeed in Nigeria, since it has also succeeded in countries like Singapore which is a very small country where he met their diploma students in Australia already using Java to write code to be able to move objects in 2001.

“They were already using Java to write code to be able to move objects in 2001. Here we are in 2015 in Nigeria, it’s not new as this is something we ought to have been doing in Nigeria much early than this time. What is important is that we sustain it,” he added.

Uwadia said further that sensitization is important for the programme in order to take it much further by allowing it to transit down to the level that even kids at home will be able to play with some robotics, creating awareness at that level to crèche, primary and secondary.

The FIRST® LEGO® League session that was held at University of Lagos (Unilag), attracted over 300 students from different schools in the State while 140 of them competed.

Earlier in his remark, Mr. Olajide Ajayi, director, Coderina/ FLL Nigeria, said that technologies offer opportunities to stimulate growth, increase innovation and enable individuals and institutions to interact more productively within the global economy.

Microsoft trains, incubate startups, SMEs- Makwane CONTINUED FROM PAGE TT 3

rika initiative, supporting governments across Africa through programs such as the School of Government, Africa Open for Business and 4Government Innovation Launchpad (a framework program designed to harness the power of Cloud and mobile technologies to transform the delivery of public services to citizens and businesses.), we believe our relationship with the different federal government agencies will further boost technology adop-

tion in the public sector space in Nigeria.

Microsoft is deeply engaged with the relevant Ministries and Agencies in government to ensure that the Nigerian government continues to enhance productivity in the public service, is accountable to the citizens and constituencies and provides transparency in how essential citizen services are delivered to make a meaningful impact in the lives of Nigerians. As technology continues to evolve very quickly,

we at Microsoft want to make sure that the Nigerian government enjoys the benefits of this evolution, delivering technology in more flexible and cost effective ways, and we have already signed the requisite memoranda to work towards incorporating the latest cloud services offering in the next version of the Enterprise Agreement.

How do you see the future of Microsoft in an Indigenous Nigerian ICT industry?

We are strong believers in fostering local innovation. Microsoft is a platform and Productivity Company for the cloud-first mobile-first world whose very essence is about building a strong ecosystem of local partners who can build and integrate solutions which are relevant for the Nigerian market. It is our objective to see technology solutions created for Africa, by Africans. Why? Because these are the solutions that make a meaningful impact. And

we’re not just focusing on solutions, but providing affordable devices too. As an example, in November last year, we saw the launch of Nigeria’s first locally manufactured Windows-based tablet. Our future here is to continue supporting and enable this kind of local innovation so that Africans, and specifically Nigerians, can become strong players in the information and communication technology sector on a global scale.

OKPEKPE

XT Exclusive

BALOTELLI

RACE WINNERS TO RECEIVE $75,000

ANGERS MAN UNITED FANS X8

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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

A B R A G MSVICTORY DREA AT FIFA U-20

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WORLD CUP Liverpool

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Yarmolenko X8

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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

EXTRATIME

GARBA ASSURES ON FIFA

WORLD CUP Abuja

A

frica Youth Championship winning coach, Manu Garba, has promised football-loving President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Nigerians of his team’s readiness to win the elusive FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand later in the year.

Garba made the promise yesterday at the NFF Glass House headquarters in Abuja, where the Secretary General,

Mohammed Sanusi, received the victorious team.

Garba said the national U-20 team left the shores of the country with the promise not only to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup but also to win the AYC trophy, which they achieved.

He noted that they have put the AYC victory behind them, as preparations for the world cup, which is a bigger stage, begins immediately.

The coach who guided the team at the U-17 level to a FIFA U-17 World

Andrew Ekejiuba

W

U-20 Ben Nwachukwu

Man United, Globacom celebrate partnership extension

Garba Cup triumph in Dubai, UAE noted that the Flying Eagles won virtually all the prizes besides winning the trophy.

He disclosed that his boys won the highest goal scorer, fair play, MVP in all the matches they played and did not lose any game at the AYC. Reacting, the NFF scribe, Sanusi, said the NFF will give the team all the support it needs to bring the World Cup home to Nigeria.

est African Telecoms firm, Globacom and English Premiership club side, Manchester United Football Club, have signed an agreement to extend their brand partnership for another five years.

Globacom, the biggest supporter of football in Africa, in 2009, entered a strategic partnership with Manchester United that would see the two global brands collaborating for brand promotion and brand projection.

Since then, Globacom and Manchester United have collaborated on several projects including the hosting of Globacom subscribers in Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United to watch the team’s Barclays Premier League home games and European Champions League matches.

The agreement also provides for the Glo Soccer Academy, a reality TV show created by Globacom, which gives aspiring young footballers in West Africa the opportunity to win a oncein-a-life-time trip to the UK to train with Manchester United Soccer School coaches in the UK. According to Manchester United Group Managing Director, Richard Arnold, “Manchester United is pleased to be extending its relationship with Globacom. Over the past six years, the partnership has given ambition and inspiration to the youth of West Africa.

We are looking forward to building on this achievement during the next phase of our partnership.

Omeruo welcomes Uganda and S/Africa friendlies Mike Otanwa

S

uper Eagles defender Kenneth Omeruo says it is important the Super Eagles play some matches to help them get back together as a team before the start of the next Africa

Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Omeruo, who is one of the invited players for the friendly matches against Uganda and South Africa, says it doesn’t matter what opponents they have, as the most important thing is to get games as a team.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

EXTRATIME

Federation Watch

With Osaretin Emuze

NWF tourney holds in May

T

he Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) is set to organize three weeks tournament to select wrestlers that will represent Nigeria at the African Championship holding in Alexandra, Egypt, from May 27 to 31.

The president of the Federation Daniel Kigali said the meet will hold after the presidential and governorship elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11, respectively.

“The planned meet will hold from the

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second week of April to the first week of May; immediately after the election,” he said.

The Olympic gold medallist however regretted that the National Open Championship could not hold as

planned because of the postponed presidential and governorship elections.

He however promised that the competition would be organised later in the year.

Stakeholders accuse FG of paying lip service to sport development

S

ports administrators have berated the Federal Government for paying lip service to sports development in the country when it should have been top priority, as it is a veritable tool for international relations.

The bashing came as a result of the meagre N6 billion approved for sports in the 2015 budget that has so many international competitions that include the All Africa Games, FIFA Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U- 20 World Cup and several other qualifiers that included Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers, AFCON qualifiers and World Cup qualifiers for the Super Eagles.

The administrators wondered why government should always relegate Okpekpe sports to the background in Nigeria.

International Former Deputy Director at the NaRace tional Sports Commission, Abba Yola, participants in action said that has been the trend for some time now, but advised that those in charge should use the money judiciously for what it is meant for.

“For a while now, monies allocated to sports by government has been grossly inadequate. Sports deserved more than what it gets because it is the country’s image manager,” he said.

Yola said the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Gbenga Elegbeleye should have used his position as former member of the Upper House to lobby for more money for sports from his former colleagues in the Senate.

Edo FA Chairman Frank Ilaboya laughed off the token and concluded that government does not know the importance of sports in the country.

“How can government be so insensitive to sports development? Sports is the only thing that unites this country expected to participate in this year’s and help promotes international relaedition of the race, while some of tions. The money would not be enough them are expected at the Integrity for the programmes of this year,” he Marathon Race slated for Sunday.

OKPEKPE RACE WINNERS TO GET $75,000 T

he organizers of the third edition of Okpekpe International Race has revealed that winners of this year’s event will go home with over $75,000 (N18m) as price money.

The breakdown shows that the male winner of the race will take home $25,000; runner up will get $15,000, while the third place finisher gets $10,000.

The female winner will pocket $15,000; runner up will get $10,000, while the third place finisher takes home $8,000.

The first Edo indigene to brace the tape will go home with N100, 000; first runner up will receive N75, 000, while the third place finisher gets N50, 000.

In the female category, winner will get N75, 000; runner up N50, 000 while the third place finisher pockets N25, 000.

However, Athletics Federation of

Nigeria (AFN) coach, Stephen Nuhu has called on the organisers of the 10km Okpekpe Road race to come to the rescue of Nigerian athletes by camping them ahead of the race slated for May 16 in Edo State.

Nuhu expressed concern at the dominance of the East African athletes in long distance races in Africa and called for support to prepare the Nigerian athletes well.

“It is appalling to see Nigerian athletes lagging behind in long distance races due to funds constraints. We have athletes that can perform exceedingly well if given all the enabling tools. I am sad that the East Africans cart away all the major cash prizes while Nigerian athletes settle for crumbs.

“Presently we have started training in Jos for the Okpekpe Road race since two months ago, but I will be happy if the organisers can help our athletes by camping them ahead of

the race. The athletes will perform better if they are camped together,” he stated.

Meanwhile, eighteen athletes are

NBF commences activities after election

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igeria Boxing Federation (NBF) will be having its first tournament in Lagos immediately after the Presidential and Governorship elections billed for March 28 and April 11 respectively.

The Secretary of the Federation Olusola Luke told Extra Time that arrangements are on to kick-start their various programmes that has been held up because of the aforementioned election.

“The election has been our bane because most of the activities NBF planned for the first quarter could

not hold. As soon as the election is over the National Boxing Open will hold in Lagos,” he stressed.

Luke further hinted that the classics is for boxers’ classification and it will help to sharpen their competitive spirit.

“Again, the classics will be used to invite boxers to camp for the All Africa Games holding in Congo Brazzaville in September.

“We are preparing hard to make use of the remaining months of the year to keep our boxers in top shape for All Africa Games and World

Championships,” he added.

Meanwhile NBF says it will soon invite boxers to camp for the AIBA Women’s Junior and Youth World Championships scheduled for May this year. It is however sequel to approval by the National Sports Commission.

Extra Time gathered that registration for the World Championships began on March 4 and would be concluded on March 30. Over 300 boxers are expected to feature at the championship billed to hold in Taipei from May 14 to 24.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

EXTRATIME

EXTRATIME

LIVERPOOL

T E L O N G MI SURE OF Mignolet believes that iverpool goalkeeper Simon from their defeat to k the team will bounce bac Arsenal after the ting bea by Manchester United international break. r es of finishing in the top fou The Merseyside outfit’s hop 2-1 a d ure sec ls riva ir w as the this season suffered a blo n , courtesy of a brace from Jua day Sun on ield Anf at victory Mata. n worse had Mignolet not The scoreline could have bee pper penalty, and the Belgian sto saved Wayne Rooney’s late recover from the result. is confident that the Reds will and when we come back for y pla “There’s still a lot to inst ’ve got that big game aga from international duty, we Arsenal,” he said. er United at Old Trafford we “The game away to Manchest – so a lot of good performances used as a catalyst to put in k.” bac e com we en t again wh let’s use this game as a catalys

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Rodgers tasks Liverpool fans on form

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rendan Rodgers has told his players to respond to Sunday’s defeat against Manchester United in the same way they bounced back from losing out to their rivals at Old Trafford in December.

The Reds sought to move into the Premier League Top Four with a victory over the Red Devils, but it wasn’t to be as Louis van Gaal’s side departed with three precious points.

Juan Mata scored twice, Steven Gerrard was dismissed within a minute of taking to the field as a half-time substitute and, despite a Daniel Sturridge goal and Simon Mignolet’s late penalty save, there was to be no equaliser in the game.

The defeat leaves Liverpool five points adrift of United in the table, with eight games still to play before the end of the season, but Rodgers believes his side can still finish strongly and pile pressure upon their rivals.

Asked whether the Reds could emulate their achievements of recent months by responding to defeat at the hands of United, the boss replied: “That was the message to the players.

“That last performance at Old Trafford was a great springboard for us. We went on and, up until this point [against United], we hadn’t lost a league game.

L O O P R LIVE Y R E V O REC

Balotelli incurs Red Devils’ fans wrath

Reds plot £19.5m move for Yarmolenko

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iverpool’s Italian striker Mario Balotelli was filmed giving the one finger salute to United fans before the game at Anfield over the weekend.

United fans can be heard chanting ‘City reject’ - a reference to his time at Manchester City - and ‘what a waste of money’ at Balotelli.

The madcap striker looks towards the crowd and appears to take a photo on his phone before sneakily s t i c king his middle finger up to the United section of the Anfield crowd.

Things got even worse for Balotelli later as his side went on to lose 2-1 with captain Steven Gerrard receiving a straight red card 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute.

Liverpool supporters were even forced to hold Balotelli back from United defender Chris Smalling after the pair clashed near the touchline.

With Balotelli already on a booking, his reaction to Smalling’s challenge could have seen him also get a red to cap off an awful day for Liverpool.

Balotelli has a chequered past with a number of high-profile misdemeanours to his name.

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iverpool are plotting a £19.5m move for Dynamo Kiev’s winger Andriy Yarmolenko.

The Ukrainian has been in fantastic form this season and has long been linked with a move to the Premier League.

The 25-year-old Ukraine’s player of the year was in stunning form last week as he helped his club overturn a 1-2 deficit from the first leg to beat Everton by 5-2 in Russia to qualify for the quarter finals of the UEFA Europa League.

The media have also reported that the Reds are targeting the player who was linked with Chelsea last summer.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez said that the youngster would be a big hit in England.