Dtn December 29th edition

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2014 VOL. 1. NO.11

Sule Lamido’s alarm bell:

Jonathan, Buhari fuelling violence

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First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, being decorated with the chieftaincy title of ‘’NKALARIA OHUHU’’ by the chairman of the Ohuhu Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Ifeanyi Nwokenna.

Watching are Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State and his wife, Mercy, in Umuahia, at the weekend.

1,000 Boko Haram members seize Cameroun’s Army base

Again, Malaysialinked plane goes missing, 162 on board

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Ï ƐƐ ƅƊ ƇƈƒƆ ƒƈƋƋ Ɔ Ï EƈƋƋ ơƠ ƈ E ƗƑ Augustine Aminu

Flight map of the missing plane

PHOTO: AFP

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T was yet another reign of terror at the weekend by the Boko Haram Islamic fundamentalist sect as it de-

ployed about 1,000 fighters to take over a Camerounian army camp and attacked five communities in the neighbouring country.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

INSIDE

Poster!

XT Exclusive

Man City Stunned

by Burnley’s fightback X8

Cristiano Ronaldo

X4,5

LDEDSEC 30 EANG E D HA FOR DEADLINNGE CAMPI X2

X3

Koke opens up on his Atletico Madrid

MOURINHO

EAGLETS

Sportlitics

CRY OUT OVER KANO HOUSE GIFTS

Ogu sees red in Hapoel’s 2-1 win

FUMES AT REFS ‘CAMPAIGN’ AGAINST BLUES

X8

X8

X7

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Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Politics Page Three

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Editorial Let there be light...

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hat Nigeria continues to suffer from lack of reliable electricity supply is no more news. But what has continued to rile is the penchant of the Ministry of Power to always tell consumers of the never ending plans to increase electricity supply to meet the demands of the country in the shortest possible time. Even in the face of these untruths, we know that rather than improve, the quantity of electricity generated by the existing power stations has continued to fall. For more than five years now, the Federal Government has been announcing plans to generate more than 16,000Megawatts of power to meet the ever growing demands of consumers. Unfortunately, the statistics show that the total power supply as of today is a miniscule 3,000 Megawatts. This situation, according to the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo is the result of inadequate gas supply to power stations and the ever recurring pipeline vandalism.

Definitely, Nigerians are tired of excuses over the inability of government to provide them with enough electricity. On July 7, 2014, the Presidential Task Force on Power estimated that electricity demand in the country stood at 12,800 Megawatts, while it was only able to produce 3,400 MW. Today, rather than improve, the quantity of power supply continues to deteriorate.

According to World Bank estimates, only 48 percent of Nigeria’s 165 million population has access to

electricity. Contrast that with South Africa’s electricity output of 36,000 megawatts, and with a population of less than 50 million. Lack of generating capacity, blackouts and voltage variations have resulted in many residential and commercial customers in Nigeria resorting to producing their own power with private generators.

A 2011 World Bank survey of 3,000 Nigerian business revealed that the biggest problem facing them was unreliable power supply. They reported that they experienced average power outages of eight hours per day. Eighty eight percent of retail and manufacturing businesses reported owning private generators.

The manufacturing businesses surveyed reported that approximately 69 percent of their total electricity usage was produced by private generators. The expenses incurred running private generators cost the average business the equivalent of more than four percent of their sales. Even so, those lucky enough to be on the grid are always plunged into darkness.

It is quite unfortunate that Nigeria cannot supply up to 10 percent of her national minimum electricity requirement.

The country and its citizens have waited for too long to have adequate electricity supply, one of the things taken for granted in other more organised countries. Nigerians are tired of excuses; all they want from their leaders is adequate and constant power supply.

L-R: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), governorship candidates, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Imo State; Chief Dave Umahi, Ebonyi State and Dr.Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State at the reception for the first lady Dame Patience Jonathan at her maternal home Ohuhu in Umuahia, Abia State, at the weekend.

Future graduate students face harsh immigration policy in UK

Analysis Ayopo Apesin

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any Nigerian graduates in the United Kingdom could face being sent back to Nigeria under plans to “move towards zero net student migration” reportedly being considered by the United Kingdom Home Secretary Theresa May.

Most Tier 4 Students from Africa countries like Nigeria pay huge foreign student fee with the hope to get post work study and definitely switch to entrepreneur visa or other acceptable routes so that they could become permanent resident.

Under the proposed changes to UK immigration rules, citizens from non-European Union countries like Nigeria would have to subsequently apply for a work visa while abroad in order to continue living in the UK after finishing a course of study, instead of the current arrangement in which they may apply

whilst still in the United Kingdom.

According to reports available, the Home Office is “Making sure immigrants leave Britain at the end of their visa is as important a part of running a fair and efficient immigration system as controlling who comes here in the first place.”

If the Home Secretary, Theresa May is able to secure or introduce this new immigration policy then the current approach that enable Nigerian graduate and new students to accumulate years which could be converted to secure permanent residence will end.

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Publisher

Fidelis Anosike

Group Managing Director

Abuja Bureau Chief

Head, Sales & Marketing

Managing Editor

Head of Operations

Head ICT (Shared Services) Banjo Ayorinde

Rochas Okorocha

Goodluck Jonathan

Prince Tonye Princewill

Editor

Online Editor

Head Graphics

Deputy Editor

Business Editor

Deputy Head Graphics

“All the big men in Imo State are on one side fighting one man. Iwuanyanwu, Nzeribe, Ken Nnamani, ...anywhere I go everyone’s just plotting against me.”

“If you mean well for the country, the country is nobody’s personal estate.

If the people want you to serve, you serve. If they don’t want you, you leave.”

“Rather than engage in personal attacks, it might be wiser to focus on the gravity of what is at stake: public funds, public assets and public interest.”

Noel Anosike

Gabriella Osamor Yinka Olujimi Yemi Ogunsola

Bisi Abidoye

Innocent Nwankwo Adetayo Adelaja

Emmanuel Ogbonnaya

Moses Ebong

King Ododoru

Afeez Odeseye

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.

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Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

N’Delta group cautions Rev Okotie over utterances Jonathan Eze

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xecutive Secretary of the United Niger Delta Energy Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), Mr. Tony Uranta, yesterday warned Pastor Chris Okotie of the Household of God Church, against utterances capable of causing breach of the peace in the country.

Uranta, a member of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, said that Okotie’s constant un-

substantiated utterances against Nigeria’s leadership was unbecoming of someone who claimed to be a man of God. Okotie, was quoted last Friday to have said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration for the 2015 presidential election on November 11, 2014, had occult significance.

Okotie, who wrote on his Facebook page on Friday, emphasised that the exact date the President made his declaration had a ritualistic undertone.

Okotie had written, “The implication of Dr. Jonathan’s declaration on that day (11-11-2014) has occult significance. When the number is repeated, it takes a greater ritualistic intensity.

But in a statement issued to journalists in Lagos, Uranta urged Rev. Okotie to desist from his unsubstantiated partisan comments especially against the President. He urged the Pastor to toe the line of truth.

According to Uranta, “It

is a shame that one who claims to serve God should make such an utterance based on his personal but diabolical belief in numbers which in itself is antiChristianity.

“The practice of Christianity is neither superstitious nor does it give meanings to mere dates.

“Reading Okotie’s words on the date the President declared his second term ambition justifies the truth most people already know about his claims to have

been called by God to rule Nigeria for God never and will never make fake promises.

“Okotie’s vision is that of an immoral man, led by his quest to unleash his immorality on the nation but was stopped by the forces of God and humanity” Uranta said.

According to him, many humoured Okotie’s partisan political forays of the past as being just evidence of a sort of “Notice-Meplease” syndrome.

Jonathan on private visit to UK

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resident Goodluck Jonathan Sunday afternoon left Abuja for a brief private visit to the United Kingdom.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, President Jonathan was accompanied

on the trip by some of his principal staff and personal aides.

The statement said he is expected back in Abuja today ahead of official engagements at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday including scheduled audiences with groups from Delta and Lagos States.

Ever busy Berger bus stop to Jabi…yesterday. Photo: Temitope Balogun

Nigeria’ll survive oil price slump, other challenges - Jonathan Monday Agu Jnr

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has again assured Nigerians that the current slump in the global price of oil would not affect the nation’s economy in any significant way.

Speaking at a Special Service to mark the last Sunday of the year, yesterday, at the Christ Apostolic Church, Abuja, the President recalled that the country had a similar challenge around 2008 but survived it. He revealed that his economic team was working on the situation.

He also assured Nigeri-

ans that the current security challenges would not endure, recalling that people faced worse challenges in biblical times.

On the upcoming general elections, President Jonathan noted that despite all predictions, Nigeria would survive the tension that is often associated with election years.

He, however, urged religious leaders not to relent ion their prayers for the country and especially politicians to be able to check their utterances which he said were capable of tearing the country apart.

Jonathan insisted that the ambition of any poli-

tician was not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

He, therefore, called on politicians to put the country first even as they pursue their ambitions.

Said he, “We are facing a lot of challenges now as a nation. The pastor has said it all. The challenges did not start today but somehow, instead of abating, the problems started increasing for one reason or the other.

“But I am convinced that it would have been worse than this but for your prayers. With the prayers you continue to offer to God, God will see us through.

Ondo NSCDC boss dies at 50 Tosin Ajuwon, Akure

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ndo State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahaji Issa Shuaib Akanbi is dead.

Akanbi died in Akure, the Ondo State capital. He was aged 50.

An electronic statement issued by the command’s spokesman, Kayode Balogun, on Sunday evening, in Akure, and made available to Daily Times, said that Alhaji Akanbi died after a brief illness.

The statement read thus, “With heavy heart and sorrow, the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) regret to announce the death of its commandant, Ahaji, Issa Shuaib Akanbi, who died after a brief illness.

“He has been buried according to Islamic rite in his home town of Ilorin, kwara state. Three days FIDAU prayer has been scheduled to hold by 10:00AM in his home at Ilorin, No. 17 Kaiama street, beside Henry Gorge, Adewole Housing Estate, Ilorin, kwara State.”

5 News Esu Bwari urges Christians, Muslims to live in peace

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he Esu of Bwari, Abuja, Mr Ibrahim Yaro, has called on Christians and Muslims in the council to continue to promote peaceful co-existence for the development of the area.

Yaro made the call on Sunday when the Bwari Christians/Muslims Inter-Faith Forum paid him a courtesy visit. `` This is the first occasion that the leaders of the two religions will come together for the welfare of the people of the council. ``The diversity should be explored to promote national harmony, progress and development,’’ Yaro said.

Yaro called on the leaders of the two religions to enlighten their followers on the need to embrace peace, more so that the 2015 general elections drew nearer.

He also warned youth in the area against being used by politicians as thugs to foment trouble, saying that such politicians would never use their children.

Balogun, in a telephone interview further disclosed to Daily Times that late Akanbi was last seen in the command’s office in Akure, Monday last week, after the command bought him a new official vehicle.

“We saw him in the office in Akure, hale and hearty.

We cracked jokes because the command bought him a new official car to enhance his job but surprisingly we just heard about his death.

It is very sad and painful.

May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace”, he said.

The deceased had once served in the State command in 2012, under acting capacity and was redeployed back to the State last month, November, after taken over from his predecessor, Mr. Andrew Oguba, who was redeployed out of the state.

News 6

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Jonathan, Buhari inciting Nigerians to violence – Sule Lamido Dutse Mohammed, Dutse

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Y either action or omission, both President Goodluck Jonathan and Major General Muhammadu Buhari are inciting Nigerians to violence, ahead of the coming general elections, according to the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido.

Lamido believes that both the President and Gen. Buhari are indirectly, if not directly, encouraging their prominent supporters to make provocative and incendiary statements that

could set the nation ablaze before, during or after the elections.

Jonathan is the presidential candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is the main challenger.

Lamido, who addressed a political gathering in Dutse, the state capital, at the weekend, argued that both Jonathan and Buhari should be personally held responsible if the elections turn out violent.

He expressed support for a recent statement credited

to former Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, that the two presidential candidates be made to sign a bond that they should be held responsible if the elections turn violent.

The governor specifically decried the failure of both candidates to check the inciting statement of their followers.

Some prominent Northern leaders had reportedly declared that there would be violence if power does not return to their region by 2015. A pro-Jonathan Ijaw leader, Mujahid Asar-

Dokubo had countered, pledging that his people would help shed blood if violence breaks out and if President Jonathan is not allowed to contest. The Rivers State Governor, and Director General of the Muhammadu Buhari campaign organization, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, was recently reported to have threatened that his party would form a parallel government if the election is rigged in favour of the ruling party.

Last week, President Jonathan called for peace and urged politicians not to en-

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (left), receiving a report compiled by Labour on ways to improve the state’s internally generated revenue from Chairman, Labour Committee on IGR, Comrade Francis Adetunji (2nd right), at the Governors’ Office in Osogbo. With them are chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Osun Chapter, Comrade Saka Adesiyan (left), Chairman, Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) Osun Chapter, Comrade Bayo Adejumo (3rd right) and others.

courage violence or threaten to disrupt the peace if they lose the election. In reaction, the APC accused the president of only speaking right but not acting right. The opposition drew attention to some provocative statements of the president’s aides and supporters which were not known to have drawn public condemnation from Jonathan.

“As our leaders, both personalities should caution their supporters to guard their utterances not to allow such incitements to drift the country into chaos,” he said, Lamido added that such utterances “do not augur well for the country’s political stability, nor its development”.

Addressing at a rally of the PDP for the presentation of its flags to candidates vying for different elective posts under its umbrella, Lamido said that the statements credited to some prominent members of both the PDP and the APC were worrisome.

He said: “It is disheartening for any responsible citizen to allow such unscrupulous statements. It ought to be condemned by all and sundry for the sake of peace, and oneness of the country as a corporate entity”.

According to Governor lamido, Nigeria is bigger than anybody’s personal

ambition, and “we won’t succumb to either sectional nor religious politics or bigotry, or personal agenda aimed at destabilising the corporate existence of our great country.”

He drew the attention of both leaders to the 2011 post-election violence in which massive destruction of lives and property was recorded and said: “We must strive hard not to allow a recurrence”.

He advised the PDP candidates not to base their ambition on the desire to accumulate ill-gotten wealth, rather for service of humanity.

Speaking on behalf of other aspirants, Mal. Aminu Ringim, the Jigawa state gubernatorial candidate of the PDP assured Lamido that he will sustain the legacies of the governor if given the mandate.

“I will like to assure Jigawa indigenes that if given the mandate, we will run an open door, a people-oriented government devoid of any ill-motives. We have articulated meaningful programmes that are aimed at uplifting the well-being of our people.”

All presented the PDP flags were the PDP’s candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Among them is a female aspirant, the immediate past Minister of Education, Professor Rukayyat Rufai.

1,000 Boko Haram members seize Cameroun’s Army base Continued from page 1

Members of the sect also wreaked havoc in Tattura community, Kaduna State, killing at least 10 persons and wounding five.

Tattaura community is in the Sanga Local Government Area of the state.

The heavily armed group attacked the Camerounian military camp in Achigachia near the Nigerian border at around 4 a.m. After an intense battle, the army abandoned the

camp, Lieutenant Colonel Didier Badjeck told Reuters by phone.

“After that, the head of state ordered the air force to carry out strikes. With the bombardment, the fighters were forced to decamp from Achigachia,” Badjeck said.

He could not immediately give the number of casualties from both sides.

It is the first time Cameroun has used the air force against Boko Haram.

Cameroun state radio, CRTV, said the militants

carried out attacks on five towns at the weekend and at least one Camerounian soldier was killed.

“The attacks were carried out simultaneously at the localities of Mokolo, Guirvidig, Waza, Amchide and Makari, villages along the frontier with Nigeria,” CRTV radio reported.

Boko Haram has made several incursions in the Far-North Region of Cameroun this year, killing over 40 soldiers and recruiting hundreds from mainly unemployed youths in the

area.

Cameroun army said last week it dismantled a training camp for the militants in northern Cameroun, arresting or killing dozens and seizing 84 children who were being trained there.

On Saturday, the Tattaura community celebrated Christmas with dance and merry. The youth and children were joined in the festivities by adults, both male and female.

Suddenly, at about 10.12 pm, some strange men arrived the community, bran-

dishing guns, machetes and other dangerous weapons.

By the time the dust settled, 10 persons lay dead.

Five others who were injured, were receiving treatment at a hospital.

Acting Chairman of the council, Alhaji Nasiru Harande, who confirmed the attack, described it as unfortunate.

Harande said normalcy had returned to the area, adding that, the attackers “came, shot and fled.”

Tattaura is a community in Ancha District of

Ninzo Chiefdom. The village is two kilometres east of Gwantu, the Local Government headquarters.

A community leader, Mike Sanga said the attack took place in a shop where some men were relaxing after dancing.

As at press time, arrangements were being made to give the victims mass burial.

However, the Police spokesman in the state, Aminu Lawan, did not respond to several telephone calls made to him.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

7 News

Police arrest two for kidnapping in Kogi

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All Progressives Congress (APC), Governorship aspirant, Lagos, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (2nd left); his running mate, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule and Chairman, APC Lagos State, Otunba Henry Oladele Ajomale during the 10,000 youths march for Ambode in Lagos, at the weekend.

Photo: BOLAJI OLASUNKANMI

Lagos PDP picks Safurat Abdulkarim as Agbaje’s running mate Abisola Oyewole, Lagos

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agos State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has chosen a trained teacher and an accountant, Alhaja Safurat Olayinka Abdulkarim, to run with Mr. Jimi Agbaje, its governorship candidate in the 2015 race for Lagos State.

A staunch Moslem, who was the running mate to the late Engineer Funso Williams, who was PDP’s governorship candidate for Lagos in 2003.

Alhaja Safurat is the wife of a retired Air Force officer and holds a 2007 master degree in business admin-

istration from the University of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti.

Williams was assassinated in 2006.

In a press statement on Sunday by Agbaje’s Media Director, Felix Oboagwina, Mrs. Abdulkarim said she would complement her principal, and assist in ushering into Lagos a refreshing atmosphere, devoid of state-brewed intimidation and human rights abuses. It is a second-coming for Abdulkarim. Said she: “I feel humbled about being chosen for this noble responsibility,” she said of her pairing with the PDP governorship candidate.

“Mr. Jimi Agbaje is an ami-

able persona. He is a complete gentleman. I hope I can really, really complement him and assist him in winning the 2015 election, because Lagosians strongly desire a change in government.”

Describing PDP’s chances in the governorship polls as very bright, the deputy governorship candidate said she and Agbaje were entering the race at a time when Lagosians wanted to break the shackles of subjugation that had held them bound for 16 years.

“Our chances are very bright. Everybody is tired of the government of the All Progressives Congress

(APC), which has demonstrated much impunity.

Citizens want a change in government. They want personalities, who can bring positive programmes to their lives. We want to usher into Lagos a better way of governance, devoid of coercion and intimidation and harassment, characteristics that earmark the current administration.”

Safurat began her educational life in Ansar-ud-Deen Primary School, Badagry, Lagos, from 1966 to1972.

From 1975 to 1980, she attended Government Teachers’ College, Badagry, where she obtained a Teacher’s Grade II Certificate.

Abia group faults Ikpeazu’s choice as PDP ‘s guber candidate Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

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he Abia Professionals Forum (APF) has described the choice of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Abia State as a bad decision judging from his unpopularity.

The APF stated this in a press release on Sunday through its President Sam Onukwe.

The Forum noted that unless the leadership of the PDP at national and state levels reconciled aggrieved aspirants with those who lost the December 8 governorship primaries in the state, the party may likely lose the state to the opposition in 2015.

According to the press release, the APF said: “We particularly note the situation in Abia state where there seems to be a total loss of confidence in the leadership of the rul-

ing party and particularly, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the controversial gubernatorial candidate of PDP, who was reportedly stoned at Aba Township Stadium and had to be quickly smuggled out of the sports facility to avert the danger to his life by the police.

“We wonder how a candidate who is so unpopular will go round to canvass for votes.

“It is our fear that unless urgent action is taken by the leadership of PDP at the state

and the national level, the electorate may be forced to speak with their votes during the election, a situation which may turned out to be very unpalatable for the PDP,” the group said.

The APF however identified Dr. Uche Ogah, who came second in the PDP gubernatorial primary, as one of the aspirants it believes can add value to PDP ticket if the party leadership could reached out to him.

peratives of Niger State Police Command have arrested two suspected kidnappers for the kidnap of a male identified as Henry Christian, on the Suleja – Mandallah road near the AP Petroleum station in Suleja local government of the state.

The victim was said to have been kidnapped at gun point on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at about 9 p.m. on the fateful evening, while returning from Kwakwashe area of Madalla in the company of his female friend, Sarah Edo, an indigene of Angwa Dallatu area of the community, in his Murano sports utility vehicle.

Henry Christian had parked by the road side to drop his female companion when the suspected kidnappers Austin Arikpo, 25, and Abdulrahaman Adamu, in conjunction with other accomplice in crime and leader of the gang, Iwelor Chilota (a.k.a Owolabi) now on the run, swooped on the victim and his female friend.

The suspected kidnappers allegedly operated in a

Honda Baby Boy saloon car on the fateful day Henry was kidnapped at gun point and were said to have demanded a ransom of N30 million for his release, lest he be killed.

A police source disclosed yesterday in Minna that no sooner was the victim held than the suspects who were said to have confessed to the crime, took the victim to an unknown destination.

The source who craved anonymity said immediately the case was reported at Madalla Police Station, detectives swung into action that led to the arrests of Austin Arikpo, and one Abdulrahaman Adamu, 22, who doubled as a member of Vigilance group at Suleja.

“Austin was invited from Ogun state by the ring leader of the gang, to Madalla for the ill-fated operation and he is an indigene of Cross Rivers state but based in Ogun state and the two suspects have since confessed to the crime during police interrogation while the victim was rescued by the detectives at Abana Estate Madalla, behind the Living Faith Church.

Plateau 2015: Jang, LG chair set for showdown Moses Ikyaa-Gba, Jos

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here are indications that the long-standing political friendship existing between the Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, and the Chairman of Shendam LGA, Kemi Nshe, may soon turn sour.

This, according to reports is sequel to a misun-

Jang

derstanding that broke out between the two last week, where the camp of the governor threatened to send financial watchdogs after Nshe.

A source told our correspondent that Jang had accused Nshe of disloyalty, and consequent upon this financial watchdogs are expected in Shendam LGC during the week.

A source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that Nshe, a PDP candidate in the 2015 governorship race, allegedly sponsored by the governor to weaken the strength of the southern zone guber aspirants, in order to give his political god-son, Gyang Pwajok, an edge has equally threatened to expose the governor’s ills, if the governor insisted on orchestrating a probe panel to audit the accounts of the Shendam Local Government Council.

News 8

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Political map does not favour Jonathan again – Amaechi Ï ój Ɛ 9 ƒƆ Ɛ ƍ ƈƗ Ɠ ƏƊƆƏ Ƈ Ə Ɔƈ Ɛ ƌ Ɛ ƈ Ƌ Ƒ ƄƋƆô Rivers State Governor and Director General of the Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi spoke last week with journalists on the 2015 general election.

Deputy Political Editor, Jonathan Eze was there.

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hat is your reaction to allegations that you funded Buhari’s campaign with Rivers State’s funds?

I did not. Buhari did not spend money for the primaries. Anybody who said they spent money should come forward with evidence. We have maintained consistently that Nigerians would fund us and that is why we have launched our campaign. We are hoping that people will contribute. It is there on our website; you will just look at the account and go and pay. And we are making sure that we convince General Buhari to be the sole signatory to that account. That is the way we would raise our money.

We would not depend on rich men. You can’t fight the president on funds. See how much he raised from people, some of them collected the N2.3trillion on oil subsidy and they are yet to pay back. If he is not prosecuting them for oil subsidy, why shouldn’t they pay for his election?

The president is trying to raise over N200 million for power and then those people he is helping to raise the money are giving him N500 million. We can’t fight the president with money, we will fight him with the people.

We will fight the president by telling Nigerians that they have to vote for change and the symbol of change for us is the APC and General Buhari. I will like to reiterate again that General Buhari did not pay anybody to vote for him at the primaries and he won because Nigerians want change.

As director-general of the

APC presidential campaign, how do you intend to combine your position with your duties as governor?

We will try. That is why there is a deputy governor. I have a deputy who is efficient and I will also from time to time go back to the state. But we need to deliver and we are all making sacrifices to deliver this change.

I don’t know how people feel; the president and the federal government have not denied the fact that N2.3trillion was taken for oil subsidy and that was six months in 2011. Oil subsidy before that time was N300billion, so how did it rise to N2.3trillion and the people are not afraid; the federal government and all its agents were not afraid that N2.3trillion was taken. So, basically, I don’t mind what I can do legally to make sure that there is a better Nigeria.

What about the controversy that you have not paid eight months salaries?

Anybody who says I have not paid him salaries should come forward. We have paid up till December; you can call Rivers State to confirm. I got a Blackberry message on Tuesday, saying; “Thank God, we are going home with our salary before Christmas.” What we agreed in the cabinet was that we should make sure that everybody goes home with his salary before Christmas because as a Christian, I know that December 23 and 24 are the two days that Christians like to shop. I do not owe salaries in Rivers State. I am proud to say that I will pay salaries until I leave office and I will continue to pursue development projects in the state.

I was even surprised that the president’s spokesman even put it in one of his statements when he was responding to the accusation that the people who contributed to the N21billion are those plundering our economy and he said after all, Governor Amaechi funded the election of Buhari while he owes teachers eight months salaries. And I asked the question, for you to be a presidential spokesman, facts and statistics must be on your palm; you shouldn’t joke with

including me. We will deal with power because if you don’t address it, you cannot tackle unemployment. The essential factor for industrialisation from elementary economics is power.

So, when you hear that people in the power sector contributed N500 million for the president’s re-election, where did they get it? First, you must pay your bill every month whether you like it or not; whether you have power or not. People are now being forced to pay N75 every month whether they use power or not.

So, they are being punished for not having power. Buhari as a president will uplift agriculture because it will create employment for unskilled labour. He will deal with power to create employment for the skilled and partly unskilled labour force.

Amaechi that. But the man was just reacting to gossip.

What are Buhari’s programmes for Nigeria if he wins the 2015 election?

I believe that we would commence campaign early next year, we would try to go round the 36 states by God’s grace and we hope that Nigerians will hear the message. The message is simple. Buhari chased away Maitatsine while he was Head of State. Many Nigerians will remember that Maitatsine was like Boko Haram and they were killing people in Borno and Kano and Buhari chased them away because he is a strong leader. We need a strong leader now to chase away Boko Haram or it will chase us away. Buhari will

deal with insurgency because he has done that before. Many Nigerians would remember that when Borno was attacked by Chadian rebels, Buhari as an officer of the Nigerian Army almost chased them into Jamina.

He had crossed the Lake Chad when President Shehu Shagari called him back. If he didn’t do that, Borno would have been overrun by Chadian rebels and till today Chad has never crossed into Nigeria to fight us. It takes a strong leader to do that.

We will deal with insurgency.

The country may be broke now because of two factors. The first which is very critical is the diversion of funds at the NNPC. That is the greatest factor for me. The level of diversion in the NNPC has affected everybody

There is a claim by the PDP secretary that Buhari is a semi-illiterate jackpot and the party is also saying a lot of things against the APC and its presidential candidate. How do you intend to engage them?

Our campaign will be issuebased. The president has a P.hD in Zoology, how many farms do we have and how many people has he employed? If you say the president has a P.hD and Buhari does not have one, let him show us his thesis, you are bringing yourself to the level of those who are making those allegations. Don’t bring yourself to that level, remain focused on the issues and let the president meet you there.

With the state of insurgency in some parts of the north-east and declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, election may not hold in the three states which are APC controlled. What is your take on this?

The control of the military lies in the hands of the president and only him can give directive as the Commander-in-Chief, but most importantly only the president can fund the military in such a manner that they can fight Boko Haram.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

9 News

10 killed in fresh Kaduna terrorist attack Augustine Aminu

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bout 10 people were shot dead, while five were severely wounded when terrorists attacked Tattaura Community in Sanga local government area of Kaduna State.

A resident told Daily Times that the terrorists struck, at about 10:12pm when Christmas celebration was on-going, killing 10 while five were injured .

Acting chairman of the council, Alhaji Nasiru Ha-

rande, who confirmed the attack described it as unfortunate.

Harande said normalcy has returned to the area, adding that, “10 people were killed while five injured persons are receiving treatment in an hospital. The attackers came, opened fire then fled,” said Harande.

Tattaura is in Ancha District of Ninzo Chiefdom. The village is two kilometres east of Gwantu, the Local government headquarters.

A community leader,

Mike Sanga, said the attack took place in a shop where some men were relaxing after a hectic dance.

He said, “Our community is about three kilometres to Nandu – Ankpong where 19 people were killed on June 23,

2014. Those killed were a primary school Teacher, Yakubu Ambi; Joel Ambo; Yamu Idzi; Anche Ishaku and Misalai Ngbo.”

Others are: Ishaya Anche, Monday Samson, Joel Anzah, Jonathan Anche and one, P – Square who visited from Randa com-

munity.

Another resident, Mr. Benard Tattaura, said they didn’t know what was responsible for the attacks, adding, “If the government did not stop these frequent attacks, we are finished.”

At the time of filing

Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, and his running mate, Alhaja Safuratu Abdulkareem, who was unveiled yesterday

2015: A\Ibom senator alleges third term plot by Akpabio Ini Sunday, Uyo

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head of the general election, Governor Godswill Akpabio’s many plots to continue to rule Akwa Ibom State, in proxy, when he leaves office in 2015 has been revealed.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Ita Solomon Enang, who revealed this at the weekend, explained that the governor has devised what he called politics of imposition - to continue to rule the state by proxy when his tenure ends in 2015.

Speaking in an interview on a local radio monitored by our correspondent in Uyo, the State capital, Enang, expressed fears that the electorate may cash in on Akpabio’s antics to deliver the state to the opposition through protest votes at the general elections.

Enang, who represents the Uyo Senatorial District, had recently lost his bid to return to the Red Chamber in 2015, flayed what he described as imposition of candidates, saying such attitude would impinge on the chances of the ruling party at the polls.

While condemning the choice of the former Sec-

retary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, as the right choice to succeed Akpabio in 2015, Enang was full of bile, explaining that the regime of imposing candidates on the people would not make for effective representation.

Describing Udom, as a total political greenhorn, not fit for the State’s political top job, Enang, was quick to urge the electorates against voting along party lines at the general elections, saying only established politicians with vast experience in leadership should be given the nod to represent the people in 2015.

Aregbesola orders ban on cash payments in govt transactions Michael Bamigbola, Osogbo

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sun State Government yesterday declared that it would no lon-

this report, arrangements were being made to give the victims mass burial.

The Kaduna State Police Command and Kaduna State Government are yet to confirm the attack.

The Police spokesman, Aminu Lawan, did not respond to telephone calls.

Ondo goes tough on Illegal daycare, orphanage operators Tosin Ajuwon, Akure perators of daycare centres and orphanage homes in Ondo

State have be warned not to violate the laws guiding the setting up of orphanages and daycare homes in the state.

The Commissioner for

ger accept cash for the payment of fees, fines, charges and other forms of revenue in the state.

The state, according to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has concluded arrangements to go digital in the collection of its revenues and erase all avenues through which revenue officials come in contact with raw cash.

Aregbesola, according to a statement by his Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, dropped this

hint when members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and representatives of all trade unions submitted a report of their efforts at seeking alternative sources of revenue for the state in the face of the dwindling revenue from the federation account.

“I must announce this to all of you that as from next month (January), no revenue official will be allowed to come in contact with cash again. This is because we have decided to go digital in our revenue collection.

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Women Affairs and Social Development in the state, Lady Yemi Mahmud-Fasominu, gave the warning on Sunday in an exclusive interview with Daily Times, in Akure.

Fasominu said the state government had set up rules and standards that must be strictly followed in setting up such centres, to protect the lives and rights of children in the state.

She disclosed that task force officials from the ministry, would be moving round the state to ensure total compliance and sanction defaulters.

“Our officials will go round and any operator found wanting will be sanctioned because we must adhere to quality service delivery and we

cannot afford to jettison standard in Ondo State,” she said.

The commissioner also revealed that government would reward any operator that complied with the laws and warned that nobody should operate any daycare centre or orphanage without official approval from the ministry.

“It is illegal to operate in any part of the 18 local government areas of the state without formally registering such centre with the state government through the ministry.”

She added that, “It is illegal for any operator of an orphanage to give out children in their care for adoption so that there will not be confrontation with the state government come January 2015.”

News 10

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Kogi expends N2.9b in basic schools Ibrahim Jimoh, Lokoja

I L-R: A guest, Prof. Kolawole Raheem; President, Oasis Women Organisation, Mrs. Mojisola Adams; former head of Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos, Prof. Sophie Oluwole; beneficiary, Mrs. Rachael Abass, and Chief Promoter, Olokun Festival Foundation, Chief Gani Adams, during the 7th annual empowerment luncheon of Oasis in Lagos.

Why I criticise Obasanjo - Fayose Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti

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kiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has declared that his recent comments against President Olusegun Obasanjo was meant to save the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and not for any personal reasons. Fayose said he does not harbor any personal grudges against the former president.

The governor, who made this known in Ado-Ekiti, while featuring on monthly Radio and Television Programme, tagged ‘Meet Your Governor’, explained that it would be wrong for anyone to view his recent outburst against the former Nigerian leader as being personal or an attempt to settle personal scores with him.

According to the governor, Nigerians as well as members of the PDP must viewed the sustained attack

by Obasanjo against President Goodluck Jonathan and the party ,as something that must be condemned.

His words: “This is not a question of whether somebody is elderly or young, but when you see somebody continuously attacking the vehicle conveying members of the PDP, then that person must be checked or else shall be sunken. The PDP is like a moving train and when you see somebody shooting sporadically at it,those inside must talk or raise alarm if they must survive the onslaught”.

Fayose, who accused Obasanjo of being more at home with the opposition, most especially, the All Progressives Congress (APC), pointed out that this

Fayose informed his recent actions and utterances against the former President.

The governor however urged members of the PDP to rise and defend the party from both the enemies within and outside the party.

Speaking on the 2015 general elections, Fayose said the tide still favours the return of President Good luck Jonathan to power adding that Nigerians would not make the mistake of voting APC into power at the centre, positing that “the party (APC) had bad records in

the states it had governed in recent past”.

The Ekiti State governor, who described PDP as the best option for the nation now, therefore urged Nigerians to keep faith with the ruling Party to ensure the party wins the general election in 2015 He equally disclosed that his government had mapped out strategies aimed at providing quality water and other social amenities under the 2015 budget, which he warned may be scuttled if people refused to tow the line of basic principles of hygiene and discipline.

The governor therefore called on people of the state to increase the tempo of their support and cooperation for his government so as to fulfil his electioneering campaipn into office for the second term.

APC declares Osahon winner of Ovia Federal Constituency Titus Eguaoje, Benin City

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head of the deadline by political parties to submit names of their Candidate, to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the National Working Committee of All Progressive Congress (APC) has declared Engineer Isaac Osahon Nosakhare winner of the Ovia Federal

Constituency primary election held on Sunday, December at Iguobazuwa, having scored the highest vote cast and announced by the presiding officer.

A top member of the APC National Executive Committee, and who preferred anonymity, disclosed in Benin that based on the committee report submitted to the National chairman of the party, Chief Odigie Oyegun and

signed by the Committee Chairman, Abdullahi Saqid and Muktar Kaura, Secretary and from the evidece of the video clip that the primary election was substantially about to be concluded when the process was disrupted by two people who were Hon. Morrison Ogunrobo and Dennis Idahosa, NEC has given Hon. Nosakhare Osahon, the Independent National Electoral Commission

form to fill.

The NEC member who quoted a section of the party guideline as saying “Notwithstanding, the provisions of the guideline or any other rules of the party, the decision of the NWC acting on behalf of the NEC shall and be binding on all aspirants , officers and organs of the party in respect of the primary election to the National Assembly “.

n its bid to strengthen education at the grass roots, Kogi State government has said it has so far expended the sum of N1.64 billion in the upgrading of a number of its primary schools across the state.

Similarly, the state government added that it has equally expended another N1.35 billion in upgrading structures and facilities in selected post Primary Schools across the state as models.

The state Governor, Capt Idris Wada, stated this at the commissioning of rehabilitated/constructed schools funded by Oladele Oyelola foundation at Ayegunle Gbede, Iyah Gbede and Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu local government of Kogi State.

The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, listed Abdu-

lazeez Atta Memorial College Okene, Government Secondary School Dekina and St. Augustine’s College Kabba and Titcombe College, Egbe among some of the schools undergoing upgrading in the state.

Wada disclosed that as a product of public school, and having enjoyed considerable leveling opportunities that made it possible for him to pursue his academic careers notwithstanding the economic status of his parents, he is propelled to improve the physical conditions of public schools in the State to what it was in the past.

The Governor disclosed that education is a right and not a privilege, saying that government will in 2015 further boost education by committing over N5 billion to the provision of structural, instructional and social facilities in primary and basic schools in the State.

Emir of Ilorin backs Ajibola’s PDP candidature Ola Yekeen, Ilorin

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he Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Gambari, has described the emergence of Senator Simeon Ajibola as PDP Governorship Flag Bearer in Kwara State as a sign of good things to come to the State.

The emir stated this over the weekend in Ilorin when Senator Ajibola on his home coming paid homage to the royal father homage at his palace for blessings.

Gambari, who hailed the transparency of the PDP internal democratic process through which Ajibola emerged commended the choice Alhaji Yinka Aluko from the Kwara Central Senatorial District as Ajibola’s running mate.

The Emir also described Senator Ajibola’s Governorship Candidature as good for power rotation in the State.

According to the Emir, it was good that the Flag

Bearer was not imposed but elected by majority of delegates across the 193 wards and 16 LGAs in Kwara.

Gambari noted that Ajibola’s candidature was an indication that Kwara was gradually evolving as one harmonious family joining hands to move the State forward.

“That is the beauty in democracy and what Ajibola’s emergence and his cocontestants’ support have demonstrated”, the Emir said.

The Emir said his desire to unite Kwara into State of Harmony informed amendment informed the Changing of descendants association from ‘Ilorin Descendants Progressives Union’,( IDPU) to ‘Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressives Union’.

Gambari jokingly said he was as much as a bona fide ‘son of the soil’ of Igbomina/Ekiti and Ibolo lands in the Kwara South as he was full born Ilorin indigene.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

11 News

Ekiti APC slams govt over unpaid civil servants’ salaries Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has descried as callous and wicked the declaration

by Governor Ayo Fayose, while featuring on a media chat in the state, that Ekiti State workers should forget their September salary on the basis that it was former Governor Kayode Fayemi who owed them.

The party also reacted

to Fayose’s aide, Lere Olayinka, who said former Governor Kayode Fayemi lied on his claims in a media chat on Adaba FM, on the debt profile of the state and projects execution during his administration that put Ekiti State ahead of its peers in the country.

In a swift reaction, the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Taiwo Olatunbosun, described Fayose’s refusal to pay workers salary as wicked, callous and insensitive to come from a governor to workers who are the engine room of government policy and programme.

Olatunbosun, who pointed out that since the federal allocations are paid in arrears, it was incumbent upon Fayose to pay September salary with September federal allocation that he collected in October after Fayemi had left, adding that “It was Fayose as

Governor-Elect who went to harass the banks that had overdraft arrangement with the Fayemi administration to stop granting such facilities to Fayemi even though it is the same facility Fayose is currently using to pay salaries as admitted in his media chat.

2015: We won’t recognise parallel primaries, says INEC Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

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he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the weekend made it clear that it would not recognise parallel primaries by any political party.

The Commission pointedly declared that only names of candidates signed by the national chairmen and secretaries of political parties would be accepted.

The Commission has similarly resolved to impose a N500,000 fine on any political party that presents candidate(s) with false information.

INEC has equally ruled out extension for any party that failed to meet the December 18 and 25, 2014 deadline for the submission of candidates for next year’s general elections.

The INEC guidelines for the 2015 elections specifically fixed the deadline for submission of candidates for presidential and National Assem-

bly elections at December 18, while that of governorship and state Assembly elections is December 26.

According to the information on the INEC’s website, “parties are requested to ensure that the candidates they intend to sponsor at the elections are available with the originals of all their credentials at the respective venues for the exercise in case they are required.

“The attention of parties and their candidates is also drawn to section 32 of the Electoral Act, 2006 which disqualifies any candidate who provides false information in his/ her affidavit (Form CF 001) from contesting elections.

“Furthermore, a political party which presents such a candidate is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine up to N500,000”, it stated.

The Commission also explained that the publication of names of candidates for various positions was being done at the constituency levels.

Picnickers at the Agodi Resort Gardens, newly reconstructed by the Oyo State Government, during the Christmas festivities.

Pic: Courtesy OYO GOVERNMENT HOUSE

Sagay gives judiciary pass mark in 2014

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rofessor of Constitutional Law, Itsey Sagay, has given the judiciary a pass mark in 2014.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, Sagay, however, said the judiciary experienced ‘’mixed bag of successes and failures’’ in the judgments it delivered in some cases in the year.

He said: “The judgments in the Adamawa and Taraba states removing usurpers in the office of the

governor are highly commendable. ‘’The setting up of an Independent Panel to investigate allegations of breach of oath and ethics of office against the Nasarawa Governor by the Chief Judge of the state is noble and good.

“But the judgment of a court which penalised elected officials who defected to another party is not in alignment with our political culture since 1999.’’

Sagay said that judges

Sagay needed to sustain the kind of judgments they delivered against usurpers of public offices, describing such judgments as ‘’ highly principled activism.’’

He added that there was a need to caution defence lawyers in corruption cases against using preliminary objections to stall trials.

“Principled activism on the part of our judges suggests that they put justice above everything.

“Senior lawyers that deploy preliminary objections too often to allow a case to linger to the extent that public fund is wasted and people lose interest in the matter should be disciplined.

Court restrains Alao-Akala, others from parading as LP candidates

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new twist may have been added to the political situation in Oyo State as a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has issued an inter-

im order restraining former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, from parading himself as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the state.

It will be recalled that Otun-

ba Alao-Akala, leading other members, recently defected to the party from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was subsequently adopted as the governorship candidate

of the party in the February 2015 election in the state, the day he made his defection public.

But Justice A. R. Mohammed, in the motion ex parte

issued and dated 18 December, ordered that Otunba AlaoAkala, Mr Sarafadeen Alli, Mr Nurudeen Akinyo, Comrade Olu Abiala, and all other senatorial, House of Representa-

tives and House of Assembly candidates should stop parading themselves as representatives of the party in the forthcoming 2015 general elections in the state.

Africa 12

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Egypt cuts activists’ jail terms

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n Egyptian Appeals Court reduced the jail terms on Sunday for 23 young activists convicted of violating a law banning protests without a permit, judicial sources said.

The arrest of the activists in June while they demonstrated against the law which tightly restricts protests was condemned by rights groups as a reflection of an increasingly repressive political climate in Egypt.

Mass protests led to the ousting of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and were used to express discontent with Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, who was toppled by the army last year.

Human rights groups have called the charges against the activists baseless and decried the case as an example of “showtrials” based on scant evidence and intended to warn citizens against defying government policies.

“Though expected in the light of harsh and unfair sentences in similar cases, we are shocked and dismayed at how political and human rights activists are being punished in Egypt for peacefully expressing their views,” said Khaled Mansour, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal

Rights where one of the defendants, Yara Sallam, worked.

Sallam, a 28-year-old lawyer, was not participating in the demonstration according to eyewitnesses, but was rounded up nearby and put on trial.

Sanaa Abdel Fattah, a 20-yearold university student and the sister of leading activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, was also among those arrested. On Sunday, their sentences were reduced from three years to two.

Security forces killed hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators last year at two Cairo protest camps seeking Mursi’s reinstatement. Islamist supporters continue to protest in small numbers and many thousands have been arrested.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as army chief oversaw Mursi’s ousting, was elected president in May and has pledged to revive the economy and combat an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai.

Sisi has made less specific promises about upholding the rights and freedoms that many Egyptians took to the streets to demand four years ago. The security crackdown has expanded to include liberal and secular activists, including some of the leading figures of the 2011 uprising.

George Weah wins Liberian Senate seat

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ormer football star George Weah has won a landslide victory in Liberia’s senate elections, in polls disrupted by the Ebola outbreak.

Mr Weah got 78% of the vote for the Montserrado county seat, which includes the capital Monrovia.

He beat Robert Sirleaf, the son of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who took nearly 11%.

Low turnout in the poll, which was first planned for October, was blamed on concerns about Ebola.

Strict health controls were in place to try to prevent the spread of the disease.

Those who came to polling stations had their temperature taken, were told to stand a metre (3ft) apart and wash their hands before and after voting.

George Liberia has been one of the countries worst affected by Ebola, with almost 3,400 deaths, the UN says.

Other winners in the senate elections include Jewel HowardTaylor, the ex-wife of the jailed former president Charles Taylor, and the former rebel leader Prince Johnson.

Both retained their seats.

The National Elections Commission chairman, Jerome Korkoya, called the conclusion of the vote “the end of a crucial journey”.

Al-Shabab fighters are increasingly launching cross border attacks in neighbouring Kenya

Libya Air Force strikes Misrata militants

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ibya’s air force has struck the western city of Misrata for the first time in the latest clash between government and militant forces.

A Misrata source confirmed the strikes to the BBC, adding that there were no casualties or material damage.

The airstrikes come after a 72-hour ultimatum issued by the air force to militants based in Misrata.

Militants had been attacking the oil ports of Sidra and Ras Lanuf in East Libya.

Militants were “still in high spirits, and [the] bombings will not affect our resolve,” the Misrata official told the BBC. Libya has been plagued by instability and infighting since the toppling of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and violence has been steadily increasing in recent months.

An attack on a power plant in the Libyan city of Sirte on 25 December left at least 19 soldiers dead.

Libyan military sources said the Libya Dawn movement,

based in western Libya, was responsible for the attack.

In a separate incident, an oil tank at Libya’s largest oil export terminal in Sidra caught fire when it was struck by a rocket during fighting on Saturday.

That attack, and the fight for control of Ras Lanuf, prompted the air force to issue its ultimatum.

Smoke rises from an oil tank fire in Es Sider port December 26, 2014 An oil storage tank caught fire after a rocket attack at the oil export terminal in Sidra on Saturday.

Scores of Rwandan Hutu rebels surrender

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group of 83 Rwandan Hutu rebels turned themselves in on Sunday in the face of threatened action by UN and Congolese troops as part of efforts to restore calm in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive east.

The rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known as the FDLR, surrendered to authorities in North Kivu province in the DR

Congo, said provincial deputy governor Feller Lutaichirwa.

However, many other rebels are believed to remain at large with less than a week to go before a January, deadline to surrender.

The international community has given the FDLR until January, to turn themselves in or face action by the Congolese army and the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.

The FDLR is thought to include

between 1500 and 2000 fighters, including those suspected of having participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

They are opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s Tutsi government and have for years been based in neighbouring eastern DRC, where they have been accused of conscripting child soldiers and of brutal attacks against residents, including rapes and murders.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

US, NATO end Afghan offensive

Obama

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he NATO-led military alliance in Afghanistan has formally ended its 13-year-long combat mission, leaving a relatively under-trained Afghan national security force to fight the deadly Taliban insurgency largely on its own.

A special ceremony was organized at the Kabul headquarters of the coalition on Sunday to mark the conclusion of opera-

tions by the US-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF. Its commander, General John Campbell, rolled up and sheathed the green and white ISAF flag, and unfurled the flag of a new so-called Resolute Support mission. He later addressed the ceremony to pay tribute to the international and Afghan forces who have died fighting the Taliban insurgency.

“Today marks an end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Resolute Support will serve as a bedrock of our enduring partnership with Afghanistan,” he said.

NATO’s Resolute Support mission will consist of around 13,000 mostly American personnel that will continue advising, assisting and training Afghan national security forces in their fight against the Taliban. As General Campbell put it, the road ahead remains challenging.

Pro-Russian separatists free 8 Ukrainian prisoners

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kraine’s security service says pro-Russian separatists have released four more Ukrainian prisoners as part of a major prisoner swap.

A Ukrainian statement said the four released on Saturday included three civilians and a member of the Ukrainian military.

Separately, Russia’s Interfax news agency is reporting that separatists released three Ukrainian servicemen and one civilian on Saturday without an exchange for rebels.

The releases bring to 154 the

13 World

Singapore bound Air Asia plane missing, 162 on board

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n AirAsia passenger jet carrying 162 people lost contact with Indonesian air traffic control early Sunday, gripping Southeast Asia with a second missing plane crisis in less than a year.

The search operation for the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 was halted for the night, but big ships won’t return to shore and will leave their searchlights on, according to the Indonesian Transportation Ministry.

Before communication was lost, one of the pilots asked to fly at a higher altitude because of bad weather, officials said.

The aircraft, flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to

Singapore, went missing as it flew at 38,000 feet over the Java Sea between the islands of Belitung and Borneo -- a heavily traveled shipping channel with shallow waters, according to Indonesian authorities, who are leading the search and rescue operations.

Of the people on board the Airbus A320-200, 155 are Indonesian, three are South Korean, one is British, one is French, one is Malaysian and one is Singaporean, the airline said.

Eighteen children, including one infant, are among the passengers, the carrier said. Seven of the people on board are crew members.

At the airport in Surabaya, loved ones gathered and wept as

they waited for any word on the passengers.

Some took cell phone pictures of a flight manifest posted on a wall. The black-and-white papers showed every passenger’s name and seat number, but not their fate.

“Our concern right now is for the the relatives and the next of kin,” AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said during a press conference in Surabaya. He confirmed that storm clouds caused the pilot to ask for a change in flight plan, but added, “We don’t want to speculate whether weather was a factor. We really don’t know.” Once the aircraft is found, there will be a proper investigation, Fernandes said.

number of Ukrainians who have been freed in the past two days.

On Friday, 146 Ukrainian servicemen were released in exchange for 222 rebel captives in the largest prisoner swap since separatists launched their uprising in April.

“As a president and as an ordinary citizen my heart is full with joy. ‘‘As I have promised, you will be able to celebrate New Year with your families and military friends,” said Poroshenko. “That is what you and we have been waiting for so long.’’

A member of the public is comforted by emergency services close to the scene in George Square in Glasgow, Scotland after it is understood a garbage truck crashed into a group of pedestrians, recently.

Two dead, four missing in Hundreds trapped in Greece ferry inferno Turkish shipwreck

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wo seamen died and four more were missing, feared drowned, after a Turkish-registered merchant ship sank off Italy on Sunday following a collision with another vessel in rough seas, coastguards said.

The two victims were part of a crew of 11 Turkish nationals aboard the ship when it collided with another, Belize-registered, vessel in storm conditions about

a mile and a half (two kilometres) off the port of Ravenna on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

The accident occurred as Italy was attempting to co-ordinate the evacuation of hundreds of passengers and crew from a stricken ferry off the Greek island of Corfu, in the south of the Adriatic.

The ferry had been destined for the Italian port of Ancona when a fire broke out on board.

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undreds of passengers were trapped on a burning car ferry off Greece on Sunday, pleading to be rescued by a flotilla of nearby ships that battled storm conditions in open water to try to reach them.

The Greek coastguard said 150 people had been saved from the Italian-registered Norman Atlantic, which was carrying almost 500 passengers and crew when it sent a distress signal

after fire broke out on its lower deck.

As high winds and rough seas impeded efforts by other ships to rescue those still on board, it was unclear whether there had been casualties or if any passengers were in the water.

“The ship is still on fire, the floor is burning,” passenger George Styliaras told Greek TV by telephone, adding that smoke was making it difficult to breathe. “We don’t know how

long we can hold on.”

Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said the combination of very bad weather, with winds of up to 88 kilometres per hour and the fire, made the operation extremely complicated.

“We are doing everything we can to save those on board and no one, no one will be left helpless in this tough situation,” he told reporters. “It is one of the most complicated rescue operations that we have ever done.”

Opinion 14

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Tale of two ministers

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Kunle Ogunsakin

hen former Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Adamu Bello took on the incumbent of the same seat, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, many Nigerians expressed shock. Shock in the sense that many people believe that the Adesina’s approach to making people to see agriculture as business in one of the best things that have happened to Nigerians under the Dr Goodluck Jonathan Presidency.

Since his appointment some three years ago, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture under Adesina has achieved tremendous results, particularly with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) which not only seeks to make agriculture big and profitable business, but also seeks to launch Nigeria back onto the path of food sufficiency.

On the other hand, Bello handled the same portfolio between 2001 and 2007, a period of about six years. Since both have occupied the same seat, and the former is now accusing the incumbent, it is only

apposite to view the achievement of both so that Nigerians could at least draw their own conclusions on which of them has served the country better.

The Ministry under Adesina have engaged a teeming population of Nigerian youths and stimulate their interest in agriculture.

They are called “Nagroprenuers”.

According to Oyeleye, “President Jonathan, in 2013, unveiled the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) to create a new generation of young commercial farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs. This will develop a total of 760,000 ‘Nagropreneurs’ within five years. Today, young graduates and bankers are leaving the banks and heading for agriculture. The new millionaires of Nigeria will be in agriculture. It is a new dawn!!”

Also, Staple Crops Processing Zones (SCPZ), new agricultural infrastructure-enabled zones that are being developed to attract agribusiness investors into rural areas is in place. They are to address the infrastructure challenges and constraints of the agro-processing industry, drive social and economic impacts, offer a superior operating environment for downstream players as well as create a new platform

for private sector investment in agriculture. Food manufacturing companies are being attracted to establish within these zones, bringing them closer to farmers and areas of high food production.

To improve financial access for farmers, we have taken bold steps.

The Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Agriculture jointly established a risk-sharing facility, the Nigerian Incentivebased Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) – that reduces the risk on bank lending to agribusiness and farmers.

Banks are lending to agriculture today in Nigeria than ever before.

Agricultural lending as a share of total bank lending rose from 0.7 per cent to 5 percent within two years.

Bank lending to seed companies and small agricultural input retailers rose from zero in 2011, to $ 10 million in 2012 and $53 million in 2013. Bank lending to fertilizer companies rose from $ 100 million in 2012 to $ 500 million in 2013. It is remarkable that the default rate has been zero percent over the past two years.

However, in trying to guage the achievement of Adamu Bello in office, it is better to go into the archives and see what the media

wrote about him, even while in office. On September 13, 2004, The News magazine carried in its cover a story titled “Swindling the farmers, Adamu Bello, Minister of Agriculture And Rural Development, faces allegations of financial malpractice”.

Now, there are allegations of corruption against him. Up in arms against Bello are the Senate Committee on Agriculture, the House Committee on Agriculture, a faction of Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria CFAN and Fertilizer Supply Association of Nigeria, among other interests.

But first the alleged scams. The Minister is accused of blatant disregard for due process in the award of contracts. A case in point is the N14 billion contracts for the supply of fertilizers, which the Minister is said to have awarded to his friends and cronies without caring a hoot for civil service procedures. In a petition addressed to President Obasanjo by CFAN, the farmers give details of how the Minister awarded huge tons of fertilizers to himself, using three Indian companies as front, while leaving a pittance for indigenous suppliers; Nigerians can now judge who serves their interest better.

Sorry state of the Nigerian nation

N

Yemi Adegbite

igeria in every respect is looking more and more like an apparition.

Many unreal things happen daily, it looks like a state of nature as described by Thomas Hobbes. Nigeria has been turned to a beggar nation by those who are electedto govern it! Think of anything at all, it is possible in Nigeria. Things are not as they look, and everything is like a fleeting illusion! For those of us outside the country,Nigeria looks like a big jungle where people have the power to act with impunity.

You will see a drunken police, paid with the tax payers’ money, wielding an assault rifle terrorising ordinary Nigerians on the street, and in some extreme cases brutalizing civilians with no consequence whatsoever. Only in Nigeria will a civil servant embezzle public money to the tune of billions. A government minister will purchase or hire a N10 billion jet to fly around, while majority of the people live in squalor. Worst still, the National Assembly cannot even summon the minister for a

simple explanation! The corruption and money laundering case against Abacha’s son was withdrawn by the Jonathan administration and replaced with a ticket to fly the PDP’s flag in Kano State as governor in the next election. Only in Nigeria will seven lawmakers chase away 19 other s and usurp the power of the speaker, pass appropriation bill, and approve list of commissioners. There is nothing honourable in what these people did.

Gov. Fayose makes beggars out the proud Ekiti people by distributing fowls and rice to them. I ask, whose money was he using to purchase all those stuff ? In the same state, a Judge was assaulted with no finger raised by the powers that be! Only in Nigeria will the Inspector General of Police (IGP) be so overtly and downright partisan.He orders his subordinates to occupy the National Assembly under a spurious and flimsy excuse, yet nothing happened. Not that alone, the IGP referred to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as one Aminu Tambuwal! The IGP backed it up with further insult that he does not recognize him as Speaker.

Boko Haram wantonly and routinely kills people and operates freely like there is no government charged with protecting lives and properties in the country. Soldiers ask for better equipment and ammunition, they called it mutiny and condemned them to death! What a twist of an irony! People with good conscience should rise up and protest on behalf of these unfortunate. While I do not support capital punishment, but if anybody should die, it should be in the reversed order! The ship of the country is recklessly making it to the rocks while occupants are scrambling to get a vantage place to sit in! The list of parody taking place can keep going on and on. That is why I equate Nigeria to an Apparition. In a country where a normal government exists, such things should not have happened. Having said this, I can make some exceptions in many states of the country, where we have progressive governments that are making lemonade, while the central government throws lemon at them. History will be kind towards them, and posterity will recognize them.

The late Nelson Mandela said this about Nigeria. “You know I am

not happy not very happy with Nigeria, I have made that very clear on many occasions. Yes Nigeria stood by us more than any nation, but you let yourselves down, and Africa and the black race very badly. Your leaders have no respect for their people. They believe that their personal interests are interests of the people. They take people’s resources and turn it into personal wealth. There is a level of poverty in Nigeria that should be unacceptable. I cannot understand why Nigerians are not more-angry than they are.” Mandela had never lived a month in Nigeria up to his death, and he could summarise our leaders’ behaviour so accurately.

Nigeria, a blessed and rich country but with poor people can no longer continue business as usual. The present government has proved beyond any reasonable doubt that it is incapable of leading the country. The terabyte-level corruption going on in Nigeria is unparalleled.

Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the then Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria broke rank and disclosed that the oil money is not bring remitted, they castigated him, they vilified him, and now, he is His Eminence ,the Emir of Kano.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

15 Opinion

Amaechi and campaign against South-South

T

John Udumebraye

he Biblical story of Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, who betrayed the Lord, is intended to teach the lesson of human moral frailties. Even though Judas showed remorse by returning the 30 pieces of silver which he received from the chief priests and elders, the name has gone down in history as a metaphor for treachery.

What made the case of Judas special was that it was the betrayal of a person with whom he had been in close relationship. Like a family, Jesus and the 12 disciples lived, travelled and preached the gospel.

Together. That, in fact, was the source of guilt that drove Judas to commit suicide in the most despicable manner, soon after realising the magnitude of what he had done.

When, the All Progressives Congress (APC) recently announced the appointment of the Rivers State Governor, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, as the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, I could not resist the conclusion that he was on the path of Judas Iscariot. Well, he has been on it for quite some time now!

First and foremost, it is impor-

tant to properly situate the issue of Amaechi to avoid misconception. It is true that Amaechi has, for quite some time, been waging a personal war against President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Dame Patience Jonathan. As far as I am concerned, whether the President is involved or not, this is a confrontation between individuals and I am sure Jonathan and his wife can defend themselves.

The betrayal I have in mind is against the people of the Niger Delta Region or South-South geo-political zone. After decades of suffering political domination in post-independence Nigeria, Providence thrust on the zone the rare opportunity of producing the President in the person of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. First, he became Acting President in 2010; contested the presidential election of 2011 and assumed office as President. These developments, which all people of the region are proud of, have not pleased some of the President’s brothers and sisters, including Amaechi.

Ever before the crisis that engulfed the Nigerian Governors Forum in August, 2013, Amaechi had betrayed the trust reposed in him by the people of Rivers State.

Unknown to his own people, Amaechi had the ambition of becoming

Vice-President of Nigeria under a Northern President. In pursuit of this ambition, he used the Governors Forum to launch series of attacks on President Jonathan and his family.

Amaechi also betrayed his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through which he gained power; he betrayed his political allies and all those who staked everything they had to get him into office.

The peak of his betrayal was when he defected from PDP to APC, hoping he would be chosen as the Vice-Presidential candidate.

As it turned out, that hope was dashed and he was compensated with the Director-General of Buhari’s Campaign Organisation.

A governor turned DG? Is there anyone to advise Amaechi? When Judas realised the consequences of betrayal, he was not only filled with remorse, he returned the money and committed suicide. We may not be able to tell exactly what’s happening in Amaechi’s mind; but obviously he deserves pity.

Now, that he has been goaded into accepting to play the hatchet man, President Jonathan will certainly be his main target of attack. Who says the APC leadership is not ingenious? Between now and February 14, 2015, Amaechi must

tell the whole world why Jonathan is not fit to continue as President; why someone from the Niger Delta does not deserve to occupy the number one position. Amaechi now has the opportunity of telling the world that nobody, from the over 31 million people of the more than 40 ethnic nationalities, including Ibibio, Urhobo, Bini, Efik, Ijaw, Oron, Igbo, Ikwerre, Kalabari, Isoko, Itsekiri and Anang, none is capable of being President of this country.

The greatest act of betrayal is against the people of Rivers State whose resources are being squandered in promoting the political aspirations of outsiders. It is no longer a secret that the reason Amaechi was appointed campaign director is for him to deploy the resources of the state for Buhari’s cause.

The question is, to what end is Amaechi doing all this? He needs to be reminded that even if he succeeds, he would have to rule over the very people whose collective integrity he is destroying. He knows very well how rare it is in the Christian world to find a family bearing the name of Judas. So, he must be careful not to do anything that would bring the same infamy to him. Someone should tell Amaechi that it is getting too late!

Ambode as bridge builder

“L

Balogun Ibrahim

eadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality”Marren Bennis, Notable America Business Leader.

It is an unarguable fact that the quantity and quality of any nation’s professionals determine its economic development because they are the people with the skills and intellect necessary to shape the course of growth of any country.

It is also a statement of fact that advanced countries of the world have their professionals and leaders to thank for heights they have attained.

Ever since democracy took root in Nigeria, there has been sustained effort on the part of government to bring the country out of underdevelopment. This was the reason the vision 2020 was drawn. Specifically, the vision aims at transforming Nigeria into one of the 20 industrial powers by 2020.

For this goal to be realised, the nations’ professional class and leaders must be involved to drive the process. Nigeria boasts of thorough bred professionals and leaders who can hold their own anywhere in the world.

Name any country and you will find Nigerian professionals in strategic places, helping to advance the cause of development. Mention any profession and you would find a Nigerian among the best in the world; Nigerians are endowed with one talent or the other.

Indeed, a professional and leader is a person who has achieved an acclaimed level of proficiency in a calling or trade. The term can also apply to a person who engaged in a certain occupation for gain or as a means of livelihood. The fact definitely cannot be gainsaid that the professionals and leaders in any country are its greatest asset.

Even though Nigeria is abundantly blessed with human and natural resources, it is sad that this has not translated to economic development. Even nations, with whom we had the same economic

indices 50 years ago, have all left us behind. In fact, some foreigners have often argued that our continued underdevelopment is due to the underperformance of our professionals and leaders, saying that it is because they are not competent enough to move Nigeria forward.

But we know this assertion is not true as they are very much capable of making the desired transmutation of Nigeria.

More so, leadership is a practical thing.

It is epitomised in the continuity of societal progression. Leaders move the society from a state of stagnation.

Akinwunmi Ambode is an epitome of the above-mentioned qualities of leadership. In the history of Lagos State government, in which he served as a civil servant and rising to position of Permanent Secretary, there has not been such of his record ever in the civil service, as has been under the Akinwunmi Ambode leadership as an Accountant General of the state.

He is calm, immensely knowledgeable, organised and focused.

Ambode, led the most organised,

painstaking and deeply managed Lagos State treasury during the Obasanjo administration that starved the state of funds due to of the additional LCDAs. His management throughout the period dwelt deeply on education, agriculture, due process, rural and urban transformation, localisation/ domestication of contract award, the re-engineering and re-organisation of the civil service.

Rising from the humble position of a junior Accountant, he moved up the ladder to becoming the youngest ever Auditor General for Local Governments in in 2001. Subsequently, he was made the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance in January 2005, before combining the additional responsibility of Accountant General in February, 2006.

But of a remarkable achievement was how he kept the state running during the embattled period when the Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration unilaterally stopped allocation to local governments in the state. A more critical look at his book: Public Sector Financing may shed more light on the strategie.

16

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Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Features

17

s

Except a miracle happens …

These people may never leave Igbobi Hospital Gbubemi God’s Covenant Snr

O

n Christmas day, the National Orthopaedic Hospital (NOH), Igbobi, on Ikorodu Road was as quiet and deserted as a Northern village after a terror attack. Save for few security personnel at the entrance and a lone female security officer reading at the long hallway of the Women’s Ward on the last floor of Mobolaji House (Accidents Wards) building, everywhere was quiet.

The female ward had only four patients who could not leave since doctors and healthcare personnel strike started some eight weeks ago.

The G-ward which, in Igbobi parlance, is the home for abandoned patients, had about 15 men from late 20s upwards, all living with one medical riddle or another, or where there is a medical solution, they are crippled by financial incapacity.

A fellow at the basement of the block, who was on strike but came to ‘pick up’ something, told Daily Times that even if the Orthopaedic hospital was shut down permanently, those people would have nowhere to go … except a miracle happens.

The first of the patients Daily Times spoke with was 65- yearold Felicia Ugwuegbu, who was enjoying a late breakfast brought by her granddaughter this Christmas day.

A native of Umuehihie in Uzoagba local government area of Imo State, Felicia, a widow who was living at 25, Tapa Street, Orile-Iganmu, before a traditional wedding took her to a village where she had what she believes to be an esoteric encounter.

The story that ended at the Orthopaedic hospital, Igbobi, started after the death of her husband when her daughter was getting married, she narrated.

“After the ceremony, we were

Felicia Ugwuegbu leaving, but I decided to just greet my late husband’s stepmother not far from there. When I was walking towards the house, I didn’t know someone had put something on the ground for me, and I stepped on it.

“Only three days after that, a sharp pain started in the middle of my right leg, and before evening, the area of the pain turned

Umoru

“We were all happy and looking forward to the next stage, but then they said the operation would cost something like N450,000,”

dark and formed a circle; by the next day, which was the fourth, a whitish round spot appeared in the middle.”

Thinking it was a puse, her son pricked open the whitish spot with a toothpick and a lot of colourless fluid flowed out.

“But the thing shot a sharp pain to my brain and I wasn’t myself. When my son saw my situ-

ation, he took me to one pastor who looked at the leg and prayed.

After that, he said he had given the thing inside my leg one week to come out by force, and exactly one week after, that was what happened. It was a Monday evening when this strange thing, like the kind of maggot you see inside

Continued on page 18

Features 18

Daily Times Nigeria Monday December 29, 2014

Opaleye Peter

‘Our fates hang in the balance’ Continued from page 17

the creature crawled out began to expand, emitting fluid that defied every form of medication

palm tree, crawled out of my leg.”

Looking back many years after, the family was not sure anymore whether that miracle was a solution, or it simply aggravated her condition because, according to Felicia, the hole from which the creature crawled out began to expand, emitting fluid that defied every form of medication and over time, it became a big sore that teed off the battle for the recovery of her right leg. That was 30 years ago.

From traditional healers to orthodox doctors and back to traditional healers, including an Indian healer, she shuttled, but instead of healing, the sore only festered the more. According to her, the Indian healer, who used to come once a week to treat the leg, was not achieving the desired result.

So the story continued until one of her son’s friend counselled the family.

“My son, Emeka’s friend said this kind of thing happened to his mother and that it was treated at Ig-

bobi; that if you see his mother now you will never believe she suffered this kind of attack. So my son Emeka arranged and brought me here.”

Doctors at the hospital had responded by placing her on drips during their first month of admission.

“They used to work very well here at that time,” said Felicia.

“They put me on drips and gave me four pints of blood, and then they advised me to be drinking plenty of water every day.”

According to the patient, the doctors told her they would need to watch her condition for some time before they could decide which approach to take.

“The doctors then said we should pay N70,000 so that they would control the sore with one machine that would force out water from my leg because it was the water that made the medicines I had been using ineffective.”

Using the machine to force out the said fluids would cost N35,000 per week, so her son managed to raise the money and the treatment

did show some promise.

“We were all happy and looking forward to the next stage, but then they said the operation would cost something like N450,000,” She threw up her hands in despair, “Where will a widow get that kind of money? My son Emeka is not rich. We were just looking at ourselves, not knowing what to do and begging God to help us, when doctors started their strike.

“Even if they resume work again, from where will my people get N450,000 from?”

Emeka has been running round, even seeking to borrow, but has not succeeded in raising all the money required for his mother’s operation. According to Felicia, Emeka has paid about N200,000, but without the full payment the operation would not be performed.

Daily Times was still in the ward when Emeka came in to wish his mother a Merry Christmas. In a separate discussion, the young man in his 40s told Daily Times to disregard the entire story about poison and stepping on something on the

ground. “The doctors have said my mother is afflicted with some cancer in her flesh, that is why the sore is not responding to treatment, but the surgery pending before doctors went on strike is not the problem, but the money involved.”

He lamented that he is only a petty businessman struggling to make a living. “My mother’s sickness has been a financial burden. If I don’t get help, I don’t know what is going to happen because the money required and other things are in the region of N450,000. I have emptied everything to pay some but I just can’t get any more money. Please help me appeal to our good people of Nigeria to help me out.”

Frail Felicia was naked to her waist but for the surgical bandage wrapped around her neck, chest and below her breasts.

Suliat Azeez was only 36 years old when the hand of fate reached her at her 9, Eredua Street, Makoko residence on Lagos Mainland.

Like a script straight from Nol-

Continued on page 19

Daily Times Nigeria Monday December 29, 2014

19 Features

‘Prisoners fare better than us’ Her husband, Azeez, has not been able to raise any part of the money. The little deposit he borrowed all went to meeting the cost of her hospital bed, feeding and dressings and no other money has come before the strike began

Continued from page 18 lywood, her condition was crafted to look like a human error, but it went beyond that, she said.

Speaking in almost a whisper in Yoruba, Suliat told Daily Times she had boiled hot water herself and carried the pot on a plank shelf just over the table in the house. A few minutes later, she had returned to take out something from the same shelf but in the process, she upset the plank: the uncovered pot emptied its scalding content on her chest.

Suliatu struggled between slipping into unconsciousness and consciousness, but did manage to let out a short sharp scream before losing consciousness. She woke up hours later at a clinic where the doctor suggested that she be moved to the Orthopaedic hospital, Igbobi.

Some nine months later, Suliatu told Daily Times, she was being considered for skin graft surgery that will cost N270,000.

Her husband, Azeez, has not been able to raise any part of the money. The little deposit he borrowed all went to meeting the cost of her hospital bed, feeding and dressings and no other money has come before the strike began.

So what hope is there for Suliat?

“I do not know,” she told Daily

Times amidst tears, “I don’t know where help will come from. I live in pain all the time; the drugs they give me to help relieve my pains finished before doctors stopped working more than two months ago. I live in pains in the day, I live in pains in the night; every day, I live in pains. I just don’t know what I am going to do.”

The third patient in the female ward is Yemisi (not her real name), a graduate of business administration from the Lagos State University. From her lively girlish voice, you wouldn’t suspect anything was wrong except that she was lying face down on her bed with a green bedsheet covering her from midriff down to her very toes.

The first of five children, Yemisi first wanted to know why Daily Times was conducting these interviews; unconvinced that she could attract help through the publication, she shrugged and decided to talk because she was in Christmas mood.

Now 39, but looking much younger, the slim black lady told Daily Times she was running a private salon before this mysterious thing spoilt things for her.

“I was having pain in my rib side so I went to a medical centre where I was given injection.

Suliatu Azeez Three days after that injection, I couldn’t move my legs; I couldn’t even feel I had legs.

“I was taken back to the centre; they could not even explain what they must have done wrong, but they suggested I do an x-ray, which I did. The result showed there was an infection in the spine, and they referred me to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, IDH, at Yaba.

“There, they conducted many tests, including my spittle and urine, and they said there was no trace of such, yet I still can’t move my legs. ‘‘Another mystery soon surfaced; the skin around her waist and part of both thighs started losing texture.

“I have been in this condition for a long time and now I am in Igbobi to do skin grafting. I have been on this bed for over a year.”

So, what was the stage of her treatment before the strike of last November?

“Ummn, I have been doing skin grafting, and you know that grafting is stage by stage; so far, I have done three stages. Why it is taking this long is that where the skin was taken to graft in another area,

I have to wait for that place to heal properly before any other one can be attempted.”

On her bills, she said people have been helping her, “But as you know, payment here is not easy at all, but God has been so faithful.”

Though sounding lively and confident, Yemisi said she had paid over N2 million since the treatment started. On the whole, she could not put a sum on what the bill would be at the end of it all, and she even added... “if there will be an end to this thing at all.”

You look cheerful yet you’re not sounding optimistic?

“I have to cheer myself up; it’s the least I could do to help myself.

I should tell you I am on wheelchair all the time. If I’m not lying down like this, I have to be on wheelchair.

“Then unlike other cases here, no bill is given to me beforehand; they prepare for each grafting when they judge it was time and give me the bill. So far, I have paid over N2 million for skin grafting.”

According to her, meeting the cost for her condition is a large collective effort.

“The payments are met by my

aged parents, some friends and some NGOs. I had to close down my salon and ever since I have not been able to do anything. I just depend on my God.” How long will the entire treatment take?

“I don’t know, I can’t really say; I have been here for so long, and now they are on strike.”

If there should be an intervention, by any miracle, how much would she ask for? “l cannot dictate to a helper; I can’t even place a figure on it, but my hope one day is that I will leave here, no matter what happens, and when I do, I intend to stay on my own and find something to do, and not just staying at home on my wheelchair, because I can still run my business. There is nothing I cannot do, and with God, everything is possible; that’s my belief.”

The oldest patient here is 82 years old Madam Rebecca Oladipupo who told Daily Times she was a woodworker, breaking and selling firewood back at Oshogbo before a freak accident occurred

Continued on page 20

Features 20

Daily Times Nigeria Monday December 29, 2014

Aerial view of Accident Wards, Mobolaji House

Trapped in G-ward at Igbobi Continued from page 19 that has kept her in sitting condition 30 years on.

“I was breaking firewood in the bush when another wood fell on my leg,” she said in Yoruba.

“Every traditional help I tried failed me, so, someone in Ishaga brought me to Igbobi and left me here.”

On her arrival early last year, doctors told Rebecca she would need to pay N150,000 for three operations and she says she had no one in the world to help her.

G WARD The G Ward was the only hall where music was blaring from a mounted colour television behind the door of the hall in the otherwise quiet and deserted health community.

Umoru, the first name Daily Times had picked up as the new acclaimed No. 1 landlord in Igbobi did not deny he was going to be here for a very long time.

A native of Kagarawa Vllage in Bengua Local Government Area of Bornu State, Umoru is the second hot water case on record with nowhere to go and no one to help.

Speaking in the typical security guard pidgin English, Umoru told Daily times he was brought to do security work for his master whose name he doesn’t know, but he has worked for a long time before the incident that sent him to

hospital.

From his pidgin narrative, Daily Times was able to piece together the incident.

“I wash motor for oga and madam every day; that time rain dey fall early morning so I put water for fire early morning and laid down and I don sleep go.”

The water had boiled and completely dried out and Umoru was still asleep. While it was still early morning, the place caught fire and spread to the hand-woven mat he was sleeping upon. This was how he described what followed: “Fire enter my trouser, and my shirt. When I wake up I try to stand up but I fall three times and only me I dey inside the security house. I shout and call oga! Oga! But my oga no hear me.”

The only thing in his favour was that the rain increased about that time. As he still fought to get out of his burning clothes, a food vendor who heard his shouts came on time to help.

“The woman help me to pour water on my body; she tear away my trouser and my shirt but by that time all my body don burn too much. After my oga hear and he tell driver to take me to general hospital.”

Umoru remained in that condition for many hours without attention before doctors came to work. The driver had gone, and neither his master nor his wife came to see Umoru afterwards.

“Doctors treat me and they tire

to treat me because nobody come see me, nobody come pay any money.

When I carry myself like this go see oga, he shout for me and say I want to burn his house.”

Even in his pains Umoru told Daily Times he was surprised by what his master was saying and he responded by reminding him how many months he had stayed in the house without burning it down.

The man from his village who had brought Umoru to serve his master heard of the incident and visited him at the hospital.

“The man come only one time; he say he would go and gather money and come back but he never come back since six months.”

Umoru’s emergency treatment and subsequent dressings before doctors downed tools was borne by the hospital, but preliminary surgery and subsequent tests before skin grafting can be contemplated was estimated at N70,000 --- before the strike.

Umoru looked helplessly at our correspondent and asked: “If I no get money pay for ordinary N70,000, where I go gettam money pay for operation?

“That man from my village collect money but he no come back.

I send somebody to see my oga, to bring all my money he owe me for my work; my oga only giam N800.”

The money required to commence his treatment is in the neighborhood of N500,000. Umoru has had to live with pain every moment; but apparently, lack of help and treatment and the hopelessness of his situation have become part of life for him.

“Wetin make I do? My leg, my hand, my body, all dey pain me, but wetin I go do? If I want die self, die no gree to come.”

About the youngest in G Ward is 29-year-old Sulaimon Ahmed.

He was knocked down by a trailer at Ota, Ogun State, he told Daily Times.

His total treatment bill owed to the hospital had hit N160,000 before doctors stopped giving him attention --- and that was many months before the strike.

According to him, his discharge bill waiting to be cleared is N60,000, while cost of Plaster of Paris (POP) is put at N10,000.

Opaleye Peter of 1, Lamidi Street Agbudo, Ogun State, is a young police officer. He told Daily Times he was crossing the express when he was hit by a vehicle.

The required operation involves grafting, taking flesh from his left foot to graft onto his right leg.

The first operation, he said, had cost him N167,000, excluding cost of drugs, and he needs about N282,000 to continue further treatment.

The list is endless and the hopes of G Ward residents seem

I can’t even place a figure on it, but my hope one day is that I will leave here, no matter what happens, and when I do, I intend to stay on my own and find something to do, and not just staying at home on my wheelchair, because I can still run my business. to deem with each passing day. It is not like prisoners that the state governor or the president or a judge may one day visit and set free.

It is ironical that while politicians raise billions of naira in one sitting for political campaigns, a good population of the electorate have their lives hanging in the balance for lack of the same money which politicians are squandering in the name of elections and re-elections.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Politics

21

s

Countdown to 2015 Lagos House:

Slugfest between change and change?

Akinjide Akintola, Political Editor

T

Ambode

he battle line for the contest into the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, in the February 28, 2015 governorship election is already drawn. With the emergence of the candidates who will fly the flags of the parties, it is apparent that it will be a straight fight between two gladiators who stand out from the pack.

These are Akin Ambode of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While Ambode is a new entrant into the race, Agbaje is a veteran of the battle, having started the journey way back in 2007 against the incumbent, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

AMBODE Even though he is coming under the umbrella of the most popular party in Lagos, Ambode is coming as a dark horse whose antecedents is not much known except as a former accountant general of the state during the tenure of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as governor of the state.

He is seen as a technocrat in the mould of outgoing Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola who was Tinubu’s chief of staff before he was brought in as the anointed candidate of the then Ac-

tion Congress of Nigeria (ACN) over other aspirants.

Unlike in 2007, however, this year, a primary was conducted in which Ambode defeated other aspirants to clinch the ticket.

Though, before the primary, there had been allegations that Asiwaju had picked Ambode as his anointed candidate.

Indeed, speculations were rife that all the 20 local government areas and 39 development councils in the state had been directed to give logistics support to Ambode’s aspirations even before emerging as candidate of the party.

Now that he has emerged, it is expected that greater support will be his from party chieftains who would now court his friendship on account of the Asiwaju factor.

A lot of stories had made the round on why he is Asiwaju’s anointed candidate.

Some say while he was the accountant general of the state under Asiwaju, he performed excellently and was able to perfect the books in order to ensure that the anti-corruption agencies do not storm the state and make mincemeat of his principal.

It would be recalled that it was for a similar reason that he picked Fashola over and above other aspirants in the race. Insiders said upon Tinubu’s return from CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Agbaje

Electoral rascality:

Blame judiciary for laxity

Page 23

Politics 22 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

exile, Fashola, whom, as a legal practitioner, was put in charge of his estate while on exile, provided a very detailed and impeccable accounts for him with all the revenue due to him over the past years intact and with interest. This was said to have impressed Tinubu who did not know that such honest people still existed. This, it was learnt, was one of the reasons why Asiwaju made him chief of staff and later his successor.

However, unlike in 2007 where Fashola was imposed on the aspirants, Asiwaju, this year allowed primaries for not only the governorship positions but all other posts, where candidates emerged on their merits not necessarily on account of Asiwaju’s godfatherism, though in some cases, this came to play.

On account of this, many incumbents lost their seats like in the state assembly where 17 members would not be returning to the house by June next year while 13 members of the House of Representatives will also not be going back. This perhaps has changed the political calculations of the state henceforth.

For instance, in what has turned out to be the surprise of the year, children of some top shots in the state lost out in the primaries ostensibly because Asiwaju declined to give his nod to their aspirations.

The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu in spite of his closeness to Asiwaju had the shock of his life.

His son, Fouad was beaten in the race to pick APC ticket for Lagos Island Federal Constituency 1 after the withdrawal of the incumbent, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas from the race.

The ticket was won by Special Adviser to Governor Fashola, on Youths, Sports and Social Development, Dolapo Badru. Indeed, Oba Akiolu’s son, Fouad came a distant fourth in the race with 21 votes. Badru had 128 votes; Fatade, 67; and Ayo, 58.

Another surprise was that of the son of the former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Deji, in Mushin Federal Constituency 1. He was defeated by immediate past Chairman of

Agbaje

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Will Lagos survive massive onslaught of federal might?

Tinubu Odi-Olowo Local Council Development Area, Taofeek Adeyemi Alli. Alli scored 235 votes while Jakande got a paltry eight votes.

This pattern of votes showed that if left alone, Lagosians were capable of voting for people of their choice regardless of the personality or influence of who was involved in the election.

This development is capable of making or marring the chances of Ambode seen as the Asiwaju’s anointed candidate. But would Asiwaju fold his arms in next year’s polls while the candidate of his party is facing the fire from the PDP which is intent on demystifying Tinubu this time around and snatching Lagos State from him for the first time since 1999?

This perhaps is why the PDP has went for a less controversial candidate this time in order to challenge the Asiwaju who has seen Lagos as his personal fiefdom. Essentially, the 2015 governorship polls is a contest between Agbaje and Tinubu, the lord of Bourdillon.

But can the PDP match Tinubu money-for-money, influence-for-

He ran a credible campaign against the godfather himself while in DPA in 2007

George

Now, things are quite different.

Agbaje is flying the banner of a party that is more national in outlook, comprising many more people of note where the burden would not be too much on him alone

influence, power-for-power, manfor-man? Can the PDP dislodge a party that has been deeply rooted in a state since 1999 especially one whose record of achievements could not be said to be a pushover?

For years, the PDP has been shouting itself hoarse that it wanted to capture Lagos but each time it had always come out more worsted that before, indeed more bloodied especially since 2003 when only Lagos could not be snatched from the Alliance for Democracy in the entire South West when all the other five states fell into PDP hands.

Would the federal might be of much use this time around? The Federal Task Force being trained on a daily basis at the Lagos end toll gate of the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway is believed to be in preparation for next year’s election in Lagos.

The whole scenario would depend on how prepared Lagos is for the massive onslaught from the federal forces in Abuja. The matter is not helped either by the fact that the incumbent governor is not in the race such that everything rests

He is seen as a technocrat in the mould of outgoing governor Fashola

on Tinubu who has everything at stake and would certainly not take anything for granted.

AGBAJE Agbaje can be described as a technocrat as well as a grassroots politician. A former national treasurer of the Pan-Yoruba SocioPolitical Organisation, Afenifere, he was a leading member of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) which metamorphosed into the Action Congress and then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

In the countdown to the 2007 elections, he was one of the frontline runners in the governorship race in the ACN in the state before the Asiwaju, the then outgoing governor pulled the rugs off their feet when he rammed Fashola down their throats without even allowing for a primary.

Unlike other aspirants who openly grumbled and came together against Fashola, Agbaje quietly left the party and mobilised his supporters and allies into a coalition of parties called Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), a platform under which he ran a formidable campaign.

Even though he lost, he was not disgraced as everybody was aware he ran a credible campaign against the godfather himself.

Even though he was not the one running for the election, he (Asiwaju) fought the battle with everything in his power as if his very existence depended upon it.

This appears to be the same scenario today except that in 2007, Agbaje almost single handedly funded the DPA, without adequate support from any other quarter which obviously limited his performance as a tree cannot make a forest.

Now, things are quite different.

He is flying the banner of a party that is more national in outlook, comprising of many more people of note where the burden would not be too much on him alone.

Besides, the party, unlike before is now more united with many of the party leadership throwing their weight behind Agbaje’s candidacy. This, coupled with the fact that the APC primaries had greatly polarizsed the party and attempts at reconciliation had not really been concluded.

Ambode

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

23 Politics

Barrister Mike Igini, an activist and Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Cross River State, in this interview with Deputy Political Editor, JONATHAN EZE, speaks on INEC’s preparedness for 2015, insecurity and the onslaught of Boko Haram and other germane issues necessary for political and economic stability.

As we approach 2015 elections, how prepared is INEC, towards ensuring a credible polls?

Igini

Our regulatory laws should be strengthened to ensure that politicians do not dilute that check of uncertainty

Electoral rascality:

Blame judiciary for laxity - Igini

Between 2011 and now, we have organised one general election and several gubernatorial and legislative elections and by-elections, with better outcomes than in many other instances in the electoral history of Nigeria as acknowledged by the people of this country and international observers. This is not just my claim; it is based on the assessment of the decline in the number of petitions and litigations following such elections; 1,291 cases in 2007 and 729 in 2011. This is not accidental. It is mainly because the evidence trail for the electoral process has improved tremendously and people know that frivolous claims require more rigour, while genuine concerns can be addressed by examining the evidence which will be available.

Preparing for elections have specific generic approaches, namely pre-election, election day and postelection preparations. Pre-election preparations involves developing a credible voters register which should be available for stakeholder scrutiny prior to election, things like voter education, a balance of media coverage for all parties and candidates as much as is feasible within the law, the possibility of debates to enhance voter information, the procurement and distribution of materials and personnel for elections and the planning cum organization of election day and post-election activities.

The price of crude oil, the main source for running governance, is falling close to election when politicians are making promises. What should be expected from those seeking for offices at this time?

The falling oil price is an economic question. In a period of declining fortunes the emphasis of leadership should be on hope and stability under uncertainty. Every economic boom is often followed by burst or decline, the essence of political leadership the world over is to guide countries through these cycles of boom and burst, such that the impacts are marginal during burst and blissful during boom. This is why diversification of portfolios of income stream is

The electorate will always be victims if the electoral process is broken and opaque. My advice is participate and vigilantly ask questions where things are unclear often done to make the economics of a country more robust to such single commodity changes, but diversification is best done during boom not in times of burst, so as we are now, the emphasis should be on reviving hope for passing through the revenue decline and emerging stronger as an economy that will rely in future on more diverse income streams Political parties as institutions will play fundamental roles before, during and after the election. What are your expectations from both the ruling party and the opposition?

Political parties are a very important part of a democracy. In Nigeria the current parties are still evolving; in developed democracies, some parties have been around for years like the Democratic Party in the USA, formed in 1828 and now 186 years old the Republican Party, formed in 1854 now 160 years as a party just like the SDP in Germany that is 150 years old. Still with that long historical evolution, they have their problems. How old are the parties here and what are the values template of those who promote and manage these parties? We should, therefore, not always regard some of our formative errors as grave.

This is not to say that the parties should be re-inventing the wheel for things that are mute conventions, such as how party candidates emerge. These are fairly well established democratic practices and the only reason the parties have much challenges from that practice is because they have failed or refused to be regulated by their own regulatory processes and continued to disappoint their members.

There are many cases of defections from one party to another in recent times and more will still shift grounds. Is there any legal framework that supports or frowns at such actions?

Hold the judiciary responsible CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

Politics 24

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

‘Boko Haram is fighting an ideological war’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

for its inability to deal with this situation having regards to the early defection cases since last year that appeared warehoused and lying-in-state in the courts.

How do one explain a situation where matters that commenced by way of originating summons, just for the interpretation of section 68 of the constitution, which does not require the calling of any a single witness since last year and subsequent cases cannot be determined because lawyers are allowed to filibuster by filing all manners of frivolous applications upon applications just to ensure that these matters are not determined. Why ? Have we all forgotten how the intervention of the court particularly the Supreme Court brought about sanity to the gale of unconstitutional impeachments of either Deputy Governors or Governors as well as arbitrary substitution of candidates that emerged from duly conducted primaries without giving cogent and verifiable reasons ? Regrettably, some of our very seniors in the legal profession are the ones doing all this. If these matters have been allowed to go on, by now the interpretation of this troubling section 68 would have been pronounced upon by the apex court and there would have been sanity by now. Until the Supreme Court pronounces on this there is no end in uncertainty. This is very unfortunate. Defections have been a bane of our democratic learn-

Igini

ing and the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria. Unregulated defections and a combination of other actions led to the fall of the first Republic. And I am willing to hazard a guess that frustrations bothering on defections also led to collaborations by politicians who initiated military interventions.

When defection to civilian alliances fails, they cross over to military alliances. Hence we must be very meticulous in enacting strict regulatory laws on defections.

Now we cannot telescope the freedom of association which allows people to belong to any party they chose, and we cannot question their motivations whether noble or dishonorable because as Shakespeare averred there is nothing in the face to read the intentions of the mind but when people defect, the provisos controlling self-dealing and prebendal motivations should be effective deterrents for unguarded defections because of the impact it has on democratic practices.

Externally, there are sections within the Electoral Act which prescribes what it takes to belong to a party and how to represent its mandates, the constitutional legislation on defection has not

been authoritatively tested in terms of legal hermeneutics, this is why the judiciary must act as the bastion of justice by making the law clear and unequivocal.

Internally, the parties have rules which guide against such defections, I am aware for instance that some parties have a time barring any new entrant from contesting under the party banner for a period, but how well they allow such laws to regulate behavior is another matter.

At any rate, once again the defection issue remind us of the need for a constitutional court to separate the usual legal adjudications from the regular courts.

Most of the problems we have near elections have to do with inadequate regulation of political behavior as politicians seek to retain their access to political power through elections. Elections are inherently designed to make such retention of access to power uncertain to make politicians more responsive to the public they serve, but politicians want and are in fact zealous to reduce that uncertainty. Our regulatory laws should be strengthened to ensure that politicians do not dilute that check of uncertainty.

There are litigations everywhere even before the general election. Do you think the judi-

Unregulated defections and a combination of other actions led to the fall of the First Republic

ciary has lived up to expectations in adjudicating on these cases?

The judiciary in my view has not met the public expectations adequately in this regard. Although the judiciary also has its limitations. The outgoing CJN Mrs. Aloma Mukhtar did quite well to create a new vision for the judiciary, but as you know reforms are often not very easy to execute when the reward of deviation is huge. But we hope her successor will remain on the path of reform to ensure that our justice system is not a system that only protects the rich and influential. Election litigations are worse with party nominations or internal or intra-party elections than external or inter-party elections proper, and this will endure as long as we have laws like section 31 of the Electoral Act. We have often advocated that Section 31 should not be so omnibus, allowing parties to do whatever they like and present whomsoever they wish and may all end up in interminable disputes in courts. When I first came to Cross-Rivers state, I stood quite firm on this issue and some accused me of interference.

Things improved afterwards, but from what I am sensing currently, I can say that they may have lowered their benchmark again and they themselves can see that the outcome of Hobbesian laws is bad for everyone.

The Boko Haram group appears to be stepping up its campaign of terror everywhere and some people are calling for suspension of election and setting up of an interim government. What is your view as a lawyer and an umpire?

To answer the latter part of your question first; No, I do not agree with those who say that the problem arose from lack of development and corruption, except you are referring to lack of educational development and corruption of religious ethics.

The grievances of the Boko Haram group have been made very clear, it is a war of religious or inter-faith intolerance, they have not only demanded religious purity but have very recently allied themselves to the activities of ISIS and the leadership of El Baghdadi in Syria and Iraq. The ethos of that organization, its world-view and what it is ready to settle for is not unequivocal, I am, therefore, at quandry that people want to re-write the Boko Haram

Political Note by Jonathan Eze

Agbaje, Obanikoro as tag team Immediate past minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, hosted his mammoth supporters and party leaders at his campaign office in Lagos at the weekend, but not without charging them on the need to get down to work and win the forthcoming election for President Goodluck Jonathan and Mr. Jimi Agbaje in Lagos.

He urged them to forget the pains of the past and move on with determined zeal to ensure victory for the party at all levels. He also used the opportunity to plead with the supporters, not just to ensure President Jonathan’s victory but also that of Lagos governorship.

charter of demands to align with economic demands. Development and economic demands may be part of the yearnings of the displaced communities in the North East who have been victims, severely impacted by the activities of Boko Haram, but it is certainly not those of Boko Haram. It may be a secondary goal because in seeking to take over communities and control political power by religious exclusion which is their primary goal, economic advantages can be a secondary outcome, but it is not their primary goal.

The electorate are the ultimate beneficiaries or victims of a warped electoral process.

What role should the electorate play in determining their fate in the forthcoming election?

Electorate will always be victims if the electoral process is broken and opaque. My advice is participate and vigilantly ask questions where things are unclear. Democracy is for the people and if they do not participate the system will control you instead of you taking control of the system.

The media too is an important stakeholder in the electoral process. Would you say they have done well in reporting all concerns and interests?

Gate keeping means that they must take a stand on some values and uphold those values while giving a fair opportunity for opposing values to be expressed even from their own stables. The challenge really is how the media could be independent of both public and private centres and be committed to the goal of its canons of disclosure, objectivity, and disciplined verification, as well as is its credo of; the peoples right to know. There should be balancing of reportage to avoid relapse into what the American psychologist refers to as cognitive cherry-picking.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

25 Money Stockbroker advises investors to acquire more stocks at bearish time

C Yam market in Nigeria

Nigeria grows 70% of global yam supply - Expert Stories by Ugochukwu Onyeocha

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Geneticist at the University of Ibadan, Dr Morufat Balogun, has said Nigeria produced 70 per cent of the yam grown annually and globally, making the country the number one grower in the world.

Balogun, who is also a researcher at the International

Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, said that between 37 and 40 million of metric tons of yam were produced in the world annually. ``Nigeria alone produces 70 per cent of yam every year all over the world, the remaining 30 per cent is shared among Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin Republic,” Balogun said.

Austerity measures likely to crash property prices, expert says

She said in some areas in Southern America, some varieties of the commodity were also produced adding that the production of yam both for import and export largely depended on Nigeria. ``If Nigeria stops to produce yam today, the global production of yam will reduce by 70 per cent and it will affect exportation,’’ she said.

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real estate consultant, Mr Jugunola Onabanjo, has said that the austerity measures announced recently by the Federal Government might help in reducing the prices of properties in 2015.

Onabanjo said that the action could also help to eliminate quacks, promote efficiency and encourage professionalism in the sector. ``I feel that austerity has already started biting; we see a reduction in the prices of properties in the property industry. I can foresee prices crashing the more. ``For instance, a client of mine wanted to sell a property for N30 million, six months after we were not able to find a buyer. He called me recently to say he was ready to sell the property for N20 million,” he said.

Onabanjo noted that in the past, some people paid as much as N10 million for a plot of land that should not have been more than N1 million.

The expert said that production of yam if properly harnessed, could turn around the standard of living of millions of farmers and other investors interested in the business.

She advised farmers to plant more yam so as to improve the economy, saying that the crop could liberate Africa from excessive rice consumption.

``So, one thing the austerity will do is force prices down,’’ he said.

According to him, the current high prices of properties were caused by availability of free money and corruption instead of the principles of cost, and demand and supply. ``Now that free money is gradually becoming more difficult to come by, prices will start to fall gradually until it gets to the level buyers are comfortable with. ``The prices of properties being offered buyers will start to go as close as possible to the cost prices until they get to where they will attract normal profit.’’

Onabanjo advised property owners to learn from the 2008/2009 stocks market crash, noting that when things get tough, people will require professionals to handle things for them. ``In fact, it will change our perceptions about how to run the sector better because when you experience austerity, your last hope is efficiency,’’ he said.

hief Executive Officer, Foresight Securities & Investment Ltd, Mr Charles Fakrogha, yesterday urged investors to take advantage of the prevailing low prices of stocks to increase their stakes in the equity market.

Fakrogha pointed out that the period remained the ideal season for any viable investor to increase his or her stocks.

According to him, the persistent fall in prices of stocks is due to pressure to sell off stocks, uncertainty and profit taking usually associated with the end of the year.

Fakrogha said the market was under intense selling pressure because of the exit of foreign investors following the crash in the price of crude oil. ``By the outlook of the capital market presently, investors should not panic. ``Rather, they should seize the opportunity to grow and expand their stocks and wait for the bullish period to sell them off. ``Meanwhile, investors should be more conscious in their investment pattern, develop good management governance and be more vibrant in participating in the market within this period,” he said.

Fakrogha said that the bearish/downward market times would soon be over once market activities settle by 2015.

According to him, the equity market will not witness a persistent major downturn in the near future unless the oil price falls below 60 dollars per barrel.

He added: Although, the tempo of the market may still slowdown until Feb. 2015 due to Christmas, end of the year expenditure and payment of school fees.

Fakrogha

ICT 26

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Expert wants internet affordability Stories by Opeoluwani Akintayo

E

xecutive Director of Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), Ms Sonia Jorge, on Sunday called for effective implementation of Nigeria’s Broadband Plan 2013-2018 in order to ensure affordable Internet service.

She said that effective implementation of the Broadband Plan 2013-2018 would also enable the country to get the desired broadband penetration.

According to her, the plan provides a solid foundation but that the challenge always lies with implementation. ``Nigeria’s Broadband Plan 2013-2014 is a step in the right direction. It articulates exactly how Nigeria intends to increase broadband penetration five-fold to 30 per cent within the next five years. ``It presents a time-bound plan for implementation. The successful execution of key

parts of the plan like the development of sustainable and efficient open access fibre optic networks is critical,’’ she said.

The A4AI executive director said that Nigeria had witnessed some impressive ICT developments in recent years.

She said that the mobile telephone growth and dramatic increases in international bandwidth due to the landing of new submarine cables had created opportunities.

Jorge, however, said that broadband penetration rates remained disappointingly low, and prices remained too high for the vast majority of Nigerians to enjoy the socio-economic benefits that broadband access delivered.

According to her, broadband remains unaffordable for Nigerians as fixed-line broadband subscription cost an average of 39 per cent of average income.

She also that the subscription for mobile broadband package hovered around 13 per cent.

D

with monitoring and control system; reducing the gap between the rich and the poor,’’ he said.

According to Uwa, Nigeria is basically living on commerce and less production; the economy that cannot function well without BRISIN. He said that the Federal Government had identified BRISIN as the fundamental and solid solution since 2007 when it was approved by the Federal Executive Council.

He added that following the approval, the BRISIN Steering Committee had since been inaugurated with members from the National Planning Commission, National Bureau of Statistics, National Population commission and Ministry of Interior, among others. ``The project should have been in its full operational statues if bureaucracy had allowed

Association tasks CDMAs to focus on regional expansion

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BRISIN implementation can generate 10m jobs -Expert r Anthony Uwa, the Managing Director of Dermo Impex Nigeria Ltd., said implementation of Basic Registry and Information System in Nigeria (BRISIN) would generate between eight and 10 million jobs.

He said BRISIN, also known as the National Integrated Data and Information Infrastructure (NIDII), would develop Nigeria’s economy if effectively implemented According to him, his consulting company will use the available data to provide solid instrument for fighting social vices and for developing the nation’s economy. ``BRISIN in Nigeria is extravital because it is the only instrument that has no colour, religion, ethnicity or gender. ``It is the only instrument for strong and vibrant economy

Adebayo

Uwa for it; we have dragged implementations for so long but it is better late than never,’’ he said.

He said BRISIN was intended to register and capture the imagery of every Nigerian from the 8812 ward level and the 36

states and Abuja.

According to him, apart from curbing insecurity, BRISIN will provide a solid foundation for planning technological and socio-economic growth for Nigeria.

he Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has urged the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators to consider functioning as regional operators instead of national operators.

The Chairman of ALTON, Mr Gbenga Adebayo, gave the advice in Lagos, noting that operating on state, regional or community level would enable the CDMA operators to remain in business.

He said that the CDMA networks in Nigeria had not been favoured by competition even though nothing was wrong with them.

The ALTON chairman said that as technology evolved and because of capital, the GSM networks were able to upgrade in terms of voice, data, applications and features. ``But the CDMA operators in Nigeria have not been able to cope with the trends. ‘’What can be done is not to write off that technology, but it is for the players to consider being regional operators, local or state operators. ‘’Without that, I don’t see how they can grow the financial capacity to be able to compete with bigger operators in the same market,” he added.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Money

27

s

$930bn Oil, gas investments at risk from low oil prices-Report million barrels per day (bpd) of 2020 production and 7.5 million bpd of 2025 production, or three per cent and eight per cent of current global oil demand.

These

future

invest-

ments include shale developments,

An oil platform installation

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nalysts at Goldman Sachs future oil and gas have said that investments of $930

billion could be at risk of cancellation due to low oil prices.

Goldman Sachs in its Top 400 analysis of the

world’s largest new oil and gas fields found that presanction fields that are uneconomic at $70/barrel Brent crude represent 2.3

where

the

concept of pre-sanction/ post-sanction is more blurred, according to the December 15 research note.

“In order to bring these projects back into profitable territory at $70/ barrel Brent, costs would need to come down by 20 per cent to 30 per cent,” Goldman Sachs analysts said.

“This is consistent with our view that CAPEX needs to come down by around 30 per cent for Big Oils in order to restore an acceptable level of free cash flow generation (4.5 per cent free cash flow yield, in line with the long-term average) at $70/ barrel Brent.”

Goldman Sachs found that less than one third of the Top 400 cost curve is profitable at current oil prices.

Drop in oil prices will boost global growth-IMF

Tony Nwakaegho

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wo Senior International Monetary Fund Economists have said that should the recent drop in oil prices persist,

it will help boost global economic activity by up to 0.7 percentage points next year.

The two senior IMF economists, Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s chief economist, and Rabah Arezki, head of the commodities research team, wrote in the blog that “Overall, we see this as a shot in the arm for the global economy.”

Brent prices have fallen

more than 46 per cent since the year’s peak in June of above $115 per barrel, sped up by the November decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not to reduce production.

The Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia has also convinced its fellow OPEC members that it is not in the group’s interest to cut oil output, however far prices may fall.

According to the IMF economist duo, the boost to the global economy would be between 0.3 and 0.7 percentage points above the Fund’s baseline world growth forecast of 3.8 per cent from October.

Lower oil prices should boost China’s gross domestic product growth by 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points above the Fund’s 7.1 per cent baseline estimate, assuming steady policies.

A pre-paid meter

Kaduna Disco to roll out 80,000 meters yearly

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he Managing Director of Kaduna DISCO, Haruna Garuba, has said that the company plans to roll out about 80,000 meters every year.

Garuba made the disclosure during the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, public consultation on electricity metering in Kaduna under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) scheme.

He said that under the CAPMI it is expected that customers should willing-

ly make advance payment for pre-paid meter which the electricity distribution company is obliged to install for them within 45 days of provision of notice of payment by the customer.

He explained that with the takeover by the private investor of the management of the company about two weeks ago, the company will rehabilitate most of the equipment and invest in infrastructure in its electricity market that cuts across over a distance of 1,000Km in Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto State.

Transitional Electricity Market kicks off January- Chinebu Nebo

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he Minister of Power, , has announced that the long anticipated Transitional Electricity Market (TEM) which is expected to usher in contractual trading regime in Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) will eventually start on January 1, 2015.

Nebo, in a statement from the ministry in Abuja, stated that the date, January 1, for the take-off of all contractual obligations precedent at this point in time in the NESI, has been fixed and will not be changed further.

He noted that operators

in NESI are expected to, from January 1, 2015 when TEM is declared, begin to trade with each other on extant conditions in trading contracts such as Vesting Contracts and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) signed amongst them.

Nebo

Energy 28

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Nigeria’s oil sector contribution to GDP lowest in OPEC

Opec Building

Tony Nwakaegho

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igeria’s oil sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is said to be lower than that of many of the other members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), accordingto analysis of data obtained from the 12-member oil cartel.

The rebasing of the country’s GDP in April had clearly underscored the decline in the contribution of the oil and gas sector to the GDP in recent times. Prior to the rebasing, the contribution of crude oil and natural gas to the nominal GDP was 40.86 per cent in 2011, 37.01 per cent in 2012 and 32.43 per cent in 2013.

After the rebasing, the sector’s share of the GDP stood at 17.52

per cent, 15.89 per cent and 14.40 per cent for 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, derives 95 per cent of export earnings and 70 per cent of government revenue from the oil sector, which saw its contribution to the real GDP dropping below 11 per cent in the third quarter of this year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its third quarter report, the oil and gas sector contributed about 10.45 per cent to the real GDP in the third quarter, lower than the 10.76 per cent contribution in the second quarter of 2014.

The decline in the sector’s contribution was attributed to production challenges, which led to reduction in the average daily production of crude oil in the third quarter.

However, Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer has its oil production and supporting activities contributing about 45 per cent of the nation’s GDP, while Oil and gas sector accounts for about 60 per cent of Kuwait and Libya’s GDP. In Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s largest producer, the oil and gas sector accounts for 48 per cent of the GDP. Qatar’s oil and natural gas account for about 55 per cent of the GDP. About 40 per cent of the United Arab Emirates’ GDP is directly based on oil and gas output, while Venezuela’s oil and gas sector is around 25 per cent of the GDP. The President, International Association for Energy Economics, Prof. Wumi Iledare, said, “In Nigeria, the contribution of oil

IEA slashes global oil demand forecast

T

he International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that Global oil demand next year will be weaker than previously estimated while supply from non-OPEC producers will be bigger. According to the report by the Paris-based adviser to 29 nations, consumption will expand by 230,000 barrels a day less than estimated in November. It predicted that output from nations outside of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will grow at a faster rate than the agency predicted last month.

The agency cut projections

because the economies of producer nations are being hurt by tumbling prices as most of the reduction in next year’s estimate is attributable to Russia, where sanctions are hobbling growth.

“Some of the places where demand had been growing particularly fast in recent years had been producer countries because record-high prices were a huge stimulus. Now those countries are affected very adversely,” Antoine Halff, head of the IEA’s oil industry and markets division, said. The agency cut estimates for the amount of crude needed next year from

IEA 2015 Global Oil demand and supply chart OPEC by 300,000 barrels a day.

The group will need to pump an average of 28.9 million barrels a day in 2015, about 1.4 million less than its 12 members produced in November.

World oil consumption will

is mostly revenue, and revenue does not translate into GDP if there are no productive activities in the economy, which come from oil. If the local content law is fully implemented, the contribution of the oil sector to the GDP will rise.

“Right now, if you look at the majority of the people that have access to oil revenue, the great proportion is spent on goods and services that are produced abroad. We more or less use the oil money for personal consumption, which are goods not manufactured in Nigeria. That is the reason why you don’t see much contribution from the oil sector to the GDP. The linkage is not deep enough within the productive sector of the economy.

“The current contribution of the oil sector to the GDP is low, considering that the sector commands about $19bn a year. If we are able to ensure that a large proportion of the money spent on exploration and production in the country is retained here, the contribution to the GDP will increase.” The Director, Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, said something needed to be done about the oil sector as oil, which generates most of the government revenue, was contributing just about 14 per cent to the GDP. “Unless we do something about the Petroleum Industry Bill, the uncertainty in the sector will linger,” Adenikinju warned.

increase by 900,000 barrels a day, or one per cent, next year to average 93.3 million barrels a day, according to the report.

The IEA curbed estimates for Russian oil demand in 2015 by 195,000 barrels a day to 3.4 million a day. It kept estimates for global demand growth in 2014 unchanged at 700,000 barrels a day. The agency boosted projections for supplies outside OPEC in 2015 by 200,000 barrels a day, forecasting output will expand by 1.3 million barrels a day to 57.8 million a day. Non-OPEC supply will climb by a record 1.9 million barrels a day this year, it estimated. “Despite lower crude oil prices, we expect U.S. production to continue to grow apace in 2015,”

Buyers evade Nigeria’s crude cargoes Tony Nwakaegho

I

ndication has emerged that the Nigerian crude cargoes for January loading are struggling to sell with almost half of the program still available due to very weak demand with an oversupply of sweet crudes.

Market sources said Asian and European demand for Nigeria and other West African cargoes has been slow so far, aggravated by high freight rates and the availability of cheaper sweet crudes in both regions.

The sources also explained that activity on Nigeria was slow, especially for key grades such as Qua Iboe, Bonny Light, Bonga and Forcados, adding that some niche grades like Akpo, Usan and Agbami have sold decently but the whole Nigerian sweet crude complex was being dragged down by the weak demand.

“The market is in disaster mode. There is just no demand for these Nigerian grades at the moment. There is too much oil to choose from. Even the Azeri Light values are coming crashing down,” said a trader.

Platts data showed that Nigeria’s flagship grade Qua Iboe was assessed at Dated Brent plus $0.72/b on Monday, the weakest since April 24, 2009.

Traders said there were still more than 30 Nigerian January loading cargoes unsold, and with the Nigerian February program expected later in the day, differentials were expected to fall steadily if demand did not materialize.

The trader source noted that “The arbitrage east is almost closed and the OSPs in Middle East are very cheap. The Brent/ Dubai spread is wide. There are plenty of alternatives for (Asian) refiners instead of WAF. And, the European refiners are spoilt for choice,” Sources said some offer levels for Qua Iboe, Bonga and Erha had been quite high and as a result a standoff was observed with no buying interest heard at these levels. Despite weak demand some of these offer levels had not yet come off.

Crude Cargoes

Daily Times Nigeria Monday December 29, 2014

29 Labour

Judiciary workers begin nationwide strike Friday Stories by JOY EKEKE Kabiru Turaki

FG links workplace productivity to health, safety

T

he Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity has charged employers of labour to make Safety and Health at work their watchword if they desire to have higher productivity.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Illoh, made the declaration during his Keynote address at the training and certification exercise for authorised inspectors and approved persons for Pressure vessels in Lagos.

He said: “Following the success of this exercise, the Ministry plans to evolve a Collaborative Standing Committee of Stakeholders, for sustainable and continuous improvement, beginning with the development of technical guidelines and codes of practice” Illoh, who warned that no individual or corporate organisation shall be allowed to undermine the integrity and sovereignty of the nation through the sector, reiterated that the Ministry is committed to social dialogue for sustainable implementation of its mandates by ensuring that there is continuous auditing of the companies involved in inspection of lifting equipment and pressure vessels to sustain their capacities.

He noted that the workshop, second in its series of revalidation for third party competent persons for the inspection of major plants in workplaces.

This he said represents another major intervention on the critical mandate of the Ministry that has faced challenges in the recent times.

T

he Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has lamented the failure of stakeholders to respect the last memorandum of understanding regarding financial autonomy of the Judiciary.

JUSUN, therefore, announced that the union will commence an indefinite strike from Friday January 2, 2015.

Rising from an emergency meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, the union explained that the strike became imperative, considering the “rough terrain encountered by the union to make the governors implement the judgment of Federal High Court delivered on January 13, 2014 but fell on deaf ears.”

The a communiqué jointly signed by the union President, comrade Marwan Mustapha Adamu and Assistant General Secretary, Comrade Placidus Nnamani, stated that it is obvious that the state Governors were deliberately disobeying and frustrating the independence of Judiciary.

JUSUN had suspended its previously intended strike in Novemberh JUSUN said their action amounts to a level of “insincerity and insensitive” of the Governors and the insecurity in the process of democratic principles as they have conspired not

to allow a constitutional guaranteed and provided partner to exercise its due rights.’

JUSUN accused the Accountant General of the Federation of compromising his position and authority imposed on him

by the court order.

The union had suspended its previously intended strike following the last Memorandum of understanding supervised by the Minister of Labour reached on 27th November, 2014.

NLC calls for upward review Textile workers want enforcement of national minimum wage of protocol against forced labour

T

he Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has called for an upward review of the national minimum wage in order to reflect the emerging economic challenges.

NLC Vice President, Comrade Issa Aremu, in a statement warned government against any attempt to further impoverish the Nigerian workers with reduction in pay or loss of jobs on account of the recently announced austerity measures by the Federal government.

He noted that the $65 per barrel of crude oil as captured in the 2015 budget confirmed that Nigeria is an oil dependent economy contrary to the claim of the Minister of Finance and

Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, that the budget is projected on a non-oil revenue basis.

Instead, the union believed that sustainable budgets were the ones based on revenue arising from real sector of the economy such as domestic manufacturing and exportation of finished goods.

Aremu

T

extile Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN) has called on the Federal Government to ensure that the new global protocol against forced labour is given necessary attention.

TGTSSAN’s National President, Comrade Ambi Karu, made the declaration while interacting with newsmen on how the protocol has put other world leaders on the alert in the efforts to combat forced labour, which is rampant in the private sector.

He said: “We are very comfortable with the new ILO Protocol on forced labour that will put government of member states of the ILO on alerts. This is because the private sector is re-

sponsible for 90 per cent of the estimated 21 million victims of forced labour, reaping about $150 billion from some of the most severe forms of exploitation in existence”.

According to Ambi, the call became necessary to prevent our jobless youths from being usurped by the political class to create political crisis in the country as the nation prepares for 2015 general elections.

Global Business 30

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

US Shares rise in post-holiday trade

U

.S. stocks ended on a higher note on Friday, with both the Dow and S&P 500 closing at records in a broad rally, though trading was light with many market participants still out for the Christmas holiday.

Major indexes closed out their second straight weekly gain, continuing an advance that has lifted the S&P 5.9 per cent in seven sessions. The benchmark index hit its 52nd record close of the year on Friday, the most since 1995 and the fourth-best annual record ever, while the Dow rose for a seventh straight day, its longest streak since March 2013.

“The overall trend remains higher, but we’re reaching a

point where we’re overbought.

Six per cent since last Tuesday is such a strong move in such a short period of time, even if bulls have the upper hand in the longer term,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.

Recent gains have come on strong economic data, including a bullish read on economic growth earlier this week, as well as accommodative measures from central banks. The day’s gains were broad, with eight of the S&P 500’s 10 primary sectors ending up on the day and no sector ending more than 0.1 per cent lower. The utility sector was the day’s strongest, up 1.2 per cent, while healthcare rose

0.8 per cent.

Healthcare stocks were boosted by biotechs, which jumped 2.3 per cent. While the Nasdaq biotech index was one of the day’s strongest sectors, it fell 3.2 per cent in a week marked by heavy volatility.

“Things are looking positive since the shopping season coincided with a big drop in crude oil, which means lower gas prices,” Sarhan said. “That translates to more disposable income, which could mean stronger retail sales.”

About 3.06 billion shares traded on all U.S. platforms, according to BATS exchange data, comparedwith the month-to-date average of 7.39 billion.

China’s trade growth misses 2014 target

will fall short of a current 7.5 per cent official growth target.

The initial version of the report published on the website on Saturday, which quoted Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, was replaced with a new version that had identical wording but with all the numbers and percentages removed.

China’s trade figures have repeatedly fallen short of expectations in the second half of this year, providing more evidence that China’s economy may be

facing a sharper slowdown.

Foreign direct investment will amount to $120 billion for the year, the earlier version of Ministry of Commerce report said, in line with official forecasts. The earlier version of the report also said outward non-financial investment from China could also come in around the same level.

That would mark the first time outward flows have pulled even with inward investment flows in China.

A

report from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce website has shown that China’s trade will grow 3.5 per cent in 2014, implying the country

Russia forecasts economic slump as banks get more funds

T

he persistent slump in oil prices have put Russia’s economy on course for a sharp recession and double-digit inflation next year, government ministers said on Friday, as authorities scaled up a bailout for the first bank to succumb to this month’s ruble crisis.

The economy is slowing sharply as Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis deter foreign investment and spur capital flight, and as a slump in oil prices severely reduces Russia’s export revenues and pummels the ruble. The government has taken steps to support key banks and address the deepening currency crisis in the past week, including a sharp and unexpected interest rate hike, but analysts are pessimistic on the outlook for both the economy and the

ruble.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told journalists on Friday the economy could shrink by four per cent in 2015, its first contraction since 2009, if oil prices averaged their current level of $60 a barrel.

Siluanov also said the country would run a budget deficit of more than three per cent next year if the oil price did not rise.

“Next year we will, without doubt, have to bring the Reserve Fund into play,” he said, referring to one of Russia’s two rainyday funds intended to support the economy at times of crisis.

Crude prices have almost halved from their June peak amid a global glut and a decision by producer group OPEC not to cut output. Saudi Arabia said on Friday it was prepared to withstand a prolonged period of low

prices.

“We need to have our budget break even at $70 per barrel by 2017,” said Siluanov.

Russia’s government imposed informal capital controls this week, including orders to large statecontrolled oil and gas exporters Gazprom and Rosneft to sell some of their dollar revenues to shore up the ruble.

Russian Ruble

New York Stock Exchange

Japan approves $29 billion stimulus spending despite doubtful impact

J

apan’s government over the weekend approved stimulus spending worth $29 billion aimed at helping the country’s lagging regions and households with subsidies, merchandise vouchers and other steps, but analysts are skeptical about how much it can spur growth.

The package, worth 3.5 trillion yen ($29.12 billion) was unveiled two weeks after a massive election victory by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition gave him a fresh mandate to push through his “Abenomics” stimulus policies. The government said it expects the stimulus plan to boost Japan’s GDP by 0.7 percent.

Given Japan’s dire public finances, the government will avoid fresh debt issuance and fund the package with unspent money from previous budgets and tax revenues that have exceeded budget forecasts due to economic recovery.

With nationwide local elections planned in April which Abe’s ruling bloc must win to cement his grip on power, the package centers on subsidies to regional governments to carry out steps to stimulate private consumption and support small firms.

Of the total, 1.8 trillion yen will be spent on measures such as distributing coupons to buy merchandise, providing low-income households with subsidies for fuel purchases, supporting fund-

Abe

ing at small firms and reviving regional economies. The remaining 1.7 trillion yen will be used for disaster-prevention and rebuilding disaster-hit areas including those affected by the March 2011 tsunami. Tokyo will also seek to bolster the housing market by lowering the mortgage rates offered by a governmental homeloan agency.

“It’s better than doing nothing, but I don’t think this stimulus will have a big impact on boosting the economy,” said Masaki Kuwahara, a senior economist at Nomura Securities.

“This package directly targets households and regions left behind by Abenomics, so it may work favourably to Abe’s ruling coalition in the nationwide local elections.”Kuwahara said the stimulus is unlikely to spur consumer spending amid uncertainty over the economic outlook, adding that it could push up GDP by just about 0.2 percent.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Adesola Akindele

31 Capital Market

DAILY MARKET SUMMARY

Market Capitalization and All Shares Index Trend for Equities Day

Market Capitalization (N)

Index value

Thursday 18/12/2014

9,677030520039.71

29,311.25

Friday 19/12/2014

10,005,614,281,026.61

30,306.51

Monday 22/12/2014

10,357,359,381,104.26

31,371.93

Tuesday 23/12/2014

10,824,211,211,251.35

32,786.00

Wednesday 24/12/2014

11,402,042,992,052.69

34,428.82

Market Capitalization appreciates by N578 billion, Closes Bullish Market activities were laid to rest for the week early last Wednesday in observance of the holiday. The Capital market closed on a good note with a further appreciated All Share Index (ASI), which currently stands at 34,428.82 basis point a 5.0 per cent increase from its preceding 32,786.00 basis points.

Wednesday’s market activity shows that a total of 581,902,614.00 shares were traded on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The shares worth 3,205,006,212.87 naira in 3,448.00 deals brought the Market capitalization to 11,402,042,992,052.68 a N578 billion increase from its previously recorded N10, 824,211,211,251.35.

Thirty three (33) companies gained in equity, Gainers leaders, Guiness and Seplat leads with the highest per cent

gain of 10,24 % each, gaining N14.11 and N29.33 respectively. Nestle retains its spot as highest equity gainer, money wise, gaining an impressive N52.42 to close at N930.22 per share.

The financial Services industry are back at the centre of market activities as they top trading activities for Wednesday. FCMB alone traded 158,369,974 shares worth 441,607,855.70 naira. Market activities records 15 equity losers with 7up losing with 1.70 per cent, to close at N160.00 per share from its previous N161.70. With a 4.55 per cent loss, WAPIC loses the highest in terms of percentage, closing at N0.63 from its preceding N0.66. Sterling bank also loses 4.12 per cent in its share price, closing at N2.43 per share from its preceding N2.33.

32

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Our Heritage

s Continuity with a New Approach: Buraimoh reflects on society in sober strokes Agozino Agozino

O

Scene from one of the performance

Harvest of dance at Theatre centric performance The need to safeguard Nigeria’s culture and tradition was the focus of a dance performance put together by a Lagos-based dance company, Theatre Centrik, AGOZIMO AGOZINO writes

T

he Creative art hall of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos, recently reverberated with dance that put the guests in thrilling mood. In fact, bated breath and claps of hands marked a one-day dance performance, organised by Lagos-based dance theatre group, Theartre centric.

Tagged: Ara’n bada, the event which was filled to the capacity by students saw the presentation of a choreographed dance performance which sought to take a deeper explorative look at the concept of dance as an Nigerian tradition that must not be forgotten in Africa’s attempt

at modernisation.

The performance kicked off when suddenly, the lighting in the hall was switched off at about 7.45 pm, 15 minutes behind schedule. The dancers, eight in all, four male and four female comprised the group who danced side by side. The first two set of four dancers introduced the audience to the kind of experience expected.

They emerged in traditional attire and started dancing and gesticulating with head and hands (as if possessed by spirit) making several simultaneous sound but not talking. Suddenly, another female dancer emerged with a talking drum, joined by wrapper tying dancer who now danced simultaneously to the instruction of the drummer.

The high point of the show was the special performance when the female dancers climbed on top of the male dancers with hands raised up in

gesticulation. The display held the audience rapt until the female dancers jumped down. Big talking drums were brought to the stage with standby chorus.

After the side by side dance, all dancers later danced together.

The performance written and directed Tony Biyi Boyede explores Nigerian rich dance cultural heritage. The central theme of the event was to showcase Nigerian dance and dance language.Theatre Centrik the body that hosted performance staged in collaboration with the Creative Arts Students Association, of UNILAG. It was a colorful outing that thrilled guests with a showcase of Nigeria’s cultural root. The theme of the performance was Dance as a tool for cultural renaissance and development.

In his remark, Biyi Boyede Ara’n bada informed that is a Theatre Centrik initiative to celebrate Africa’s rich cultural

heritage. Boyede said the event, which was the fifth season, was an avenue for lovers of dance to savor the best of Nigerian cultural dance prtformance. The cast of chorographers includes Agnes Greg, Tony Moore, Judith Nwosu, Olusola Afolabi, Precious Onyeabor, John Okpa, Omobola Majekodumi, Throwing more light, Boyede, said the essence of the outing was not just to showcase what the body can offer but a way of celebrating talents. Accordimg to him, ‘‘Dance is not just someone, somewhere or somehow. But dance is everyone, everywhere and perfect.

It is the language we speak to identify our self to the root. The dances of our forefathers give us the true essence of their beliefs and value. Dance is made for laughter, mourning, celebration, ritual performance and the CONTINUED ON PAGE 39

ver three decades of practice as a studio artist has made renowned bead painter, Jimoh Buraimoh, very confident. As he ends his last solo exhibition at the Nike Art Gallery, Oba Elegushi Road, Lekki, Lagos recently, what the viewer’s saw on the walls are paintings that exude confidence, matured use of colours and artistic guts.

The show which opened under the theme Continuity with a New Approach, and lasted for two-weeks showcased over 30 selected works executed mostly in acrylic and bead as a medium.

Buraimoh, one of the adventurous artisan-turned artist that emerged from the series of experimental art workshops organised by late Ullli Beier in the early1960 explained that the two- weeks outing is part of the activities to mark his 70th birthday. The works on display in the exhibition are broadly classified into two teams, namely religiously and socio-political.

On the religious team, the first work that attracts interest is Jesus on the Cross, Here the artist brings to mind the supreme sacrifice Jesus Christ paid as ransom to save humanity from damnation, consequent to the fall of man in at Garden of Eden. According to the artist, crucifixion was a common form of capital punishment among the Romans until it was abolished in 337AD,

by Constantine the Great out of respect for Christ.

Buraimoh

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

33 Our Heritage

Behold Benin’s dazzling treasures NOT many lands can boast of the kind of artistic heritage in Benin City, Edo State capital. The city is choked to the throat with art works, art studios, gallery-public commissioned outdoor sculptures, cultural centres, and traditional institutions among others. Despite what some call modernization, the city which is also the capital of the ancient Edo kingdom is still to its people what it has always been, from yore, a visually rich epicenter of Benin indigenous and modern culture, a self-contained society that brims with towering sculptures and cultural monuments. Since 14th century when the Portuguese berthed in the kingdom known as Igodomigodo, bringing with them western cultural influences, Benin has continued to receive foreign overtures yet it has held tight to its ancestral traditions and ethos including her home grown religion.

AGOZINO AGOZINO, captures some of the cultural landmarks that make the city culturally understanding.

Oba’s palace The power house in Benin City is the Oba of Benin palace. The royal palace which dates back to centuries in the heart of Benin City is a repository of history and relics of ages preserved in artifacts. Sculpture pieces in the form of bronze casts, brass works, stone pieces and relic of all manner comprising plaques and other forms of art depicts the land’s history. Major events in the history of the land are richly preserved in mural sculptures displayed on the walls and panel doors. The palace is the abode of the highly revered Oba of Benin, Omo n’ Oba n’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa. The monarchy in Benin is rich and revolves around every other aspect of people’s life in the land. The institution which dates from ancient time is hereditary.

Highly revered, it commands the respect of nearly every Edo indigene, traditionalists, Christians

Benin Queen mother and Muslims.

Benin National Museum Sources informed that the Benin National Museum, an imposing edifice located near the Oba’s palace which hosts several events weekly, was known formerly as Benin Divisional Council Museum. It was opened in 1946 with veteran historian Joesph Eghareva as curator. However, it was rebuilt after many years by the defunct Bendel State Government. The museum is in a beautiful place in a King’s square. The facility with a conspicuous oval shaped major structure is always a delightful

place to visit.

Emotan Statue Like most globally reported cultural tourism destinations, Benin has a lot of statues and public commissioned sculptures towering over the entire land.

But one that readily attracts any visitor is the popular Emotan Statue. It is the monument of a stately woman, dressed in traditional Benin wrapper and headgear. The subject Emotan in Benin myth is linked historically with the Benin royalty. The awesome feminine statue stands opposite the popular Oba market.

In Benin history, Emotan is said to be a patriotic woman who lived in the 15th century. She traded in foodstuff where the statue stands. Further information has it that although she was childless during her lifetime, she helped many market women take care of their daily market business.

There is also the account that the mythical figure assisted one Prince Ogun to the Benin throne against his usurper brother. The Prince later became Oba Ewuare the Great. Visually, the giant Emotan statue is awesome and fabulous.

Ogiamien residence Chief Ogiamien’s residence is another interesting place in Benin City that showcases rich aspect of Benin rich cultural heritage. The place is the home of the second Okaevbo, leader of Benin during the 70-years interregnum in 19th century through early 20th century. Located around Sokponba Road, the residence displays a high mark of traditional architecture and has been declared a monument by the National Commission for Museum and Monument (NCMM) it contains carvings, bronze and metal works of historical significance. Any visit to Benin with seeing the residence is like going to Rome without seeing Vatican City.

Chief Nosa Isekhure palace This is the abode of the Chief priest of Benin kingdom also located along Sokponba road.

The present occupant is Chief Nosa Isekhure, a well-educated journalist and United State of American trained scholar who believes so much in preservation of Benin cultural heritage and history. Chief Isekhure carries the designation of office of the Chief priest with admirable panache and regality. It is said that in line with his hereditary title, his duty is always to perform sacrifice and ritual for the Oba and the entire Benin kingdom.

Benin monarch Oba Erediuwa

A monument at the entrance of Benin National Museum, Ring Road

One of the several monuments that dots Benin City

Bead painting by Buraimoh

Harvest of dance at Theatre centric performance CONTINUED FROM PAGE 38

Dance is not just what we do at a point but what we do at all times

likes. Dance is not just what we do at a point but what we do at all times.’’

Asked to comment on how long it takes the group to come out with the event, Boyede recalled that it was not an easy task having to work on the stage. According to him, for over seven months

before getting on stage, the group has trained and practiced different types of performances.

He believes that one-day dance would not just serve as a medium of entertainment but a process of communicating change and a viable tool for economic boost.

Boyede also disclosed the celebration of Ara’n bada has given Theatre Centrik a platform to ex-

press what they feel to be a communicative change of society.

Student of the Creative Arts, were glad to host the cultural event. For some of the students who spoke immediately after the show, it was an opportunity to learn more of the culture and dance heritage of the country.

Dignitaries at the performance include: Mr. Steve James,

National President Guild of Nigerian Dancers, Mr. Williams Ekpo, Stanley Stanchess, Pelumi Baba, Awele, Ebi-Pre bai Secretary Guild of Nigeria Dancers, National. Others are, Mr Victor Nkanwanta Director Victory performing Troupe, Yeye Oge of Akoka, Yinka Fowowe Grailand , Ayola Julius, Emmanuel Ovien among others.

34

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Celebrity

s

I’m still chasing my dream – JAB Adu at 82 Looking at his gait and composure, Joseph Abiodun Babatunde Adu, JAB Adu, popularly known as Bassey Okon in the popular Village Headmaster drama series is regal even at age 82. Known for his role in the series with his impeccable Efik-tainted English “chei, cheii, cheiii” JAB Adu was the master of Bonnyface, the hard and serious boy in the grocery store at Oja Village.

When Daily Times met JAB Adu at his residence in Abeokuta he was characteristically impeccably dressed in shirt and trousers with three biros tucked in his shirt pocket.

Tayo Adelaja

T

hough born in Calabar, capital city of Cross River State on December 28, 1932, JAB Adu started his education at the primary section of Baptist Academy then located at Oil Mill Street, Lagos when his father relocated from Calabar to Lagos.

From 1946 to 1951, he attended St. Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos. Next, he worked at the British Bank for West Africa, the B.B.W.A, now First Bank, PLC. JAB Adu later travelled to Britain where he studied Banking at the Westminster City College, London and graduated as an Associate of the Institute of Bankers (A.I.B) UK. His passion for drama made him to enroll at Morley College of Drama, South London.

He said, “I’d always wanted to do drama. In fact, before I left Lagos, I belonged to a theatre group.

“The acting talent had been there and because I didn’t want to disappoint my parents, I did the first thing, read and worked as a banker. While working in the bank, I was sent abroad to read banking.

I completed the banking course, then I did what I wanted to do --- I spent the extra years attending a drama College.

On his return to Nigeria, JAB Adu worked with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“When I came back, I worked with CBN. It was the period when pioneering activities started in television. NTA was just starting, that was around 1964, NTA was NBC and people like Segun Olusola, Christopher Kolade pioneered it.

On the popular television drama, ‘Village Headmaster’, JAB Adu reminisced: “Segun Olusola conceptualised the Village Headmaster and it was an instant hit because it was the first CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

Babatunde Adu

Luckily for me, M. K. O. Abiola believed in the project and it was sponsored by him

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

35 Celebrity

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34

of its kind. Sanya Dosunmu brought the concept into fruition. Sanya was a producer in the drama department of NBC then. I was fortunate to be part of it. I played the role of Bassey Okon, the doctor, dispenser and pharmacist of Oja village.

I was the Efik man at the junction town of Oja. While acting Village Headmaster, I was also working at CBN. Eventually, the drama aspect of me took an upper hand. I left CBN to go into full-time acting.”

But he wasn’t given the role of an Efik because of his background. “I did not decide the role I was going to play. There were many characters and we were auditioned. I was challenged to take that role, and I accepted. It was something contrary to expectation, so I was very happy to accept it because it gave me the opportunity to be creative.”

Thinking back at the challenge, he faced with the character, Bassey Okon, he smiled and said, “I know that time my manner of speaking English was very smooth and it was like, can he speak pidgin English? Would it be easy for me to do so, I accepted it, and I think I did my best.

“I had to leave Central Bank because I had to follow my destiny. My love for drama was the major reason for leaving CBN, though it wasn’t paying much.

But I managed to survive. After doing Village Headmaster for many years, yea, almost 10years I think, I decided that I needed to do something of my own.

That was what gave birth to the programme - Adio Family in 1978.

I conceptualised it and sponsorship at that time was not an easy task, yet I was able to get sponsors for it.

He wrote, produced and acted in the TV social drama series, the Adio Family, which dealt with family life. It focused on the effort of a typical middleclass family at coping with and maintaining a value-oriented upbringing for their children and a happy married life.

Speaking on the film, ‘Bisi daughter of the River’ which he also wrote and produced, he smiled and in a reflective mood said, “And again, that was a pioneering thing. In those years, film production was just about starting, we have pioneers like Francis Oladele who did Kongi’s Harvest which was the first film produced in celluloid on this country. After that, he did another one called Frog in the sun.

“I know that Sanya Dosunmu also did a film called ‘a Dinner

Babatunde Adu

‘My love of drama exceeds my love of money’ with the devil and I decided then that I was going to try my hand at it. I wrote a script and I was lucky to find somebody who believed in the project and financed it.

“The film, ‘Bisi daughter of the River’ was based on the Yoruba legend of Olurombi and shot on 35min on celluloid on location both in Lagos and Badagry. The film threw a challenge to the American and Indian films in the Nigerian cinema circuit because of its production quality and Nigerians’ thirst to see their own people on the cinema screens. One of the lessons of the film was that the crew were

both Nigerian and foreign film technicians. It was an avenue for learning by the local crew members. It was a success story in the cinema theatres.”

He noted however, that the film was not much of a commercial success: “In those days, those who owned the cinema house made most of the money and they gave you just about 40per cent.

The film, ‘Bisi daughter of the River’ was not financially successful because we didn’t recover the money invested in it. But it was very popular. It was in Metro Cinema for over a month and it was a crowd puller. The

cost of doing film on celluloid is prohibitive. Luckily for me, M. K. O. Abiola believed in the project and it was sponsored by him.

Actually, he put the money down for the production, it wasn’t a big sweat for him.

“I also did some stage drama”, JAB Adu added, “I worked with JP Clark. I acted in the play The Boat by JP Clark. I was one of the people directing plays then on the stage and we did skit for BBC called Squandering of riches at PEC Repertory Theatre, JK Randel Hall, Onikan.

JAB agreed that Nollywood has taken over but noted that,

“In those days, we were pioneers, not many of us, and of course now we have Hollywood, the younger ones have taken over. For me, I’m not totally retired because I’m still chasing my dream.

Asked what that dream is, JAB responded with a broad smile, “I’m yet to attain what I will call my perfect production.

You know, I’ve not achieved that yet. Hmm, there is a word I want to use for that, yes, my ‘master piece’.

“Yes, I’m still pursuing my master piece! I haven’t done that yet.

Prodded on what the master piece is all about? He replied, “I don’t know. I can’t give you an insight into it. When I get it, I’ll know. Yes, my master piece, I’m still chasing it. I’ve not got my master piece yet, let’s put it that way.

JAB Adu kept the PEC Repertory productive with Our Dear Native Lord, Parcel Post, The Opportunity, ‘Schools Out’ and the maiden public performance of Clark’s Wives Revolt.

When A Squandering of Riches was shot on location in Nigeria, all the sketches were written by JAB Adu and performed at the PEC Repertory.

JAB Adu was one of the Script writers of the African Radio Drama Association (ARDA) that wrote the radio series titled ‘Rainbow City’, which dealt with issues of good governance and democracy, accountability and transparency, reproductive health issues and HIV/AIDS. His international radio contribution was with the BBC World Service as a script-writer and actor on their award-winning radio drama series — ‘Story Story’– Voices from the Market. This programme is popular in Nigeria and in many Englishspeaking African countries.

JAB Adu served on a ministerial committee to harmonise the functions of the Nigerian Film Corporation and the Nigeria Films and Video Censors Board. He also participated in the development and writing of a BBC WST TV drama series Wetin dey and also acted in it.

The Zuma Film Festival, in 2008 gave the Lifetime Achievement Award to JAB Adu for his contributions to acting, film production and leadership in the creative world of the country.

In 1978, JAB was awarded the Member of the Order of Niger (M.O.N.), for his contributions to the arts and creativity.

Daily Times wishes Bassey Okon long life, good health and dream come true as he turned 82 yesterday.

Society 36

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Revealed: Mode 9’s epic confession!

Akintayo Opeoluwani

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z i a Pr Why it took 8 years to complete my album

Judith Frank

S

inger Praiz just released his first studio album in 8 years. While others singers rush to release an album, Praiz tells why it took him such a long time to release his debut 2-in-1 album entitled, Rich and Famous; It took me eight years to put this album together and I’m proud of my album. A lot of people actually think I’d dropped an album before, it is not my doing.

I owe all the success to God. People have been saying ‘Praiz, you don’t have an album’.

I work really hard, I’m not one for mediocre music and it has taken this long to put this together. So, for me, it is both awards and commercial success.

yricist and rapper, Mode 9, has been known to always speak his mind when it comes to happenings in the music industry.

Even though we knew the rapper is not living to the fullest in terms of having all what money can buy like most of his col¬leagues, however, never had we thought he could come out so clear to our faces this way.

Speaking in a recent interview, the rapper lamented over not being as rich as his mates in the industry.

‘Music has got me fame but not fortune. The kind of song I do is hip-hop in its pure essence and the truth is that most Nigerians do not like it. I can eat three times in a day; I am not hungry but I am not as comfortable as I would love to be. However, the book has not ended, so let’s see what happens.

Music has got me more fame than fortune.’...

Sources close to the rapper revealed to us that he’s presently psychologically down as a result of the poor acceptance of his mu¬sic in Nigerian. As a result, the poor accep¬tance has led to him exchanging words with few of his colleagues, eventually isolating himself from the circle.

To make matters worse, his last album, ‘alphabetical order’ which was produced in 2013 was not even near success as Nigerians and show organizers didn’t see his music as commercial enough to rock gigs.

After relocating to the

US few years back he soon returned to push his music yet met with a brick wall.

At the moment, nothing much has been heard from him in terms of churning out songs as sources disclosed that Mode 9 is “merely struggling to stay afloat”.

No wonder fellow rap-

About Mercy Aigbe’s mag divas boutique

M

other of two, Mercy Aigbe Gentry is a humble actress who has paid her dues in the fast rising entertainment industry as her acting prowess has endeared her to many.

The talented light skinned actress, has not only been able to make herself a force to reckon with in the industry.

The actress recently invited friends and associates to come celebrate with her recently when she commissioned

a store, trading in various items like hair accessories, clothing, kiddies items, cosmetics, among others. The store, named Mag Divas boutique, sits somewhere around the high brow area of Omole estate, in Ikeja.

per, Ruggedman, had advised him to either change his style of rap or quit music as he(Ruggedman) didn’t see any prospect for him(Mode 9) in music, even in the nearest future.

So, finally, even as others merely slammed the insult on his face, the rapper was yet to admit until now.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Apron trouser:

37 Society

Movie Talk Single, married and complicated

by Judith Frank-Edet

Director; Pascal Amanfo Stars;

Pulling that perfect look!

Running time:

By Ronke Akinola

Genre; Drama

L

ike it or not, apron trousers are beginning

begin to buy into it.

-

perfect look!

S

ingle, Married And Complicated is one of the leading movies trending on the African Cinemas right now.

The highly anticipated movie was premiered on the 15th of August in Nigeria and has created lots of buzz despite being new on the screens.

Produced by Yvonne’s YN productions and directed by Pascal Amanfo, the movie features a line of star-studded cast of Chris Attoh, John Dumelo, Alex Ekubo, Eddie Watson, Tana Adelana, Anita Erskine and Berla Mundi, among others.

Apart from the fact that the movie boast of a good selection of casts, it equally has a very captivating storyline.

Picking up from Single & Married, this sequel continues to explain certain happenings in marriage, with a greater focus on how most men truly yearn to love and be loved.

It shows women trying to understand what men want.

It centers on the realities we face on a daily ter how much we try. The movie is suspenselove, lust and lies.

Think like a man too Director: Tim Story Writers:

apron look combin-

Merryman(screenplay), (screenplay)

-

Stars:

Genre: Romantic Running Time; 106 minutes

T

hink Like a Man too is a fascinating movie that follows four interconnected and diverse men whose love lives are shaken up after the ladies they are pursuing buy Steve Harvey’s book and start taking his advice to heart.

When the band of brothers realizes that they have been betrayed by one of their own, they conspire using the book’s insider information to turn the tables and teach the women a lesson of their own.

The thrust of the movie seems to portray men as dogs and the best way to control them is to act like their mothers. .

The movie catches up on the couples’ relationships as they all get together in Las Vegas for the wedding of their friends, Candace (Regina Hall) and Michael (Terrence Jenkins). The guys then have a hangover while the ladies act silly and high spirited.

Kevin Hart takes over duties from Harvey

behaviours. The movie basically shows how how both sexes compete in their careers. The captivating movie also focuses on Hart who makes almost everything look funny.

News 38

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Ogun community boils as thugs raze palace Abiodun Taiwo, Abeokuta

P

andemonium broke out at Ijoko Town in Ifo local government area of Ogun State when suspected thugs set the palace of Oba Lasisi Ogunseye, the Onijoko Of Ijoko of Egbaland, ablaze.

Also, properties worth millions of Naira were destroyed while many people were injured during the fracas.

According to Daily Times findings, Ijoko town has been enmeshed in series of Chieftancy disputes between two kings, Oba Ogunseye, the Onijoko of Ijoko Egbaland and Oba Abdulfatai Matanmi, the Onijoko of Ijoko town on who should rule the community.

Although the cause of the latest confrontation is yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing in this report, men of the Nigerian Police Force, Sango, were seen stationed outside the remains of the palace of Oba Lasisi Ogunseye.

Women seek halt to domestic violence, others Emmanuel Addeh

N

igerian women on Saturday in Warri, Delta State, raised the alarm over the increasing cases of discrimination and domestic violence against women all over the country.

In a statement issued at the end of a workshop organised by the Delta State Ministry of Economic Planning, United Nations Population Fund and the Ministry of Women Affairs, the women demanded that they should be placed at par with their male counterparts in all

It was learnt that Ogunseye was on an assignment in Ibadan when the incident happened. Armed policemen from Odo-Eran and Ota police divisions were seen patrolling the area.

It was learnt that the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye, had also visited Ogunseye’s palace.

Speaking to Daily Times, Prince Mohammed Ogunseye said the hoodlums invaded the palace in a commando style destroying everything they saw.

“Documents, clothes, vehicles, including that of baales that are loyal to Oba Ogunseye were also destroyed. They also went to those baales’ houses destroying their properties… “ “Very important documents, even the king’s crown were burnt. They also injured a palace worker, Kunle. I had to hide somewhere.”

Also narrating his ordeal, the Asiwaju of

areas of life.

The participants, including selected media practitioners, also called for the stoppage of certain ‘humiliating widowhood practices’ forced on women in some Nigerian cultures.

At the workshop, declared open by the Commissioner, Ministry of Women Affairs, Chief Betty Efekodha, the women advised victims of gender violence to get appropriate reliefs from relevant authorities and institutions when they make reports of rights violations. ‘’The interest of the vulnerable segment of the society should be highlighted in the fight against gender violence and other agencies and corporate bodies and non- governmental organisations should join the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discriminations Against Women, CEDAW, in organizing regular seminars,’’ the stakeholders declared.

Ijokoland, Chief Moruf Amodu, said, “We were holding our usual meeting at the palace when we heard sounds of gunshots, we had to run with some of us scaling the fence.”

Ogunseye was not around when our correspondent visited his palace.

When Daily Times visited each of the palaces, the insignia in front of the palace of Matanmi reads, “Welcome to the palace of Onijoko land HRM Oba Abuldul Fatai Alani Matanmi, Onijoko of Ijoko ,Ota ,Otutu Bi Osun 1.Government Approved’.

The one in front of Mr. Lasisi Ogunseye reads

Welcome to the palace of the Alayeluwa Oba Kolapo Ilufemiloye 1, the Onijoko Of Ijoko of Egbaland.”

Reacting, Matanmi’s son, Prince Semiu, denied any role in the attack when our correspondent visited his father’s palace, which was under construction.

Meanwhile, a detach-

ment of police from the Ogun State Command, Eleweran, Abeokuta, has allegedly recovered a cache of arms from one of the two palaces.

Police who stormed the two palaces on Saturday following a tip-off, recovered different types of ammunition and arrested some suspects.

Young picnickers at Heritage Park Oshodi, Lagos. Photo: BOLAJI OLASUNKANMI

Delta PDP may name Tompolo’s man Okowa’s running mate Joe Ogbodu, Warri

B

arring unforeseen circumstances, Kingsley Otuaro, a commissioner at the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) and a nominee of former militant commander, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, (aka Tompolo), may be announced officially as the running mate to the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, in the 2015 governorship election.

This is coming as reasons emerged over the weekend on why Otuaro, an Ijaw, emerged despite opposition from the Isokos, another major ethnic

Uduaghan group in Delta South, who had long been agitating for the deputy governorship slot of the party going by the unwritten zoning arrangement of the ruling PDP in the state.

Reliable sources told Daily Times that Isoko people had lost out in their bid to be named as Okowa’s deputy following their stance in the justconcluded PDP governorship primaries which pro-

duced Okowa.

The source said that Okowa had briefed the Isoko people on Saturday at the residence of Deputy Majority leader, Hon. Leo Ogor Okuweh, on why he settled for an Ijaw deputy saying that the Ijaw people had bargained for the position when Isoko people were rooting for Tony Obuh in the concluded PDP primaries.

Daily Times learnt that Okowa had told the Isoko leaders point blank at Ogor’s residence that they had bargained for a deputy governorship position through Obuh whom majority of the people worked for and not through him, and so, he couldn’t afford to betray the Ijaw people who bargained for the position through their votes and financial support.

Man , 45, kills son in Ebonyi

T

he Ebonyi State Police Command on Sunday confirmed the arrest of a 45- year-old-man, Nwofu Igbo, who allegedly killed his son in Nwofe Community in Izzi Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations officer (PPRO) of the command, ASP Chris Anyanwu, told NAN in Abakaliki that the matter was being investigated by the police. ``The police is prepared to get to the root of the problem that led to the killing of the boy,’’ Anyanwu said.

He said the suspect had confessed to the killing of his 16-year-old son who returned from Lagos to celebrate the Christmas with his family members.

Daily Times Nigeria Monday December 29, 2014

39 News

Nigerians urged to ignore bad predictions

N Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, (2nd left); All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship aspirant Lagos, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode (2nd right); Chairman, Lagops Boxing Hall of Fame, Mr Wale Edun (left); Permanent Secretary, Youth Sports and Social Development, Mr Olusey Whenu (right) and winner of the male 81kg boxing category from Lagos State, Mr Samuel Ebohen (middle) during the 6th Annual Governor’s belt edition in Lagos at the weekend.

Northern PDP elders to Jonathan:

Your Silence on party crisis’ll affect your ambition Moses Ikyaa-Gba, Jos

T

he internal crises and the dust raised as a result of the controversial primaries in some states of the federation, might affect the chances of President Jonathan in the 2015 general election.

The one time campaign director to President Jonathan in the 2011 general election, Amb. Fidelis Tapgun and Pastor Samuel Umaru Paul, have also

confirmed this fear, saying that Jonathan may lose the support of the people from the North Central zone due to the antics of the ruling Party, PDP in the Middle-Belt Zone.

Speaking separately the duo said: “President Goodluck Jonathan may suffer defeat in the 2015 presidential election due to the protracted crises that have rocked the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the middle-Belt.

“There is a group with-

in the ruling party that is greatly working to destroy the PDP due to the blunders committed by some middle belt governors to perfect the plan.

“They are making desperate effort to spoil the president’s chances systematically ahead of 2015”.

“All is not well with the PDP as a result of unfulfilled promises to Nigerian since the returned of Democracy.

“The current crisis

bedeviling the PDP in the Plateau, Taraba and Benue states against the backdrop of impositions of Candidates by the governors and the party is detrimental to the party.

“The presidency should be weary of the crises in middle belt zone Coupled with the deepening in all the states whereas other states in the country are in dear need of change. This will surely make the party lose significantly in the zone”.

Cancer patient flees UBTH over medical bill Titus Eguaoje, Benin City

A

female cancer patient, identified as Mrs Enoyin, and a widow who was receiving treatment at the UBTH was reported to have escaped from the hospital over her inability to pay the balance of her medical bill.

Prior to her escape, Enoyin, who sells Akara ( bean cake) to cater for

her children had one of her breasts cut off to stem the spread of the cancer ,was allegedly detained for eight weeks at the hospital.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Esosa Ukponayusi and his younger sibling, are presently cooling off their heels at the Ugbowo Police Station following what the authority of University of Benin Teaching Hospital, described as ‘unruly behaviour and assault’ when

they came to demand for the whereabouts of their mother.

It was learnt that the two children who had spent the Christmas period in detention had been released at the time of filing in this repor, were said to have gone to the hospital on the faithful day to check on their mother but were shock to learn that their mother had disappeared into thin air which subsequently led to their

eventual arrest.

But in swift reaction, the Chairman Medical Advisory Committee, who pleaded not to be mention for security reason spoke on behalf of the Chief Medical Director, Professor Michael Ibadin, however confirmed the incident and said the son of the patient was detained for assault on the security officials and not on account of Mrs Enoyin to pay her medical bill.

igerians have been admonished to ignore frightening predictions or prophesies that are capable of heightening tension on 2015 general elections as no evil will be experienced if the culture of political tolerance and maturity is imbibed.

The advice was contained in the divine revelation for the year 2015 made by the founder and Spiritual Head of Shafaudeen In Islam worldwide in Ibadan, Professor Sabitu Ariyo Olagoke a copy of which was made available to Daily Times.

“All Nigerians must uphold political tolerance, discipline, love and patriotism to move the nation forward. With these, we may avoid stalemate and violence to save our democracy,” Prof Olagoke said.

Stressing that good gov-

ernance was a function of Godly leadership, he said “the essence of this revelation is for the political class to imbibe the culture of tolerance and focus on the issue of welfare importance”.

He disclosed that contrary to expectations, February 2015 would be “discernible month of surprise in the political activities. This is a hopeful month for economic revival, conflict resolution and restructuring in education” Olagoke, who is also the President of ‘Ajagun Esin’ ,the religion warlord called for divine cleansing of the polity and general sanitization exercise for corrupt officials.

He said that God revealed to him that in May next year there would be “general cleansing of the polity by government and month of survival need for politicians.

PDP to introduce house-to-house campaign in Kaduna - Secretary

P

eoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State says it will focus on house-to-house campaign to reclaim Zaria federal constituency seat in the House of Representatives.

The party’s secretary in Kaduna State, Alhaji Kabiru Balla, told newsmen shortly after inaugurating the campaign team for Alhaji Umar IbrahimRabagardama, the party’s candidate for the seat. ``It is now time to stepup effort for house-tohouse campaign to enable us get more genuine supporters to win various positions in the area come 2015,’’ he said.

The secretary charged the newly inaugurated team to evolve sensitisation programmes that would make people at various levels to vote for the party.

Meanwhile, IbrahimRabagardama, the PDP

Yero House of Representatives candidate, has promised to carry all the people along if elected as their representative. ``My victory will not be for me alone but for all of us in PDP; therefore, your collective support is required to take the party to greater heights. ``I will make sure that I work towards actualising the dreams of the people of Zaria Local Government Area,’’ he said.

Ibrahim-Rabagardama called on the campaign team to swing into action with a view to bringing people together before the actual campaign start in earnest.

Feature

ICT

Politics

Business

29 Labour ICT 26 people P23 Judiciary P29 Expert wantsFeaturesThese Electoral may snever begin rascality: internet P26 Judiciaryworkers workers begin Expert wants internet affordability leave Igbobi nationwide Blame judiciary These people may never leave affordability nationwide strike Friday 23 Politics Hospital P17 for laxity strike Friday Igbobi Hospital Daily Times Nigeria

Monday, December 29, 2014

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Daily Times Nigeria Monday December 29, 2014

17

Except a miracle happens …

Daily Times Nigeria Monday, December 29, 2014

Stories by Opeoluwani Akintayo

Gbubemi God’s Covenant Snr

O

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2014

VOL. 1. NO.11

www.facebook.com/dailytimesngr

dailytimesng

E

the operation would cost something like N450,000,”

with a toothpick and a lot of colourless fluid flowed out.

“But the thing shot a sharp pain to my brain and I wasn’t myself. When my son saw my situ-

T

s we prepare for the 2015 general elections, there is one word dancing on the lips of many people in this country today: CHANGE. And it is understandable why people are craving it.

Nigeria has not worked for most of the 54 years of its existence as an independent country, which has made Nigeria a nation that, in the words of Khalil Gibran, “welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting, and farewells him with hooting, only to welcome another with trumpeting again”.

A recurring decimal in all the barber chair rotation has been the phenomenon of “change without change” or as the late Abami Eda put it “No Solution”. This is why as things get worse every previous regime is considered better than the existing one.

It was this predilection that made Nigerians to be filled with euphoria when Olusegun Obasanjo was

dug out of the pit 20 years after the country should have forgotten about him to come and continue the destruction he started in 1976.

The pitiable country did not listen to the prophetic warning of Pastor Tunde Bakare: “Rejoice not o nation lest your joy be temporary. Obasanjo is not your messiah...”

It took only a few years of Obasanjo in the saddle for Olisa Agbakoba to make a sad confession: “Things were even better under Sani Abacha”.

Agbakoba was with us on the trenches in the dark days of the evil general and was beaten and dragged on the floor by his goons at Yaba market. It was the progressive degeneration of the Nigerian condition that could have elicited such a Stockholm nostalgia.

By the way, Nigerians rejoiced when Abacha took over from Ernest Shonekan because the dark-gog-

with monitoring and control system; reducing the gap between the rich and the poor,’’ he said.

According to Uwa, Nigeria is basically living on commerce and less production; the economy that cannot function well without BRISIN. He said that the Federal Government had identified BRISIN as the fundamental and solid solution since 2007 when it was approved by the Federal Executive Council.

He added that following the approval, the BRISIN Steering Committee had since been inaugurated with members from the National Planning Commission, National Bureau of Statistics, National Population commission and Ministry of Interior, among others. ``The project should have been in its full operational statues if bureaucracy had allowed

As we approach 2015 elections, how prepared is INEC, towards ensuring a credible polls?

The electorate will always be victims if the electoral process is broken and opaque. My advice is participate and vigilantly ask questions where things are unclear

Association tasks CDMAs to focus on regional expansion

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NLC calls for upward review Textile workers want enforcement of national minimum wage of protocol against forced labour

The change we need in 2015 D

r Anthony Uwa, the Managing Director of Dermo Impex Nigeria Ltd., said implementation of Basic Registry and Information System in Nigeria (BRISIN) would generate between eight and 10 million jobs.

He said BRISIN, also known as the National Integrated Data and Information Infrastructure (NIDII), would develop Nigeria’s economy if effectively implemented According to him, his consulting company will use the available data to provide solid instrument for fighting social vices and for developing the nation’s economy. ``BRISIN in Nigeria is extravital because it is the only instrument that has no colour, religion, ethnicity or gender. ``It is the only instrument for strong and vibrant economy

Barrister Mike Igini, an activist and Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Cross River State, in this interview with Deputy Political Editor, JONATHAN EZE, speaks on INEC’s preparedness for 2015, insecurity and the onslaught of Boko Haram and other germane issues necessary for political and economic stability.

Between 2011 and now, we have organised one general election and several gubernatorial and often done to make the economics legislative elections and by-elec- of a country more robust to such tions, with better outcomes than single commodity changes, but diin many other instances in the versification is best done during electoral history of Nigeria as ac- boom not in times of burst, so as knowledged by the people of this we are now, the emphasis should country and international observ- be on reviving hope for passing ers. This is not just my claim; it through the revenue decline and is based on the assessment of the emerging stronger as an economy decline in the number of petitions that will rely in future on more diand litigations following such elec- verse income streams had suspended its previously JUSUN tions; 1,291 cases in 2007 and 729 strike in Novemberh in 2011. This is not accidental. It is Political intended parties as institumainly because the evidence trail tions will play fundamental for the electoral process has im- roles before, during and after proved tremendously and people the election. What are your exJUSUN said know theirthataction to allow constitutional guarby the court order. frivolous claims require a pectations from both the rulrigour, while genuine party and the opposition? amounts to a levelmore of “insinceranteedconand ing provided partner to The union had suspended its cerns can be addressed by exampreviously intended strike folity and insensitive” of the Gov- exercise its due rights.’ ining the evidence which will be Political parties are a very imJUSUN accused the Accoun- lowing the last Memorandum ernors and the insecurity available. in the portant part of a democracy. In tant General of the of understanding supervised by Preparing for elections have spe- Nigeria the Federation current parties are process of democratic princicific generic approaches, of namely compromising hisin position the Minister of Labour reached still evolving; developed democples as they have conspired not day and post- racies, some parties have been pre-election, election and authority imposed on him on 27th November, 2014. election preparations. Pre-election around for years like the Demoorative Standing Committee of censed Telecommunipreparations involves developing cratic Party in the USA, formed a credible voters register which in 1828 and now 186 years old the Stakeholders, for cations sustainable Operators of should be available for stakeholder Republican Party, formed in 1854 and continuous improvement, Nigeria (ALTON) has scrutiny prior to election, things now 160 years as a party just like beginning with the developlike voter education, a balance of the SDP in Germany that is 150 urged the Code Division Mulment of technical guidelines media coverage for all parties and years old. Still with that long hisAccess (CDMA) operators candidates as much as is feasible torical evolution, they have their and codestiple of practice” within the law, the possibility of to consider functioning as reproblems. How old are the parties Illoh, who warned that no debates to enhance voter informa- here and what are the values temOur of regulatory laws should be gional operators instead naindividual or corporate organtion, the procurement and distri- plate of those who promote and tional operators. strengthened to ensure that politicians bution of materials and personnelextile manageGarment these parties? and We should, isation shall be allowed to unhe Nigerian Labour Coordinating Minister for and the for elections the planning cumTailoring therefore, not alwaysStaff regard some Senior The Chairman of ALTON, that check of uncertainty dermine the integrity and sov- do not dilute organization of election day and of our formative errors as grave.

Congress (NLC) has Economy, Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, Association of Nigeria Mr Gbenga Adebayo, gave the post-election activities.

This is not to say that the parties ereignty of the nation through called for an upward that the budget is projected on a (TGTSSAN) has called should be re-inventing the wheel advice in Lagos, noting that review of the national non-oil revenue basis. the sector, reiterated that the on oil, thethe Federal Government The price of crude for things that are mutetoconvenoperating on state, regional or Instead, the union believed main source for running such as how party ensuregovthattions, the new global pro- candiMinistry is committed to social minimum wage in order to reernance, iswere falling close to elecdatesforced emerge.labour These are community level would flectenable the emerging economic that sustainable budgets tocol against is fairly dialogue for sustainable implewhen politicians are mak- well established democratic pracchallenges. the ones based on tion revenue aris- given necessary attention. the CDMA operators to remain ing promises. What should be tices and the only reason the parmentation of its mandates by NLC Vice President, Com- ing from real sector of the from econ-those TGTSSAN’s National Presi- from expected seeking ties have business. much challenges ensuring in that there is continu- rade Issa Aremu, in a statement sponsible for 90 per cent of the omy such as domestic manufor offices at this time? that practice is because they have dent, Comrade Ambi Karu, Heof said that the CDMA netous auditing the companies estimated 21 million victims failed or refused to beinregulated warned government against facturing and exportation of made the declaration while works in Nigeria hadany notattempt been to further impover- finished goods. involved in inspection of lifting The falling oil price is an eco- by their own regulatory processes of forced labour, reaping about teracting how their nomic question. In a period of de- with and newsmen continued to on disappoint equipment and pressure favoured by vessels competition even ish the Nigerian workers with clining fortunes the emphasis of members. the protocol has put other world $150 billion from some of the to sustainthough their capacities. nothing was wrongin pay or loss of jobs reduction leadership should be on hope and most severe forms of exploitaHe noted that the workshop, on account of the recently anleaders on theThere alertare in the efforts stability under uncertainty . Every many cases of dewith them. tion in existence”. second in its series of revalida- nounced austerity measures by economic boom is often followed fections labour, from onewhich party to anto combat forced The ALTON chairman said by burst or decline, the essence other in recent times and moreAccording to Ambi, the call tion for third party competent is rampant in the private sector. the Federal government. of political leadership the world will still shift grounds. Is there thatthe as inspection technology and persons for of evolved became necessary to prevent He noted that the $65 per barover is to guide countriesHe through any are legalvery framework that supsaid: “We comfortbecause of capital, rel theof GSM major plants in workplaces. these cycles of boom and burst, ports or frowns at such actions? crude oil as captured in our jobless youths from being able with the new ILO Protocol This he said represents another such that the impacts are marginnetworks were able tothe upgrade 2015 budget confirmed that on forced that will responsible put usurped by the political class al during burst and blissful during labour Hold the judiciary major intervention on the critiin terms of voice, data, applicaNigeria is an oil dependent boom. This is why diversification government of member states to create political crisis in the cal mandate of the Ministry economy contrary to the claim CONTINUED ON PAGEcountry 24 as the nation prepares tions and features. of portfolios of income is on alerts. of stream the ILO This is be-

T

stepped on it.

“Only three days after that, a sharp pain started in the middle of my right leg, and before evening, the area of the pain turned

Stories by JOY EKEKE

he Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has lamented the failure of stakeholders to respect the last memorandum of understanding regarding financial autonomy of the Judiciary.

JUSUN, therefore, announced that the union will commence an indefinite strike from Friday January 2, 2015.

Rising from an emergency meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, the union explained that the strike became imperative, considering the “rough terrain encountered by the union to make the governors implement the judgment of Federal High Court delivered on January 13, 2014 but fell on deaf ears.”

The a communiqué jointly signed by the union President, comrade Marwan Mustapha Adamu and Assistant General Secpened. It was a Monday evening retary, Comrade Placidus Nnapersons for Pressure vessels in when this strange thing, like the mani, stated that it is obvious kind of maggot you see inside Lagos. that the state Governors were Continued on page 18 He said: “Following the suc- deliberately disobeying and cess of this exercise, the Min- frustrating the independence of . istry plans to evolve Collab- Judiciary heaAssociation of Li-

FG links workplace productivity to health, safety

BRISIN implementation can generate 10m jobs -Expert

A It took only a few years of Obasanjo in the saddle for Olisa Agbakoba to make a sad confession: “Things were even better under Sani Abacha”

Price: N150

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Yinka Odumakin

n Christmas day, the National Orthopaedic Hospital (NOH), Igbobi, on Ikorodu Road was as quiet and deserted as a Northern village after a terror attack. Save for few security personnel at the entrance and a lone female security officer reading at the long hallway of the Women’s Ward on the last floor of Mobolaji House (Accidents Wards) building, everywhere was quiet.

The female ward had only four patients who could not leave since doctors and healthcare personnel strike started some eight weeks ago.

The G-ward which, in Igbobi parlance, is the home for abandoned patients, had about 15 men from late 20s upwards, all living with one medical riddle or another, or where there is a medical solution, they are crippled by financial incapacity.

A fellow at the basement of the block, who was on strike but came to ‘pick up’ something, told Daily Times that even if the Orthopaedic hospital was shut down permanently, those people would have nowhere to go … except a miracle happens.

The first of the patients Daily Times spoke with was 65- yearold Felicia Ugwuegbu, who was enjoying a late breakfast brought by her granddaughter this Christmas day.

A native of Umuehihie in Uzoagba local government area of Imo State, Felicia, a widow who was living at 25, Tapa Street, Orile-Iganmu, before a traditional wedding took her to a village where she had what she believes to be an esoteric encounter.

The story that ended at the Orthopaedic hospital, Igbobi, started after the death of her husband when her daughter was getting married, she narrated.

“After the ceremony, we were

parts of the plan like the development of sustainable and efficient open access fibre optic xecutive Director of Alliance for Afford- networks is critical,’’ she said.

The A4AI executive director able Internet (A4AI), Ms Sonia Jorge, on said that Nigeria had witnessed Kabiru Turaki Sunday called for effective some impressive ICT developimplementation of Nigeria’s ments in recent years.

She said that the mobile teleBroadband Plan 2013-2018 in order to ensure affordable Inter- phone growth and dramatic increases in international bandnet service.

She said that effective imple- width due to the landing of new mentation of the Broadband submarine cables had created Plan 2013-2018 would also enable opportunities.

Jorge, however, said that the country to get the desired broadband penetration rates broadband penetration.

Adebayo According to her, the plan pro- remained disappointingly low, vides a solid foundation but that and prices remained too high the challenge always lies with for the vast majority of Nigeri- he Federal Ministry ans to enjoy the socio-economic of Labour and Proimplementation. ductivity has charged ``Nigeria’s Broadband Plan benefits that broadband access employers of labour to 2013-2014 is a step in the right delivered. make Safety and Health at work According to her, broadband direction. It articulates exactly their watchword if they desire to have higher productivity. how Nigeria intends to increase remains unaffordable for NigeThe Permanent Secretary, broadband penetration five-fold rians as fixed-line broadband Ministry of Labour and Producto 30 per cent within the next subscription cost an average of tivity, Dr. Clement Illoh, made Felicia Ugwuegbu Umoru 39 per cent of average income. declaration during his Keyfive years. dark and formed a circle; by the ation, he took me to one the pastor leaving, but I decided to just greet “We all happy Shewasalso that the subscription next day, which the fourth, a who looked at the leg and prayed. ``It stepmother presents awere time-bound my late husband’s not note address at the training and whitish round spot appeared in After that, he said he had given and looking forward far from there. When I was walkfor mobile broadband the middle.” the thing inside mypackage leg one week planthe for certification exercise for authoing towards house, I implementation. didn’t to the next stage, The Thinking it was a puse, her to come out by force, and exactly know someone had put somerised inspectors and approved open the whitish spot one 13 week per after, that was what haphovered around cent. but then theyof said keyson pricked thingsuccessful on the ground for me, andexecution I

Igini

T

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Electoral rascality:

Blame judiciary for laxity - Igini

that has faced challenges in the of the Minister of Finance and ``But the CDMA operators in recent times.

Uwa

for it; we have dragged implementations for so long but it is better late than never,’’ he said.

He said BRISIN was intended to register and capture the imagery of every Nigerian from the 8812 ward level and the 36

gled General represented change to those who despised the interim contraption that Shonekan headed.

The meat of the narrative above is that change is not always positive. This is why there has to be a content to the change we seek as a people .There is no fundamental difference in any shade among the politicians on the canvas given our experience of the past 16 years. In fact, if what many of the characters who are promising us “change” have done with the spaces they managed in those years are anything to go by, if they are to handle the entire country, we may have to run from change.

Anyone who has done a thorough study of Nigeria would come to the conclusion that until we address the crisis of nationhood, the good governance we seek will always continue to be a mirage.

Oloye Obafemi Awolowo, the eternal sage was in Calabar prison in Cell

states and Abuja.

According to him, apart from curbing insecurity, BRISIN will provide a solid foundation for planning technological and socio-economic growth for Nigeria.

Nigeria have not been able to cope with the trends. ‘’What can be done is not to write off that technology, but it is for the players to consider being regional operators, local or state operators. ‘’Without that, I don’t see how they can grow the financial capacity to be able to compete with bigger operators in the same market,” he added.

DUP2 on June 12,1966 when he signed off his book: “Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution.” He put his fingers sharply on all that afflicts Nigeria today when he wrote on page 56: “Besides, it is not difficult to forecast that the work of government in Nigeria under a unitary constitution is bound to become unduly complex, inextricably tangled, extremely unwieldy and wasteful, and productive of disharmony and discontent amongst the people. Unless you have veritable supermen at the helm of affairs, the administrative machinery would eventually disintegrate and break down under the crushing weight of ‘bureaucratic centralism”.

Awo’s prediction has come to pass today as Nigeria has become largely ungovernable under a unitary arrangement. The country is fast disintegrating because of a faulty constitution that dresses a unitary arrangement in

The phoenix

rises

BREAKING NEWS | POLITICS | BUSINESS | SPORTS | ENTERTAINMENT

Published by FOLIO COMMUNICATIONS LTD, Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja. www.dailytimes.com.ng email: www.dailytimes.com.ng. Tel: 018447948. EDITOR: YINKA OLUJIMI

Aremu

cause the private sector is re-

for 2015 general elections.

the garb of federalism.

For 54 years, we have patched the tyre of our nationhood to the point that every space now has a patchwork. It has been so with many countries where the poor students of nation construction called the British have experimented with their quackery. They have either disintegrated or are in armed conflicts and other forms of strain.

Britain itself only managed to retain Scotland during the September referendum. Even at that, the scars are still very much there.

This has been the imperative of a National Conference in Nigeria, which the forces benefitting from the faulty structure that has prevented Nigeria from fulfilling its potential resisted until the 2014 National Conference was convoked by President Goodluck Jonathan.

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

XT Exclusive

Man City Stunned

by Burnley’s fightback X8

Poster!

Cristiano Ronaldo

X4,5

S E L G A E 0 3 C E D D E D N A H R O F E N DEADLI G N I P M A C

Ogu sees red in Hapoel’s 2-1 win

X3

Koke opens up on his Atletico Madrid

X2

Sportlitics

EAGLETS

CRY OUT OVER KANO HOUSE GIFTS

MOURINHO

X8

FUMES AT REFS ‘CAMPAIGN’ AGAINST BLUES X8

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Monday, December 29, 2014

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AFCON warm-up invitee, Solomon Kwambe of Nigeria (right) battles Bernard Parker of South Africa in an international friendly.

Monday, December 29, 2014

EXTRATIME

Victorious Golden Eaglets captain Musa Muhammed in action for Nigeria during the 2013 FIFA World Cup in UAE.

EAGLETS OREGDU ISNEES CRY OUT OVER KANO HOUSE GIFTS

W

orld Cup-winning Golden Eaglets stars Musa Muhammed and Zaharadeen Bello have again cried out that they are yet to receive the houses promised them by the Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso a year ago.

Muhammed, who led the Eaglets to win the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the UAE, was promised a house along with fellow Kano State indigene Bello

by Kwankwaso but a year later they are yet to even get an allocation of the houses.

“We were informed that our houses are at Amana Estate, but I have made countless visits to the Kano State Investment and Properties Limited and what they are still telling me is that they are yet to allocate houses there,” said a frustrated Muhammed.

“I have met with the managing director of the investment company

and have been in constant touch with Dauda Sheshe, the principal manager PID of the company. But still no hope in sight.

“We can’t reach the Governor to alert him of our situation, we don’t even know what to do now.”

It was reliably gathered that a Chinese group who bought hundreds of units at the Amana Estate has since been allocated their houses.

John Ogu

HAPOEL’S 2-1 WIN Ï nƏ Ɔ ƅƋƑƄ Ɛ ƍƍƆ Ƌ ƈ Ɛ Ɛ Ɔ ƏƆƗ ƅ ƏƗ Nigeria international midfielder John Ogu was the major actor in Hapoel Beer Sheva’s 2-1 win over Hapoel Petach Tikva in the Israeli Ligat HaAl on Saturday.

Ogu, who moved to the team at the start of the season was instrumental in his team’s victory at the Vasermil Stadium in Beer Sheva.

The former Academica de Coimbra player opened Beer Sheva’s account in the 16th minute of the game, powering home a header from a corner kick to set his team on their way.

Siraj Nasser added another goal on the 27th minute mark of the first half to give his team a two-goal lead.

Petach Tikva got back into the mix as Dor Kochav pulled one back for the visitors in the 32nd minute as the team’s went into the break with Beer Sheva 2-1

ahead.

Ogu ended the game on a sad note after getting his marching orders on the dot of 90 minutes for his first expulsion in Israeli football.

Beer Sheva held on for the win to garner three points from the game to push them to second on the log with 31 points from 15 matches.

Meanwhile, Ogu has urged his Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva to appeal against the red card handed to him in their 2-1 win over Hapoel Petach Tikva on Saturday.

“I am happy for the team’s victory and my second goal of the season, but I am gutted with the red card. It was not a red card offence, but the opponent made it look like that to the referee, but I hope my club will appeal the red card decision,” Ogu said.

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Monday, December 29, 2014

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“He is the best. The best in the world, yes. Probably the best ever. I saw Maradona a couple of times. I never saw Pele.

But Cristiano is amazing. This man is the best... Cristiano is a goals machine. He is an incredible player. He is like Zidane, there will never be another Ronaldo.”

–Jose Mourinho

“He has magic in his boots. The first thing you notice about him is that he is incredibly quick and very, very powerful for such a young man. He has great, close control and his technique is excellent. He believes he can do anything with the ball, and that confidence makes him very special indeed.”

–Eusebio

Playing position: Current team:

7

NUMBER

Forward Real Madrid

Full name: Cristiano Ronaldo Date of birth: February 5, 1985 (age 29) Place of birth: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)

Personal information

Monday, December 29, 2014

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Monday, December 29, 2014

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Pardew backed for Palace job

xxxxx

Alan Pardew has emerged as the surprise favourite to succeed Neil Warnock as manager of Crystal Palace. Tony Pulis had been the early frontrunner, but has since drifted out of contention to highly favoured Pardew.

AMBITIOUS SPURS HOLD RED DEVILS

M

anchester United failed to make the most of a dominant first-half display as they were held to a goalless draw by an ambitious Tottenham Hotspur’s side at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Juan Mata went closest to breaking the deadlock in the opening 45

minutes with a free-kick that hit the post and was hacked away on the line.

Ashley Young also saw a shot brilliantly tipped over the bar by Hugo Lloris while Robin van Persie was unable to finish from a few yards out.

United also had chances in the second half as Van Persie missed the target with a volley and Mata blasted

over the bar from a promising position.

Spurs rarely threatened at the other end but did finish stronger and could have snatched the points as Ryan Mason fired over with just David de Gea to beat.

Had Mason’s shot hit the back of

Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (right) makes a dire devil save against Robin van Persie.

PREMIERSHIP RESULTS Tottenham 0 – 0 Man United Southampton 1 – 1 Chelsea Aston Villa 0 - 0 Sunderland Hull City 0 – 1 Leicester City Man City 2 - 2 Burnley QPR 0 – 0 Crystal Palace Stoke City 2 - 0 West Brom West Ham 1 – 2 Arsenal Today’s Match Liverpool v Swansea 21:00

the net then United would have certainly rued the chances they missed in a largely one-sided first half.

Having named an unchanged Premier League team for the first time since November 2012, United looked far more settled than Spurs – who made four changes - and created all the best openings.

STUNNED BY BURNLEY’S FIGHTBACK

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Then Ashley Barnes reacted quickest in a crowded penalty area to smash home a loose ball to earn the visitors a 2-2 draw.

It was a result that didn’t seem likely at the break, when, despite being without Yaya Toure, Manuel Pellegrini’s side looked sure to cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Premier League to a single point and a club record 10th successive win.

However, all turned to be a mere dream at the end of hostilities.

Aston Villa held on to earn a hard fought point at home to Sunderland despite being reduced to 10-men early in the second half following Fabian Delph’s red card.

In what was a poor first half at Villa Park, neither side looked like troubling the scorers with tame efforts from Connor Wickham and Charles N’Zogbia the only chances of note.

Newcastle 3 – 2 Everton

MAN CITY anchester City missed a golden chance to close the gap on league leaders Chelsea as they surrendered a twogoal half-time lead against Burnley to end the game 2-2 apiece.

City were cruising when Fernandinho followed up David Silva’s opener with a fine curling shot.

George Boyd scored straight after the break, turning home Danny Ings ‘ shot despite appearing to be offside.

Sunderland held by 10-man Villa

Man City star Aleksandar Kolarov covers his face in disbelief following the outcome of the match.

Klose vows to fight for Lazio place Miroslav Klose has vowed to keep fighting for Lazio, despite growing frustration over a lack of game time. The 36-year-old signed a new one-year contract with the Stadio Olimpico outfit during the close-season, but has been restricted to just five Serie A starts this term.

PREMIERSHIP TABLE Team

P

GD

1. Chelsea

19

27

46

2. Man City

19

24

43

3. Man Utd

19

14

36

4. Southampton

19

17

33

5. Arsenal

19

11

33

6. West Ham

19

7

31

7. Tottenham

19

0

31

8. Swansea

18

4

28

9. Newcastle

19

-6

26

10. Liverpool

18

-2

25

11. Stoke

19

-2

25

12. Everton

19

-2

21

13. Aston Villa

19

-11

21

14. Sunderland

19

-11

20

15. QPR

19

-13

18

16. West Brom

19

-10

17

17. Hull

19

-8

16

18. Crystal Palace

19

-10

16

19. Burnley

19

-15

16

20. Leicester

19

-14

13

Monday, December 29, 2014

EXTRATIME

X7

Sport Interview Koke is it! Atletico Madrid’s ‘new Xavi’ taking Spanish football by storm

, L L A B T O O F Y M MY LIFE!

E K O K S I H N O P OPENS U

D I R D A M O C I T E L T A SOJOURN

Ask playmaker Koke what it means to represent Club Atlético de Madrid and he sums it up in just one word: “unique”. The 22-year-old Madrileno has been with the Rojiblancos for 16 years and after coming through the club’s academy has become an indispensable team member since his 2009 debut. Second only perhaps to Coach Diego Simeone in the fans’ affections, Koke is a perfect combination of skill and drive. Just one player covered more ground during this season’s UEFA Champions League group stage and none provided more assists as the midfielder as he played every minute of their Group A campaign. Koke appears to be a man on a mission, with Atletico targeting a return to the final. Excerpts:

A

tlético reached the final of the UEFA Champions League last season. How is the team working to get there again?

Has anything changed?

Not at all! We prepare for games based on the opponents we are facing.

We analyse their strengths and weaknesses, and use those to our advantage to approach the game and win.

Atletico are characterised by their ability to constantly evolve and progress, despite the loss of key players. What has Diego Simeone done to keep the team moving forward?

The same as last season! We have different players and they have to adapt.

But the most important thing is the group, not just one or two players. We are adapting, the players towards the group, and the group towards the players, merging all that. The work we do on the pitch – running, fighting, giving

everything – in the end the important thing is that it all benefits the group.

How is the team coping after the departures of Thibaut Courtois, Filipe Luís and Diego Costa?

Well, the thing is, the players that aren’t here anymore aren’t here. I wish them the best, but on the pitch you can’t do anything about it. What’s past is past. We enjoyed things with them, and now we are enjoying things with our new team-mates.

Tell us about working under Diego Simeone. What is it like?

The coach has a profound effect on us. Assistant coach, Germán Burgos, has done an incredible job too. Perhaps he is not as intense, and a bit calmer, but the important thing is that we have both of them – they are doing a great job and it shows in the team.

You’re only 22 but were hugely impressive in your first UEFA Champions League campaign.

How does it feel to be starring in a competition you must have been watching on television just a few years ago?

I am very calm, I keep calm. I am a very normal person, a quiet person. I try to proceed in a very normal way. I keep on being a normal player. I work hard every day and try to improve. Every day I try to be a better person and a better player. I’ve been at this club since I was a boy; the club has always been part of my life since I was six. So I am a club man and I fight for that as well.

Have you always been a midfielder?

Yes, I’ve almost always been a central midfielder, sometimes a defensive midfielder. I usually played there growing up. Going through the ranks I also played on the left wing or as an attacking midfielder. I try to adapt to my position, be it on the left, as an attacking midfielder or where I am now. Wher-

ever the coach puts me I just try to help.

Who was your favourite player growing up?

My idol was Juninho Paulista, and later I focused on some other players. When I was older, I watched Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta. Their style of play is very similar to mine in the national team, so I try to focus on them.

When did you realise you were good enough to play football professionally?

When I played at the academy, it was a step up to get to train with the senior team. It seemed possible, even though it wasn’t easy because there are very good players in the senior team. But you fight for that and later you get the opportunity.

You try to stay strong ... And I’ve kept up so far.

What is the best advice you have been given in football, and who imparted it?

I remember some advice from Antonio López, the captain, before a match against Zaragoza – my first full appearance. He said I should play my normal game – and that I was important – despite having players like Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero. That helped me a lot to play calmly and do the things I know on the pitch.

How has playing in Europe helped you develop as a footballer?

It gives you a lot of experience for your day-to-day work and life. You experience different leagues, different types of football that you don’t get to experience in Spain – against English or German teams – so you benefit from the virtues of other countries and cultures.

What makes Atlético a unique club?

It’s a feeling, you know. The way the people experience it here, I don’t think it’s experienced the same way at other clubs.

It is hard to describe exactly what it means to be part of Atletico, but it’s unique.

X8

Monday, December 29, 2014

EXTRATIME

EXTRATIME Cesc Fabregas was booked for diving by the referee.

INSET: Fabregas went round Matt Targett before falling to the ground in the box.

MOURINHO

FUMES AT REFS ‘CAMPAIGN’ AGAINST BLUES

Arsenal win after Diouf’s brace fightback at West sinks West Brom Ham

QPR held by managerless Palace

Mame Biram Diouf Santi Cazorla Arsenal moved above West Ham in the Premier League after withstanding a strong second-half fightback to win 2-1 at Upton Park.

The hosts enjoyed the better of the opening 45 minutes but fell behind shortly before the break when Winston Reid fouled Santi Cazorla in the box and the Spaniard dispatched the subsequent penalty.

Danny Welbeck doubled Arsenal’s advantage a couple of minutes later as he tapped in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross from a few yards out.

The Hammers halved the deficit early in the second half as Cheikhou Kouyate headed in his first goal for the club.

A brace for Mame Biram Diouf gave Stoke a 2-0 win over West Brom and left the Baggies players arguing among themselves.

Diouf’s first came in the 51st minute when he was left with too much time and space in the West Brom box, while he barely knew about his second in the 66th minute as Marko Arnautovic’s shot deflected off his legs.

The Baggies did have the chance to level at 1-1 but Asmir Begovic and the post put paid to Gareth McAuley getting on the scoresheet.

Saido Berahino came on during the second half but was unable to really trouble the reliable Stoke defence, as Geoff Cameron and Ryan Shawcross marshalled him and Brown Ideye to keep another clean sheet.

Battling 10-man Leicester win at Hull

Riyad Mahrez James McArthur Managerless Crystal Palace showed how resolute they can be by holding QPR to a 0-0 stalemate at Loftus Road.

With only 24 hours to prepare his team following the sacking of Neil Warnock, Palace caretaker manager Keith Millen named a surprising line-up, with no recognised striker in the starting XI. The first half was a scrappy affair, but it was Millen’s side who had the better of the play, and were only denied by the post after a fine, flowing move.

After the break, the R’s came into the game, with set pieces their main threat, but the Eagles, who have looked insecure at the back of late, were solid throughout to earn a deserved goalless draw.

Leicester City claimed their first Premier League win since September after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Hull at the KC Stadium.

Riyad Mahrez’s well-taken strike on the hour mark proved to be the game’s deciding goal before each side were reduced to 10 men in the closing stages on Humberside.

The Algeria international produced the brightest moment of an uneventful opening 45 minutes to curl a welldirected shot past Allan McGregor.

Hull rarely threatened going forward in the first half and Steve Bruce rung the chances after the interval with Nikica Jelavic, Tom Ince and Abel Hernandez coming on in the second period to bolster the Tigers attack.

J

ose Mourinho slammed a perceived ‘campaign’ against Chelsea after Cesc Fabregas was booked for diving in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Southampton at the St Mary’s Stadium.

Chelsea ensured they will finish 2014 top of the Premier League after Eden Hazard’s individual effort on the stroke of half-time cancelled out Sadio Mane’s opener.

However, there was a moment of controversy in the 55th minute when midfielder Fabregas appeared to be felled in the area by Matt Targett who slipped when trying to jockey the Spaniard.

Referee Anthony Taylor produced a yellow card for simulation, and manager Mourinho believes it is the latest of a series of poor decisions to go against his team this term.

“I think it’s clearly the result of something that looks like a campaign,” he said. “In the first match Diego Costa got a yellow card when should it have been a penalty and red card at Burnley.

“A few months later we lost two points in a match where the penalty is there and Fabregas gets a yellow card.

In football we are always trying - or we should always try - to change the bad things and the double punishment is something unbelievable.

“You have a penalty and probably you win the game. You don’t get the penalty and you get a yellow card. It should be easy - Anthony goes to a screen, he sees he makes a mistake.

“He’s a good guy, an honest guy, he writes ‘I made a mistake’ and let’s rescind the yellow card to Fabregas. It should be simple. “”They are bad yellow cards. You can say that. I’m not saying all, but the crucial ones, because we’re speaking about crucial decisions.”