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THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 VOL. 1. NO.83

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PDP has raped our economy, says Buhari 4

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Court declines ex-parte bid against anti-Fayose lawmakers ÏÏÏ

Okorocha nominates in-laws as minister, 5 Ï 1 ƒê ƍƆƐƈƐƈ 91^ ƒƆƏ ƌƑƏƗƆƏ Ƈ Ƒƍƍ ƏƐƆƏ others

Spirited efforts by Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose and his deputy, Dr. Kolapo Olusola, to stave off impendCONTINUED ON PAGE 4

ƈƄ Ɗ ƈƏƋ ƐƈƋƋ ƋƈƒƆ – FG 4

2

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Politics Page Three

3

s

Editorial Disturbing signs in the polity

G

iven the rare display of maturity exhibited by Nigerians following the victory of General Muhammadu Buhari at the March 28 Presidential election, not many people had expected that such effusion of camadarie would evaporate so soon.

However, if what we have been witnessing in the past few days is anything to go by, then it looks like the political class and other major stakeholders are bent on going back to the barricades.

Such development is not only worrisome but also threatening to make mockery of the bond that was established by President Goodluck Jonathan and President-elect, Buhari immediately after the election results. Following that moment, the world stood still for Nigeria, as people wondered in amazement at the sudden maturity of the country’s democracy. It was indeed Nigeria’s finest hour. Before then, no one would have imagined that opposing candidates could embrace each other after an election had been won and lost, especially given the bitter and sometimes bloody rivalries that are emblematic of the country’s political milieu.

Sadly, that lesson in civility is steadily being eroded so soon. We are saying this against the background of the continuing mayhem, threats, arson, clashes and inflammatory statements in recent times by politicians and their supporters in many parts of the country. Curiously, development situation has everything to do with the forthcoming Governorship and House of Assembly elections slated for April 11. No day passes without news of bloody clashes and standoff between supporters of opposing political parties.

In the bid to win at the elections, some politicians and their prominent backers are now employing every manner of subterfuge, including physical threats to intimidate and silence the opponents.

This has brought in its wake ethnic tensions, violence, distrusts and even deaths. During the Presidential election, Nigerians were dismayed at the banality that preceded political campaigns, especially between the two major parties of PDP and APC. Rather than dwell on issues-based campaigns, both sides degenerated into name-calling, sleaze, mud-slinging and vitriolic attacks on their principal opponents which denied the country the opportunity of knowing where each stood on pertinent issues affecting the citizens’ welfare.

One expected that the new political realities would have done away with such inanities. Rather than abate, the tempo of crude rhetoric seems to be ricocheting to an alarming crescendo, and threatening to engulf the country in a political inferno. We have always advised politicians and their supporters to err on the side of caution while campaigning for votes. It should not be a do-or-die affair. That is why we demand that this blatant absurdity and mindlessness by our politicians and their supporters must stop. They must come to understand the compelling reasons Nigerians worry about elections that are conducted without integrity, especially where state or elite sponsored violence becomes institutionalised like we are beginning to see. As President Jonathan had always admonished,” no politician’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian”. We wish every one listens.

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Ekiti: Still the fountain of knowledge?

Sam Nzeh

ÏÏÏThe tension generated

by the plan to impeach the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, came full cycle on Tuesday when his supporters blocked all major roads and spots within Ado Ekiti, the state capital, and other towns, protesting the action, and thereby leading many to wonder if the state is still the fountain of knowledge it usually prides itself as.

Recall that 19 APC members of the State House of Assembly had on Friday served an impeachment on

Fayose, citing eight alleged impeachable offences.

The protest, among other things, resulted in the death of a man identified as Modupe Olaiya.

The incident has heightened fears that unless the governor and the lawmakers are called to order, and that quickly, the state may become a nightmare for residents. Again, unless something is done urgently to arrest the situation, the Ekiti State, many say, may have more explaining to do to prove to all and sundry that its acronym, Fountain of Knowledge, is still valid.

No doubt, the APC lawmakers are constitutionally empowered to scrutinize the actions of the governor, but

Words On Marble :

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not a few are worried at the speed with which the lawmakers are going about the matter. For many, it looks as if the lawmakers are in a hurry to see Fayose out of office even before April 11, 2015 election for state Houses of Assembly as some them are not sure of being re-elected.

This impatience clearly gives the lawmakers out as being on a revenge mission, a reason non-partisan individuals within and outside the state should step in and seek a truce between both parties. After all, the governor and the lawmakers swore to make the state better than they met it. This is surest way to ensure that reason, the hallmark of knowledge, prevails in Ekiti.

STATEMENTS BY THOSE WHO MATTER

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Fidelis Anosike

Group Managing Director

Editor, Standard, Archives and Special projects

Chief Commercial Officer

Deputy Editors

Noel Anosike

Doyin Awomosu

Group Managing Editor Gabriella Osamor

Editor

Yinka Olujimi

Tunji Okegbola

Yemi Ogunsola Sam Nzeh

Acting Bureau Chief, Northern Operations Lateef Ibrahim

Group News Editor

Online Editor

Editorial Page Editor

Business Editor

Segun Adio Okay Osuji

Sports Editor

Andrew Ekejiuba

Head of Operations Innocent Nwankwo

Adetayo Adelaja Emmanuel Ogbonnaya

Head ICT (Shared Services) Banjo Ayorinde

Head Graphics King Ododoru

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

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Philip Randolph

Marian Wright Edelman

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.

Justice is never given; it is exacted and the struggle must be continuous for freedom is never a final fact, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political and religious relationship.

The challenge of social justice is to evoke a sense of community that we need to make our nation a better place, just as we make it a safer place.

News 4

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

‘We’ll stop mismanagement, squander’ Tom Garba, Yola & Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

ÏÏÏThe

President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari has declared that ruling Nigeria, will be very difficult due to what he termed “colossal rape of its economy and leadership deficit by the outgoing ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

The PDP has also, however, described Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as bad winners.

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, in a statement issued in Abuja, also expressed concern over what it called the apparent indifference of Buhari to burning national issues, which were threatening the unity of the country.

Buhari, while speaking in Yola, at a town hall meeting on Wednesday,

noted that “for Nigeria to get out of the woods, there should be commitment and perseverance on the part of the leadership of the country, but, the new government will do its best to put things in the right perspective,’’ he said.

While thanking Nigerians for voting in the APC during the last Presidential and National Assembly polls, he said the country was endowed with human and natural resources, ‘’but, unfortunately, the resources were mismanaged and squandered, leading to the present situation being experienced in the land. ‘’Although, many expect that things will change in a day, it’s not so, because it will take us some years to make changes. ‘Nigerians are in a haste, people should not see the change, that we are championing, in a twinkle of an eye, we need patience and prayers for us to suc-

ceed”, Buhari said.

He said corruption was like cancer, which had inhibited the progress of Nigeria, but, vowed to fight the scourge head-on and salvage the country from economic bankruptcy. ‘’We need to fight corruption squarely, for Nigeria to move forward. We will run a transparent government, in doing so, I will not favour my family”, Buhari added.

The President-elect, accompanied by the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and other party officials, while campaigning for votes for the party’s candidates, told his audience, “l thank you for your votes and l appeal to you all to vote for APC candidates in the remaining elections in the state.

“We believe in you and we know that your support will enable us to serve you better. This is why we

L-R: Group CEO, United Capital Plc, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Sanni; Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza; and Managing Director/CEO, FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, Mr. Bola Onadele Koko; during the official listing of N30.5bn UBA Bond; the first corporate bond to be admitted on the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, in Lagos... on Wednesday

Chibok girls are alive – FG ÏÏÏClaims

that the kidnapped Chibok girls have been massacred are untrue and should be discarded, the Federal Government declared on Wednesday.

The declaration is in direct contrast with a claim last week by an official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee, Raad Zeid al Hussein, that the schoolgirls might have been slaughtered.

Briefing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, the Coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC), Mr Mike Omeri, insisted that all hope was not lost on the girls.

He also urged Nigerians to be hopeful as recovery of the captured towns and villages by Nigerian troops was still ongoing. He emphatically urged the people to disregard the speculations.

His words: “The search for Chibok girls continues and that is why even with capture of Bama and the rest, security and military have never relented. Until it is concluded, we cannot begin to believe speculation.”

Noting that the first year mark of the abduction is next week, Omeri said: “We hope to give a comprehensive report on what we know so far, and how far the searching has gone.”

He added: “The assurance I will give you is that everywhere is being combed and whatever element we find will be revealed to appropriate authority and nobody is going to keep anything secret.”

Omeri also urged Nigerians to be vigilant during Saturday’s Governorship and States Houses of As-

sembly elections.

He pledged that the military would also be ready to subdue any form of attack from the terror group during the election.

His words: “Recall that in our statement on the eve of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, we reiterated to Nigerians the need to exercise the highest level of vigilance and also scrutinize the activities of unknown and strange persons within their environment.

“In respect of the forthcoming Governorship and State Assembly Elections, we remind the citizens to maintain a similar level of vigilance and caution to ensure a peaceful and incident – free exerContinued on page 6

appeal to you to vote for Bindow Jibrilla (as the governor) and all the House of Assembly members”, Buhari added.

The President-elect had, earlier, paid a courtesy call on the Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa.

Meanwhile, the PDP in a seeming reaction, also expressed concern over what it called the apparent indifference of the President-elect, to burning national issues threatening the unity and stability of the country.

Metuh, in the statement issued noted that while well-meaning Nigerians and the international community were celebrating the peace fostered by the patriotic action of President Goodluck Jonathan, in conceding defeat to Buhari, the President-elect and the APC had been acting in a way that could instigate crisis.

According to the statement, “while well-meaning Nigerians and the international community are celebrating the peace, fostered by the patriotic action of President Goodluck Jonathan in conceding defeat, General Buhari and the APC, have been moving around the country instigating division, engineering crisis and heightening tension in the polity.

“Whereas, General Buhari had assured Nigerians that he would be the President of the entire nation and not of a political party, his actions, in the last one week, show otherwise, as he continued to display sectionalism and insensitivity to matters inimical to the survival of our democracy and well-being of Nigerians.

Continued on page 6

AON raises alarm on unemployed pilots, others Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo & Akor Ejumene, Abuja

ÏÏÏThe

grand patron of Nigerian Professional Pilots (NPP) and Chairman, Airline Operators Of Nigeria (AON) Captain Nogie Meggison, has called on the Federal Government to put in a place a proactive policy that will address the estimated 500 Nigerian licensed pilots who are unemployed.

Meggison, who spoke in an interview in Lagos, said the number of unemployed pilots would increase further when the over 100 student pilots sent to Jordan by the Kano State Government graduate later this year.

This, he said, was in addition to the 52 youths trained under the Federal Government Amnesty Programme as well as the fresh batch of 100 graduating from the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology ( NCAT), and the 40 from the International Aviation College ( IAC), in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Meggison warned that such development was a disincentive to the growth and development of the Nigerian aviation industry.

According to him, over 400 Nigeria licensed aircraft engineers are also out of job, urging the Federal Government to put in place a policy that would ensure these aviation professionals are engaged by both Continued on page 6

Court declines ex-parte bid against anti-Fayose lawmakers Continued from page 1 ing impeachment crumbled on Wednesday at an Abuja High Court.

The court rejected their prayers contained in an ex parte application seeking interim injunction to set aside the impeachment notice served on them and halt further moves to remove them from office.

The governor has, however, petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, over the murder of one Modupe Olaiya during a protest on Tuesday against the plot to remove him from office by 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the State House of Assembly.

Rather than grant the plaintiffs prayers for interim injunction, Jus-

tice Ahmed Mohammed ordered the defendants in the suit, including the APC factional Speaker of the House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, and the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, to appear in court on April 16.

The court ordered the defendants to appear in court to show cause why the order of interim injunction being sought by the plaintiffs halting the impeachment proceedings should not be granted.

Apart from Omirin and Justice Daramola, other defendants in the suit are the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Continued on page 6

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

5 News

Don’t waste your votes on PDP, Oshiomhole tells Edo people

ÏÏÏGovernor

Traffic gridlock on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway… on Wednesday

PHOTO: BOLAJI OLASUNKANMI

Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has urged the people of Edo State to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the April 11 House of Assembly election and not waste their votes on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has passed its productive years.

Speaking at a rally in Uromi, Oshiomhole said “Let me remind you that Saturday is an opportunity to consolidate the change. I hear people say that before APC was in opposition; yes we too want them to be in opposition. PDP has passed its productive years. Forever and ever, PDP can no longer deliver.

IPMAN moves to normalise fuel prices in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun Tosin Ajuwon Akure

ÏÏÏThe Independent Petroleum

Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ore Depot, in Ondo State, has promised to normalise fuel prices in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states The newly inaugurated Chairman of the Association, Mr. Bayo Olowokere, who disclosed this on Wednesday, while addressing journalists at the inauguration

of the association’s executives in Odigbo Local Government Areas of the state, said fuel scarcity in the three states would be the first on his priority.

He said: “We have a lot of things we are lacking. We have problem of non-availability of fuel at the depot. Marketers are not well coordinated. Fuel scarcity is one of the important issues that I need to address as fast as possible.

“Since I assumed office, I have made efforts to meet with the

Chief of Staff to the President, Brig-Gen. Jones Arogbofa (rtd).

But unfortunately, our efforts have not yielded fruits. However, I’m going to make sure that Ore depot receives fuel so that this issue of fuel scarcity can be laid to rest.

“My advice to members is to cooperate with us. I also use this opportunity to tell the public that the fuel they are selling above the approved price is not their making.

“We are making a good arrangement so that as soon as possible the price will go back to the normal price of N87. People should bear with us. As soon as possible, I will make my best possible to bring the price back to N87.”

Inaugurated alongside Olowokere were, Oluayo Oguntuase, Vice Chairman; Kunle Adedokun, Secretary; Bayo Awodunni, Treasurer; Toyin Fasakin, Assistance General Secretary and Zubair Jimoh, Welfare.

Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday paid a private visit to former Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, at the latter’s Asokoro, Abuja residence.

Thereafter, Danjuma in an interview with reporters praised President Jonathan for pulling the nation back from the precipice by conceding defeat in good time.

Jonathan’s action, he added, was in contrast to that of deceased Igbo leader and head of

C&S Church begins Fakeye’s burial

the defunct Biafra Republic, Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Danjuma said that by conceding defeat in the March 28 presidential election to General Muhammad Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jonathan had set a record in statesmanship in Nigeria.

He urged Africa and the world to emulate the outgoing president.

He said that if OdumegwuOjukwu had done the same thing after the fall of Enugu, the nation would have been saved further bloodshed of the civil war.

Joy Ekeke

ÏÏÏThe Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Ayo Ni O, Surulere District, has flagged off burial arrangements for Prophet (Dr) Gabriel Olubunmi Fakeye, who died on Sunday, 11th January, 2015.

An engineer by training, the late Prophet Fakeye was a devoted prophet of God, a person

Okorocha nominates in-laws as Minister, others

ÏÏÏImo State decampees from the

His words: “The outcome of the election and the manner in which President Jonathan conceded victory to Buhari, is unAfrican, it is very important in the history of Africa.

“If Ojukwu did the same after the fall of Enugu, if he had conceded victory to the federal troops, he would have saved the nation one full year of bloodshed.

“President Jonathan has set a history, a record as something to be emulated by the rest of Africa and indeed the whole world. It’s an excellent thing he did.”

Jonathan thanked his host for fatherly support during the election.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the hope of getting juicy federal appointments may soon be disappointed, the Daily Times has learnt.

It was learnt that the deal which got many of of the decampees to move into the APC was the pledge by the Governor, Rochas Okorocha, to cede some political appointments to them.

The Daily Times learnt that the Governor has ceded four slots to his inlaws and family members.

According to sources, the Governor has nominated his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, for ministerial appointment. He has also nominated his brother-in-law, Chuks Ololo, the son of the current Secretary to the State Governor Professor Anthony Anwuka and his younger brother Jude Okorocha for choice federal boards and Director General of agencies.

Nwosu is currently the state Commissioner for Lands and Urban Planning, while Ololo contested the House of Representatives, Owerri Federal Constituency under the APC. Okorocha has been widely criticised for allegedly turning his state into a family party.

of manifest devotion to family and friends, a visionary leader with profound knowledge, grasp, and appreciation of history. He was also a renowned televangelist and radio evangelist.

The kick-off celebration of the life and times of Apostle Prophet Gabriel Olubunmi Fakeye, was held on Tuesday, April 7, at the Conference Room of Cherubim and Seraphim Move-

ment Church, Ayo Ni O. Special Apostle George Oluwadare Ogunleye, the Secretary General, Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Ayo Ni O, who addressed journalists at the press conference, said Fakeye worked tirelessly to restore and maintain the dignity of the C&S church worldwide.

“He was a strong Seraphic

leader of the 21st Century church and a significant prophetic voice to the nations and he led uncountable souls to Christ via his relentless passion for evangelism and humble nature.

“He communicated God’s word with such indescribable, sharp, prophetic insight that helped shape the destiny of many people” Ogunleye said.

Jonathan, a rare African statesman, says Danjuma ÏÏÏPresident

“The engine of the Mercedes Benz in Abuja today is APC’s Buhari, the back axle at the State level is Oshiomhole of the APC, now the seat in the House of Assembly, do you want to put in Volkswagen and reject the Benz? You must vote Adima and Okpame so that the Mercedes will be complete.

“Election that was held penultimate Saturday, some people do not know what happened. Some say we lost but I say we won because today APC is now the Federal Government. Can we win more than that? To win does not mean that everybody must vote one way. What the majority says is what matters.

Jonathan

News 6

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

500 Nigerian pilots unemployed Continued from page 4 indigenous and foreign carriers operating in the country.

He also canvassed a policy that would check the influx of foreign pilots and engineers into the country.

Meggison said there were over 1,000 foreign pilots and 500 foreign aircraft engineers engaged by both local and foreign registered airlines flying in Nigeria.

“The government should compel foreign carriers to set up a line station for aircraft maintenance in the country and employ local engineers to assist in turning around the growth of the sector.

“If policies are not put in place, the challenge of unemployment of pilots and engineers may not be resolved …It is shameful that Nigerian licensed pilots are now driving Kabukabu to make ends meet.”

Another way to generate jobs for indigenous professionals, he said,

was the establishment of aircraft maintenance centres.

“About 2,000 skilled professional jobs can be created in the first year, while 5,000 skilled jobs could be created by the next three years easily.

There is no reason Nigeria, with her over 170 million estimated population should not be exporting skilled aviators to other parts of year world,” he declared.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has allayed fears over the mental fitness of pilots operating in the country.

The Deputy General Manager, Corporate Affairs of NCAA, Mr. Samuel Adurogboye, who disclosed this, said that the common cases the regulatory authority handle concerning pilots’ state of health were eye sight and heart issues and obesity.

Adurogboye said the authority always carried out medical tests on all pilots, foreign and local, every

six months.

“I am not aware of any mental unfitness issue; but I know of issues of eye sight, obesity and heart, these are common among pilots here. The healthiest people on earth are the pilots because they are tested every six-months,’’ he said.

Adurogboye added that pilots who came into Nigeria to fly, no matter the country where they had their training, usually undergo the NCAA examination before they are given the NCAA licence to operate in Nigeria.

His words: “We will give you certain things to read like the syllabus and timetable to go and study, then after the agreed time, normally three months, you come and do exam. If you pass, we give you our own licence. The licence from here does not qualify you to fly in the USA or South Africa, likewise those from other countries do not qualify you to fly here.

L-R: National Treasurer, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, (NUTGTWN), Comrade John Adaji; Secretary General, NUTGTWN Comrade Issa Aremu and Account Officer, Josephine Fashanu at a press conference on awareness of forthcoming elections in Kaduna State... on Wednesday

Court declines ex-parte bid against anti-Fayose lawmakers Continued from page 4 Meanwhile, Fayose on Wednesday petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, over the murder of one of his supporters, Modupe Olaiya, during a protest on Tuesday against plot to remove him from office by 19 APC lawmakers.

Olaiya was allegedly killed during a gun duel between policemen and pro - Fayose supporters at a road block mounted at Ita Ure in Efon Local Government Area on Tuesday.

However, the leader of the antiFayose lawmakers and Omirin, has refuted the allegation, saying his es-

cort never fired any shot against the protesters, but only returned when soldiers prevented them from entering the state.

In the petition dated April 8, 2015, Fayose alleged that the APC lawmakers were escorted by five fully armed mobile policemen, whom he later discovered to have been brought from MOPOL 20 in Lagos State.

Fayose gave the names of the policemen as Sgt Oyelakin Zacchaeus (F/No 386073), Cpl Adewuya Clement (F/No 396903) Cpl James Ogunji (F/No 386976), Cpl Ebute Michael (F/No 343469), and Cpl. Ibrahim Zock (F/No 235510).

Chibok girls still alive – FG Continued from page 4 cise.”

Omeri stated further: “As efforts are being made to ensure a hitch – free exercise, the NIC wishes to reassure Nigerians, especially those living in communities that recently experienced some security challenges arising from the activities of Boko Haram resurgence, that our military and security forces are, more than ever, very ready to ensure the protection of lives and property, while securing the country’s territorial integrity”.

Speaking further on the fight against insurgents, the NIC Coordinator pledged that the Nigerian military would continue to safeguard the communities which were reclaimed from Boko Haram, as those communities are still vulnerable to attacks. ”Lately, there have been reported cases of surprise attacks on some communities in the North East by

the Boko Haram, but the recent siege on Alagarno, a well-known and strategic Boko Haram stronghold, has dealt a severe blow on the operations of the insurgent group which is experiencing its last days in the region,” said.

Omeri continued: “In a situation such as presently exists in the area, there is a high tendency for the insurgent group to suddenly aim at soft targets to destabilize communities which are regaining normalcy.

“However, the Nigerian military has continued to bring the situation under control and also safeguard the lives and property of citizens, while humanitarian assistance is being provided by appropriate authorities.

“The NIC, therefore, calls on Nigerians, particularly those living in the affected communities, to continue to support the efforts of our military and security forces at restoring normalcy in the area,” Omeri added.

PDP to Buhari: Design ways of deepening democracy Continued from page 4 “Instead of settling down to plan a smooth transition and design ways of deepening democracy in appreciation of the mandate given to him, General Buhari has, tacitly, encouraged his men to foment crisis and cause panic in the bid to muzzle personal freedom and impose a reign of terror in the land.

“For instance, General Buhari has remained indifferent to the crisis in Ekiti (State) where out-going APC lawmakers, who are supposed to be campaigning for the renewal of their mandates on Saturday, have

been mobilised to Osogbo in Osun State by the APC to perfect an ignoble plot to remove a democratically elected government in the state.

“APC’s ambition in Ekiti, coupled with its odious triumphalism in the aftermath of the presidential election, have led to avoidable confrontations and near breakdown of law and order in the state, as the people rose to defend the mandate freely given to the PDP. “In continuation of this display of arrogance in victory, Buhari’s men in Lagos, have dragged the revered traditional institution into the political fray with the Oba of La-

gos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, threatening death to supporters of the PDP, an action that has brought outrage from Nigerians with General Buhari playing the ostrich.

“It is, indeed, unfortunate that while his men are causing crisis and threatening Nigerians, General Buhari, instead of calling them to order, displays his insensitivity by moving around the country, campaigning for his party.

“If this sort of insensitivity and arrogance of victory are foretaste of what to expect in a Buhari Presidency, then our dear nation and its people are headed for a long trek in

the wilderness”, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the PDP, in reaction to reports of mass defection from its fold, described the defectors as political Trojans, who, from within, have, ceaselessly, worked against the interest of the party and now fear to face sanctions for their actions.

Stating that it would not miss such fair-weather members, the party commended the courage and steadfastness of its supporters and members, who have remained committed to the cause and urged them to go a step further by emulating the Senate President, David Mark

and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, in speaking out publicly in favour of the party’s ideals and vision of its founding fathers.

The PDP added that adequate machinery was already in place to reposition itself to regain power in the next four years, since it was obvious that the APC lacked qualities of good leadership.

It, therefore, called on Nigerians to use Saturday’s election to demonstrate their commitment to democracy, by voting en-masse for the PDP, bearing in mind that a vote for the party would be a vote for the unity and stability of the country.

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Jonathan, a true patriot, says Buhari Tom Garba Yola

ÏÏÏ The President-elect, Gen-

eral Muhammadu Buhari (retd), on Wednesday, described President Goodluck Jonathan as a true patriot, for considering Nigeria above himself during the just concluded presidential election.

Buhari made the commendation at the palace of the Lamido of Adamawa, in Yola, during a 'thank you' visit to the state.

Buhari, who arrived the Yola international airport at exactly 10am, recalled that he was in the palace before the presidential election, to canvass for votes.

According to him: “I am here, again, to seek for votes for my party in the coming elections.”

He commended Nigerians for showcasing an advanced form of democracy during the last election, adding that Jonathan’s early concession of defeat was helpful, as it doused the tension. ``I was here before the presidential election to seek for your votes, and I got those votes. I am here, again, to say 'thank you' and, as an `Oliver Twist’, I still seek for more votes for my party in the forthcoming elections. ``God has put a lot of senses into all Nigerians, for us to behave ourselves. I was overwhelmed when the president called me,

before the declaration of the election results, to congratulate me. ``That action really doused the tension. Jonathan is a true patriot, for considering Nigeria above himself and for that we owe him gratitude," Buhari said.

He commended the success recorded by the Nigerian Army for recovering all the territories earlier captured from the state by Boko Haram militants.

Buhari also commended the neighbouring countries for co-operating with Nigeria in the fight against the insurgency.

He said his administration would work closely with the nation’s neighbours to secure the people adequately.

He also called on Nigerians to support him to rehabilitate the economy.

“I am pleased with efforts made by the Nigerian Army in recovering all the local governments under the control of Boko Haram.

Our neighbours also need commendation for their co-operation in fighting the insurgency. ``It is a thing of worry that Boko Haram were able to take over our territories under the watch of our soldiers. Our military have earned international respect right from Burma, Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and a host of many international peace-keeping operations.

7 News

Labaran Maku accuses APC, PDP of plot to rig election Rabiu Omaku Lafia

ÏÏÏ Barely 48 hours to the com-

mencement of governorship and House of Assembly elections, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Nasarawa State, Labaran Maku, has unveiled an underground plot by the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the strongest opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to intimidate supporters of APGA from voting in the state.

The former minister gave this indication at a press briefing held at Manyi Royal Suite, in Lafia, the state capital.

Maku said the party was informed of the calculated attempt by the APC and PDP to prevent supporters of APGA from voting.

He also decried the on-going campaign of calumny and destruction of party billboards by the two political parties.

LP suspends members over endorsement of another Igbo youth guber groups protest candidate against INEC, PDP in ÏÏÏ The national leadership of the Labour Party (LP) Anambra A cross section of decampees of Accord, PDP and Labour party members at Mapo Hall, Ibadan… on Wednesday. Inset are Governor of Oyo State, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi (third left), his Osun counterpart, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (third right), his deputy, Mrs. Titilayo Laoye-Tomori (second right), former Speaker, House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh (right) Chairman of Oyo APC, Chief Akin Oke (left) and Senator-elect, Mr. Soji Akanbi (second left).

April 11: Rivers leaders, elders mobilise for APC

ÏÏÏ The Rivers Elders and Lead-

ership Council (RELEC) has called on the people of the Niger Delta state to massively vote, on Saturday, for the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside.

The leaders insisted that another Ikwerre person would not be allowed to succeed Governor Rotimi Amaechi, an Ikwerre from Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Chairman of RELEC, Chief Albert Horsfall, on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, stated that the upland/ riverine dichotomy in the state must be respected.

The Rivers elders were appar-

ently referring to the state’s governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nyesom Wike, an Ikwerre, a former minister of State for Education, who hails from Rumueprikom in Obio/Akpor LGA. Said he: “It is the considered directive and advice of the RELEC elders that all Rivers people should vote Dakuku Peterside for governor and, accordingly, urged Peterside and all other riverine candidates to enter into immediate consultations to collaborate, in order to avoid splitting the votes for a single riverine candidate.

“We must not sleep-walk into another avoidable catastrophe. We

must ignore anyone or group who tries to instigate us to violence, with the erroneous impression that what we could not do when we were in authority and power for six years, we could do now if we remain in power another day or year.

“Is it sad and disgraceful that since 1999 when civilian democracy returned to this country, this state has never had a proper democratic election, whereas other states have all tried, successfully and started to do so?

"For us, it has been the same practice of ‘carry go’, stuffing of ballot boxes; intimidation and violence, and writing false results, after illegal thumb-printing of ballot papers.

has rejected the purported endorsement of the governorship candidate of another party, by the leadership of the Ogun State chapter of the party.

In a release issued by the National Secretary of the party, Barrister Olukayode Ajulo, a copy of which was made available to the Daily Times, the party said it was illegal.

The release read in part: “The party frowns at the illegality of endorsing the candidate of another party without the authority to do so. The acting Chairman and Secretary of the Party in Ogun State are hereby suspended till further notice.

“Comrade Calistus Okafor (Deputy National Chairman) Alhaji Bashiru Apampa (Vice National Chairman) and others have, in the interim, been directed to oversee the affairs of our Party in Ogun State.

Doris Nnabuenyi Awka

ÏÏÏNo

fewer than eight hundred Igbo youth groups stormed Anambra State, on Wednesday, to protest against the massive rigging of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

They also marched to Nnewi at the grave side of late Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, to pour their grievances over the treatment being meted out to Ndigbo.

The youths warned that anybody who tried such act on Saturday, during the Governorship and state House Assembly elections in the state, would be severely dealt with. They were also at Agulu, former governor Peter Obi’s community; Prince Arthur Eze’s Ukpor community and Nnewi, Chief Ifeanyi Ubah’s area, whom they alleged were the master-minds of the electoral fraud.

8

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Politics Rochas Okorocha

IMO STATE: Red card for

Okorocha?

s

Politics Editor: Akinjide Akintola E-mail: akinjide.akintola@dailytimes.com.ng

Val Okara, Owerri The evolution of ‘Ka Opuo’ (Literally meaning let him go) is a popular album released in two parts ‘Ka Opou’ one and ‘Ka Opou climax by a renowned comedian and former aide to Governor Rochas Okorocha, Mr. Uche Ogbuagu. Ogbuagu served in Okorocha’s administration as Special Assistant on Entertainment before he resigned over allegations of deceit on the part of

government. The released of the album ‘Ka Opuo’ by Ogbuagu few months ago, ushered in the use of whistle and red card display in public functions which the state government and members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) find offensive. The album, specifically berated the administration of Governor Okorocha and listed some of the ills of the governor.

A lot of Imo electorate have embraced the use of whistle and red card display particularly at

public function to express their dissatisfaction with the incumbent governor.

It is no longer news that Okorocha’s administration is being run by his family members, in-laws and business associates. When he assumed power in 2011, his popularity soared due to the circumstances of his emergence.

At every occasion, he excited the people with his slogan: “My people, my people” which reCONTINUED ON PAGE 9

16 flashpoints in Saturday’s governorships polls Tinubu

Amaechi

Take your place in history, group urges Buhari, Osinbajo

Agbaje

Wike

The Atayese, a Yoruba self determination group has urged the president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and vice president-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to take their proud and worthy place in history.

In a statement by Tokunbo Ajasin and Wole Aina, Chairman and Secretary respectively,

Suswam

Ortom

the group said this was necessary as the duo prepare to lead and “give leadership here at home in Nigeria and to all Africans wherever they are to be guided always by the Omoluwabi principles of honour and integrity.”

According to them, the 2015 elections will go down in the

Sequel to the presidential and national assembly elections which was swept

by All Progressives Congress (APC), all eyes are now on Saturday’s governorship and house of assembly elections. Would there be a bandwagon effect in all the states election would hold or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pull off stiff resistance to retain its hold? In this report, AKINJIDE AKINTOLA, POLITICAL EDITOR takes a look at the 16 flashpoints that may decide where the pendulum will swing.

Rivers State With over 50 dead in the pre and post presidential election in the state, the state definitely qualifies to top others amongst the flashpoints as the APC squares up to the PDP in Saturday’s election. Already, the rul-

history of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the first one in which the government of the Federation is a coalition of other nationalities of Nigeria and the Yoruba region.

“Since Nigeria attained independence in 1960 and until now, the Yoruba nation has as a matter of principle, found it

ing APC had sounded the alarm that the rival PDP has marked down some of its leaders for elimination ahead of the polls.

The gladiators in the fray are the outgoing governor, Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike, former Minister of state for education now governorship candidate of the PDP in the state.

They used to be very chummy as Wike was once an aide of Amaechi who sponsored him to the federal for the ministerial appointment. Now the two are at war and only God knows what can happen on Saturday especially with what we witnessed during the campaign era. During the Presidential polls, soldiers prevented Amaechi from going round the state to monitor the election when he noticed CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

impossible, untenable or even unacceptable to be part of what has come to be known as the political mainstream in Nigeria.

“The justification for this, has been and remains the proud and principled insistence of the Yoruba nation and peoples, that governance and governments CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

9

Politics

Imo State: Okorocha going?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

ceived wide ovation but today the story is different as his style of governance clearly conveys a difference slogan: “My family, my family”. Ogbuagu did not mince words when he listed some of the corruption cases against the governor and his administration since 2011 when he assumed office.

According to him, the governor had allegedly acquired over 20 plots of land at Spilbat at Akwakuma in Owerri North Local Government area expanding to Mbieri in Mbaitoli LGA with over 50 twin bungalows in the estate. The building of roundabouts in the state with Arabic signs’, China roads’ constructed by the current administration and rehabilitation of the same china roads for six times in two years.

Other areas touched by Ogbuagu included owing of contractors, non conduct of local government election in the state, forceful land acquisition from their owners without compensation and acquiring of 600 CoOs by the governor.

In the albums, Ogbuagu also alleged that the governor used state funds to contest APC presidential primaries knowing he would not secure the ticket, describing such venture as colossal waste. Also is the alleged award of contracts to his in-laws, family members and people outside the state among others.

The whistle blowing and red card display led to the disruption of governorship debate organized by the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Owerri Catholic Archdiocese when a group of women started blowing the whistle and displaying red cards to every person in the

gathering. This singular act angered the members of the APC and they embarked massive destruction of the podium as well as accusing the organisers of bringing women suspected to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to abuse the governor. The allegation has since been dismissed by the organisers.

One of the grouses against Governor Okorocha was that in 2011, he promised the people of the state that he would only administer the state for four years and hand over to somebody from Owerri zone.

Since he hailed from Orlu zone that had occupied the seat of government for eight years under Chief Achike Udenwa and with Okorocha completing his first four years, it therefore means that Orlu zone had ruled the state for 12 years with Owerri zone administering the state for only 22months. For equity, justice and fair play, they aver that Owerri zone should produce the next governor of the state.

Governor Okorocha has consistently at different fora even in churches that Imo state is too small for him to govern and at the same time, it is only people that failed examination that repeat the class. What is now on people’s lips is why he (Okorocha) made the u-turn, why did he swallow his words and at what point did he change his mind to go for second term?

Already, majority of the electorate in the state are teaming up with the PDP governorship candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha to repeat the feat of March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections where the PDP clinched all the three senatorial seats in the state as well as sweeping eight out of 10 House of Representatives seats.

Okorocha

“Already, majority of the electorate in the state are teaming up with the PDP governorship candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha to repeat the feat of March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections where the PDP clinched all the three senatorial seats in the state as well as sweeping eight out of 10 House of Representatives seats.”

Ihedioha

Politics 10

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

to be an easy victory as Okorocha, whom the people had decided to give the red card will not want to give up easily as the incumbent. he would want to give his best seeing that defeat is knocking at the door.

But he may want to exploit the victory of his party at the presidential election as he has been mobilising massively ahead of the election. But he is meeting more than his match in Ihedioha who has the backing of the people. Indeed, there is a revolution going on in the state which appears to be sweeping Okorocha out of office. This will be another flashpoint on Saturday.

Aliyu

Ibeto

Flashpoints in Saturday’s polls CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

some flaws. As the chief security officer of the state, that was humbling enough. With the loss of the presidential election by the PDP, they will want to clinch Rivers at all costs, so it will be a sort of miracle if the state is not turned into a theatre of war.

Lagos State Another explosive state is Lagos, where Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is having the biggest battle of his life. The APC, having won the presidential election, will want to consolidate its hold on Lagos which is its traditional base since 1999. Of course, the PDP appears ready to give the APC a run for its money. It has deployed everything at its disposal to capture Lagos. In the

last election, the PDP made an appreciable impact, destroying the seeming invincibility of the APC in Lagos. The margin is incredibly thin considering the 2011 elections. In Saturday’s election, it is planning to even do better in order to snatch the state from APC. This time around, it has a formidable candidate in Jimi Agbaje, a veteran and former member of Tinubu team.

The PDP is banking on the theme of change which is APC slogan, insisting that there must be change in Lagos after 16 years. They are insisting that Lagos must be freed from one man’s tight fisted rule as Tinubu has turned Lagos into his personal fiefdom. But it might have lost a bit of its steam by the victory of the APC in the presiden-

tial election which has given the progressives more confidence especially its foot soldiers.

It is obvious that the two groups will be matching themselves strength for strength on Saturday making it a tough duel.

Imo State Imo is another state that promises a lot of action. Here, PDP candidate, Emeka Ihedioha and current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives is making impressive showings to dislodge the incumbent APC governor, Rochas Okorocha. In the last presidential election, the PDP captured two of the three senatorial seats and is planning to seal it up on Saturday with victory at the governorship election. It is not going

Benue State There is growing fear that the fields of Benue will not be turned to slaughtering slabs in this election. The APC is trying to overrun the state which all along had been a PDP state. In the last election, the APC stole the show with even the governor, Gabriel Suswam loosing his senatorial election to his APC opponent, Barnabas Gemade, a former na-

“The Governor, Babangida Aliyu was humiliated as he lost his senatorial election to the APC. The situation might not be too different in Saturday’s election as the ruling party might want to save face by trying to put up some fight."

tional chairman of the PDP who defected to APC when Suswam grabbed the ticket from him, an incumbent.. APC governorship candidate, Samuel Ortom a former minister of state for trade and investment also defected from PDP when Suswam imposed a candidate on the party.

With the presidential which the APC won in the state, a lot of the PDP stakeholders have moved to the APC with the party becoming a shell of itself. But the PDP, with the power of incumbency both at the state and national level may want to pull some muscles. Benue with its history of violence also promises to be a flashpoint.

Niger State The scenario here is similar to the Benue experience where the deputy governor of the state defected to the APC to become its governorship candidate. in the last election, the APC cleared the state, which is a PDP state.

The Governor, Babangida Aliyu was humiliated as he lost his senatorial election to the APC. The situation might not be too different in Saturday’s election as the ruling party might want to save face by trying to put up some fight. if this happens and it is likely, then we may have a flashpoint in our hands here.

Jigawa State This is another similar scenario where the sitting PDP governor lost his senatorial election to the APC . In what appears a macabre dance, shortly after the presidential election which the APC won, the deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Ahmed Gumel, decamped to the APC. in an immediate retaliatory action, the PDP dismissed him from the party and with that development, anything might CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

Group tasks Buhari, Osinbajo on Nigeria’s image CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

to be good must reflect and represent the will of the people, be people friendly and dedicated to the pursuit of egalitarianism and modernisation and the consequent improvements to the quality of human life that comes with it.

“In supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections, the Yoruba nation has made an historic move, in a democratic choice to create the first coalition of nationalities north of the Niger-Benue

confluence and the Yoruba nation and peoples”, the group said.

It urged elected representatives, regardless of party affiliation to ensure that the Buhari -Osinbajo government delivers to the over 300 Nigerian nationalities and peoples: Effective and efficient economic programme for sustainable growth and development; a high and sustained level of social and psychological security.

“Immediate improvements to the international image and

stature of Nigeria and Nigerians enshrined and encased in the projection of the Omoluwabi principles of honour and integrity as the badge of “Nigerianess”, and take immediate practical steps to restructure Nigeria as a truly democratic union of coequal federating states of the different nationalities and peoples of Nigeria, protecting their rights to God given resources, political autonomy and conditioned by their popular referendum approving same”, the group stressed.

Buhari, Osinbajo

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

11

Politics

APATIRA: Lagosians are no BENUE GUBER RACE: Ortom favoured to win fools; they can’t be bought Freddie Adamgbe, Makurdi

Akeem Abiodun Apatira, is Chief Executive Officer of Drain Ducks (an agency responsible for clearing of drainages in Lagos and also ensuring that there is no flood in Lagos).

He is also the Director General of a Lagos-based nongovernmental organisation the Eko Volunteer Campaign Group (EVCG). In this interview with SEGUN ADIO, Apatira explains the reason why APC should retain Lagos State.

What is Eko Volunteer Campaign Group and what are they out to achieve?

Eko Volunteer Campaign Group is a group of people with like minds. We are people who believe in the tenacity of change and continuity. We are youths who aspire and who know what it is to ensure that there is good governance in Nigeria as a whole. As members of EVCG, we are out to ensure that APC supersedes any other party in the state.

We are also a group under a group called ACT NOW. It is a group of like minds that believes that first term voters know the importance of governance. They are mainly youths. There are more youths in Lagos than any other states in Nigeria. These people deserve to live good life and they need to agitate for good governance. That is what we are doing in ACT NOW. What exactly are you out to do at this period of election?

We are sensitising people on the need to be governed well. We had had PDP at the centre for the last 16 years and we are comparing what had taken place in APC-controlled states to the PDP states. What we are seeking also is effective and positive change.

We have had democracy in the last 16 years. What can one show

Apatira for it? See what is happening in APC states across the country.

We believe these should be replicated at the centre, and continued at the states where we govern.

The aim of the group is also fiscal federalism at the centre; we are demanding for transparent and open governance at the centre. We want positive and effective change where states can control their resources and be made to contribute certain percentages to the centre. If you look at the way allocations are shared among the three tiers of government, you will realise a lot of irregularities.

About 52% is being given to the Federal Government at the centre while the states and the local governments shared the rest.

What sort of a federation is that?

We believe that such allocation should be given to the states because they are the one nearest to the people.

Do you think that you have any chance to remain in power in Lagos?

By the special Grace of God we have a great chance, greater than what we had in the past.

There is no doubt about that because of the track record our party in Lagos. Asiwaju Tinubu when he came into power in 1999, initiated certain lofty reforms in the state that made the state become the number one in the country today. Now we have Fashola actualising those reforms and building on those foundations that Tinubu laid.

The legacy of succession in¬stituted by Asiwaju is legendary because it is structured to foster continued progression of unprecedented growth and meaningful development. If Asiwaju had not handed over to an enigmatic and credible person like Fashola, continu¬ity of excellent service would have been a mirage, thus a professional of repute like Mr. Ambode will continue with the trend of excellent service/out¬put inherent in the APC.

Unless a miracle happens, the Benue State governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Samuel Ortom is favoured to clinch the number one seat in the April 11, 2015 poll.

Investigation revealed that many factors have counted on the side of the former Minister of State for Commerce, Trade and Investment, chief among which is last week’s victory of the presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari.

Chief Ortom, a deeply rooted politician with massive appeal across all the spectrum of Benue society has since last week been receiving decampees from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with some assuring that although they will not officially decamp but work underground to deliver their constituencies to him.

Daily Times gathered that penultimate Saturday, five chieftains of the PDP in Gwer West Local Government areas of the state including three former chairmen, two Special Advisers to Governor Gabriel Suswam viz; Chief Simon Aondona, Hon Anta Igbaato, Geofrey Ichoughul, Andrew Ayande and Elder Nybiam decamped to the APC with thousands of their followers at a colourful occasion held in Naka, headquarters of the local government.

A day after, the APC

Where the action is on Saturday CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

happen in the countdown to Saturday’s election. With Buhari in as President-elect, the mood in the north may have changed and the APC will likely have an upper hand. But will the incumbent PDP governor, fast talking Sule Lamido fold his hands and allow the APC easy romp? That question will be answered on Saturday which makes the state another flashpoint.

Bauchi State Being the home state of the incumbent national chairman of PDP, Adamu Muazu appears as another flashpoint. The scenario here too is like Jigawa as the APC cleared the state which is a PDP stronghold. The governor, Isa Yuguda also lost his senatorial election to the APC. The state might be another battleground come Saturday when it is remembered that it was here that the convoy of President Goodluck Jonathan was

attacked during the Presidential campaign.

Other states likely to experience some tough situations include Oyo, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo, Kaduna, Abia and Delta. In Oyo, incumbent APC governor Isiaka Ajimobi is hoping to make history as the first governor in the state to break the second term jinx while two former governor, 70-year old Rashidi Ladoja and 65-year old Adebayo Alao-Akala are hoping to unseat him. the

Ortom

standard bearer was invited by the supreme umbrella body of the Igede nation, Ominyi Igede comprising of Oju and Obi local government areas where they pledged their unalloyed support for his candidacy.

The governorship hopeful according to information available from the campaign organisation is billed to receive staunch chieftains of the PDP to APC like Gen Lawrence Onoja and Hon Benjamin Aboho, a member of the House of Representatives before the end of the campaigns on Thursday, April 9th, 2025.

Daily Times gathered that while the campaign train of the APC has been on pedestal, that of the PDP has been on snail speed chiefly due to the shock the party experienced during the March 28th, 2015 presidential and national assembly elections.

An insider source told our correspondent that to worsen matters, the PDP governorship candidate, Mr Terhemen Tarzoor is running short of funds as he is said to be cash trapped while the APC’s victory is premised on goodwill and the peoples determination for change of.

A political analyst, Comrade James Tyosar said Ortom’s aspiration to govern Benue State is as good as achieved given the fact that the Idoma minority where the PDP is banking on for block votes will no longer vote for PDP to remain in opposition given their political history since independence.

News 12

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Kaduna monarchs not slaves, el-Rufai tells Yero Sunday Isuwa Abuja

ÏÏÏThe Kaduna State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday, flayed Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero for stopping the meeting between Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice-President- elect and Southern Kaduna traditional rulers. He condemned Yero for disrespecting the traditional rulers and trying to treat them as if they were his slaves.

El-Rufai candidate, who spoke while featuring on a Nagarta Radio Kaduna programme, argued that Yero was insensitive to have stopped Osinbajo, from meeting with the respected monarchs.

“Only an insensitive leader will stop respected traditional rulers from meeting a Vice- President in waiting. Osinbajo was in Southern Kaduna on a serious business, to have a first-hand understanding of problems in the area, which ranged from insecurity to unemployment, lack of development and how to advance the in-

terests of the people of Southern Kaduna.

“To stop traditional rulers from interacting is demeaning and is a denigration of their peoples and their culture. They are not Yero’s slaves; they are our leaders who deserve respect and should not be treated as slaves.”

El-Rufai thanked the people of Kaduna State for their massive vote for Buhari and the APC candidates for Senate and the House of Representatives.

He urged the people to complete the job by electing an APC

Kehinde Akinpelu Ilorin

ÏÏÏWorkers in Kwara State, unel-Rufai

governor and APC members of the state House of Assembly. He warned the PDP to desist from its desperate attachment to violence and rigging.

Media tasked to be fair, balanced in election reporting Kwasu Alhamdu

ÏÏÏA

group, the Media Scholar’s Network (MSN), has charged journalists to be fair and balanced in the reportage of elections in the country.

The group also advised media houses to avoid sensationalism, in order to help douse the tense atmosphere in the country.

Its advice was issued after a two-day media training for political reporters, held at the University of Lagos. The training was done in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mrs Bolanle Ambode (middle) and others during the endorsement of the APC governorship candidate for Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode by Strike Team in Lagos ... recently

I’ll never defect to APC, says Gov. Aliyu Pita Chikwem Minna

ÏÏÏThe Governor of Niger State

Babangida Aliyu, on Wednesday said he would rather resign from politics ithan dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He described politicians defecting from the PDP to the APC as suffering from poverty of integrity, morality and principle.

Aliyu, who was receiving guests at his office, in Minna, said the electorate should not be worried by defections from PDP, adding that those who should worry were members of the APC, who would soon have problems of political profiteers in their hands.

According to him: “I will resigned from politics instead of joining APC, those defecting from PDP based on the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections lack principles of integrity and morality. They are, indeed, stomach politicians.”

“For principles of integrity, morality, we have chosen to remain in PDP. I heard people insinuating that I have dumped my party candidate for the APC candidate. It is a lie. I will never do such a thing.”

Speaking on the forthcoming election, he said Niger APC accusation against the PDP over plans to rig in the April 11 gubernatorial election had shown that “they are, indeed, the very ones trying to rig and cause civil unrest. On our own

side, we will abide by the rule, to ensure nobody or party is cheated.

The election must, indeed, reflect the wishes of the people.”

Meanwhile, Alhaji Seidu Abubakar, former chairman Wushishi Local Government Area, who led a group of former local government chairmen in Niger State to the governor on a visit, said they had chosen to remain in the PDP based on principles and conviction.

“Despite the after-effect of the presidential election, we remain undaunted. The Buhari effect has come and gone. The next election will not be an APC show, because we do not have Buharis among the governorship candidates of the APC.”

Kwara workers endorse Gov. Ahmed der the auspices of Joint Kwara Labour Congress, have unanimously endorsed the State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed.

The workers, in a joint statement signed by the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Akanbi Umar Farouq, Chairman Trade Union Congress, Olumoh Nasir Kolawole and Chairman, Joint Negotiation Council, Kehinde Kolawole, said Governor Ahmed was a friend of workers.

The workers listed a 31-point achievement of the Ahmed administration in the promotion of workers’ welfare – including the implementation of N18, 000 minimum wage from August 2011 to workers and pensioners; prompt payment of salary on or before the 25th of every month to core service, teaching service and SUBEB. Other achievements included training and r-training of civil servants, downward review of Pay as You Earn (PAYE), which was effected during the minimum wage implementation by about 38 per cent, as well as the pact not to retrench workers on account of dwindling federal allocation.

Polls: Group urges Lagosians to vote their choice Joy Ekeke

ÏÏÏElven political parties have

urged voters to come out and vote en masse, without any form of intimidation, for the candidate of their choice.

According to the representatives of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Mega Progressive Peoples party (MPPP), Unite Democratic Party (UDP), KOWA and others, overwhelming participation and the period of peace during and after the election was paramount and healthy for the state, in particular, and Nigeria in general.

At a press conference, on Tues-

day, in Lagos, and under the auspices of Lagos Rescue Coalition, an initiative of gubernatorial candidates and party leaders, tagged: “Lagos for All, All for Lagos”, the eleven political parties, excluding All People Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), resolved to champion the cause of democracy, devoid of intimidation and coercion.

The National Chairman of MPPP, Oludare Falade, stressed that democracy was a matter of choice and no voter should be coerced to vote a particular candidate for any selfish interest. He added that the essence of democracy was to allow the will of the people to prevail, stating that any contrary doctrine paraded by anybody was tantamount to tyranny.

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Mugabe in first visit to South Africa in two decades ÏÏÏ It has been more than two

decades since Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe paid a state visit to neighbouring South Africa.

Mugabe returned Tuesday to a South Africa that has changed considerably since his last state visit in 1994. Since then, South Africa has transformed itself from a global pariah over its apartheid system of racial separation into the "Rainbow Nation" of today.

Mugabe has changed, too. The man once hailed as a tireless liberation leader showed his indefatigable nature by energetically running for - and dubiously winning - election after election, allegedly rigging polls, committing human rights abuses and destroying his nation’s economy along the way.

In 2013, Mugabe was elected to his seventh term in a poll that some observers said was flawed.

Those events have created a chill between him and the international community.

But independent analyst David Monyae said this visit may represent the first thaw in Zimbabwe’s frosty diplomatic relations.

Monyae said one reason is that Mugabe, who recently became head of both the African Union and the Southern African Devel-

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, front left, and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, enter the Union building in Pretoria, on Wednesday. Also pictured are Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe, rear left, and South Africa's first lady Thobe.

opment Community, is a little too important to keep ignoring. Also, he noted, Zimbabwe may be turning a corner.

“It signals the start of the stabilization of Zimbabwean politics on one hand and slow coming out of the economic crisis as Zimbabwe engages with the international community. … President Robert Mugabe is currently the

chair of SADC as well as the chair of the African Union. So he holds two critical positions in the African continent. That’s his leverage on quite a number of issues," Monyae said.

The official reason for this visit, which started Tuesday, is to strengthen economic cooperation between the two nations, said South Africa’s foreign ministry.

Since Zimbabwe began its economic decline in the early 2000s, the balance of trade has swung decisively in South Africa’s favor.

And so, the man known for his fiery invective may have to bring out the begging bowl on this visit, Monyae said. The visit comes ahead of an SADC summit hosted

by Zimbabwe, which the nation is reportedly struggling to pay for.

Kenya Nine DR Congo soldiers killed by freezes accounts Rwandan Hutu rebels of terrorists’ ÏÏÏNine Congolese soldiers "We have not yet eradicated the 1994 genocide of financiers ÏÏÏ

The Kenyan government has frozen the bank accounts of 86 entities and individuals it suspects of financing terrorism.

The move is designed to choke the flow of money to the Islamist terror group al-Shabab.

All 86 were also put on a government watch list.

Al-Shabab has carried out multiple attacks in Kenya in recent years, and it has warned that more will come unless Kenya withdraws its troops from Somalia.

Most recently, the group claimed responsibility for last Thursday's attack on Garissa University College that killed 148 students.

On Sunday, Kenya carried out airstrikes in Somalia, targeting two al-Shabab camps in the Gedo region along the Kenyan-Somali border.

were killed in an ambush by Rwandan Hutu rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a military source said on Tuesday, over a month after the army launched a sweeping offensive against the militia.

The attack by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) happened on Monday afternoon in eastern Masisi district of North Kivu, said Major General Leo Mushale, who commands forces in the northeast of the country.

Three officers were among the dead, including commander of Masisi district Colonel Raphael Bawili, Mushale said at a press conference in Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

"The enemy was able to carry out this ambush because a number of Congolese continue to collaborate with them," said the general.

FDLR but they are being neutralised by our forces and we ask the public not to collaborate with the enemy," he added.

In late February DRC forces launched a fresh offensive against rebels active in the restive eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.

The FDLR, a militia of Rwandan Hutu rebels, has been active in DRC since crossing over the border from Rwanda after the

Kabila

Tutsi people there and the subsequent seizure of power by a Tutsi-led rebel faction.

Some of the Hutu militia's older commanders and soldiers are wanted by international courts for their alleged role in the massacre, which claimed the lives of at least 800 000 people in Rwanda, mainly from the Tutsi minority.

Since the launch of the operation five weeks ago, the army claimed to have "neutralised" a few hundred rebels, according to General Mushale, out of a fighting force of around 2,000.

Mushale confirmed only that 13 rebels had been killed and refused to give the total number of army losses. In late March, the UN security council voted to cut 2 000 troops from the 20 000-strong peacekeeping force in the country, despite calls by Kinshasa for UN troops to handover responsibility for security to the country's army.

13 Africa Uganda arrests suspect over killing of prosecutor ÏÏÏUgandan

authorities have arrested a Ugandan man, who, once, was detained at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of playing a role in the killing last month of a local prosecutor who handled terror cases, police said on Wednesday. Jamal Kiyemba was arrested with three others as they held a meeting in a Kampala suburb on Tuesday, Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga told The Associated Press. Enanga said the arrests were made with the help of US officials who helped to track down Kiyemba.

"There was an operation which we carried out with our counterterrorism team because we suspect that Jamal Kiyemba and his colleagues have been involved in some form of criminality," he said. He said that while there was no conclusive evidence tying Kiyemba to the killing on 30 March of Ugandan prosecutor Joan Kagezi, detectives were questioning him about his possible role in that crime and a range of other offenses.

US, French forces search for Burkina Faso hostage ÏÏÏThe

US and French military are assisting in the search for a Romanian mineworker kidnapped in Burkina Faso and believed to have been taken into Mali, Burkina Faso's security minister has said.

Both the France and US have drones based in Niger, which neighbours Burkina Faso, as part of efforts to combat Islamist extremists in the region.

"Investigations are continuing with our strategic partners, the French and the Americans, who have in-depth surveillance capabilities," security minister Auguste Denise Barry told reporters on Tuesday.

Barry also spoke of being in regular contact with the authorities in Mali and Niger on the search.

He said while there had been speculation that the kidnappers had taken the security officer from the mine into Mali before moving into Niger, the site of the abduction was "much closer to the Niger border".

The security officer was taken on Saturday when five armed men attacked a manganese mine in Tambao, 350km northeast of the capital, Ouagadougou.

Foreign 14

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Palestinian stabs two Israeli soldiers, shot dead

two Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank before being shot dead by one of them, the Israeli military says.

The attack took place on Route 60, near the entrance to the Jewish settlement of Maale Levona and the Palestinian village of Sinjil.

One of the soldiers was stabbed in the neck and is in a critical condition. The other suffered light wounds. The knife attack was the

US: White Police officer charged in death of unarmed black man

ÏÏÏA white police officer in the

southeastern U.S. state of South Carolina has been charged with murder after a video showed him firing repeated shots at a fleeing, unarmed black man and killing him after a traffic stop.

The fatal shooting of 50-yearold Walter Scott last Saturday in the city of North Charleston occurred after he was pulled over by Officer Michael Slager for driving with a broken brake light.

The video, taken by a bystander

second targeting Israeli soldiers in a week.

It also comes despite security being stepped up for Passover, one of the most important religious festivals in the Jewish calendar.

The soldiers were members of the Israeli military's Home Front Command and had been sitting inside an ambulance placed on standby at the Sinjil junction during Passover, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

with a cellphone camera, shows Slager firing eight times at Scott.

After Scott fell to the ground after the final shot, Slager walked over to Scott and handcuffed him, then returned to the spot where he opened fire. The officer picked up something from the ground, walked back to Scott's body, and dropped the object next to him.

Scott's father, Walter Scott, Sr., told NBC's Today show Wednesday that he believed his son may have tried to flee because "he didn't want to go to jail again" for child support payments he owed.

"He just ran away."

Slager initially said he opened fire after Scott had taken his electronic stun gun during a scuffle.

The unidentified witness who took the video turned it over to Scott's family. A lawyer for the family turned the video over to The New York Times, which posted it on its website Tuesday.

One of the soldiers suffered serious stab wounds to the neck and head. He was given emergency treatment at the scene before being evacuated to hospital in Jerusalem. The other soldier was stabbed in the back before he opened fire and killed the attacker.

Outgoing Economy Minister Naftali Bennett of the nationalist Jewish Home party praised the actions of the wounded soldier.

"Our enemies have only one

UK police seek gang behind '£200m' heist

ÏÏÏBritish police were hunting

for a gang on Wednesday who raided safety deposit boxes in London's major jewellery business district, making off with cash and gems in what local media said could be the country's biggest-ever heist.

The Metropolitan Police said the thieves used heavy cutting equipment to get into the vault at the officially unnamed deposit business in Hatton Garden, home to almost 300 diamond, gold and gem dealers and more than 50 shops, where they broke into the safety boxes.

According to the Sun newspaper, the gang are thought to have

ÏÏÏAn Israeli hospital spokes-

person says a young man has died of injuries he suffered during a deadly stampede that broke out at a funeral procession last weekend for a revered rabbi.

It was the second fatality in Saturday's stampede - another man was crushed to death at the time.

Vered Kvitel of Beilinson Hospital says the 18-year-old died on Wednesday. Several others injured in the incident are still hospitalised.

Over 100, 000 people poured into the streets of the predominantly Ultra-Orthodox Jewish city of Bnei Brak in central Israel for the funeral of a 101-year-old Jewish scholar, Shmuel Wosner.

While such mass funerals for important rabbis take place regularly in Israel, deaths or serious injuries from the large crowds are extremely rare.

15 Mexican policemen killed in ambush

An Israeli minister praised the wounded soldier for shooting rather than arresting the assailant

ÏÏÏA Palestinian man stabbed

Fatal stampede at Israeli rabbi's funeral

goal: to hurt as many Jews as they can. I congratulate the security forces who killed the terrorist.

This must be the fate of anyone who hurts innocent Jews."

"A serious incident must end this way and not with dreams of liberation from jail."

Palestinian medics identified the attacker as Mohammed Jasser Karakra, a 27-year-old resident of Sinjil, according to the Agence France Presse.

tunnelled their way in through one wall to access a lift shaft at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd building on Friday, while businesses were closed for the Easter holidays.

They then abseiled down to the vault and smashed their way in, an unnamed source told the paper. Other media reported that 300 boxes had been raided.

Police gave no details of what was stolen but the Sun said the haul could be as much as £200m ($300m), dwarfing the amounts taken in Britain's previous biggest heists.

"Robbery at one of the biggest safe deposits in Hatton Garden over the Easter weekend," London gemologist Thelma West wrote on Twitter. "The loss is Huge."

She said a lot of jewellers and dealers leave their stock in safe deposits over holiday periods.

ÏÏÏ Fifteen police officers have

been killed and five others wounded in an ambush in the Mexican state of Jalisco, prosecutors have said.

Gunmen targeted the police convoy as it travelled along a highway towards the state capital of Guadalajara on Monday. Security Commissioner Alejandro Solorio called it a "cowardly attack".

The area is home to a drug cartel known as Jalisco New Generation, but Mr Solorio would not say if the gang was behind the ambush.

It is considered one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico and is involved in large-scale drug trafficking along the Pacific Coast.

Raul Benitez, a security expert at Mexico's National Autonomous University, described the afternoon attack as well planned and orchestrated.

"A lot of gunmen were involved.

They blocked the highway to surround them [police] and attacked with military superiority,' he told the Associated Press.

Benitez

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

15 Opinion

Giving legal backing to Nigerian Shippers’ council

T Franklin Uba

ransportation industry occupies a central place in the economy of any nation. Historically, it has been a means of achieving national security thereby creating the necessary climate for social, political and economic progress.

Transport provides linkages, channels the flow of persons, commodities and ideas between places and equally mediates relationships and interactions between individuals and communities. At the global sphere, the growth index of any economy is largely dependent on the role of its transportation sector.

The maritime sub-sector is one crucial arm of the transportation chain that has witnessed tremendous growth in the past eight years.

The maritime sub-sector could be equated as the water that runs into every valve of the economy hence it is strategic to the growth of our economy.

Nigeria is blessed with seven major ports namely the premier port Apapa, Tincan Island Port, Port Harcourt Port, Calabar Port, Delta Port and Onne Port which was specifically designed for the oil and gas industry. But recently, the Federal Government in collaboration with private investors is considering

developing Deep Sea Green Ports at Lekki, Badagry, Ibaka Deep Sea Port, Akwa Ibom State and one in Ogun State. It is envisaged that with the development of such deep-sea ports in Nigeria, ships with heavy tonnage can berth thereby facilitating international trade.

Again, if we take a look at the contributions of the maritime industry to national economy, especially from the perspective of post port reforms, it has brought an appreciable level of efficiency and competitiveness.

Statistics available from the Nigeria Ports Authority(NPA) show that our ports are now globally ranked but within the first quarter of 2014, general cargo including containerised cargo contributed 32.2 percent to cargo throughput at 6,324,366 metric tonnes. Also Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) to the maritime sub-sector is heavy and huge, thereby stimulating the growth of the country’s economy.

After the implementation of the Federal Government Port Reform Programme which led to the concession of port terminals to private operators in 2006, the government noticed a disturbing vacuum in the sector, namely, the absence of an Economic Regulator that will act as a referee in the industry. This vacuum has made it difficult for the nation to enjoy the gains of the pro-

gramme. Our ports before this time were not competitive, characterised with high tariff, inefficiency, delays and long cargo dwell time. The inefficiency in the procedures and operations of agencies and service providers and even users was adversely affecting and undermining Nigeria’s competitive advantage in international trade. In a deliberate remedial effort, the Federal Government in February 2014 appointed Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) the interim Economic Regulator for the ports sector. That undoubtedly was a good step in the right direction. To demonstrate its ability to make the ports operational, NSC took legal steps to stop arbitrary charges that terminal and shipping companies were known for.

These groups constitute themselves into a monopolistic cartel that thrives on impunity and disregard to Nigerian laws. Their action has negated the purpose of the port reforms thereby undermine our economy. Since the coming of Nigerian Shippers Council as the Ports Economic regulator, the Council has abrogated unjustifiable shipping and port charges, promoted the automation of the port processes, successfully resolved complaints from shippers’ and most importantly in 2014 alone, it directed shipping companies and Terminal Operators

(TO) to refund a whopping sum of N150 billion of arbitrary charges back to importers.

This is not only commendable but must be sustained by the Council. In this vein, given the recent Federal High Court judgment by Justice Ibrahim Buba, affirming Nigerian Shippers’ Council as Ports Economic regulator, we hereby urge the Federal Government to act without hesitation and give necessary legal and administrative backing on the pronouncement.

We also request stakeholders in the maritime industry, especially the Terminal Operators, shipping companies and Nigerian Ports Authority to close ranks and work with the port regulator in the national interest. We cannot fall back again to the pre-2006 Concession period, whereby capital flight, unwholesome practices, massive corruption were part of the day. We believe that a critical sector like the maritime should be next to oil and gas. We cannot afford to fail in this critical sector that touches the blood of the economy.

In conclusion, the time to give the pronouncement a legal/administrative backing is now. We believe this will galvanise the Council to redouble its efforts of cleaning the mess at the ports.

Franklin Uba is a Lagos based maritime expert

Rebirth of Nigeria’s democracy

L Moshood Isah

ike any other wellmeaning Nigerian, I am overwhelmed by the outcome of the just concluded presidential election. Several issues of national interest crisscrossed my mind to inform this piece, but first, may we dedicate the peaceful conduct of the presidential election and the rebirth of the country’s democracy to Almighty Allah.

Before the election commenced, global attention was on us and keen to use the outcome of the election to measure our democratic maturity. I am very sure Nigeria has not disappointed the whole world with the outcome of its presidential election. As a matter of fact, the nation has joined the rank of nations that conduct peaceful, credible and acceptable elections.

Nigeria sits high up there among democratic nations as President Goodluck Jonathan did not even wait for official announcement from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before he conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari. This singular action by Dr.

Jonathan confirmed his image as a peaceful and honourable man.

The President will go down as the first and best among the rest when it comes to roll call of real democrats in Africa. The United Nations and other foreign bodies have also doffed their hat for Nigeria and the President for the smooth conduct of the election. General Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, have taken the day but here is an argument that the real winner of the election is Nigeria’s democracy. By and large, the heroes are the dogged and resilient Nigerians who remained patient and civil despite all the uncertainties surrounding the polls. My special encomium goes to President Jonathan for leading by example and displaying the change in political system being practiced in this country. That famous phone call to congratulate the presidentelect was a monumental feat, which only President Jonathan has attained in the history of this nation. The statement released by the President went a long way in curbing any form of negative postelection reactions from aggrieved parties. This is a sheer display of political sportsmanship and an

enviable attribute of a statesman.

Nigerians will forever appreciate the National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), and other security chiefs for displaying professionalism and timely warning and advice that have brought about peaceful conduct of the election so far. Though, their initial advice for INEC to postpone the elections by six weeks was cynically criticised, the postponement ultimately turned out to be the best decision for the nation. The postponement gave avenue for troops to incapacitate terrorists to the extent that peaceful elections were held even in the North Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. Thus, we have seen outcome of elections in those areas. Ultimately, the elections were a true reflection of the people’s choice as no section or region of the nation was inappropriately disenfranchised. Talking of peoples’ vote counting, we won’t be celebrating this historic period of our nation without our amiable, calm, ever reliable and credible electoral umpire, Prof. Attahiru Jega. What more can you say about this wonderful personality? Immediately after he was appointed INEC Chairman in 2010,

I knew that President Jonathan was bent on keeping his words with regards to conducting credible elections and replenishing the electoral system. The calm professor has redefined the electoral system in all ramifications. From the printing of Permanent Voter Cards, which can serve citizens for a long time, the instigation of the Smart Card Reader was a masterstroke by Jega, which ensured manipulation was brought to the barest minimum. There is also the need to say the way Jega handled the tantrums displayed by former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe (good to know Orubebe later apologized for his infamous action), was simply epic. His stability and tranquillity was top notch and something everybody aspiring to leadership should emulate. Thank you so much. Your name will be written in gold. I am also proud to announce that I met Jega as Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano when I was admitted as a student. I also want to congratulate General Muhammadu Buhari for his historic victory in the election. He is the definition of determination, resilience and doggedness.

16

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

www.bglgroupng.com

Business Times

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

s

17

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

Bank of Industry rated A- by Agusto & Co The Bank of Industry (BOI) has secured a domestic credit rating of A- from Agusto & Co, a leading Nigerian credit rating agency.

By the rating, the Bank of Industry has been adjudged to be a financial institution with good financial condition and a strong capacity to repay obligations on a timely basis.

This is the first Nigerian development bank to be so rated.

According to a statement from

the Bank, Agusto & Co was engaged to carry out an assessment of the Bank’s performance and to issue a credit rating for the Bank, based on a multitude of qualitative and quantitative factors. The objective was to provide useful benchmarks for BOI against global best practices.

The engagement was successfully completed and a rating of Awith a Stable Outlook was issued in December 2014.

The Bank had in 2014 com-

menced the implementation of a corporate transformation project leading to the development of a Five-Year Strategic Plan which is currently being implemented.

The key strategic issues addressed by the transformation plan include the diversification of the Bank’s funding base, development of robust risk management systems, effective cost management, performance management systems, credit process reengineering and automation,

customer service delivery, new product development, loan quality, corporate governance, national coverage, and stakeholder management.

According to the Bank’s Managing Director, Rasheed Olaoluwa, “the positive rating is an endorsement of our ongoing transformation project at BOI, and an affirmation of our strategic intent of adopting global best practices in all aspects of our operations.”

Refinery

Oil price: Big corporations getting bigger Emmanuel Ogbonnaya

L-R: Director, Fisheries, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mrs. Olatokunbo Emokpae; Commissioner, Prince Gbolahan Lawal; beneficiary of farm inputs, Suratat Adekunle of Iwalafe Farms and Director, Agricultural Services, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya, during the presentation of inputs and support to farmers and vulnerable at the 2015 agric value chains empowerment, organized by Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Epe, Lagos...recently.

Aviation stakeholders task Buhari on jobs creation Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on Wednesday urged the President-elect, retired Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to look into the areas of creating jobs for Nigerian youths in the industry.

Mr Nogie Meggison, the Executive Chairman of AON, made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.

Meggison also advised the

incoming administration to lay down a strong policy that would enhance development of the sector. ``We must not hesitate to add that the task to rebuild the aviation/airline sector must remain on course. ``This should be in the light of many issues that domestic operators have consistently put on the front burner for government’s attention,’’ he said.

According to him, there is

need for aircraft maintenance hangar in the country.

Meggison said that the President-elect should also look into the ``skyrocketing price of aviation fuel, and multiple tax regimes by aviation authorities on domestic carriers’’.

He said that Buhari should similarly look into the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on air transportation and other modes of transportation by foreign

airlines operating in and out of Nigeria.

The leader of the operators said that there should also be improvement in service delivery by aeronautical agencies.

He said that the new administration should guarantee the operators access to a single digit loan from financial institutions and engagement of more Nigerian pilots/engineers by foreign carriers.

Oil majors as usual have begun to take advantage of the falling price of oil to tie up lucrative Merger and Acquisition (M&A) deals, in anticipation of a rebound, which stakeholders have predicted could happen anytime soon.

Indeed Rock-bottom energy prices are triggering their usual response from oil companies: A wave of tie-ups that make the biggest producers even bigger.

The latest example is Royal Dutch Shell’s bid for BG Group, a British firm with a stockpile of prized oil fields off the coast of Brazil, and lucrative natural gas holdings in Australia.

The companies announced the £47 billion ($70 billion) deal early Wednesday. It’s the biggest in the sector since Exxon bought Mobil in 1998, according to Dealogic. Shell will pay a 50 per cent premium to BG’s closing share price of £9.10 ($13.56) on Tuesday.

If completed, the purchase will add 25 per cent to Shell’s oil and gas reserves and 20 per cent to production. Shell also expects “synergies” of around $2.5 billion, raising the possibility of job cuts.

With oil prices below $60 a barrel, Shell isn’t alone in its desire to get bigger. Oil services group Halliburton recently shelled out $34.6 billion for Baker Hughes, and Spain’s Repsol spent more than $8 billion last year to buy a Canadian firm. A flurry of smaller deals have also been announced.

Including the Shell bid for BG, global M&A volume in the oil and gas industry stands at $112 billion so far this year, according to Dealogic. That’s nearly double the $61.4 billion registered over the same period in 2014.

Brands & Marketing 18

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Marketing Edge set to reward excellence in marketing communication

Airtel crashes price of SIM cards, deals 200% bonus To further consolidate on its tradition of celebrating the dynamism of marketers and advertising agencies making giant strides in the Nigerian economy, One of Nigeria’s leading brands and marketing publication, Marketing Edge, is set to hold two high profile events. They are a National Marketing Stakeholders Summit and Brands and Advertising Excellence Award.

Both events will take place on Thursday, 7 May, 2015 at the Federal Palace Hotel located in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Summit, which has the theme “A Roadmap to Marketing in the Age of Global Oil Glut and Nigerian Advertising in a Generational Shift” will hold in the morning while the Awards take place in the evening.

According to a statement made available to newsmen recently in Lagos by the publisher in chief of Marketing Edge Magazine, Mr. John Ajayi, Dr Josef Bel-Molokwu, a renowned and erudite advertising professional and former registrar of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) will be the guest speaker and he will deliver the Lead Address while the Managing Director of Noah’s Ark, Mr Lanre Adisa will deliver an address on Nigeria Advertising in a Generational Shift. The former Chairman of APCON, Chief Olu Falomo, a great icon of the advertising profession will be the Chairman

of the occasion. Key players and gladiators in the integrated marketing communications sector are expected to grace the Summit where the challenges of advertising and marketing in the present era of dwindling oil prices will be examined and solutions proffered.

He said that, the awards, which are in several categories, will reward eminent marketers and advertisers such as Sir (Dr) Chris Ogbechie and Sir Chris Parkes who will both receive the Lifetime Marketing Achievement Award. The Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of STB-McCann, Sir Steve Omojafor, will have the Brand Personality of the Decade Award bestowed upon him. Also, Chief Olu Falomo will bag the Outstanding Advertising Icon of the Decade while the CEO of Airtel Nigeria, Mr Segun Ogunsanya will be honoured as CEO Brand Personality of the Decade.

Other categories are Outstanding Telecommunications Company of the Decade, Experiential Agencies of the Decade, Outdoor Agencies of the Decade, Outstanding Media Buying Agency of the Year, Marketing Personality of the Year, Outstanding Company of the Year, amongst other distinguished awards. He noted.

He also disclosed that, this year’s award however takes a unique step in honouring the achievements of the heroes of the industry by introducing the Posthumous Advertising Personality of the Decade which will be awarded to the first doyen of Nigerian advertising and former Managing Director and Owner of Lowe Lintas, late Mr Sylvester Momeke alongside the owner of Eminent Communications Ltd, late Sesan Ogunro.

ahead of other brands, for no reason other than the fact that Hollandia Evaporated Milk believes that consumers deserve the very best. It can be enjoyed with tea, custards, cereals and smoothies. The future looks promising for an innovative brand which places wellbeing and value of its consumers at the heart of its products.” Roy Added.

Roy

Opeoluwani Akintayo Telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, has taken another major step to redefine the telecoms landscape as it now offers its customers four SIM cards for just N100.

This was recently unveiled with the launch of Smart Connect, a flagship product in its Smartphone Network promotion, which offers Nigerians up to 200 percent bonus to call all networks, on every recharge of N200 and above.

Smart Connect comes with a special offer of a 4-in-1 family pack, which contains four SIMs for just N100.

Speaking about the new package, Airtel’s Chief Commercial Officer, Maurice Newa, explained that the new package is a glowing testimony of the Telco’s commitment to continuously empower customers with a wide variant of products aimed at helping them stay connected to their families and friends at affordable rates.

He said: “This offer is uniquely designed to enrich telecom users in Nigeria by offering them exciting bonuses on recharges.

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

Newa noted that the 4-in-1 pack will further deepen friendships and family ties. In his words, “this superior product which helps people stay connected in a smart way is specially focused on family and friends and is another avenue for Airtel

Chi makes Hollandia Milk 25% free

Ajayi

Godwin Anyebe

Newa

to provide its customers with the utmost best.”

“At Airtel, we listen to our consumers and we will continue to do our utmost to meet and even exceed their expectations.

By providing value for money airtime packs, we are empowering individuals, families and businesses across this great nation to stay mobile and enjoy the exciting Airtel offers,” he said.

He pointed out that Smart Connect allows Customers to enjoy as much as 15mb data bonus on recharges of N200 and above weekly. In addition, Smart Connect allows customers to add Family and Friends on the Airtel Network and offers as much as N200 FaF bonus on recharges of N200 and above weekly.

In order to continue to deliver on brand promise, Chi Limited, the maker of Hollandia Evaporated Full Cream Milk has added 25 per cent extra milk to the brand.

According to Managing Director, Chi Limited’s Mr. Deepanjan Roy, the product is designed to provide consumers with creamy, great tasting, highly nutritious and affordable evaporated milk in handy 215g packs.

“We want to ensure that our loyal consumers continue to get value and satisfaction for their money whenever they buy Hollandia Evaporated Milk.

You can enjoy the creamy, tasty, nourishing Evaporated milk in whichever way you want and for longer, without breaking the bank. Hollandia Evaporated Milk will always stay steps

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

19 Brands & Marketing

Most Googled Nigerian gubernatorial candidate 2015 Opeoluwani Akintayo With the Presidential election behind us, the race continues towards who wins the governorship election holding this Saturday, April 11.

Unfortunately, the level of Information Technology awareness in Nigeria is still very low, that’s why most people are not searching to know more about their gubernatorial candidates.

This leaves one wondering how Nigerians get to know the story behind who to vote for.

Google being the No.1 search engine in the world, through an independent research, generated a graph to bring to our knowledge who among the governorship candidates are the most searched for at the mo-

ment.

As said earlier, most states are not searching for information about their governorship candidates except three states; Lagos, Oyo and Rivers. These 3 states were chosen because they have enough numbers to generate the chart.

Please note, these charts do not represent an endorsement platform by Daily Times to endorsing any candidate. These graphs were produced as a result of the interest of Nigerians at this critical moment using Google’s search engine.

Let’s now take a look at the graphical representation of the level of interest shown by the electorates in Lagos, Oyo and Rivers states, towards the upcoming gubernatorial election.

Lagos State The graph below from Google Trends shows the amount of search traffic on the two candidates in Lagos; Jimi Agbaje and Akinwunmi Ambode. Although Ambode is slightly ahead in terms of search traffic, the interests for both parties are growing steadily showing this could be a tight race.

Oyo State The Oyo state chart compares three candidates; Alao-Akala, Abiola Ajimobi (current governor) and Teslim Folarin.

The chart shows there are more interests in Ajimobi at the moment. Although searches for Folarin peaked in March, it has since dropped. Searches for Alao -Akala peaked in December 2014, probably because that was when he was announced as the governorship flag-bearer of the Labour Party.

Star debuts new football TV game show

Opeoluwani Akintayo Star has announced the kick-off of a new football game show, Star Football Superfans show.

The first of its kind, the engrossing campaign will test the passion, knowledge and skills of football fans and provide them

Rivers State The chart below compares three governorship candidates of Rivers state; Tonye Princewill, Dakuku Peterside and Wike Nyesom. Interests for Wike seem to the highest at the moment. Although Dakuku Peterside is also generating search interests.

with a platform to be seen and celebrated.

According to Edem Vindah, Nigerian Breweries Corporate Media and Brand PR Manager, the idea behind this platform is to reward fans who have over the years shown loyalty to the football game as well as the Star Lager beer.

‘’STAR is a brand known for always rewarding its loyal consumers and this game show is another way to do so. Over the years, we have been very active in ensuring that people’s passion are rewarded and well too.

It’s been music for a while but this time, we bring football to the table too,’’ he said.

He further revealed that the campaign will cover selected bars in Nigeria, radio, online and TV versions to allow for participation from fans all over the country. In his words ‘’We understand that football fans are everywhere in Nigeria and this is why unlike others, we didn’t restrict this campaign to TV.’’

Insurance 20

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Expert calls for awareness campaigns to boost CPS acceptance Idu Okwuosa, Compliance Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension, has said that the low level of adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was a result of low enlightenment campaign, saying, there is the need for serious sensitisation exercise to enlighten Nigerians on the importance of the new pension scheme.

Okwuosa, who spoke at a forum in Ikeja, Lagos, mentioned that most Nigerians are still ignorant about the new pension scheme, saying, most still see it as the old scheme marred by fraudulent and corruption.

The Compliant Officer at Stanbic IBTC Pension, who represented the Chairman, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Mr. Misbahu Yola, said that there is the low level of adoption by employers of labour, because they felt their employees are not enlightened on pension scheme, and at such, can take them for a ride.

She was equally unhappy with a situation whereby an employer will deduct pension contribution from the salary account of an employer and fails to remit same to the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA).

In her word, “Employers are more responsible for pension default in the country from our own

Okwuosa

findings. If your employers are not paying your pension, the employee being the whistle-blower, must notify the National Pension Commission (PenCom). Some are even deducting it from workers’ salary without remitting, which is fraudulent.”

She added that, if any policyholders are unfairly treated, ‘you have the right to report your PFA to PenCom, if you notice any foul play’.

She, however charged employers to do more and cooperate with pension operators to ensure that, not only are they registering their employees under the new pension scheme, but that pension allowance deducted from workers’ salaries be remitted to the concerned PFAs as and when due.

Moreover, she cautioned insurance agents to stop demarketing PFAs on withdrawal options, saying, most insurance companies are going craze in a bid to sell Annuity option to retirees, thereby, discrediting and misinforming the people about Programme Withdrawal option.

FUG Pension assures contributors of fund safety Future Unity Glanvils Pensions Ltd (FUG Pensions) has assured contributors in the Union Homes Legacy Scheme that, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) is currently addressing the challenges in the scheme, promising them that their savings is intact.

The company said the contributors should not panic as their contributions is safe, adding that their demand would be met with express approval of PenCom as required by the pension Act. Clarifying the situation with regard to agitation and fears of the contributors, General Manager and Head of Investment, FUG Pension, Mrs. Ngozi Chuks-Okeke, said in 2010, FUG Pensions prospected the management of the existing staff pension scheme of Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc in line with the provisions of

the Pension Reform Act 2004 and relevant regulations issued by the PenCom. She explained that after series of meetings and correspondence, FUG Pensions was appointed one of the managers of the scheme and received the total sum of N448.8million in two tranches in 2011.

According to her, “the management of the fund commenced immediately the first tranche was received and the fund management agreement was executed after receipt of the 2nd tranche.

It should be noted that the contribution of PenCom was sought and obtained in the preparation of the fund management agreement and same was prepared in line with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act. The execution of agreement by all parties was the second step towards the approval of the scheme.”

Pension: Lagos HoS warns retirees against profligacy Stories by KAYODE ADELOWOKAN The Head of Service, Lagos State, Folashade Sherifat Jaji, has warned retirees, especially in the State to desist from extravagant lifestyle, in a bid to use their retirement benefits judiciously.

Sherifat, who stated this in Lagos, said some retirees were fond of spending their retirement benefits on unnecessary things, such as lavishing money on burial ceremony, birthdays, house warming or marrying a new wife, warning that, this was a contradiction to the purpose the retirement benefits are meant to serve. She equally warned retirees on gambling and other ventures that could negatively affects their retirement allowance, thereby, depriving them of a better lifestyle.

While warning the retirees, she said: “As senior citizens, you should not subject yourself to ventures that could make you lose what you have saved for the rainy day to trivialities and sharp practices.”

Retirees, she said, should always use their pension benefits to establish themselves, saying,

Jaji

such venture should be an income-yielding business that will allow the owners use the proceeds to meet the financial and social needs of their respective families.

She commended stakeholders, especially, all the Life Assurance

Companies, Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and Pension Funds Custodians (PFCs) for being professional and ensuring the sustenance of acceptable standard towards making life in retirement stress-free and more rewarding for retirees.

Mansard Insurance wins public listing award Mansard Insurance plc was selected as one of the top quartile (first place in Insurance Category) of publicly listed Growth Strategy Leaders in Nigeria for the year 2015 awards season.

The company was selected based on its outstanding performance over the years.

This coveted award honours “best of the best” growth companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Nigeria and was presented by MSY Analytics, (a teaming partner and Nigerian representative of global research and growth consulting giant, Frost & Sullivan).

According to MSY analytics, ‘Using a weighted scoring methodology, the performance and financials of all publicly traded companies on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as of December 31, 2014 were evaluated across several metrics such as

Total shareholder returns, Revenue Growth and Profitability Growth. From within this pool, we selected elite group of ten top companies per industry and Mansard ranked #1 in the Insurance Industry.”

The organizers further disclosed that Emerging and Frontier markets represent over 50% of world GDP & over 2/3 of global growth and thus a strategic focus area for investors around the world.

While African continent is home to several of these markets, Nigeria (a key frontier market) enjoys a unique position as the largest GDP in Africa. Moreover, Nigerian Stock Market was among the 10 best performing markets around the world during 2013 and is expected to be an attractive market for both domestic as well as global investors for coming decades.

Mrs Yetunde Ilori, CEO Mansard Insurance Plc

While receiving the award, the head of Mansard’s Marketing and Corporate Communications Group, Mr. Taiwo Adeleye, appreciated MSY Analytics for the honour accorded to Mansard, noting that the underwriting firm has remained the biggest insurance company on the NSE for several years.

21 21

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Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Today in History Compiled by ‘Tunji Okegbola

1865

Cartoons from our Archives

Robert E. Lee surrenders

At Appomattox, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, blocked from joining the surviving Confederate force in North Carolina, and harassed constantly by Union cavalry, Lee had no other option.

In retreating from the Union army’s Appomattox Campaign, the Army of Northern Virginia had stumbled through the Virginia countryside stripped of food and supplies. At one point, Union cavalry forces under General Philip Sheridan had actually outrun Lee’s army, blocking their retreat and taking 6,000 prisoners at Sayler’s Creek.

Desertions were mounting daily, and by April 8 the Confederates were surrounded with no possibility of escape. On April

1984

s

9, Lee sent a message to Grant announcing his willingness to surrender. The two generals met in the parlour of the Wilmer McLean home at one o’clock in the afternoon.

Lee and Grant, holding the highest rank in their respective armies, had known each other slightly during the Mexican War and exchanged awkward personal inquiries.

Characteristically, Grant arrived in his muddy field uniform while Lee had turned out in full dress attire, complete with sash and sword. Lee asked for the terms, and Grant hurriedly wrote them out. All officers and men were to be pardoned, and they would be sent home with their private property--most important, the horses, which could be used for a late spring planting. Officers would keep their side arms, and Lee’s starving men would be given Union rations.

A husband attempts murder for money in England

Margaret Backhouse turned the ignition of her husband’s car, setting off a pipe bomb filled with nitroglycerine and shotgun pellets in the small farming community of Horton, England. Hundreds of pellets lacerated her body and practically tore away her legs, but she was relatively lucky in that most of the bomb’s force was deflected away from her.

Passersby found Backhouse and brought her to a local hospital, where she was treated and later recovered.

The explosion of the car bomb came only days after a worker at the Backhouse’s Widden Hall Farm had found a sheep’s head impaled on a fence with a note attached that read, “You Next.” Graham Backhouse had complained to police that he had been receiving threats for some time. The police had ignored the complaints until the bombing incident.

After the explosion, authorities closely examined

the note previously found with the sheep’s head. At a forensics lab, investigators found the impression of a doodle on the back of the threat note. The police also interviewed Graham Backhouse extensively to see who might be responsible. He told them that he had been feuding with Colyn Bedale-Taylor, a neighbour who was known to have been acting irrationally after the sudden death of his son.

While Margaret was recovering in the hospital, Graham refused police protection. Then, on April 30, police were called to Widden Hall Farm to find an appallingly bloody scene: Graham Backhouse slashed several times across the face and chest, and BedaleTaylor dead from two shots in the chest. Backhouse told the police that Bedale-Taylor had come over and admitted planting the bomb before slashing him with a Stanley knife. He said that he then ran and got his shotgun, which he used to kill BedaleTaylor.

1959 On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduced America’s first astronauts to the press: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra Jr., Alan Shepard Jr., and Donald Slayton. The seven men, all military test pilots, were carefully selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury, America’s first manned space program. NASA planned to begin manned orbital flights in 1961.

On October 4, 1957, the USSR scored the first victory of the “space race” when it successfully launched the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into Earth’s orbit. In response, the United States consolidated its various military and civilian space efforts into NASA, which dedicated itself to beating the Soviets to manned space flight. In January 1959, NASA began the astronaut selection procedure, screening the records of 508 military test pilots and choosing 110 candidates. This number was

First astronauts introduced arbitrarily divided into three groups, and the first two groups reported to Washington. Because of the high rate of volunteering, the third group was eliminated. Of the 62 pilots who volunteered, six were found to have grown too tall since their last medical examination. An initial battery of written tests, interviews, and medical history reviews further reduced the number of candidates to 36. After learning of the extreme physical and mental tests planned for them, four of these men dropped out.

The final 32 candidates travelled to the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they underwent exhaustive medical and psychological examinations. The men proved so healthy, however, that only one candidate was eliminated.

The remaining 31 candidates then travelled to the Wright Aero medical Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, where they underwent the most gruelling part of the selection process. For six days and three nights, the men were subjected to various tortures that tested their tolerance of physical and psychological stress.

Among other tests, the candidates

were forced to spend an hour in a pressure chamber that simulated an altitude of 65,000 feet, and two hours in a chamber that was heated to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. At the end of one week, 18 candidates remained.

From among these men, the selection committee was to choose six based on interviews, but seven candidates were so strong they ended up settling on that number.

After they were announced, the “Mercury Seven” became overnight celebrities. The Mercury Project suffered some early setbacks, however, and on April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth in the world’s first manned space flight. Less than one month later, on May 5, astronaut Alan Shepard was successfully launched into space on a suborbital flight. On February 20, 1962, in a major step for the U.S. space program, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. NASA continued to trail the Soviets in space achievements until the late 1960s, when NASA’s Apollo program put the first men on the moon and safely returned them to Earth.

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

23

Gowon: Ojukwu was my friend, comrade CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY

14.

But the Civil War itself was a direct result of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) and secession of the Eastern Region from Nigeria. If there was no secession, there would not have been civil war. Please, note and remember that Ojukwu had taken a number of illegal actions against the country. Among these were the hijacking of Nigeria Airways plane, the confiscation of railways rolling stock, the annexation of branches of the Central Bank and Post Offices in the Eastern Region as well as the approbation of Federal Revenue in the Region.

All these in order to buttress the secession. The secession, more than anything else, left me with no other option than take “Police Action” that was later upgraded to full “Military Action” after the Biafran Army ventured into and overran the hitherto ‘neutral’ Mid-West Region. Even with the outbreak of hostilities, we never referred to our Eastern compatriots as ‘enemy’ not minding the fact that they used that and similar other terms e.g. ‘Northern Vandals’ to describe the Nigerian side.

The worst description we came up with was to refer to them as ‘rebels’.

15.

This was a deliberate action on our part, as we were determined to fight a humane war, a war of unity with a view to bringing our brothers and sisters in the East back to the mainstream of a united Nigerian nation. Our resolve at ensuring that settlement or reconciliation should not be difficult to achieve was underscored by the 11 point Code of Conduct that was given to every Nigerian officers and men, soldiers who was made to understand the grave repercussions for any breach of the Code. For ease of reference, the code of conduct is reproduced as follows: a.

Under no circumstances must a pregnant woman be illtreated or killed b.

Children will not be molested or killed. They will be protected and cared for. c.

Youths and school children must not be attacked unless they are engaged in open hostility against the Federal Government Forces. They should be given all protection and care. Hospitals, hospital staff and patients should not be tampered with or molested. d.

Soldiers who surrender will not be killed. They are to be disarmed and treated as Prisonersof-war. They are entitled in all circumstances to humane treatment and respect for their person and

‘No matter how hard we tried to avoid it, lives were sadly, yet inevitably, lost in the 30-month long war. In the end, however, the scale of casualties was limited because we did not launch an all-out-war against identified ‘external’ enemies’

Victor, No Vanquished which I pronounced in my speech to the nation after we silenced the guns and rolled up our sleeves as we set our hands on the plough to rebuild Nigeria. Our search for solutions to the problems of the aftermath of war and destruction made it imperative that we established a set of guiding principles as anchors for our determined forward march. This was the basis of our introduction of the ‘3Rs’…Reconciliation, (Reintegration) Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, which, we must, understand did not just try to rapidly address issues of immediate socio-economic and infrastructural concerns but vividly underpinned my vision of the future; a vision of a greater, united Nigeria in which anyone, from the East, West, North and South could aspire to success in any field of human endeavour.

January 197 with my acceptance of the instrument of surrender from Col. Philip Effiong who then headed headed the rebel enclave in the absence of its de facto leader, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who had earlier travelled out of his territory in search of the peace, I knew that our nation’s proverbial journey of a thousand miles was just about to commence.

I knew that our first tentative steps on that journey would count for much, not just among us Nigerians but in the comity of nations. I was mindful that my place in history would be determined by how well or badly we tackled the immediate challenges of a young nation that had just emerged from the ravages of war. Let us not forget that the officers and men who conducted the war on both sides of the divide were young with average age range of between 27 and 36, hence it would have been understandable if any rash decisions were taken in the heat of the moment.

19.

Again, God was in control of our situation as a nation.

He granted us the wisdom to be magnanimous in victory. Consequently, rather than bask in the euphoria of perceived victory, we chose to ravel down a road never before travelled by any nation in the history of wars in the world.

We decided that there was no gain in accumulating the spoils of war.

Instead, we chose to face our most challenging task of achieving reconciliation, national reintegration within the shortest possible time.

That worldview made it possible for us to quickly and deliberately administer healing balm to take care of hurts and wounds. I underscored our philosophy of No

20.

We began our effort at self-purification by ensuring that our solution to the healing process was home-grown. We devised our game plan without external help; we rejected emergency assistance for help from nations that did not help our cause at the time of our greatest need and we extended an olive branch, to hand of reconciliation, especially African nations that hid under the cloak of recognizing the rebellion. There were no reprisals against any group or individuals just as soldiers quickly dropped their guns to render helping hands to the civilian populace.

Against all odds, Nigeria survived an uncommon experience, we were able to resolve our problems and avoided foreign outside interference, and has remained a reference point in the healing of postwar trauma across the world.

21.

We must not forget that the even geographical spread of infrastructural development across Nigeria in the spirit of the 3Rs and the dictum of No Victor, No Vanquished helped to assure the people that we meant business.

We were helped a great deal by the fact that no extensive damage was done to infrastructural facilities in most part of the country throughout the period of the war. What y administration succeeded in doing was the consolidation and expansion of the nation’s infrastructural base by embarking on projects that complement and improved on what was on ground. What this has meant is that communities across the nation can only complain of not getting enough, not of having been abandoned.

Gowon

honour. e.

No property, building and so on will be destroyed maliciously.

Churches and mosques must not be desecrated. f.

No looting of any kind because a good soldier never loots. g.

Women will be protected against any attack on their person, honour, and in particular against rape or any form of indecent assault. h.

Male civilians who are hostile to the Federal Forces are to be deal with firmly but fairly. They must be humanely treated. i.

All military me and civilians wounded will be given necessary medical attention and care.

They must be respected and protected in all circumstances. j.

Foreign nationals on legitimate business will not be molested, but mercenaries will not be spared. They are the worst enemies.

16.

No matter how hard we tried to avoid it, lives were sadly, yet inevitably, lost in the 30-month long war. In the end, however, the scale of casualties was limited because we did not launch an all-outwar against identified ‘external’ enemies. I will like to emphasise that our belief in a ‘united’ Nigeria is predicted on the notion that no single identity group, society or community has all the answers or resources to solve its immediate and even long-term needs, for which reason it behoves all citizens to enrich themselves and the nation entity. We deeply recognized the diversity in our cultural milieu and this became the basis for our commitment to the concept of ‘Unity in Diversity’, which is not peculiar to Nigeria but is a

dimension of social engineering in several societies of the world.

Again, borrowing from a lecture I delivered at the Nigerian Defence Academy, I will like to reiterate that: “The concept of ‘national unity’ refers not just to the feeling or sense of oneness and willingness to tolerate one another and the readiness to defend the country; it also means the promotion and attainment of a national consciousness whereby most members of the society understand and defend the principle that ‘difference’ enriches human interactions”.

17.

From all indications, God and fortune was at work on behalf of our nation during this trying period. Had it not been so, the harvest of deaths and the destruction of property would not only have been mind-boggling/troubling but it would have cause extreme bitterness that would have made post-war reconciliation difficult, if not impossible. Even when it has been proved beyond doubt that everything humanly possible was done by the Federal Government to keep casualty figures at the barest minimum, not the propaganda in millions of casualties. Our country, today, still grapples with pockets of social, economic, political and cultural resentments carried over from the Civil War era.

Naturally, this observation keenly informed some of the policy initiatives that I spearheaded in the postwar reconstruction of Nigeria.

NIGERIA IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR 18.

When, mercifully, the Nigerian Civil War ended on 12 January and officially on 15,

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW

News 24

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Five killed in renewed Kogi land disputes Akor Ejumene Abuja

ÏÏÏAt

least, five people were killed and several injured in Iyano village of Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State, when youths, suspected to be from Aluaja clan, allegedly destroyed some farms in Iru clan of the village.

Aluaja, Iru, Itale clans and Abujaga village have been

involved in land disputes for some time.

The District Police Officer, ASP Aaron Godwin Abah, who confirmed the incident said only two people were killed and three others wounded in the renewed clash. He said that a detachment of mobile policemen had been drafted to the area to restore normalcy, adding that a fight broke out

between the clans when the owner of a yam farm, which was destroyed in the alleged attack, challenged the attackers.

Abah said the wounded persons were taken to the hospital for treatment while the dead were deposited at the mortuary.

The youth leader from Iru clan, Felix Apeh, blamed the Aluaja people for allegedly

frustrating efforts to restore peace to the warring communities.

He said: “There have been moves to reconcile the three clans and the village by the officials of the state and local government, but the Aluaja clan has refused to abide by the settlement.”

Efforts to reach the youth leader of Aluaja clan, as at the time of filing this report,

proved abortive as the phone call to him was not picked.

Last year, the police in Lokoja, averted what could have been a bloody clash when some youths from Aluaja allegedly attacked Iru and Itale clans over a disputed fish pond, leaving one Umoru Onyido of Itale dead. The reprisal attack left one Emmanuel Onwuene of Aluaja clan dead.

Gov. Wada

Kwara ACPN endorses Ahmed’s second term bid Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Ogun State, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (middle) giving out souvenirs during his electioneering campaign to Ogun-East… on Wednesday Photo: BOLAJI OLASUNKANMI

Suswam inaugurates LG caretaker committees Freddie Adamgbe Makurdi

ÏÏÏNot

deterred by the massive defection of members of his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Governor Gabriel Suswam, has inaugurated caretaker committees for the 23 local government councils in the

state.

Performing the ceremony at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Makurdi, on Wednesday, Suswam told the chairmen to work towards capturing the areas lost by the PDP during the presidential and National Assembly election.

“You must deliver your various local governments to the PDP if you want to

remain in power after my tenure. I heard that some desperate politicians have procured arms to disrupt the Saturday elections. So it is now left to you to tackle any form of insecurity challenge in your domains by partnering with the stakeholders for a hitch-free election. But remember, you must deliver your local governments to the PDP

by ensuring that the PDP governorship and House of Assembly candidates emerge victorious", Suswam charged.

Responding, Konshisha Local Government Caretaker Chairman, Hon. Iorhen Shirsha, assured that they were aware of their critical assignment and they would work towards achieving success for the party.

Group urges Yuguda to support APC guber candidate Daniel Jolly Bauchi

ÏÏÏA pressure group, All

Progressives Congress Vanguard for Peace and Tranquillity, has advised Governor of Bauchi State, Mallam Isa Yuguda, to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Moham-

med Abdullahi Abubakar in Saturday’s election.

National Coordinator of the group, Suleiman Ahmed, made the call during an interactive session with newsmen on Wednesday in Bauchi.

He advised Yuguda "as a true son of the state, who had contributed his quota to the development of the

state, during his eight years in office as the Governor, and in the best interest of the state, to urge his supporters, irrespective of party affiliation to support the APC governorship candidate, Abubakar, to enable the state benefit from the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari’s administration”.

Gov. Yuguda

Kehinde Akinpelu Illorin

ÏÏÏThe

Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) in Kwara State, has adopted the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and incumbent Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed and all APC candidates for the House of Assembly election in next Saturday’s elections.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, state chairman of ACPN, Mr. Babatunde Omotosho, who is also the governorship candidate of the party, expressed his party’s confidence in the competence of Ahmed to continue in office and take the state to greater height.

Omotosho, who said the party’s decision was in line with a directive from the National Executive Committee, also directed mem-

bers to vote for the APC on Saturday.

"Having reviewed the policies and achievements of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed-led administration, which is a product of the Saraki political dynasty, we concluded that the governor had made commendable progress in poverty eradication, peaceful co-existence, youth empowerment, job creation, security of lives and property, infrastructure development, education, and had made significant impact in other key sectors of the state economy”, he added.

"We also put into consideration the fact that the Saraki dynasty is united under the leadership of Dr. Bukola Saraki to pursue the progress and development of Kwara State on one political platform", Omotosho stated.

Kano court convicts man for stoning Jonathan’s adviser Yakubu Salisu

ÏÏÏ A Magistrate’s Court

in Kano has convicted one Yusuf Suleman to eight months imprisonment or a fine of N40,000, after pleading guilty to a three-count charge of incitement, assault and disturbance of public peace by assaulting Hajiya Baraka Sani, Special Adviser to the President on Agriculture.

The court, presided over

by Ibrahim Khalil Muhammad, had heard that the young man was said to have led a group of youths, which pelted Hajiya Baraka Sani, Special Adviser to the President on Agriculture,

with stones, when she went to the Giginyu polling unit to cast her vote, during the last general election, but, was allegedly chased away by some aggrieved persons.

Hajiya Baraka and her younger sister, however, managed to escape with injuries. She later returned with security men to cast her vote. Police in Kano have also arraigned 67 persons for electoral offences before various courts.

Their offences included snatching of ballot boxes, possession of dangerous weapons at polling centres as well as disrupting the free conduct of the March 28, 2015 election.

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Stay out of politics, party chieftains warn Oba Akiolu Ă?Ă?Ă? Two

political leaders in Lagos Island are upset over remarks credited to the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, denigrating Igbos in Lagos State.

Former Lagos Island Local Government Area Chairman, Mr. Lukman Ajose, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Babatunde Olorogun Etti, warned the monarch to stop using his power, position and influence to deepen the crisis in the state. “Instead of teaching nonindigenes to hate, we must socialise with them, so that

they learn cooperation and peacefulness. The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, should stop politicking.

If he is interested in politics, he should remove our crown, keep it safely and join a political party of his choice,� they advised.

At a stakeholders' meeting in Lagos Island on Tuesday, the leaders said the action of the monarch raised concerns over rights and freedom of non-Yoruba in Lagos State.

They accused the monarch of 'overstepping the mark and acting as a policeman', urging him to pro-

mote peaceful co-existence and behaviour. “This is not a village where the head can tell his subjects to vote a particular candidate or political party. The people are determined to end Bola Tinubu’s reign in Lagos State. PDP has a bright chance. Many All Progressives Congress (APC) members want Jimi Agbaje to be governor of the state,� the leaders claimed.

They insisted that the governorship election in the state was “a matter for the electorate.�

The leaders, however,

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April 11 poll: Jigawa INEC dispatches election materials Dutse

Gov election: Bauchi residents assured of adequate security Daniel Jolly Bauchi

Ă?Ă?Ă? Residents

of Bauchi State have been assured of adequate security in the upcoming April 11 election in the state.

The police, army and other security agencies gave this assurance during a stakeholders meeting, held at the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) secretariat on Wednesday, in Bauchi.

The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed K. Mohammed, stated this while reacting to a rumour making the rounds that a party was preparing a band of thugs to disrupt the upcoming governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state.

The police boss, who was represented by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Tony Okpara, emphasized that the police and other security agencies are ever ready to deal with

anyone caught trying to disrupt the governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.

Okpara warned that any party caught carrying out mayhem before, during or after the election should be ready to face the full wrath of the law.

He said: "We thought that the presidential election would bring down the roof, but the unexpected happened.�

He called on the executives of the two contending parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, to educate their supporters on the need for a hitch-free and fair election. The commissioner called on political parties in the state to play a leading role in ensuring a peaceful election.

Mohammed added that the command has identified flash points to enable preemptive measures by security agencies.

Ă?Ă?Ă? The Jigawa State of-

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urged the electorate to remain resolute. “Don’t be afraid of any threat. Lagos is for all and Lagosians are very accommodative,� they added.

25 News

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fice of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it has collected all the needed sensitive election materials from the commission's head office in Abuja and dispatched them to almost all the 27 local government areas’ of the state.

Addressing a press conference in Dutse, the commission's spokesman, Alhaji Surajo Usman Koriyal, said "with this development, the commission is set for this Saturday's gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections."

Koriyal stated that amongst the sensitive materials are ink, ballot papers and stationeries, among others.

He assured that with the collection of all the needed election materials, coupled with operational vehicles, there will be no cause for alarm.

On ad-hoc staff, Koriyal said, as usual, the commission will engage the services of over 17,000 members of the NYSC, university lecturers and other staff to be drawn from other places of work.

C’River APC, LP pledge transformation, development Emma Obi Calabar

Ă?Ă?Ă? The All Progressives

Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP), Cross River State chapters have, both at their various levels, pledged to transform the state into a haven, if voted into office in this Saturday's gubernatorial election.

Represented by Ntufam Fidelis Ugbo, gubernatorial candidate of the LP in the state, and his counterpart of the APC, Odey Ochicha, were both unanimous that the issue of high debt burden and deplorable conditions of workers in Cross River is that of "maladministration by the powers that be."

In the words of Ugbo, the LP candidate: "People say Cross River is indebted.

Yes, the state is the third largest indebted in the country. Yet, I see the state as a land of opportunities.

When we promote small-

scale and medium-scale enterprises, we will change the life style of our people."

These remarks were made late Wednesday in Calabar, during a media forum organised by the state council of the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ).

For Odey Ochicha of the APC, "Nigeria is still a struggling country, because we desecrate the ballot boxes," he stressed. "The worst thing to steal in life is the mandate of the people."

The PDP and its gubernatorial candidate, Senator Ben Ayade, was absent at the event.

The candidates, who spoke on issues ranging from the state's debt burden, agriculture, mineral resources, unemployment rate, poor state of infrastructure, the media, gender issues etc., were unanimous that the Liyel Imoke's administration in the state "has been paying lip service to the education sector in the state."

26

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Health

s

Health Editor: Lara Adejoro Email: omolara.adejoro@dailytimes.com.ng

Experts warn against GM crops Stories by Lara Adejoro omolara.adejoro@dailytimes. com.ng Thirty-seven laureates of the Right Livelihood Award from across the world have endorsed a declaration on the future of nutrition, denouncing Golden Rice and Genetically Modified Bananas as ‘false miracles’.

Genetically modified crops (GM crops) have had their DNA modified by genetic engineering techniques Golden rice is a genetically engineered rice variety offered

by GM proponents as a cure for Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD), while GM bananas are proposed to compensate for a lack of Vita-

min A and iron.

The declaration, written by 1993 Right Livelihood Award recipients, Vandana Shiva and a coalition of women’s group in India, comes as controversy escalates over the development of GM crops in Africa.

According to a February 2015 report by Friends of Earth International, only four African countries---South Africa, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Sudan--- have released GM crops commercially, while others are involved in testing or have placed bans and restrictions on GM crops and commodities.

A GM banana project in Uganda under the National Agricultural Research Institute and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently

Quote The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is fully prepared to cooperate with the incoming administration in ensuring that accessible, affordable, qualitative health care is provided for every Nigerian citizen.

Food safety is the theme of this year’s World Health Day.

Bassey

provoked fierce resistance from local civil society organisations who claim that there are better alternatives to GM. Food sovereignty organisation, GRAIN, recipient of the 2011 Right Livelihood Award and signatory to the declaration, said in an earlier statement, “Vitamin A deficiency like other problems on malnutrition and hunger is not caused by the lack of Vitamin A in food, but by people’s inability to access a balanced diet. It is a mistake to turn blindly to Golden Rice, a crop that the International Rice Research Institute itself admits it has not yet determined can actually improve Vitamin A. “It is clear that the development of Golden Rice, with its avowedly humanitarian mission

to solve vitamin A deficiency serves the biotech industry in its efforts to win wider approval for GM foods. It is a tool to promote GMOs that would pave the way towards control of food and agriculture by agro biotech corporations.”

Nigerian environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey and recipient of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award, said the move toward GM crops on the continent is driven by profit and heralds a new form of colonisation.

“The modern biotech industry is really going bananas. The so-called golden rice has always been known to be a hoax. The same goes for the so-called golden bananas. The future of African nutrition and access to the

Continued on page 27

‘Skin cancer rises among European elderly’ Experts have raised alarm over rising incidence of skin cancer among persons over 65, even though everyone is at risk.

According to the Cancer Research UK, a boom in cheap package holidays in the 1960s is partly responsible for the rise.

The condition can often be prevented by covering up and avoiding sunburn.

However, Professor Richard Marais of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), said: “It is worrying to see melanoma rates increasing at such a fast pace, and across all age groups.

“It is important people keep an eye on their skin and seek medical opinion if they see any changes to their moles or even to normal areas of skin.

“Melanoma is often detected on men’s backs and women’s legs but can appear on any part of the body.”

Online breast milk can be dangerous, experts warn

Online breast milk

Experts in paediatrics have said breast milk bought online may be contaminated and harmful to babies.

A researcher at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, Sarah Keim, said, “Human milk may be purposely topped off with cow’s milk or infant for-

mula, and this could be harmful to babies receiving the purchased milk if they have cow’s milk allergy or intolerance.”

For other babies, she said, cow milk is not recommended as a primary source of nutrition because it does not provide complete nu-

Continued on page 27

Skin cancer

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

PSN tasks incoming govt on health reforms The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has called on the incoming government to come up with specific plans to improve the health sector in the country.

In a statement signed by its president, Mr Olumide Akintayo, he urged the incoming government to incorporate a Community-Based Social Health Insurance Programme (CBSHIP) in the universal health coverage.

“A need for universal coverage is acceptable, but the condition precedent is to harness and consolidate the philosophy of a managed care concept that is statute entrenched.

“To achieve quality assurance in our version of social health insurance, it is important to encapsulate a consolidated healthcare funding which requires first line deduction of at least 5 per cent for healthcare delivery to help in funding the subsidy gap.”

Akintayo also said the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) must partner the PSN and its appendages to champion a credible drug supply scheme by facilitating the involvement of major manufacturers and importers in the NHIS. “We recommend that the NHIS governing council must re-establish linkages with the highest level of government to nurture the required political will to ensure success for the scheme. We also call for massive advocacy to

Akintayo

sell the new scheme to the health consuming public and to ensure a proper understanding of the workings of health insurance by the Nigerian public,” he said.

The PSN boss also urged the government to come up with reforms that will usher in a petrochemical industry which is the precursor of genuine industrial revolution across board.

According to him, if Nigeria comes up with benzene plants, then the inertia for primary manufacturing is established in con-

trast to the stuttering fortunes which we have continually witnessed in our country.

“At a time when we place emphasis on diverse sources of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) because a mono-based economy comes with too much limitations and complications, government must exploit the vast expertise available in the pharmaceutical sector by making Nigeria a destination of choice for drug manufacturing in the foreseeable future.”

27 Health

Expert urges Nigerians to undergo regular check-ups A public health consultant, Dr Omowunmi Bakare, has advised Nigerians to visit medical experts for regular check-up.

Bakare gave the advice in Ado Ekiti during a public lecture titled: “The prevention of cardiovascular disease”, organised by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Babatunde Femi Owolabi Memorial Heart Foundation.

According to her, the rising incidence of heart diseases in Nigeria is responsible for the escalating hypertension and diabetes among the citizens.

She advised Nigerians above 30 years to always visit experts for regular check-up of their hearts’ status for healthy living and to guarantee long lives.

The expert described hypertension as a condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure greater than 140/90mmHg, saying only regular check-up could unravel the disease for better medical management.

A doctor screening a patient

‘GM crops as false miracles’ Continued from page 26 right food lies in the preservation of our biodiversity and genetic resources,” he said.

The declaration states that Golden Rice has not in fact proven to be more nutritious than indigenous varieties and that natural food sources like turmeric provide much more iron than GM bananas.

“As a source of nutrition for the Global South, Golden Rice has no real benefits. But considering the precedents set by soya, corn, canola and cotton, introducing Golden Rice as a way for large companies to gain control over entire food cultures based on rice, makes perfect sense,” states the declaration.

It also reveals the environ-

Human milk bank is risky

mental costs, potentially damaging health impacts and consequences for small-scale farmers of GM crop production, and calls for support for sustainable agroecology systems with crop diversity and seed sovereignty.

Continued from page 26

Shiva

“Some of the warning symptoms include headache, fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain, confusion, nose bleeding and palpitation.

Unfortunately, many people do not know they have it because these warning signs are not peculiar to hypertension alone.

“One in every 10 to 15 Nigerian adult is affected and less than one third of those that are aware of the condition are not receiving any form of treatment,” she said.

Risk factors of hypertension, according to her are obesity, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, excessive alcoholic intake, high salt usage, aging, family history and lack of physical exercise.

Bakare however recommended “weight reduction, reduction in intake of red meat and processed food, reduction in alcoholic intake, stress, eating of more vegetables and fruits and regular exercises as non-pharmacological ways of avoiding heart-related disease.”

trition for human infants.

“There really is no way a parent can tell if the milk they buy online is safe and high-quality,” Keim said. “Given the risks, it is not a good idea to feed your baby milk you purchase online.”

In a previous study, Keim and her colleagues found that breast milk samples bought online contained potentially harmful levels of bacteria and tested positive for

a virus called cytomegalovirus.

President of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, Kim Updegrove, said purchasing milk outside of standardised human milk banks is risky.

“When you have monetary incentive and you have women who may be desperate or may not know any better, you have a risk of getting something along with the milk you are purchasing,”

she said.

“It is important to applaud parents who want to do what’s best for their babies, but (it’s good)to remind them that it’s a body fluid, and body fluids can be dangerous,” Updegrove said.

Besides cytomegalovirus, breast milk purchased online may contain viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, said Dr. Susan Landers, a neonatologist in Austin, Texas.

“You have no idea about drug use, then there’s this willy-nilly bacterial contamination and concerns about temperature stability, and now they’re diluting it with cow’s milk,” Landers said.

28

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Features

s

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

COUNT DOWN TO 35% LEVY ON TOKUNBO CARS

Apprehension grips importers As Nigerians rejoice over APC’s victory at the presidential polls, the emergence of General Muhamadu Buhari as President was received with some trepidation in some business circles.

GBUBEMI GOD’S COVENANT SNR reports that importers of used vehicles are unsettled with Buhari’s victory.

With only 12 weeks to the implementation of the 35 per cent import levy on used cars, importers of tokunbo vehicles are faced with another uncertainty as a new government warms up to take off on May 29th, 2015, thirty two days to the implementation which has been shifted two times since February 2014.

Daily Times investigation revealed that apprehension is rife among the big and small time importers that the incoming government of General Muhamadu Buhari may scrap used vehicle importation into the country altogether.

The first phase of the policy, involving payment of the 35 per cent duty was to have begun in February 2014, but the Federal Ministry of Finance, through a circular to the DirectorGeneral, National Automotive Council, Mr. Aminu Jalal, had deferred the implementation to June 30. No reason was given for the postponement.

At the time the implementation of the second phase was first moved from July 1, 2014 to January 1, 2015, Daily Times gathered recalls that government had said it was to enable local vehicle assembly plants to ramp up production in order to meet the nation’s demand for brand new vehicles.

When it was deferred again to April 30, 2015, the Federal Government through NAC, an agency of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said that the postponement was due to the delay in establishing a vehicle finance scheme.

Throwing some light into the reasons for the delays recently, D-G Jalal said the arrangement

“We just don’t know what he is going to do; although he is now a civilian president, once a military man, always a military man.”

for the establishment of the affordable vehicle finance scheme suffered a delay of about four months due to the Ebola Virus Disease.

“The staff of the collaborating bank, Westbank of South Africa, delayed their planned trip to Nigeria to set up operations from September 2014 to January 2015; hence, the new date for the start of operations of the financing scheme was fixed for April 2014. Accordingly, the Minister of Finance was directed to extend the levy deferment on used cars to April 30, 2015.”

Importers speak Chief Reuben Obi, a major importer based in Ikeja told our correspondent they received the victory of General Muhamadu Buhari with shock. “We didn’t think it will happen; under the PDP government, business has been negotiable for a long time and we had brazed up to accommodate the 35 per cent increase.

But with General Buhari, we just don’t know what he is going to do; although he is now a civilian president, once a military man, always a military man.”

“Judging from his records, the President-Elect may scrap the policy and may ban imCONTINUED ON PAGE 29

Part of over 300,000 tokunbo cars imported annually.

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

29 Features

Day EVCG rained gifts on Lagosians A new brand of political campaigners, Eko Volunteer Campaign Group (EVCG), took Lagos by storm last week in the heat of the just concluded Presidential/ NASS elections. Our News Editor, SEGUN ADIO was there and reports.

Eko Volunteer Campaign Group they call themselves, but the group, in their thousands, took Lagos metropolis by storm last week with their brand of mass mobilisation. Friday, April 3, 2015 witnessed a downpour across the state but members of the group defied the torrential rains to preach their message to residents of the state.

Thousands of resident in Ajeromi/Ifelodun and Lagos Island were the next to benefit from the largesse of the group in those two days. Men, women, young and old as well as the aged thronged different places where the group campaigned to receive their own ‘cake,’ as several items were freely distributed from door to door.

Led by its leaders AlhajiGaniyuBadmus and Director-General, Akeem Apatira, members of the group turned their rally to a carnival of a sort. The Eko Volunteer Campaign Group may have gradually changed the way politics is played not only in Lagos, but in the entire country.

The group, a non-governmental organisation, had its mandate to bring smiles to faces of the less privileged in the state.

Since inception, it has enhanced the financial and social capacities of many Lagosians with the provision of basic amenities and essential commodities to the needy.

Items like writing books, clothing, foodstuffs, machines were distributed to residents in the areas visited.

Although the group is an offshoot of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, its leaders are firmly rooted in grassroots mobilisation and development. To this end, the

The EVCG road show in Lagos. Inset: EVCG Chairman, Ganiyu Badmus (r), D-G, Kareem Apatira and a member of the team.

Eko Volunteer Campaign Group (EVCG) used the occasion to campaign for continuity in the state.

Speaking with Daily Times, AlhajiBadmus, a foremost grassroots mobiliser, revealed that the group had been moved by the pitiable condition of the needy in the society which the state government had laboured hard to uplift.

According to Badmus, “As a group, the EVCG was envisioned to be a non-governmental organisation committed to partnering with the state government to make life better for the people.

“With this mandate, the group has continuously engineered developmental programmes which were used to enhance and empower the less-privileged. Today, we are seeing campaign for continuity in the state because we were witnesses to the development which has taken place in the state in the last 16 years.

That is what we want to contin-

ue,” he said.

During their house-to-house distribution of items to residents of Ajeromi/Ifelodun and Lagos Island, the group canvassed for votes for the APC gubernatorial candidate.

Akeem Apatira, EVCG Director General, when asked of the motivation behind the group’s activities and their source of revenue, said the group did not depend for subvention on the state government but was motivated by members’ voluntary contributions to carry out its tasks.

According to Apatira, “We are solely concerned withsensitising people on the need to be governed well. We are of the belief that our people deserve better treatment from politicians, especially those at the federal level. That is why we are out on the streets to educate Lagosians on the need to vote in a leader that would end their sufferings. That is why we believe that the APC

“The group had been moved by the pitiable condition of the needy in the society which the state government had laboured hard to up lift.”

candidate is a better choice for the people of the state.”

Apatiraadded that when voted to power, the group would be a strong mouth piece of the people with a view to fulfilling the electoral promises made to them.

Some beneficiaries who spoke with the Daily Times expressed their appreciation to the group for identifying with them and bringing essential commodities to their doorsteps.

SemiuLaofe, a resident of Bamgboseon Lagos Island, who claimed to have benefited from the group’s largesse in the past, said he was humbled at the humility of leaders of the group who brought gifts and essential commodities to their door steps.

In the words of Laofe, “These people have done the needful by coming out of their offices to the streets to identify with the lessprivileged. I have been a beneficiary oftheir programmes before and I know the group really mean well for the people.”

We’ll wait for new government – Importers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

portation of tokunbo vehicles outright,” feared Mr. Chuks Azubuike, another importer on Western Avenue on Lagos Mainland. “Our association held a meeting after the election and we decided to just wait and see

what the new government will say, whether they will implement the 35 per cent increase or scrap importation completely.”

It would be recalled that the Federal Government, in a move to encourage local assembling of vehicles, had in September 2013 raised the import tariff

on fully-built cars and used vehicles from 22 per cent to 70 per cent made up of 35 per cent duty and 35 per cent levy.

It also announced a zero per cent tariff on Completely Knocked Down units (vehicles) and five per cent to 10 per cent on Semi Knocked Down units.

Nigeria imports about 400,000 units of vehicles annually, with about 300,000 being secondhand. As a result of the devaluation of the naira and the subsequent rise in the cost of buying used vehicles and clearing them at the nation’s seaports, auto dealers in the country have re-

duced the volume of importation by over 60 per cent.

Also, the largest terminal for vehicle imports in the country, Port and Terminal Multi Services Limited, has recorded a record drop in the volume of imported vehicles since the policy was first announced.

30

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Crime

s

Stories and Photos by Anyim Joy Ndudi

Five in police net for robbery Men of the Special Anti-robbery Squad attached to the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a five-man gang of armed robbers alleged to have been terrorising residents of Agege and its environs.

The gang, led by ex-local government council staff, Ismaila Oladosun, has Shodeinde Azeez, Salami Ahmed, Sunday Samuel and Monday Paul as members. Monday is said to be receiver and disposer of stolen goods for the gang.

Luck ran out on the gang when they robbed a police officer at the Federal Highway Barracks in Ikeja, carting away phones, laptops and cash. It was this incident that led to the arrest of Ismaila who led the police to the hideout of the other members in Oko-Oba area of Agege.

Narrating his story to Daily Times at the police command, 29- year-old Ismaila said he was a revenue collector for Okada riders at Ikeja Local Government as. “I was making N950 daily depending on how many tickets I sold, when the Lagos State Government stopped the operation of okada riders, I found myself in robbery because I needed a means of livelihood to sustain my wife and daughter.

“I started robbery in 2013 with a gun the late Orji gave me.

I went for two major operations with the gun and I always paid N10,000 every time I used the gun. My highest take home cash I made was N230, 000 and N5, 000 was the least.”

Ogun State-born shodeinde Azeez, who claimed to be a prelim student at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Consort said he dropped out from the programme due to lack of finance in 2008. “I had a dream of studying mass communication at the university, but after dropping out from school, I started working as a bar attendant. But in January 2014, I stopped the job. That was when I, Ola and Samuel started snatching bags and phones.”

The 28-year-old denied any involvement with the alleged leader of the gang, Ismaila. He claimed Ismaila operated a different gang from his.

“We all live in the same area in Oko-Oba Road, Agege and we know each other as bad boys in

Azeez the community; but sincerely, I never operated with him.”

Sunday Samuel, 27, from Ekiti State denied involvement with the gang. “I am not a robber. I am a D.J and a trained electrician. It is just unfortunate that the guys I was living with were thieves and I never saw it as a problem. My moving in with them was for the convenience of my business.

When my parents moved out of Agege to their own house in Ifo, I had to start living with Azeez since most of my jobs centered around that area.”

Salami Ahmed disclosed that he is the last of his gang members. He claimed he used to belong to a four-man gang.

“All my gang members have

Agege robbery gang on parade.

“I had a dream of studding mass communication at the university, but after dropping out from school, I started working as a bar attendant, but in January 2014 I stopped the job. That was when I, Ola and Samuel started snatching bags and phones.

been killed. Tajudeen Adeyemi, Olorunloga and Hakeem. They were lynched when we went for an operation in Ayobo area. It was their death that made me change in 2013. But when Ismaila was arrested and he was asked to point all the bad guys in the neighbourhood, he pointed at me. I used to be bad but now I am a changed person.”

Monday Paul was also arrested for his involvement as a criminal receiver. The Kogiborn car dealer was alleged to have been assisting the gang to sell stolen cars. “I sell tokunbo and brand new cars for people based on an agreed commission. Sometimes ago, Ismaila brought a car to me that he wanted to sell.

“It was a used Toyota Camry.

He told me his friend was the owner, so I called Mr. Gbenga who looked at the papers of the car and paid the agreed sum of N250,000 and my commission was N15, 000. I did not know it was a stolen car, it was after we sold it that I discovered. He also brought a Mercedes Jeep and I sold it for N650, 000 and my commission was N20, 000.”

One Gbenga Odunuga, who claimed to be an innocent buyer also told our correspondent how he got involved. “I am a panel beater in Agidingbi. I did not know it was a stolen car. I was at a naming ceremony of my child when Monday called me that there was a car someone wanted to sell. He claimed

the owner needed money.

“I told him I was not at work and that if he could meet me at UBA around Acme Road, Ogba, so that I could withdraw money to pay once we agreed on the price. I eventually bought the car for N250,000 but was really surprised when recently policemen came to my workshop asking me if I knew one Monday; I said yes, and they told me the car I bought from him years back was a stolen car. But I had already repaired the car and sold it to another buyer for N400, 000.

However, SARS operatives say investigations are still ongoing to identify other buyers of the many stolen cars snatched by the gang and sold by Monday.

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Ugo, Obinna and Chibuzor.

Dismissed soldier in police net over robbery A dismissed member of the Nigerian Army, 27-year-old Ugo Williams was recently arrested for armed robbery in Lagos.

Ugo, who was arrested alongside his gang members, Obinna, Aku and chibuzor Obeta is alleged to be notorious for car snatching and selling of parts of stolen vehicles. The gang however, met its waterloo when it tried to snatch a Honda Endof-Discussion Salon Car at the

Olosan Junction in Mushin, Lagos.

The victim (names withheld) was repotedly returning from work when the gang stopped him at the junction. Seeing that Ugo was in army uniform, he stopped to know why he was been ordered to park.

Daily Times gathered that immediately the man parked, the gang jumped into the car and ordered him at gun point to go to the nearest ATM to with-

ÏÏÏ

According to the step father to the deceased, Mr. Tunde Balogun, who spoke with Daily Times, the allegation that Toyin is a cultist is highly unbelievable to the family. “We know Toyin to be a very outgoing person and passionate about his job.

Although sometimes he could stay for a week at Lekki without coming home to Ikorodu for the weekend, we never knew him as a cultist and he never behaved as one….

“He was never into girls; he was a fine young man, I just wonder why he chose to fight over a girl when there are so many he could have chosen from. If I must say, this is just an action orchestrated by hate.

“The police must investigate this matter to find out what truly happened and why Ibrahim and his gang murdered my son. They must not go scot-free.”

Daily Times learnt that the suspected killer has been at large since the incident.

However, investigation is still ongoing at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).

The search for love by an 18-year-old teenager, EniolaToyin, has led to his untimely death. The late Toyin who lived in the Ikorodu area of the state and worked as a mechanic in Small Kuramo in Jakande, Lekki was alleged to have fallen in love with one Yetunde who, unknown to him, was a lover to one Ibrahim, a suspected member of the Eye Cult, a notorious gang in Lekki.

Ibrahim,also known as ‘National” did not take kindly to the development.

He allegedly confronted Toyin several times to stop seeing Yetunde but Toyin ignored his warnings.

Daily Times gathered that the late Toyin who was also a member of the Aye cult mobilised his men to also threaten Ibrahim.

Seeing that Yetunde was giving more attention to Toyin, Ibrahim had to take the fight to his enemy’s house, which resulted in a serious clash between both cult groups. The clash which lasted for many hours of the night led to the untimely death of Toyin.

draw all he could in his account.

Unfortunately, the ATM within their reach could not dispense cash, so out of frustration, the gang members attacked the victim and took his car to the Mushin Akala area where they vandalised it preparatory to selling off the parts.

But as fate would have it, two days after the incident, the victim was trekking along Mushin road when he suddenly recognised the dismissed soldier as

one of his assailants of 48hours ago.

He raised the alarm and people around helped to apprehend the robber who was taken to the Olosan Police Division and was subsequently transferred to the State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ikeja for discrete investigation.

The Enugu-born kingpin, who is married with a child however tells a slightly different story.

“I was an officer but was dismissed because of armed robbery. I was recruited into the Nigerian army in 2007 and I served for eight years before my dismissal. Although joining the army was not my initial dream, when upon the completion of my secondary school education I could not further due to finance and the opportunity came to join the army, I had to join.

“Although I have been involved in two robberies, I never had the mind of going into it.

Even on the day we robbed our last victim, I didn’t plan to rob him. I and Obinna were just walking around Olosan area.

We saw the owner of the car with a military uniform in his car. Something just told me he was not an army officer, but was parading himself as one.

“So I stopped him and inquired if he was an army officer. He said no, he was impersonating. I decided to take him to the nearest barrack which is the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC).

31 Crime He started pleading, he said he would settle me, he claimed he didn’t have any cash on him so he drove to a nearby ATM but could not withdraw.

“He went on his knees and continued to beg, but I insisted we went to the barracks. On our way to the barracks, we were in traffic when the man suddenly started threatening me, saying I didn’t know who he was that he would deal with me. I then slapped him, he ran out of his car shouting ‘My eye my eye’.

“I asked Obinna to drive the car; we parked it along Mushin road not far from the scene of the incident. But two days after when I was going out, I was surprised when he and some men rushed me and he was shouting, ‘where is my car?’ He called the attention of the Mobile Police men in Ojuelegba and I was arrested.”

Twenty-nine-year-old Obinna, a mechanic from Imo State claimed he became an armed robber by accident, but corroborated the story told by Ugo. “I came to Lagos in 2014 and has since then worked as a mechanic in Ladipo Market. It was my friend, Ugo, who lured me into the crime world. I met him as an army officer at a joint and we began to work together until the day of the incident.

SARS operatives however told our correspondent that investigation was ongoing and the court would determine the fate of the suspects.

18-year-old killed in love-hate gang war

Body of late Toyin.

Brands & Marketing 18

Business

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Features

News

Politics

28 Marketing Edge DOWN Airtel crashes Palestinian Imo State: set toON reward Airtel crashes price COUNT Foreignstabs 14 TO 35% price Features two 9 Politics s LEVY excellence in CARS of SIM cards, Israeli marketing of SIM cards, deals TOKUNBO Fatal stampede Apprehension grips communication Palestinian stabs twoOkorocha deals 200% soldiers, shot at Israeli rabbi's Imo State: going?

COUNT DOWN TO 35% LEVY ON TOKUNBO CARS funeral 200% bonus importers bonus Apprehension dead P9 P18 Israeli soldiers, shot P14 dead P28 grips importers Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

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

Opeoluwani Akintayo

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

Telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, has taken another major step to redefine the telecoms landscape as it now offers its customers four SIM cards for just N100.

This was recently unveiled with the launch of Smart Connect, a flagship product in its Smartphone Network promotion, which offers Nigerians up to 200 percent bonus to call all networks, on every recharge of N200 and above.

Smart Connect comes with a special offer of a 4-in-1 family pack, which contains four SIMs for just N100.

Speaking about the new package, Airtel’s Chief Commercial Officer, Maurice Newa, explained that the new package is a glowing testimony of the Telco’s commitment to continuously empower customers with a wide variant of products aimed at helping them stay connected to their families and friends at affordable rates.

He said: “This offer is uniquely designed to enrich telecom users in Nigeria by offering them exciting bonuses on recharges.

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

Newa noted that the 4-in-1 pack will further deepen friendships and family ties. In his words, “this superior product which helps people stay connected in a smart way is specially focused on family and friends and is another avenue for Airtel

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Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

Daily Times Nigeria

Thursday, April 9, 2015

of the occasion. Key players and gladiators in the integrated CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 gathering. This singular act anÏÏÏAn Israeli hospital spokesmarketing communications secgered the members of the APC person says a young man has died ceived wide ovation but today and they embarked massive tor are expected to grace the of injuries he suffered during a the story is different as his style destruction of the podium as of governance clearly conveys well as accusing the organisers Summit where the challenges deadly stampede that broke out at a difference slogan: “My fam- of bringing women suspected a funeral procession last weekend As Nigerians rejoice over APC’s of advertising and marketing ily, my family”. Ogbuagu did to be members of the Peoples victory at the presidential polls, for a revered rabbi. not mince words when he listed Democratic Party (PDP) to in the present era of dwindling Ajayi the emergence of General MuIt was the second fatality in Satsome of the corruption cases abuse the governor. The allegahamadu Buhari as President oil prices will be examined and “We just don’t urday's stampede - another man against the governor and his tion has since been dismissed was received with some trepiadministration since 2011 when by the organisers. solutions proffered. was crushed to death at the time.

Godwin Anyebe dation in some business circles. know what he he assumed office.

One of the grouses against GBUBEMI GOD’S COVEVered Kvitel of Beilinson HosHe said that, the awards, According to him, the goverGovernor Okorocha was that in NANT SNR reports that importis going to do; pital says the 18-year-old died on nor had allegedly acquired over 2011, he promised the people of To further consolidate on which are in several categories, ers of used vehicles are unsettled Wednesday. Several others injured 20 plots of land at Spilbat at Ak- the state that he would only adalthough he is its tradition of celebrating the will reward eminent marketers with Buhari’s victory. wakuma in Owerri North Local minister the state for four years in the incident are still hospitalnow a civilian Government area expanding to and hand over to somebody With only 12 weeks to the dynamism of marketers and ad- and advertisers such as Sir (Dr) ised.

Mbieri in Mbaitoli LGA with from Owerri zone. implementation of the 35 Over 100, 000 people poured into president, once vertising agencies making giant Chris Ogbechie and Sir Chris over 50 twin bungalows in the Since he hailed from Orlu per cent import levy on used the streets of the predominantly estate. The building of round- zone that had occupied the seat cars, importers of tokunbo vea military man, strides in the Nigerian economy, Parkes who will both receive the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish city of abouts in the state with Arabic of government for eight years hicles are faced with another Lifetime Marketing Achievesigns’, China roads’ construct- under Chief Achike Udenwa uncertainty as a new governBnei Brak in central Israel for the always a military One of Nigeria’s leading brands ed by the current administra- and with Okorocha completing ment warms up to take off on and marketing publication, ment Award. The Founder and funeral of a 101-year-old Jewish tion and rehabilitation of the his first four years, it therefore May 29 , 2015, thirty two days man.” scholar, Shmuel Wosner.

Marketing Edge, is set to hold former Chief Executive Officer same china roads for six times means that Orlu zone had ruled to the implementation which While such mass funerals for in two years. the state for 12 years with Owerhas been shifted two times since two high profile events. They of STB-McCann, Sir Steve OmoOther areas touched by Og- ri zone administering the state February 2014. important rabbis take place reguare a National Marketing Stake- jafor, will have the Brand PerDaily Times investigation buagu included owing of con- for only 22months. For equity, larly in Israel, deaths or serious afrevealed that apprehension is for the establishment of the tractors, non conduct of local justice and fair play, they aver holders Summit and Brands and sonality of the Decade Award injuries from the large crowds are rife among the big and small fordable vehicle finance scheme government election in the that Owerri zone should probestowed upon him. Also, Chief extremely rare.

Excellence Award. four time importers that the incom- suffered a delay of about Advertising state, forceful land acquisi- duce the next governor of the ing government of General Mu- months due to the Ebola Virus tion from their owners without state.

Olu Falomo will bag the OutBoth events will take place hamadu Buhari may scrap used Disease. compensation and acquiring Governor Okorocha has con“The staff of the collaboratvehicle importation into the on Thursday, 7 May, 2015 at the standing Advertising Icon of the of 600 CoOs by the governor. sistently at different fora even ing bank, Westbank of South country altogether.

In the albums, Ogbuagu also in churches that Imo state is too Federal Palace Hotel located in Decade while the CEO of Airtel The first phase of the policy, Africa, delayed their planned alleged that the governor used small for him to govern and at Nigeria, Mr Segun Ogunsanya involving payment of the 35 per trip to Nigeria to set up operaVictoria Island, Lagos. state funds to contest APC the same time, it is only people cent duty was to have begun in tions from September 2014 to presidential primaries know- that failed examination that reThe Summit, which has the will be honoured as CEO Brand February 2014, but the Federal January 2015; hence, the new ing he would not secure the peat the class. What is now on An Israeli minister praised the wounded soldier for shooting rather than arresting the assailant Ministry of Finance, through date for the start of operations theme “A Roadmap to Market- Personality of the Decade. ticket, describing such venture people’s lips is why he (Okoroa circular to the Director- of the financing scheme was ÏÏÏ Fifteen police officers have as colossal waste. Also is the al- cha) made the u-turn, why did Other categories Out- man stabbed second targeting Israeli ing in the Age of Global Oil Glut ÏÏÏare A Palestinian soldiers One of the soldiers suffered goal: to hurt as many Jews as been killed and five others woundGeneral, National Automotive fixed for April 2014. Accordleged award of contracts to his he swallow his words and at Council, Mr. Aminu Jalal, had ingly, the Minister of Finance Telecommunicatwo Israeli soldiers in the north- in a week. to the theyhiscan. I congratulate the secu- ed in an ambush in the Mexican and Nigerian Advertising in a standing in-laws, family serious membersstab and wounds what point did neck he change deferred the implementation to was directed to extend the levy people outside the state among ern West Bank before being shot mind togiven go for second It also comes despite security and head.

He was emer- term? rity forces who killed the terrorist. state of Jalisco, prosecutors have tions Company of the Decade, Generational Shift” will hold in June 30. No reason was given deferment on used cars to April others. one majority elec-must be the fate of anyone dead by of one the of them, the Israeli being stepped up for Passover, gency treatment Already, at the scene be-of the This 30, 2015.” for the postponement.

Experiential Agencies said. the morning while the Awards The whistle blowing and red torate in the state are teaming military says.

Importers speak of the most important religious fore being evacuated to hospital who hurts innocent Jews."

At the time the implementaGunmen targeted the police card display led to the disrup- up with the PDP governorship Decade, Outdoor Agencies of take place in the evening.

Chief Reuben Obi, a major tion of the second phase was The attack took place on Route festivals in the Jewishtion calendar. in Jerusalem.

The other soldier "A serious incident must end convoy as it travelled along a highof governorship debate candidate, Chief Emeka Ihediofirst moved from July 1, 2014 to importer based in Ikeja told our Me- to the Jewish 60, near the entrance According to a statement the Decade, Outstanding The soldiers were members was stabbed thetoback this 28 way and not with dreams of way towards the state capital of organized of by the Justice De-in ha repeatbefore the feathe of March January 1, 2015, Daily Times correspondent they received the velopment Peace fire Comand National Asof Maale Levona and the Israeli military's Home Frontand opened andpresidential killed the attacker. liberation from jail." of the Year, made available to newsmen re- dia Buying Agencysettlement gathered recalls that govern- victory of General Muhamadu Guadalajara on Monday. Security mission (JDPC) of Outgoing the Owerri Economy sembly elections where the Palestinian PDP the Palestinian village of Sinjil.

Command and had been sitting Minister medics identified Commissioner Alejandro Solorio ment had said it was to enable Buhari with shock. “We didn’t of the cently in Lagos by the publish- Marketing Personality Catholic Archdiocese when a clinched all the three senatolocal vehicle assembly plants to think it will happen; under the One of the soldiers was stabbed inside an ambulancegroup placed on Naftali Bennett of seats the nationalist the attacker as Mohammed Jasser called it a "cowardly attack". of women started blowrial in the state as well as Year, Outstanding inCompany of hasin chief of Marketing Edge ramp up production in order to PDP government, businesser the neck and is in a critical con- standby at the Sinjil junction dur- and Jewish Home party praised the a 27-year-old resident of ing the whistle displaying sweeping eight outacof 10Karakra, House The area is home to a drug carmeet the nation’s demand for been negotiable for a long time otherThe distinMagazine, Mr. John Ajayi, Dr the Year, amongst dition. other suffered light ing Passover, the Israeli red cards to everytions person the newspaof in the wounded soldier. of Representatives seats.Sinjil, according Okorocha to the Agence and we had brazed up to accombrand new vehicles. tel known as Jalisco New Generanoted.The knife attack was the per Haaretz reported.

"Our enemies have only one France Presse.

When it was deferred again to modate the 35 per cent increase.

Josef Bel-Molokwu, a renowned guished awards. Hewounds. tion, but Mr Solorio would not say April 30, 2015, the Federal Gov- But with General Buhari, we He also disclosed that, this if the gang was behind the amand erudite advertising profesernment through NAC, an agen- just don’t know what he is going Newa bush. to do; although he is now a civilcy of the Federal Ministry of year’s award however takes a sional and former registrar of tunnelled their way in through with a cellphone camera, shows Industry, Trade and Investment, ian president, once a military It is considered one of the most to provide its customers with pointed Smart Advertising Practitioners Coun- unique step in honouring the man,that always a military man.” said that theHe postponement was out one wall to access a lift shaft at powerful cartels in Mexico and is Slager firing eight times at Scott.

“Judging from his records, due to the delay in establishing the utmost best.”

Connect allows the Customers to cil of Nigeria (APCON) will be achievements of the heroes of “Already,themajority of theSafe electorate in the state are teaming up with Hatton Garden Deposit involved After Scott fell to the ground after in large-scale drug trafPresident-Elect may scrap a vehicle finance scheme. the industry by introducing the Ltd building on Friday, while ficking along the Pacific Coast. the final shot, Slager walked over “At Airtel, we listen to our enjoy as into much as policy 15mbanddata may ban the im- guest speaker and he will Throwing some light the the the PDPbusinesses governorship candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha to repeat the were closed for the to Scott and handcuffed him, reasons for the delays recently, Raul Benitez, a security expert Posthumous Advertising Perconsumers and we will contindeliver the Address while Part of over Lead 300,000 tokunbo cars imported annually. on recharges of N200 CONTINUED ON PAGE 29 D-G Jalalbonus said the arrangement feat of March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections where Easter holidays. then returned to the spot where at Mexico's National Autonomous sonality of the Decade which ue to do our utmost to meet and and above weekly. In addition, the Managing Director of NoThey then abseiled down to the University, described the afterhe opened fire. The officer picked the PDP clinched all the three senatorial seats in the state as well as even exceed their expectations. ah’s Ark, Mr Lanre Adisa will will be awarded to the first doyup something from the ground, ÏÏÏBritish police were hunting vault and smashed their way in, noon attack as well planned and Smart Connect allows customwho an eight sweeping outsource of 10told House seats.” unnamed the pa-of Representatives walked back to Scott's body, and for a gang on Wednesday By providing value for money deliver an address on Nigeria en of Nigerian advertising and orchestrated. raided safety deposit boxes in per. Other media reported that dropped the object next to him.

"A lot of gunmen were involved. airtime packs, we are empow- ers to add Family and Friends Advertising in a Generational former Managing Director and Scott's father, Walter Scott, Sr., London's major jewellery busi- 300 boxes had been raided.

They blocked the highway to surIhedioha ering individuals, families and on the Airtel Network and of- Shift. The former Chairman Owner of Lowe Lintas, late Mr Police gave no details of what round them [police] and attacked ÏÏÏ A white police officer in the told NBC's Today show Wednes- ness district, making off with alongside the businesses across this great na- fers as much as N200 FaF bonus of APCON, Chief Olu Falomo, Sylvester Momeke southeastern U.S. state of South day that he believed his son may cash and gems in what local me- was stolen but the Sun said the with military superiority,' he told Communication to stay mobile and enjoy the on recharges of N200 and above a great icon of the advertising owner of Eminent Carolina has been charged with have tried to flee because "he dia said could be the country's haul could be as much as £200m the Associated Press. ($300m), dwarfing the amounts murder after a video showed him didn't want to go to jail again" for biggest-ever heist.

Ogunro. weekly. exciting Airtel offers,” he said. profession will be the Chairman tions Ltd, late Sesan th

15 Mexican policemen killed in ambush

Personal Finance: Make a habit of reinventing yourself Chi makes Hollandia Milk 25% free

US: White Police officer charged in death of unarmed black man

In order to continue to deliver on brand promise, Chi Limited, the maker of Hollandia Evaporated Full Cream Milk has added 25 per cent extra milk to the brand.

According to Managing Director, Chi Limited’s Mr. Deepanjan Roy, the product is designed to provide consumers with creamy, great tasting, highly nutritious and affordable evaporated milk in handy 215g packs.

“We want to ensure that our loyal consumers continue to get value and satisfaction for their money whenever they buy Hol-

landia Evaporated Milk.

You can enjoy the creamy, tasty, nourishing Evaporated milk in whichever way you want and for longer, without breaking

the bank. Hollandia Evaporat-

ed Milk will always stay steps

firing repeated shots at a fleeing, unarmed black man and killing him after a traffic stop.

The fatal shooting of 50-yearold Walter Scott last Saturday in the city of North Charleston occurred after he was pulled over by Officer Michael Slager for driving with a broken brake light.

The video, taken by a bystander

ahead of other brands, for no reason other than the fact that Hollandia Evaporated Milk believes that consumers deserve the very best. It can be enjoyed with tea, custards, cereals and

smoothies. The future looks promising for an innovative brand which places wellbeing and value of its consumers at the heart of its products.” Roy Added.

UK police seek gang behind '£200m' heist

child support payments he owed.

"He just ran away."

Slager initially said he opened fire after Scott had taken his electronic stun gun during a scuffle.

The unidentified witness who took the video turned it over to Scott's family. A lawyer for the family turned the video over to The New York Times, which posted it on its website Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Police said the thieves used heavy cutting equipment to get into the vault at the officially unnamed deposit business in Hatton Garden, home to almost 300 diamond, gold and gem dealers and more than 50 shops, where they broke into the safety boxes.

According to the Sun newspaper, the gang are thought to have

taken in Britain's previous biggest heists.

"Robbery at one of the biggest safe deposits in Hatton Garden over the Easter weekend," London gemologist Thelma West wrote on Twitter. "The loss is Huge."

She said a lot of jewellers and dealers leave their stock in safe deposits over holiday periods.

Benitez

Roy

ÏÏÏWhat

Tunde Oyedoyin

do Floyd Mayweather Jr, Hilary Clinton, Jay Z, Michael Johnson, Luis Figo, Bill Gates, former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Andy Murray, Aare Afe Babalola SAN, and our dear president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), have in common? One thing is sure, they’ve all increased their earning power.

Dr Doyin Okupe may be eating his words now, for once mocking the then presidential candidate of the opposition, saying Buhari had not improved - reinvented -himself in donkey years.

Well, the rest is history. The president in waiting is a work in progress. Make no mistake about it, this is not a political piece.

I know it may not be rocket science, but from looking at the list, it is hard to find which common thread runs through them or which dots connect a former American First Lady to a reigning world boxing champion.

Perhaps it might help if I include the duo of our outgoing President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and former

Buhari

Gates

Clinton

Obasanjo

Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili in the group. What is that one thing that these people have in common? To be honest, you may still not be able to figure it out. I’ll actually be surprised if anyone can easily find the common denominator between these folks at the snap of a finger.

she could be placed in the same bracket with Jonathan. Okay now, the waiting is over. The one thing that all of them have in common is that they used to have a previous life from the one they now live. In other words, the career they now have is not what they previously had. They’ve all had to reinvent themselves. The only exception is President Jonathan, who has to now reinvent himself into a statesman.

You may have heard that cliche that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but you need to copy these people if you don’t want to become obsolete while still alive.

That’s one of the starting points of sorting out your personal finance. Your just learn to reinvent yourself.

What does it mean to reinvent yourself ? One dictionary defines it as, “to make yourself as if new,” to present ( something) yourself, in a different or new way and to make major changes or improvements to - something. Mrs. Clinton did that, she used to be a First Lady, she made changes to herself and became a politician, then a diplomat. Now a contender for the White House. Obasanjo started in the barracks, then reinvented himself and went to the farm. He made changes

again, became civilian president after being locked away by the late General Sani Abacha. He made a couple of changes after eight years as president and became statesman and author.

Ezekwesili used to be a two- time Minister, but saw a gap in society and became a Bring Back Our Girls campaigner.

It’s opened some doors for her, including the chance to speak at Oxford next Tuesday.

Why should you reinvent yourself in the first place?

Follow me @Toyedoyin

Reason being, how does one lump former Real Madrid and Portugal’s football legend, Figo with former president, Obasanjo? Besides, considering that Ezekwesili had been a thorn in the flesh of the current administration for some time, it’s almost unthinkable that

To be concluded next week.

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

Life&

TIMES Thursday, April 9, 2015

Otunba

Gbenga

Daniels L2

P

L5

P

Reflects on life at 59

Celebrity Intagram update

Interview L2

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday April 9, 2015

Almost all Nigerian leaders who have ruled us had no shoes Otunba Gbenga Daniel

Mutiat Alli

the greatest thing to have happened to this country in recent times.

Former Ogun State governor and the longest serving governor of the state, Otunba Justus Olugbenga Daniel recently celebrated his 59th birthday at his home in Lagos. A member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the proud student of Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, the Polytechnic Ibadan and the University of Lagos, speaks about his views on the recent transition of power in government, advice for the youth and sundry issues.

A lot of people are here to celebrate with you, what message do you want to pass across to them on this memorable day?

The message I have for then is a message of hope, that our country is coming of age. What happened in the last few days was a major transicommencement of this republic at the federal level, there has been a transition, from one ruling party to another and it happened successfully. I think it is the signpost of the coming of age of our dear country. It also presents hope and has shown that people are the ultimate decider of who governs them and that these same people are watching and if formance, they will effect a change which I think is something that is required of a democratic process.

The presidential election just held a fortnight ago and another is taking place over the weekend. As a former governor and chieftain of the People Democratic Party, what is your advice to the contenders in the coming election?

I think the message is crystal clear, and try our best and once we have done that, we await the verdict of the people and we accept the verdict of the people. I can assure you that once that happens, this country will make progress and it is still the same lesson about transition. The difference between civilized economies and ours is that they have perfected the act of transition. In the United State of America, there are two major parties; the republican will

Life&

T E A M

that the democrats take over and it goes on like that. It is a competitive environment. Same too goes for the United Kingdom. I think this is what we must expect here. Like I said, it is

58 years, has there been moments of regret or are there things you might have loved to do better that you never had the opportunity to do and if given the opportunity, will you likely effect a change?

There are no regrets quite honestly within that frame work, the only thing I would have loved to do is to further educate and re-orientate our people. I found out in the course of my public service that our people are not as informed as we assume they are and once the information is not out there, people take their own decisions and positions. Sometimes when I see people take position on what I know is wrong, I just smile and I just have a sense of pity for them that if only they knew what is actually right. So what I feel the need to do in the polity is to continuously educate, re-inform and re-orientate our people. There is too much deceit and lies out there and regrettably our people believe them and sometimes Nigerians act like what we call the roman mob. The roman mob will act before they think, more like a moving train, they don’t reason. Once they decide that this is where they are going and even when they hear that this place they are heading toat that point that they want to move, they won’t listen. It is after the die has been cast that they begin to regret their actions which may be a bit too late. So that is what I have found out in my experience in the public life. What is missing is information dissemination and that is where I continuously believe that the media must continue to stand up to save our dear country because the media are supposed to be the most educated and enlightened, they have all the information and if they take it as a duty to inform and inform correctly, I am sure that we will have a better country. The media should try as much as possible to report what they actually see and leave the public to give their opinion on such issues that have been reported.

You left governance in 2011. what is on ground and are you of the opinion that it will be better? and as you are aware, government comes and goes and as a matter of fact, different government sets

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

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

Everyone who ever ruled us in Nigeria, were people who had no shoes. It is not only Jonathan who didn’t have shoes, while Moshood Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo were attending Baptist Junior Secondary School (BJSS), they had no shoes as well.

their own priority but because of the level of the development of the people and because of the level of poverty, unemployment especially unemployment of the educated elite, it becomes necessary that whatever policy any government must set or pursue must be such that it will be in the overall interest of the people and not necessarily the elite because the elite can fend for themselves, the overall interest of the people must be paramount and primary. Where that is not done, then I must say it’s a waste of time. I don’t want to pass judgment because election is in a few days time. The people have seen, they have all made up their minds and they will express themselves in a few days time whether they want to continue or they also want to effect a change. Between ever is done.

Will you be voting? responsibility but if you ask me who am I going to vote for, I won’t tell you but you know my party is the People’s Democratic Party.

In your own view, do you think our level of comportment has improved based on the last election?

Yes I think so and strongly so too because whether you believe this or not, we have moved because this is transition that has taken place against the prediction of the inter-

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

national community that there was going to be mayhem in Nigeria and we never had none, that is development. In terms of infrastructure, things have changed, we are not there yet, but it is a continuous process.

What advice do you have for the youth who see you as their role model?

It is still about believing in one’s potentials. Because of the fall in the value system, our youth understandably, do not believe in themselves.

They think they cannot achieve things without some form of support.

Yes we all need support but my advice to the youth is to believe solely in themselves and do away with all negative thoughts. If you look at the list of the most successful men in the world, they ordinarily did not get support from people and they were able to make it in life. I for instance did not really get any help when I started my company. As a matter of fact, a lot of people were wondering why I would want to leave my comfort zone and start a new business. When I started Crystal Laurel, I was the Managing Director, the secretary, the technician, sales engineer and dispatch rider and then I started building it up from them. I didn’t have much money, in fact I had no money. So

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

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

I think my advice to the youth is that and around their various communities, perseverance and determination is the key, once you are sure you All the people who have ruled us in Nigeria are people without shoes. It is not only Jonathan who didn’t have shoes. While Moshood Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo were attending Baptist Junior Secondary School (BJSS), they had no shoes too.

Ibrahim Babaginda became an orphan at age six and at the end of the day, they all triumphed. So you tell me, where are those who had shoes and were born with a silver spoon?

That is my message to the youths out there.

What will you consider to be your most memorable day? giving day of my school, Baptist boy’s high school in 1971. I was in class three and on that particular prize giving day, I remember collectposition out of the thirteen subjects I took. It was so amazing that before I picked up one prize to go back to my seat, I would be called upon to receive yet another.

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

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday April 9, 2015

Stories by: Opeoluwani Akintayo

Wizkid to drop new video this week Fans of Wizkid should get ready for a new single from him, that’s because he isn’t taking things slowly this year, as the Starboy CEO, was in South Africa last week and early this week, where he shot the video to his new single, Expensive Shit. The video was shot under the eagle eyes of experienced Cinematographer, Sesan Ogunro. Don’t forget, Wizkid earlier promised his fans to expect something bigger from him. And with the video already shot, it is likely going to be released this week.

Wizkid

P-Square plans Chop My Money Remix Twin singing sensation, P-Square is planning to bless us with the remix of their hit single with Senegalese singer, Akon, Chop My Money.

The remix is presently cooking but there is no idea on who they plan to feature in it, or whether or not they will be shooting a video for it as well.

They are done recording, and the song will be released any moment from now.

L3 Music Gist

Between Don Jazzy and Twitter fan A Twitter fan on Tuesday, April 7, put Mavin Music boss, Don Jazzy on blast for turning deaf ears to the Oba of Lagos’ anti-Igbo comments. According to the fan with twitter handle name, @I_am SkySwag, Don Jazzy has refused to condemn the racist statement liance Progressive Congress, APC. He said, “@DONJAZZY, you think because you now associate with Fashola, that will now make you to turn deaf ears to things like this? I mean what the Oba said? Sometimes I ask if you are really an Ibo person. With all these Oba of Lagos and Igbo stuff, you just sit and pretend as if nothing happened,” she tweeted.

In response, Jazzy took to his own twitter handle to address the issue. According to him, his silence doesn’t mean that he supports what the Oba said about “drowning” all Ibos if they refuse to vote for Ambode but that, he respects Gov. Fashola as a mentor and for his fair treatment of Igbos in Lagos. ond. Fashola has treated everyone in Lagos

Don Jazzy fairly as far as I know and I am proud to be associated with him. #mentor. As a wise/civilized/ respectful Ibo man, I will not desecrate the stool of royalty, even though I totally frown at the recording. But I will tell you for free that we have the freedom to choose who to vote for and no one can force you or me to vote as he/she pleases…,” he tweeted.

Photo speak P-Square

Grammy winning DJ, Black Chiney, DJ Snoop Da Damaja storm Quilox

Mavin Music star, D’Prince showing off some naira bills inside his room

DJ, Black Chiney, Ngozi Nkwoji and DJ Da Damaja Four time Grammy award winning DJ, Black Chiney teamed up with superstar, DJ Snoop Da Damaja, to deliver an amazing club experience at the Heineken Green Light party held at Club Quilox on Sunday, April 5, 2015. The party had in attendance, some of Nigeria’s biggest celebrities including Sound Sultan, Uti Nwachukwu, Banky W, DJ Jimmy JATT, IK Ogbonna and TV host, Ill Rymz, JJC, Skillz, all of who joined other night clubbers for an unforgettable night of music, fun and party. The DJs kept everyone on their feet all through the night with what could only be described as a perfect blend of international and local music. While DJs Black Chiney raised the tempo with hit tracks from Rihanna, Kanye West, Beyonce, Sean Paul and other international acts, DJ Snoop

da Damaja doled out the best of Nigerian music from Wizkid, 2face, MI and others. Senior Brand manager, Heineken Nigeria, Ngozi Nwozi while commenting, said “Tonight has been nothing short of an unforgettable experience we promised and the performance of both Black Chiney and Snoop Da Damaja was out of this world.’ Other Notable guests present include Nigeria’s representative at the 2014 Big Brother Africa, Melvin Oduah, Phyno , Sexy Steel and many others. This is The 2014 edition of the party was a major success. It had three international DJs; Benny D, Babey Drew and Tim Westwood, all of who brought their mastery of the art of DJing to the excitement of Nigerian clubbers.

Kcee being mobbed by female fans while performing in Stuttgart.

He wrote on his social media account: Stuttgart crazy!!

The ladies won’t leave my d..k alone.

Music Gists L4

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday April 9, 2015

Stories by: Mutiat Alli

Lilian Esoro and FiancĂŠe make first public appearance since engagement news

The Guest picks June premiere date The Guest -

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Tonto Dike on the set of The Guest

Toyin Aimakhu-Johnson, Empress Njamah others win Iphone 6 at AY live show

Lilian Esoro and Ubi Franklin

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Lizzy Anjorin fetes beggars on birthday -

Lizzy Anjorin

Amanfo Pascal commences new project

Toyin Aimakhu-Johnson, Empress Njamah and one of the winners

Kunle Afolayan drums up support for Ambode

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Amanfo Pascal

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Uche Ogbodo returns to movie set Life &Times

Kunle Afolayan

Uche Ogbodo (middle) and cast members

Daily Times Nigeria

Thursday April 9, 2015

L5 Music & Movie Gists

Stories by: Mutiat Alli and Opeoluwani Akintayo

Rukky Sanda gives politicians hard-knock

Still in the spirit of the 2015 election, Nollywood actress and Love Lorn producer, Rukky Sanda who hasn’t featured in any movie lately has quit being silent over electoral matters and has stepped out to caution the political party that lost out in the Presidential race. It has been observed that after the announcement of the winner of the most powerful seat of power, some celebrities have had their tails tucked in between their legs as they now pledge loyalty to President-Elect, Muhammad Buhari. To this end, Rukky has therefore called on politicians to learn a lesson from their mistake as it isn’t the number of entertainers they hire as a campaign strategy that determine their winning chances, but the masses.

According to her, “I hope they learnt that it’s not about how many celebrities have your back but the masses… Celebrities are only a tiny fraction of the entire population.”

Meet Kcee’s new label mate

The Vice president of Five Star music label, Kcee, has added a new talent to the lot by name, SkiiBii who is presently recording his debut single, Mayana. Five Star music is also home to music acts like Mr Songz, Soso Soberekon and others.

Rukky Sanda

What your favourite celebrities are up to on Instagram Compiled by: Mutiat Alli

Singer, 2tace Idibia’s son celebrates birthday

Actress, Empress Njamah Singer, Tiwa Savage dares in solidarity with the Ibos a female lion over Oba Akiolu’s scathing comment He may be the king of the jungle but when the queen comes in town everybody shuts down… well the baby cub anyway.

Empressnjamah: All my Igbo family no fear! If then trowey us for lagoon PORSHA to the rescue!! My super DOG has gat your back!! Igbo kwenu

2faceidibia1: mennnn like play like play this my little charmer just turned 3yrs 2day! HBD 2 innocent Idibia Jnr. The lord will protect and guide your footsteps always my son

Actor, Yomi Gold in company with colleagues, travel to support Kwara State governor’s re-election bid Iamyomigold: #APC all the way, Ambode for Lagos, Ahmed for Ilorin.

Actress, Tayo Sotayo, channels her sexy side in a photoshoot Sotayogaga: And someone saw this picture and started singing Falila Ketan @daddymiliano LMAO

Singer, Davido, student of BabcockUniversity, shows off his final year project Almost there!!! Final project!! Defense soon!!

Let’s get it

Issue L6

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday April 9, 2015

OPINION ARTICLE

At last, Africa Magic Igbo makes its long awaited debut!

Akeem Ogunlade The story, which very quickly attained folklore status, is often told of an African American resident of the Big Apple who owns a club in New York. One day, he placed big television screens in strategic corners of the club and as long as the leisure facility remained opened, he played only Nollywood movies on them, non-stop. When asked why, he said that he wanted to show New Yorkers and other Americans that Africans don’t live on trees. He had never been to Africa but watching Nollywood movies pride that Africans are human and in Africa, there are beautiful people, homes, cities and a rich cultural heritage. Talk of the power of storytelling!

The launch of AfricaMagic Igbo could not have come at a better time. M-Net, owners of the AfricaMagic channels that avail Africans with platforms to tell their stories from their perspective, is following a tradition of excellence that has long trailed its operations.

The launch of AfricaMagic Yoruba was hailed as a highly strategic move which helped to display the rich Yoruba culture in all its glory to a global audience. Thereafter followed the launch of AfricaMagic Hausa, a development which surprised quite a few people who were hitherto unaware that a vibrant movie industry existed in the northern part of the country.

Long seen as a region that had a monolithic culture and language, even in Nigeria particularly down south, the channel exposed the rainbow cultures and peoples of the North to people in other regions. While the business sense of launching channels for Yoruba and Hausa language content is self-evident, as these languages are spoken far beyond Nigeria’s borders and would therefore naturally help to expand Multichoice’s subscriber base beyond the country, the Igbo channel also poses a strong business case as the Igbos are naturally migratory. They are usually found in large numbers in virtually all African countries, driving business and commercial activities.

Long before the coming of the AfricaMagic channels, Nigerians had no choice but to be served content from other places. Remember Good Times, The Jeffersons, Some Mothers Do Have Them, among many others?

Although there was a movie industry then, it was largely restricted with a very small target audience. Not only was the content on TV alien to the culture, language and lifestyles of Nigerians, there was also a dearth of opportunities for talented Nigerians to showcase their craft to the rest of the continent and indeed the world.

With the availability of eight AfricaMagic channels, there are boundless opportunities for content providers – movies, sitcoms, drama, documentaries, music, name it.

All of a sudden, there seems to be an explosion, or renaissance, of the African people and their cultures. Perhaps it is not happenstance that the availability of platforms for self-expression for Africans is directly linked to the phenomenal growth in the entertainment industry across Africa, with Nigeria rightly referred to as the entertainment capital of Africa.

The AfricaMagic Igbo channel is already expected to rival existing channels in the AfricaMagic channel line-up as the Igbo people are deeply rooted in their culture which is quite colourfully and richly expressed in proverbs and wise sayings. A glimpse of what the channel will offer has been Igbo culture and nuances on Nollywood movies. If the great storyteller, Chinua Achebe’s portrayal of the Igbo culture in Things Fall Apart is anything to go by, then viewers are ranging from drama, dance, movies and general entertainment. The Igbo culture is renowned for its food, tradition, and language; but perhaps most prominent is the culture’s which many viewers can expect to get a healthy dose of on the new channel.

Beyond the entertainment value that AfricaMagic Igbo will serve is the business potential particularly around the

entertainment industry in the eastern part of the country. AfricaMagic Igbo is expected to have the same positive impact on businesses in the entertainment sector such as content providers, leisure, among others in the same fashion that AfricaMagic Hausa and AfricaMagic Yoruba had on businesses in the entertainment sector in the northern and western parts of the country. While mainstream Nollywood is based in Lagos, there is a vibrant movie production business in Kano, Jos and Kaduna, feeding the AfricaMagic Hausa channel, while the Ibadan-Abeokuta-Akure axis also has a thriving entertainment industry feeding AfricaMagic Yoruba.

M-Net, while announcing the coming of AfricaMagic Igbo, stated that the channel will be a 24-hour general entertainment channel dedicated to showcasing the best of Igbo language entertainment content from Nigeria.

This, the company an-

nounced, is part of its on-going development strategy. Igbo entertainment content has always played a role in the development of the Nigerian and it is only proper that this content, which showcases the rich Igbo culture, is given a platform where is easily accessible by audiences in the country and across the rest of Africa. The channel brings to eight the total number of Africa Magic channels, and is the third indigenous Nigerian language channel, after Africa Magic Hausa and Africa Magic Yoruba.

Perhaps one of the strongest contributions of the AfricaMagic brand is in the area of linguistic diffusion. The channels have since served as a tool for both speakers and non-speakers to learn a new language or better the speaking knowledge of either Hausa or Yoruba.

With the launch of the latest

Actor, Mike Ezeuronye and actress, Chioma Akpotha AfricaMagic channel and its potential to kindle growth of Igbo content and businesses in the entertainment sector, not only in the eastern part of the country but also in Lagos where there is a large population of Igbos, contribution of the entertainment industry to gross domestic product is expected to keep growing. Estimated at 1.2percent of Nigeria’s rebased GDP of set to rise as there is a direct

correlation between platforms that spur the growth of businesses and businesses taking advantage of the opportunity to grow. At Multichoice’s 20th anniversary event, the Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Mr. Emeka Mba, while recognising the pivotal role that the company is playing in the booming entertainment industry, stated that the company has brought world-class broadcasting to Nigeria and in the process

unleashed an economic multiplier and a wave of enterprise development schemes on Nigeria’s socio-economic terrain. The launch of AfricaMagic Igbo will undoubtedly help to maintain that growth trajectory.

Akeem Ogunlade is of the Centre for the Promotion of Enterprise and Business Best Practice, Plot 908 Njamena Street, Off Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja

Daily Times Nigeria

Thursday April 9, 2015

L7 Music & Movie Review

Mutiat Alli and Opeoluwani Akintayo

Mark Ronson

nk Fu n ow pt U s ar M no ru B . ft n so Mark Ron For some time now, Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk has stayed on the number one spot of international music chart lists. The 4:31 seconds video which was released in 2014 video from the album, Uptown Special, was released on Youtube in November 2014, and as at press time, had already garnered a whooping468,788,506 views.

The single was a commercial success, spending thirteen weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and topped the charts in several other countries including Australia, Canada, France, Ireland and New Zealand. In the last week of January 2015, the song was streamed a record 2.34 million times in a single week in the United Kingdom. Uptown Funk also set a new record for the highest number of streams in one week in America, with 4.8 million streams. In 2015, it won the British Award for British Single of the Year.

So, let’s take a look at what makes this Ronson’s video tick.

We all know funk is an old genre of music so, bringing it back, this time in colours and fun that it caught the much desired attention of the younger generation, is a plus.

The song opens with the scene of a stunning lady strolling by. Standing on the street, was Ronson and The choreography all through the video is dope. They got good attitude to the song too.

The location for the song was also on point; old patterned houses, old school cars and wall papers, typical of a street funk.

Yes, the most part of the video took place on the street yet, the fact that they didn’t stay on a particular spot, but used different street scenes, is creative. old school yet, smart, which is what I think makes the video more appealing to new generation viewers.

Nice beat and sound choice too, just as expected in a funk song. The pictures are clear perfect as well.

Appropriate voice ranges and tones. The trumpet was also at its best pitch there.

And then translating from the street scenes to the club, is just as appropriate and was expected.

The lighting right from the streets, to the club is in its right volume.

However, the only fallout the video has is that, the crew didn’t have a change of costume as they moved A simple, yet classy video. Fairly good video I score it 8/10.

Producer: Mark Ronson

Ewatomi: Beyond love and deceit

Not minding that is she from the Igbo tribe, Regina Chukwu takes a bold step with the production of a hitch-free classic Yoruba movie with high production level and techniques. The 110 minutues movie divided into two parts, is quite commendable from the stable of Triple ‘R’ production and Okiki plays the role of a good girl gone bad is one she has not been associated with in the past years, aside from the regular roles of street girl or school girl. Also, thumbs-up to Muyiwa Ademola and Antar Laniyan who were luminous in their respective roles.

downfall. Starring Antar Laniyan, Muyiwa Ademola, Kunle Afod, Joke Muyiwa, Allwell Ademola,

He was promiscuous, engaging in several extra martial affairs which led to his sudden disconnection with his only son, Kunle Afod, whom after introducing his girlfriend to his father, plays a fast

It is pertinent to give credit to the director, Kunle Afod with the creation of a twist in the movie as the house of Otunba where they were caught making. Otunba was shocked to discover that his wife to be whom he had made the head of his companies betrayed him just to have his property. he was also planning an attack on her. She played a fast one by assassinating Muyiwa Ademola.

In all, this is a well-made movie and it is obvious that a lot of professional effort went into its

I rate it 8/10

Kunle Afod, Director

L8 Television

Daily Times Nigeria

Thursday April 9, 2015

Showing on

Showing on

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124 E! Channel

07:30

08:00

Thu, 9 Apr | PG13

Thu, 9 Apr | 16

‘S5/E4 - Dragon Me Down’. Kim invites the Kardashian family to Miami to compete in the annual Dragon Boat Race. Kourtney realises that her sister-in-law might be pregnant.

101 M-Net

00:00 Walking With Dinosaurs 01:30 Entertainment Now! 02:00 The Legend Of Hercules 03:34 Behind The Scenes: Transformers Age...

04:00 MasterChef Australia 05:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 06:00 The Middle 06:30 NCIS: New Orleans 07:30 Chicago Fire 08:30 Jobs 10:40 Mom 11:05 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 12:00 MasterChef Australia 13:00 Carte Blanche 14:00 The Blacklist 15:00 Modern Family 15:30 Two And A Half Men 16:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 17:00 Mike & Molly 17:30 MasterChef Australia 18:30 The Fixer 19:30 Mob City 20:30 NCIS: New Orleans 21:30 CSI: Cyber

118 Telemundo

00:30 The Del Monte Dynasty 01:20 The Impostor 02:10 Aurora 03:00 Fearless Heart 03:50 Labour Of Love 05:20 The Del Monte Dynasty 06:10 Aurora 07:00 Fearless Heart 07:50 Labour Of Love 08:40 The Impostor 09:30 Forbidden Passions 10:20 Aurora 11:10 Fearless Heart 12:00 Labour Of Love 12:50 The Impostor 13:40 Forbidden Passions 14:30 Aurora 15:20 Fearless Heart 16:10 Labour Of Love 17:00 The Impostor 17:50 Forbidden Passions 18:40 Aurora 19:30 Fearless Heart 20:20 Labour Of Love 21:10 The Impostor 22:00 Forbidden Passions 22:50 Aurora 22:50 Aurora

‘S2/E8 - Family Business’. Jamal reluctantly takes Charles as a client in a court case. Tasha goes undercover and starts a celebrity gossip blog.

120 BBC Entertainment

00:00 My Family

10:20 Deal Or No Deal

00:20 My Family

11:00 My Family

00:50 Top Gear

11:30 Hell’s Kitchen USA

01:45 The Musketeers

12:20 Top Gear

02:40 Come Dine With Me

13:15 Come Dine With Me

03:30 EastEnders

14:10 Dragons’ Den

04:05 Top Gear

15:10 The Weakest Link

05:00 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series

16:00 EastEnders

05:25 QI

16:30 Deal Or No Deal

05:55 Would I Lie To You?

17:15 QI

06:30 EastEnders

17:50 Would I Lie To You?

07:00 Antiques Roadshow

18:25 Hell’s Kitchen USA

01:55 Perils Of The Sentimental Swordsman

07:55 The Weakest Link

19:15 Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond

03:20 Hole In The Wall

08:45 The Cube 09:35 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

155 AfricaMagic World

00:40 Unbeatable Banzuke 01:05 Guy Code 01:30 Poorman’s Bikini Beach

03:45 Hole In The Wall 04:35 Unbeatable Banzuke 05:00 Primal Force 06:50 Video Zonkers 07:15 Hole In The Wall 07:45 Hole In The Wall

06:00 Good Morning Africa

08:15 Most Shocking

07:00 Star Gist

09:10 What Went Down

07:25 Redial

09:40 Repo Games

08:30 Living With Trisha

10:05 World’s Wildest Police Videos 00:00 Noose Of Gold

09:00 Good Morning Africa

10:00 Good Morning Africa

00:30 Good Morning Africa

10:00 So Wrong So Wright

00:07 Tinsel

11:00 Tinsel

01:44 The Dzigbordi Show

10:30 So Wrong So Wright

00:40 Living With Trisha

11:30 Star Gist

02:36 Good Morning Africa

11:00 Affections

01:28 Star Gist

12:00 Channel O Superfan

03:39 Good Morning Africa

11:30 Jara

01:55 Making Of A Mogul

12:30 Channel O: Volt

04:35 Noose Of Gold

12:00 Jara

02:23 At Home With Michelle Attoh

13:00 At Home With Joselyn Dumas

05:00 Good Morning Africa

12:30 Katemba Mu Kkooti

03:23 Good Morning Africa

14:00 Through The Eyes Of An African

06:00 Foot Prints

13:00 Music On Africa Magic

06:30 Foot Prints

14:00 Noose Of Gold

14:30 Star Gist

07:00 Star Gist

14:30 Noose Of Gold

15:00 Making Of A Mogul

07:30 Star Gist

15:00 Deception

15:30 Coco Bill

08:00 Lies That Bind

15:30 Foot Prints

15:45 Coco Bill

08:30 Lies That Bind

16:00 Foot Prints

05:09 Comedy Club Live In Lagos 2010

00:15 Unbeatable Banzuke

06:25 Video Zonkers

09:00 The Comedy Club Live In Lagos

04:43 Channel O: Volt

00:00 Video Zonkers

04:10 Unbeatable Banzuke

154 AfricaMagic Family

04:18 Channel O: Volt

128 SONY MAX

11:05 Video Zonkers 11:30 Video Zonkers 11:55 Most Shocking 12:50 Hole In The Wall 13:20 Hole In The Wall 13:50 What Went Down 14:20 Exposed 14:45 Exposed 15:10 Dream House 16:40 Hole In The Wall 17:10 Hole In The Wall 17:40 Video Zonkers 18:05 Video Zonkers 18:30 What Went Down

SHARAPOVA Fed Cup:

set to play for Russia X6 X4,5

AFCON 2017

X2 X2

Oludamola Osayomi June 26, 1986 (age 28) Ilesha, Osun State

All Africa Games record Gold: 2007 Algiers (100 m) Gold: 2007 Algiers (200 m) Gold: 2011 Maputo (100 m) Gold: 2011 Maputo (200 m) Gold: 2011 Maputo (4x100 m)

African Championships Gold: 2008 Addis Ababa (100 m) Gold: 2008 Addis Ababa (4×100 m relay) Gold: 2010 Nairobi (200 m) Gold: 2010 Nairobi (4×100 m relay) Bronze: 2008 Addis Ababa (200 m) Bronze: 2010 Nairobi (100 m)

Olympic Games record Bronze: 2008 Beijing (4×100 m relay)

MATA

hails Herrera partnership X7

Gabon to host

EXTRATIME

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

EXTRATIME

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

I N I A L L FE CHARGES H S U R C GO, CITY!

S L I V E RED D X7

X8

Num ber

Oludamola Bolanle Osayomi (born June 26, 1986 in Ilesha, Osun State) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres.

Osayomi’s first international appearance for Nigeria came at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics where she was a semi-finalist in both the 100 m and 200 metres.

She began to compete in senior competitions the following year as part of the Nigerian 4×100 metres relay team.

She is a four-time gold medallist at the African Championships in Athletics and won an Olympic bronze medal with Nigeria in the 4×100 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She also won the 100 and 200 m sprints at the 2007 All Africa Games.

Her personal best for the 100 m is 10.99 seconds, set in Sao Paulo in 2011. She studied business administration at the University of Texas at El Paso and represented the school athletically in 2006. She was the original winner of the 100 m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games but was stripped of her title and banned after her doping test came back positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine.

ABOUT OLUDAMOLA OSAYOMI

OLUDAMOLA OSAYOMI

Full name: Born: Place of birth:

INFORMATION

Poster!

PERSONAL

X4 X5

OLUDAMOLA

OSAYOMI Thursday, April 9, 2015

X2

Thursday, April 9, 2015

EXTRATIME

Gabon named hosts of AFCON 2017

FIGO

DISPUTES AFRICAN CLAIMS L uis Figo expects some African federations to back his FIFA presidency bid, despite claims the entire continent will support Sepp Blatter.

Issa Hayatou, boss of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), said earlier this week all 54 of its members would vote for Blatter

to serve a fifth term.

But Figo says he has received private assurances from individual federations they will support him in the May 29 election.

“I feel there’s a lot of respect for CAF among all the African federations but I’m positive that Mr Hayatou did not speak in the

name of the 54 members of the confederation,” the former Portugal captain said.

Figo is one of three rival candidates opposing Blatter next month: Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan and the Dutch football association president Michael van Praag are the others.

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abon has been named hosts of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

They beat Ghana and Algeria to the hosting rights of the 31st edition of Africa Cup of Nations.

CAF President Issa Hayatou announced the winner on

Wednesday following votes by the CAF Executive Committee.

Delegations of the bidding countries presented their bids to the CAF Executive Committee.

Gabon co-hosted the 2012 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations with neighbours, Equatorial Guinea.

Wolves will go far in CAF tourney –Owumi

Monday Osayande Asaba

T

he Managing Director of Warri Wolves, Davidson Owumi and the team arrived Nigeria on Tuesday from Ethiopia after qualifying for the next stage of the CAF Confederation Cup at the expense of Dedebit FC. Owumi said that he believed in the Warri-based team to go far in the competition based on what he saw in their last match.

He revealed that for the team to achieve this, the boys must be well motivated and therefore urged the Government to provide what it takes to ginger the boys.

According to him, with the next match coming up on April 18 against MK Entancheite from DR Congo at the Warri City Stadium, the boys will have to move straight into a close camping.

Owumi equally appealed to the fans to come out each time the club plays in Warri as that will go a long way in motivating the players.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

EXTRATIME

SIASIA: WE MUST DEFEAT

ZAMBIA! H

ead Coach of the U-23 national team, Samson Siasia has declared that though the battle of Luasaka will be a herculean task, his wards must win so as to book their ticket to the Men’s Football Tournament of the 11th All Africa Games.

Siasia said this before releasing the list of 18 players selected for the huge game at the National Heroes Stadium, Lusaka on Sunday. The team will travel today.

Former Super Eagles’ Head Coach Siasia insisted that if the Zambians could come to Abuja to get a draw, his wards have no option but to go out there and earn a win.

He, however, frowned at the attitude of Flying Eagles Captain Musa Mohammed who took permission to leave the camp to go and collect his international passport in Lagos and has failed to return to camp.

X3

Ghanaian ref for Super Falcons, Mali clash

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hanaian referee Joyce Obenewa Appiah will be at the centre when Nigeria’s senior women’s team, Super Falcons, take on their Malian counterparts on Friday for a spot at the Women’s Football Tournament of the 11th All Africa Games.

Appiah will be assisted by compatriots Emmanuella Aglago, Beatrice Thaud and Theresa Bremansu who are Assistant Referee 1, Assistant Referee 2 and Reserve Referee respectively.

The Match Commissioner is Pedro Alogo Ondo Abeku, from Equatorial Guinea.

The match is scheduled for Friday, April 10 at the National Stadium, Abuja.

Both teams tied 1-1 in the first leg played in Bamako on March 21.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the Malian delegation arrived Abuja at 5pm on Wednesday aboard an ASKY Airline aircraft.

Siasia

AAG: Glo backs Dream Team, Falcons to qualify

Wonderkid!

Kelechi Iheanacho returns to Flying Eagles fold

Andrew Ekejiuba

N

igeria’s biggest corporate supporter of football, Globacom, has charged Dream Team and the Super Falcons to fly over their opponents and qualify for the All Africa Games (AAG).

In a press statement made available to Extra Time, Glo tasked the Dream Team to go for total victory when the team meet its Zambia counterpart for the second leg of the All Africa Games (AAG) final qualifier billed for Lusaka on Saturday.

The first leg ended goalless in Abuja last month and the Samson Siasiacoached team will now need a clear win in Lusaka to secure the ticket to the AAG billed for Congo Brazzaville in September.

“We believe the task of winning in Lusaka and sealing the AAG ticket is possible given the quality of players in the Dream Team,” Globacom said in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday.

“We also believe in the capacity of Coach Samson Siasia to fashion out a winning formula, especially as he has strengthened his squad with some of the Flying Eagles team players who recently featured at the 2015 AYC in

New Zealand 2015: Garba invites Muhammed, Awoniyi, others to camp

H Super Falcons pose with the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy Senegal where Nigeria won the gold medal,” the statement added.

The company also urged the Super Falcons to surmount all odds to win the AAG ticket at the expense of the Malian ladies after both sides drew 1-1 in the first leg of the final qualifier in Bamako last month.

Falcons will host the Mali Women National team for the second leg scheduled for April 10 in Abuja.

“We have utmost confidence in the Super Falcons to beat Mali,” Globacom further said, even as the company urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Nigerians to support both teams in their quest to fly Nigeria’s flag at the next All Africa Games.

Globacom is the major partner of the Nigeria Football Federation and official sponsor of the Nigeria’s national football teams.

ead Coach of the U-20 national team, Manu Garba (OON) has released a list of 35 players from which a final list of 21 will emerge to represent Nigeria at this year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup finals in New Zealand.

The list, predictably, includes the new champions of Africa – those who flew the country’s flag to win a seventh African Youth Championship in Senegal last month.

A half-dozen of the players feature for Nigeria Premier League clubs – the rest are either with youth teams of top clubs in Europe or with lower league or academy outfits.

Energetic defender and skipper, Musa Muhammed, tops the list that has four goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 10 midfielders and 11 strikers.

There are also goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo; defenders’ Zaharaddeen Bello, Mustapha Abdullahi and Prince Omego; midfielders Akinjide Idowu, Abdullahi Alfa, Bernard Bulbwa and Ifeanyi Mathew and forwards Taiwo Awoniyi, Chidera Ezeh and Alhassan “Muazzam’ Abdullahi.

Top performers in Nigeria’s glorious run at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates in 2013, Kelechi Iheanacho, Success Isaac, Wilfred Ndidi, Chidiebere Nwakali and Musa Yahaya, who did not feature in Senegal, are called, as well as Super Eagles’ new boys, Kingsley Sokari and Moses Simon.

All 35 players are expected to report at the Serob Legacy Hotel, Abuja on Sunday, April 12, for the first phase of the preparations.

Daily Times Nigeria

X4 Thursday, April 9, 2015

IHEDIOHA BASKS IN GLORY AS RED CAR

Daily Times Nigeria Thursday, April 9, 2015

X5

RD REVOLUTION SWEEPS THROUGH IMO

X6

Thursday, April 9, 2015

EXTRATIME

Tennis

FED CUP:

A V O P A R A H S SET TO

Woods, O’Meara reunite at Masters’ practice

FEATURE FOR

RUSSIA

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Sharapova

he Russian Tennis Federation has confirmed that Maria Sharapova will play for her country against Germany in the Fed Cup semifinals this month.

The second-ranked Sharapova rarely plays Fed Cup, citing a busy schedule, but will be part of the Russian team facing Germany on April 18-19 in Sochi.

Playing in the team event helps her become eligible for next year’s Olympics.

Russia captain Anastasia Myskina, a former French Open champion, has also picked Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina.

The German Tennis Federation said its team would consist of Andrea Petkovic, Angelique Kerber, Sabine Lisicki and Julia Goerges.

Four-time champion Russia and two-time winner Germany have met only twice in the Fed Cup since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with each team winning one match, most recently in 2002.

ark O’Meara used to communicate with his friend Tiger Woods on an almost daily basis. That was back in the day when Woods still had single-digit major victories and both lived not far from each other in Isleworth, an exclusive community just outside of Orlando.

That was also a long time ago.

But early on Monday morning, O’Meara received a text from Woods about playing a practice round on Monday afternoon and then another on Tuesday. It was the most time that O’Meara had spent with his old friend on or off the golf course in a long time.

“It was good for him and myself to be able to get back to kind of the old days,” O’Meara said. “I think he felt the same way.

It was really good to see him. He gave me a great big hug, a genuine hug. Watching him swing the way he’s swinging now, even the pitching and the short game, he looked really good.

Tipsarevic wins on return after tumour surgery Athletics

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erbia’s Janko Tipsarevic made a winning return to the ATP Tour following an injury to his left foot that almost ended his career.

The 30-year-old has been sidelined

I’m fit for Rio 2016 challenge

U

–BOLT

sain Bolt, the world record holder in 100 metres and six-time Olympic gold medallist has assured that he will run at the Rio 2016 Olympics and will also run in the Bahamas next month at the IAAF/BTC World Relays.

Bolt, who also holds the 200 metres world record, ran only three races last year as Justin Gatlin, the American who was banned for four years in 2007 for a positive drug test, dominated the sprint scene.

The Jamaican ran 46.37 seconds over 400 metres in March, and is set to compete at the relay championship in Nassau on May 2 and 3 as part of the Jamaican team.

“I am fit, healthy and ready to run,” Bolt enthused.

He will hope for a better year than in 2014, when Gatlin dominated the Diamond League, posting times of 9.77 seconds and 19.68 seconds for the 100 and 200 metres respectively.

The IAAF World Championships will hold from August 22 to 30 in Beijing.

Bolt

for 17 months after two operations to remove a benign tumour, which have stripped away “80% of his sole”.

But he saved two match points to beat Guilherme Clezar in the US Clay Court Championship first round in Houston.

“I felt like this was a match I needed to win,” Tipsarevic said.

“I was ready, and I was fit. I

had no confidence coming in, but saving match points with forehand winners down the line maybe proved otherwise. I really felt I had to win this match, and I would have been really sad otherwise.”

Former world number eight Tipsarevic beat Brazilian qualifier Clezar 6-4 3-6 7-6 (9-7) in two hours and 38 minutes.

Team France hit by crisis, says Dallaglio

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x-England captain Lawrence Dallaglio believes the performance of French clubs in the Champions Cup shows their national side is underperforming.

Clermont Auvergne thrashed Premiership leaders Northampton Saints, and Wasps lost to defending champions Toulon.

However, France lost to Ireland, England and Wales in the Six Nations.

“I’d argue we’re seeing a crisis in French rugby,” said Dallaglio. “I see players who are outstanding for their clubs not playing well for France.”

The former Wasps flanker believes the cash-rich Top 14’s ability to attract

southern hemisphere stars such as Will Genia and Dan Carter is stunting the development of native players.

France have not finished above fourth place in the Six Nations since 2011.

“There is something going dramatically wrong in French rugby because while they’re happy to attract the biggest and best foreign names to their club game, they’re doing so at the expense of their national side,” said Dallaglio.

“There’s a balance to be struck and we’ve got it right in England, Ireland and Wales, but in France it’s totally out of balance.”

Thursday, April 9, 2015

EXTRATIME

I N I A L FEL

BRIEFS

CHARGES RED DEVILS TO CRUSH CITY

Keane

Keane to stand trial over road rage Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane will stand trial over an alleged road rage incident in June after pleading not guilty to a public order offence on Wednesday.

Former Manchester United and Ireland captain Keane is alleged to have been involved in an altercation with a taxi driver earlier this year.

However, the 43-year-old has entered a not-guilty plea and will stand trial on June 19 at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.

A

year after his ‘elbow’ incident against Pablo Zabaleta, United Manchester Fellaini Marouane midfielder expects to bruise Manchester City on Sunday.

The Manchester United midfielder believes a physical approach will be key to derby success and has warned City to expect a bruising encounter.

He says Louis van Gaal’s side must ‘do everything to win’ and pile the pressure on the faltering Premier League champions. “ I n Engl and every game is like a derby, because cal,” said Fellaini. physi it’s “In the derby you have to be more aggressive and tougher if you want to

Fellaini

Benteke

Benteke: Villa deserved to win!

win.

“Everything has to be within the rules, but the physical side in England is why it’s such a competitive league.”

Fellaini was involved in a flash point against City last season when appearing to elbow Zabaleta in the 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

He received a yellow card on the night, but avoided any further punishment from the FA, to the bemusement of his victim.

LUCAS’

Carvalho V

eteran defender Ricardo Carvalho has declared himself ready to return for Monaco.

The 36-year-old was injured in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Serbia last month, but has been back in training and could be involved when Monaco take on Caen on Friday, having sat out Tuesday’s goalless draw with Montpellier.

“I was ready to come back, but the coach preferred to save me,” he said in a press conference. “I am ready for the

Christian Benteke said Aston Villa “deserved three points” after his hat-trick could only yield a draw in Premier League action against QPR. Benteke rescued a point for Villa via an 83rd-minute free-kick but Tim Sherwood’s men appeared on track for a much-needed victory after leading 2-1 at half-time. The Belgium international striker’s first-half double cancelled out Matt Philipp’s seventh-minute opener, only for QPR to hit back with two unanswered goals from Clinton Hill and Charlie Austin at Villa Park. But Villa were not to be denied a priceless point as Benteke stepped up and converted a set-piece seven minutes from time taking his tally to seven goals in five league matches.

£44.3m contract negotiations stalled

ready for Monaco return

next match.”

Tuesday’s draw was Monaco’s second in a row, leaving them seven points behind leaders Paris St Germain, and two behind thirdplaced Marseille in the battle for UEFA Champions League places.

Second-placed Lyon, in the final place for an automatic place in the group stages, are six points clear.

“It will be difficult for us now to get into the top two, but it is still possible,” Carvalho said. “We must look ahead now and forget about the last two games.”

X7

P Lucas

SG star Lucas Moura has hit an impasse with the club over contract extension negotiations and his suitors have thus received a ‘glimmer of hope’ in their pursuit of the 22-year-old.

Moura currently earns £57,000-a-week with the Parisian giants, but is reportedly demanding wages nearer £82,000-a-week to commit his future to the Parisian club, which the club is currently reluctant to do.

The Brazilian was signed for a whopping £44.3m in January 2013, as he opted for PSG ahead of Manchester United even going for the less lucrative deal in the process.

Arsenal, Liverpool and former suitors Manchester United are reportedly interested in getting the player and his impasse with his club will definitely boost their chances of doing the same.

Arsenal are looking to strengthen their team for next season as they would want to target the league after building great momentum this season. More firepower in their attack that currently comprises Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud, will certainly get them closer to trophies than ever before and it seems like Arsene Wenger thinks Moura could be that man.

X8

Thursday, April 9, 2015

EXTRATIME

EXTRATIME

MAN UNITED

Barca chase Man

A T A M HAILS

United star!

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A R E HETRNR P I H S R E PAR

anchester United could face losing midfielder Ander Herrera to Spanish giants Barcelona after the Catalan giants identified the anchorman as the man they want to replace Xavi.

The 35-year-old playmaker is preparing to depart the Nou Camp this summer with a move to Qatar set to be finalised. Herrera has impressed lately at Old Trafford despite struggling early on after completing a move Athletic Bilbao at the start of the season.

According to report, Barca are known to be keen admirers of the United star and tried to snap him up before he completed his move to England. They will now likely revive their interest, but the La Liga outfit will have to wait until at least January to complete any potential deal.

Luis Enrique’s side are currently under a transfer embargo which prevents them from signing players until January at least, although it has been claimed that they will wait until next summer to make a move for Herrera.

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anchester United midfielder Juan Mata is enjoying the benefits of playing alongside fellow Spaniard Ander Herrera, suggesting the two have an almost telepathic understanding.

Both players are in fine form, with Mata having scored twice in the 2-1 win at Liverpool, while Herrera mirrored his team-mate’s effort in Saturday’s 3-1 triumph over Aston Villa.

With the two having assisted one another for a goal apiece in those matches, Mata explained that the duo were on the same wavelength after becoming friends off the field during their days in Spain’s youth teams.

“I think it’s because of the relationship we’ve had over the years and because we understand football and life in more or less the same way,” the former Chelsea man said.

“I think we play well together because we understand each other and sometimes without speaking or looking we know where we’re going to pass or where we’re going to move on the pitch.

“The first goal at Anfield is a good example of that - he controlled the ball, turned and knew where I was already running to and he put the ball there. Ander is a quality player and I’m very happy he’s here and playing and performing well.”

The pair will hope to link up again in Sunday’s derby against Manchester City, when United look to take another step towards a UEFA Champions League return.

Mata

Fellaini

Kompany

hopes to overun

Kompany M

anchester United star Marouane Fellaini is expecting a tough battle and hopes to overun Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany on Sunday.

Fellaini was on the losing side when the two teams met earlier this season, however form would suggest United have enough to overcome their bitter rivals at the weekend.

Five successive Premier League victories have

propelled United into third position, just a point behind Arsenal in second.

Louis van Gaal recently said the Belgian international could not be dropped from his starting 11, and is likely to be deployed against compatriot Kompany.

Fellaini discussed the battle with Kompany.

He said: “He’s is a tough player and it’s certainly a hard battle when we play against each other.

“It will be a good challenge but to win the game is the most important thing.”

The former Everton player continued to discuss the significance of the clash describing it as a ‘massive game.’

“It’s a derby, so it will be intense for the players and the supporters. We want to play in the Champions League next season so we have to win in front of our supporters. We have to do everything to win “It’s a massive game.”