Leadership

07.08.14

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY

THURSday

No. 2,236

NIGERIA’S MOST INFLUENTIAL NEWSPAPER

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Soldiers Recapture Damboa Town In Borno

By Kareem Haruna, Maiduguri and Edegbe Odemwingie, Abuja

Scores of Boko Haram terrorists may have been killed yesterday in Damboa town as soldiers of the 25

Boko Haram kills 100, takes over Gwoza

Task Battalion yesterday staged a special operation that led to the

recapture of the seized town.

The 25 Task Battalion was

recently deployed to specially tackle the insurgents and recapture Damboa weeks after the insurgents had attacked the

Adamawa: Ngilari Sues State Assembly, Wants Court To Declare Him Gov > Page 4

military base there, killed its commander and about a dozen other security personnel, as well as sacked the residents.

LEADERSHIP was reliably ➔ CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

PAN Unveils Turnaround Plans, Declares Support For New Auto Policy> Page 16

as virus claims first nigerian victim

FG, States In Emergency Response Against Ebola Latest improvement to experimental drug, Zmapp Death toll now 932, cases 1,700 - WHO

Jonathan: “Nigeria is open to any positive idea to end threat.”

Obama: “We will work with African Union to pursue health centres to combat this disease.”

Fashola: “It is important, that advocacy must continue about what the risks and the sources are.”

Wada: “We have advised on the halt of sales and consumption of bats and bush meat around Lokoja and all the local government areas.”

Chibok Diary DAY 115

5

Chukwu: “We are making arrangements to procure isolation tents to quicken the pace of provision of isolation wards in all states of the federation and the FCT.”

Girls' Rescue: We're Not Against Third Party Dialogue - Jonathan > Page 2

2

chibok diary 115

Thursday, August 7, 2014

DAY

@obyezeks Chibok tweets 7th @ojfells Boko Haram PR be like 'Kai who be this Ebola terrorist wey dey do anyhow now?' #takeebola bringbackourgirls @BringGirlsBack Many, many, many thanks to all the people here and elsewhere who are actively trying to make a difference in this world of ours! @UncannyVal Plz never give up til the end that our girls are rescued safely. @DeleMomodu RT @bunor: @DeleMomodu Bross hello!! what do you think about the role Doyin Okupe played during #BringBackOurGirls ?"

Nothing really! @omojuwa You cannot abduct 200 American girls & not wish you never did, certainly not 113 days after. America will protect its own #BringBackOurGirls ‫@‏‬RCCGworldwide #Prayer Almighty Father, in the only way You can, #BringBackOurGirls and send confusion to the camps of their captors in Jesus Name @lynxnigeria 120 days approaching. what can we do to make gov act? @Abu_Aaid We shall continue to demand that our govt #BringBackOurGirls and #StopBokoHaram. #RememberOurGirls It's the 114th day. @Abu_Aaid It's over 3 circles since when #OurGirls were abducted. Their 113th day in captivity. #BringBackOurGirls #RememberOurGirls #StopBokoHaram @BBOG_America I'd tear the world down to get my baby, so let's tear down the world for these parents baby's @ rescueourgirls #BBOG

Chibok Girls’ Rescue: We Are Not Against Third Party Dialogue – Jonathan President Goodluck Jonathan has indicated that the federal government of Nigeria was not adverse to the help of intermediaries who have offered to persuade the Boko Haram sect to release the over two hundred schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State in April this year.

This he indicated while speaking in an interview with the Washington Times in Washington, United States of America (USA), where he is at-

tending an African Leaders Summit convened by US president, Barack Obama, A statement issued by the senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, also said that while the support of the international community in the ongoing rescue efforts of the Chibok girls was appreciated, government considered the safety of the girls as paramount, hence the adoption of several methods in the operation.

The statement quoted President Jonathan as saying, “If it is to risk a few dead bodies, it is easier. You can blast the place and carry the corpses. But is that what we have to do? So it is delicate.”

It further reiterated that the federal government had information on the location of the kidnapped girls, but was being mindful of the consequences of invading the location, to avoid a repeat of an incident in February 2013 when an offshoot

of Boko Haram killed seven foreign hostages in northern Nigeria before authorities could rescue them.

“They are ready to die,” Jonathan added about the insurgents. “So when you are dealing with that scenario, it is very different from the ordinary kidnapping by criminals or people who don’t want to die. So it is very, very delicate.”

This, according to the president, was why the dialogue option had not been ruled out.

Come Rain, Come Shine, We Will Never Desert Chibok Girls – BBOG Group

By Chika Mefor and Ejike Ejike, Abuja

The #BringBackOurGirls Group has again stated that its members will continue to stand by the schoolgirls abducted more than one hundred days ago from Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.

The group, which got drenched by the rain yesterday at its 99th daily sit-out session, stated that

neither the heavy downpour nor the scorching sunshine could stop its members from clamouring for the rescue of the girls.

The group has planned a Sealed Lips Day demonstration for today, to mark Day 100 of its advocacy for the safe return of the Chibok girls. It is to be followed by a press briefing in Abuja.

For 100 days now, the group

has focused on keeping alive awareness of the abduction, to drive home that it is a priority issue requiring the right set of actions for a positive outcome.

The group has, during these days, engaged various stakeholders – the Presidency, the National Assembly, the office of the national security adviser, the chief of defense staff, the Borno State government and other state gov-

US Surveillance Spots Abducted Chibok Girls – Report

GROWTH WITH LITTLE OR NO JOB CREATION

The United States surveillance plane flying over the northeastern part of the country spotted the abducted Chibok girls early July, a report in the Wall Street Journal yesterday said.

The surveillance suggests that at least some of the 219 schoolgirls still held captive have not been forced into marriage or sex slavery, as had been feared, but instead were being used as bargaining chips for the release of detained members of the Boko Haram sect.

The paper said the U.S. aerial imagery matches what Nigerian officials say they heard from those who had interacted with the insurgents, that some of Boko Haram’s most famous set of captives were getting special treatment, compared with the hundreds of other girls the group is suspected to have kidnapped.

Boko Haram appears to have seen the schoolgirls as of higher value, given the global attention paid to their plight, the officials said.

The report said the plane spotted a group of 60 to 70 girls held in an open field, quoting two U.S. defense officials.

“Late last month, they spotted a set of roughly 40 girls in a different field,” it said.

The Nigerian economy is experiencing growth with minimal job creation, as the growth rate of the labour force exceeds the employment opportunities Nigeria’s economy generated 222,163 jobs in Q2 2013, 246,138 jobs in Q3 and 267,740 jobs in Q4 2013

Education contributed the highest number of jobs created in Nigeria in Q4 2013

Breakdown

Chibok Tweets

FORMAL SECTOR

INFORMAL SECTOR

PUBLIC SECTOR

80,412 jobs were created

112, 567 jobs were generated

29,184 jobs were created

FORMAL SECTOR

INFORMAL SECTOR

PUBLIC SECTOR

76,385 jobs were created

140,673 jobs were generated

29,080 jobs were created

FORMAL SECTOR

INFORMAL SECTOR

PUBLIC SECTOR

101,597 jobs were created

143,278 jobs were generated

22,865 jobs was created

with representing 48.92 per cent of the 2.78 million total jobs created The lowest sector was mining and quarrying

Manufacturing was second

with

with

million jobs

million jobs representing

Members of #BringBackOurGirls group in a meeting at the unity fountain still advocating for the immediate rescue of the abducted school girls in Abuja yesterday. PHOTO BY OYEDELE OMOKAGBO.

ernments, ECOWAS member countries and UN agencies - all in the bid to facilitate the quick return of the abducted girls.

The BBOG Group continues to insist, against several accusations of its being politically motivated, that it is a group of citizens resolved to stand with the abducted girls and ensure they are not forgotten and are returned to their families safe and alive.

15.77 per cent of the 2.78 million total jobs created

representing 0.48 per cent of the 2.78 million total jobs created

INFOGRAPHICS BY Matthew Akhabue

3

our stand Thursday, August 7, 2014

Let LGs Be

T

he recent verdict of the Supreme Court of Nigeria that no state governor has the power to remove a democratically elected local government official did not come to many as a surprise. That wellthought-out judgement has strengthened the argument by respected legal minds that the governors had been acting unconstitutionally.

The apex court, while delivering a judgement in the case of the removal of 148 elected local government officials by the Abia State government in 2006, held that the action was against the law and amounted to official recklessness by the then state governor. The fivemember panel also ordered the Abia State government to pay the sacked 148 elected officials their salaries and entitlements for the 23 months they were out of office.

The verdict, we believe, was sound and in order. It is what many legal minds have canvassed: that the governor could only have acted unlawfully. Also, we perceive the governor’s appointment of administrators in local councils as well as the tampering with their allocations as a breach

that confirms their ignoble relation with local governments as ministries under their supervision. We condemn this because the federal government, considered a senior partner in the tier, does not meddle in the funds accruable to states, which are known to have challenged in court any attempt to short-change them in the sharing formula. The constitution has made provision for only democratically elected local governments. If this is the case, then, the election of these officials is for a fixed tenure.

Local governments, according to the constitution, were created to provide services to the rural population. In that case, they need all the resources at their disposal to achieve

Editor Sadiq Abdullateef Deputy Editor Kazeem Akintunde Editorial Board Safiya M. Adamu, Chairman Christian Ochiama, Deputy Chairman Standards Aniebo Nwamu, Director ’Lara Olugbemi, Assistant Director

these objectives. But, over the years, we have noticed how the common wealth of the local councils have been wasted by the governors or diverted elsewhere for their personal use and to the detriment of the people. Considering the state of affairs in that tier of government, it is obvious that all the resources available to them are not being effectively mobilised and utilised for the benefit of the rural communities.

We urge the governors to be partners with the councils in the effort to provide social services to the people at the grass roots. The Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution gives some functions to local governments to make sure that their services reach every nook and cranny. The success, achievement and effectiveness of these councils depend largely on the financial resources available to them and the way these resources are deployed and utilised. It is necessary to remind the governors and the state assemblies of the need to obey the Supreme Court judgement and allow the local governments to function properly in the general interest of democracy and the people.

Founder Sam Nda-Isaiah Chairman Hajiya Ireti Kingibe Group Managing Director Azubuike Ishiekwene Group Executive Directors Michael Okpere Dr Kazeem Durodoye Company Secretary/ Legal Adviser Abdulhaleem Amin Divisional Directors Abdulmumin Balogun Ademola Oladosu Iyobosa Uwugiaren Salisu Alhassan Bichi General Managers Aminu Abubakar Sule Zipporah D. Tanko Joy Adekanye

Leadership Holdings

Managing Director Abraham Nda-Isaiah Executive Director Nnamdi Samuel New York Office Mohammed Bello Shehu London Office Dr Bello Salihu Johannesburg Office Abiodun Oguntuase Business Manager Bilkisu Mohammed Rimi

LEADERSHIP is a national paper symbolically embedded in the nation’s capital.

We shall stand up for good governance. We shall defend the interest of Nigerian people even against their rulers, and we shall raise our pen at all times in defence of what is right. These are the values by which we intend to be assessed.

We shall never, ever for any reason forget the noble reason of our coming into being: For God and country!

4 news extra

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Group News Editor: Tony Amokeodo Ngilari Sues Adamawa Assembly, Wants Court To Declare Him Gov Former deputy governor of Adamawa state, Mr James Bala Ngilari, has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to declare him as the governor of the state after the impeachment of his boss, former Governor Murtala Nyako.

Ngilari is also asking the court to declare that the acting governor, Ahmadu Umar Fintiri is illegaly occupying the office of the governor of the state.

Ngilari was said to have resigned shortly before the Adamawa State House of Assembly impeached Nyako.

In a suit filed through his lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, Ngilari also named Fintiri, acting Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ahmadu Umar, the state Assembly and Nyako as co-defendants.

In the suit, Ngilari is further asking the court to determine whether by the provisions of sections 306(1), (2) & (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) he, as Deputy Governor of the state, resigned his office by addressing a letter of resignation dated July 15, 2014 to the state Assembly.

He is also asking the court to hold that by the combined provisions of section 306 (1), (2) and (5) of the Constitution, he did not resign his office by addressing a letter of resignation to the Speaker of the state Assembly.

Ngilari also claimed that he did not submit any letter of resignation to his former boss other than the state Assembly.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.

By Kunle Olasanmi, Abuja

Impeachment Panel Summons Enugu Deputy Gov, Speaker Again The impeachment panel set by the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Umezuruike , to investigate allegations levelled against the Deputy Governor of the state, Sunday Onyebuchi, on Wednesday summoned, for the second time, the deputy governor and the speaker of the state House of Assembly to appear before it.

The summon followed the absence of the duo during the inaugural meeting of the impeachment panel which took place inside the premises of the Enugu State High Court.

Chairman of the panel, Uche Oraekeyi, also ordered that Onyebuchi should be served through substituted means if relevant authorities find it difficult to serve him personally.

The panel later adjourned sitting till today.

By Nnamdi Mbawike, Enugu

Managing Director\CEO of Peugeot Automobiles of Nigeria (PAN), Ibrahim Boyi, when he led PAN’s management team on a courtesy visit to LEADERSHIP corporate office in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO BY OGOH JOSEPH.

Osun Election Will Rank Best – Jega

By Joshua Dada, Osogbo, Chibuzo Ukaibe, Abuja, George Okojie, Lagos, Christiana Nwaogu, Abuja

Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has assured that Osun election would rank best among elections ever conducted in Nigeria.

The Commission’s Chairman while speaking at the Election Stakeholders “Forum for Osun State Governorship Election” confidently insisted that the election results would be difficult to manipulate.

According to him, the Commission’s objective is to make every election count in the country, noting that the electoral umpire is determined to conduct free, fair and credible election that cannot be challenged in any court of law.

Jega further urged politicians to avoid desperate ways of undermining the electoral processes, saying their actions have been detrimental to political processes in Nigeria.

He warned staff of the commission to be wary of the antics of politicians, saying that whosoever allows himself to be used will have himself to blame.

“We shall not protect anybody who has done wrong in this election”.

Speaking on Saturday’s election in Osun State, Jega said that the ballot papers that will be used in each local government are different from each other, stressing that cloning ballot papers will be difficult and any voter who brings a voter’s card not meant for a local government to another would face the music.

His words, “We have put machinery in place to make the election a success. One of such is that we have put in place colouring coded of the ballot papers, what will be used in one local government area will be quite different from

another’’ ‘What we have done in Ekiti State will be different from Osun State’’.

Jega maintained the the materials to be used in Osun election are quality ones, adding that the ballot papers have been serially numbered to guard against fraud and manipulation.

He however warned voters to guide against taking photo of their ballot papers, saying it was against the electoral law.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleman Abba said that all the security men on ground are battle ready and fully on ground to suppress any act of thuggery, intimidation and antics of any kind that might want to undermine the election.

“We have gotten enough men to monitor the election in the state, no hiding place for thugs and their sponsors on Saturday.”

The IGP assured people of the state of maximum protection, urging them to go to the polling booth with assurance that they would be protected.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, Oluwasegun Agbaje said that INEC and all stakeholders cannot afford to fail this time around, urging politicians to guard their utterances.

My In-laws, Don’t Let Aregbesola Down - Atiku Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday made a passionate appeal to the electorates and in-laws in Osun State to vote wisely on Saturday by returning the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Atiku, whose first wife, Hajiya Titi Atiku Abubakar hails from Ilesa in Osun State, in a statement from his media office called on his in-laws to trounce the PDP at the

governorship election slated for this Saturday.

According to the statement, Atiku gave the advice to a section of Osun leaders who paid him a courtesy call shortly after his arrival from a trip abroad.

Aside matrimonial ties, Atiku has political tentacles that stretch the length and breadth of Nigeria and beyond. Hence, his relationship with Governor Aregbesola dates back to many years.

Hold Obanikoro Responsible For Any Death Of APC Members In Osun- Aregbesola Aregbesola on Wednesday evening said should anything happen to any member of APC in Osun ahead of the August 9 election, the Minister of State, Defence, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro, should be held responsible.

The governor, at the launch of the students’ smart identity card at Salvation Army Middle School in Alekuwodo noted that it is on good authority that Obanikoro in conjunction with the Police Affairs Minister, Mr. Jelil Adesiyan have instructed security personnel to shoot and kill two of APC members.

He charged security agents to play by the rules and condemned what happened at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park Monday morning, where people who were supposed to campaign for APC were turned back by security agents while same security agents allowed People’s Democratic Party (PDP) campaign in Alekuwodo in Osogbo.

Aregbesola questioned what Obanikoro is doing in Osun; noting that members of APC have been told to be law-abiding but with the recent provocation, people when pushed to the wall will react.

APC’s Threat Of Parallel Gov-

ernment Plan To Destablise Democracy, Instigate Arab Spring – PDP The ruling Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) has labelled the threat by the APC to form a parallel government if it loses election in 2015 as a confirmation of an alleged plot to scuttle democracy in Nigeria.

The PDP declared that the APC is working with foreign collaborators to undermine the democracy ahead of 2015 knowing they cannot win.

National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun had warned during the mega rally of the APC for the Osun State governorship election that the opposition will institute a parallel government should they party lose the 2015 general elections.

In a press conference at PDP national secretariat, the National Publicity Secretary, Oliseh Metu, called on called on Nigerians “to be ready to defend their hard earned democracy and protect it from encircling vultures who are hell-bent at taking us back to the dark ages.”

APC To INEC: Circulate VINs Of Unclaimed PVCs To Ensure Credible Election In a communique issued after the emergency meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) in Osogbo on Wednesday, the party said in addition to circulating the Voters Identification Numbers (VINs) of the unclaimed Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), INEC must publicly declare invalid for the purpose of the August 9, Osun governorship election all the PVCs with the circulated VINs. It said the circulation of the VINs of the unclaimed PVCs and the INEC’s declaration as invalid of all PVCs bearing the VINs for the Saturday election is the irreducible minimal condition for the August 9 governorship election to be free, fair, credible and transparent.

NEWS 5

Thursday, August 7, 2014

LIVING BE BE 100100 LIVINGTOTO

One health tip daily You Snooze, You Loose

Staying active and exercising regularly are the foundations for living a long and healthy life. It’s no surprise that caged animals have more health problems and a shorter life span than free-range animals. Research with

humans confirms that as a rule, the more active you are, the longer you will live. In one study, the group that burned more than 3,500 calories a week lived the longest. Being lazy can actually shorten your life!

Soldiers Recapture Damboa Town In Borno FROM COVER

informed by a top security person in Maiduguri that the task force brigade “has today recaptured Damboa and sent some of the insurgents fleeing while some other members of the Boko Haram died in the hours of shootout”.

According to the source, the operation was facilitated by the Nigeria Air Force Alpha-Jet and the ground troop artillery.

It was also gathered that more troops are being deployed into the hinterlands of Damboa for clearing patrol.

Damboa was last month sacked and over 5,000 residents of the agrarian town were forced to flee to Gombe and Biu towns where they are presently being camped.

Gusau

Boko Haram kills 100 in Gwoza ...New Emir’s whereabouts unknown Barely a month after Boko Haram terrorists had taken over Damboa town of Borno State, Gwoza town, yesterday, came under the occupation of the insurgents, witnesses and security sources have said.

The attackers were said to have killed about 100 people and taken their onslaught into the main town of Gwoza for the first time and allegedly causing the disappearance of the new Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Muhammed Idrissa Timta, who succeeded his father who was killed by Boko Haram on May 30, this year.

Gwoza town, which is about 158km from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, is the largest town after Maiduguri, Biu and

Bama; Damboa is the fifth.

According to residents who used mobile phone lines of Cameroon to call from the mountain tops where they had all ran to take refuge, the gunmen that attacked them were dressed in soldiers’ uniforms and rode in vehicles painted with military colours.

“They came in their multitudes in the early hours of today (Wednesday), and they went to first attack the soldiers before attacking the town”, said a resident who begged not to be named as he feared being exposed.

The source who spoke in Hausa said he could speak through his phone because he was able to tap from the network of “Orange”, one of Cameroon’s national carriers. He told journalists: “I can communicate now because most of us are up in the mountains, many may have been killed; but from the top of the hills here we still could see the Boko Haram gunmen moving around in some armoured tanks with metal wheel towards the direction of the town near the palace of our Emir; I cannot say if the Emir is safe or not but everyone has left the town as we are speaking now. I have lost one of my friends with whom we were fleeing up the hills. He was shot with a bullet from behind. Everybody is scared because we can’t tell what will happen to us by night; the entire town is now taken over by the terrorists.”

Sources close to Gwoza Emirate told journalists in Maiduguri that the new Emir of Gwoza, ➔ CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

FG, States In Emergency Response Against Ebola

By Winifred Ogbebo, Victor Okeke, Edegbe Odemwingie and Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja, Abiodun Oluwarotimi, New York, George Okojie, Arounke Olayiwola, Lagos, Kola EkeOgiugo, Asaba, Muazu Elazeh, Katsina, Bernard Tolani Dada, Uyo and Patrick Ochoga, Benin City, Solomon Ayado, Makurdi and Reuters

One of the nurses that attended to the Liberian-American Ebola virus victim, Patrick Sawyerr, has died from the virus in Lagos, thus becoming the first Nigerian casualty of the deadly disease.

The minister of health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, made the announcement yesterday during a press briefing in Abuja.

Chukwu described the Ebola outbreak in the country as a “national emergency”, heightening fears of an outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the death toll in West Africa has risen to 932 after 45 patients died from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4.

WHO said the number of suspected, probable or confirmed cases rose by 108 over the same period to a total of 1, 711. It said most of the new cases were in Liberia while the number of cases in Nigeria climbed from 4 to 9, including one previous death.

The health minister also disclosed that Nigeria has now recorded seven confirmed cases of the Ebola virus disease, with two dead, including the Liberian, while the other five cases are currently being treated at the isolation ward in Lagos.

He said, “’The first one was the index case - the imported case from Liberia of which the victim is now late.

“Yesterday, 5th August, 2014, the first known Nigerian to die of the EVD was recorded and this was one of the nurses that attended to the Liberian. The other five cases are being treated at the isolation ward in Lagos.”

The health minister disclosed that Sawyer - the man credited with bringing EVD to Nigeria ‘knew he was sick’ with the virus before entry to Nigeria.

The minister said Sawyer snubbed instructions by Liberian health authorities not to travel out of the country.

The project director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Prof.

Abdulsalami Nasidi, disclosed that 70 Nigerians were currently under surveillance for the disease.

Nasidi disclosed that Sawyer had 70 primary and secondary registered contacts of which 39 were hospital contacts and 22 airport contacts.

Sawyer’s contacts, it was disclosed, comprised officers of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Immigration Service

Mimiko

(NIS), airport support personnel and medical personnel that attended to Sawyer.

The director, port health services in the health ministry, Dr Sani Gwarzo, disclosed that restrictions have been placed on the repatriation of corpses of Nigerians abroad into the country.

As part of ongoing efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, Gwarzo said 66 personnel were required by the health ministry to man and screen travellers at the country’s several travel entry points.

But the director-general, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Professor John Idoko, was optimistic, saying that Nigeria would soon overcome the Ebola epidemic with the present interventions that the federal government is putting in place.

Idoko, who was fielding questions from journalists about the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), yesterday in Abuja, said, “Ebola virus is an acute epidemic which either kills you or you kill it.

He said the country experiences such acute epidemic from time to time; he gave as examples cholera, meningitis that kill people in their thousands when the season arrives.

Idoko, who is a professor of virology, said “we will overcome this virus”. “Presently there is an experimental drug that can cushion the effect of the virus and, if properly handled, it can be controlled and managed within a few months.”

He added that the Ebola virus cannot be compared with the HIV virus because the HIV virus lives within the system and has been with us for over 30 years without a vaccine or a cure.

“It is unfortunate that people are joking about the HIV virus, saying that it is better that they have HIV than Ebola.

“HIV has killed over 30 million people since it debuted in 1981, which is much more than what the Ebola will kill. This is an African disease but the HIV is a global one.

“I am quite optimistic that, with the quick intervention of government, we will soon control ➔ CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 NEWS

Thursday, August 7, 2014

FG, States In Emergency Response Against Ebola FROM PAGE 5

it.”

The UNAIDS country director, Dr Bilali Camara, speaking on the Ebola virus disease, said that it is a novel disease that, though self-consuming, will soon be controlled.

Meanwhile, Chukwu said it was pertinent to note that all the Nigerians diagnosed of the EVD were primary contacts of the index case.

He also said that the federal government has asked the US Centre for Disease Control to extend the experimental drug being administered to the two Americans infected in Liberia.

Both are reported to be responding to treatment.

He also stated that the federal government was making arrangements to procure isolation tents to quicken the pace of providing isolation wards in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

He added that the ministry was setting up a special team to provide counselling and psychosocial support to patients, identified contacts and their families.

“The 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre which I intimated you of in my last press conference will be functional by tomorrow.”

The minister also added that the ministry was embarking on recruiting additional health personnel to strengthen the team who are currently managing the situation.

He reassured that the government was working hard to ensure the containment of the outbreak.

“Within the week, I and the honourable minister of information would be visiting Lagos State to assess the situation on ground.”

WHO to explore experimental drugs in Ebola outbreak in West Africa The World Health Organisation (WHO) is to convene a panel of medical ethicists to explore the use of experimental treatments in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The panel, according to the (WHO), will discuss whether medicines that have never been tested and shown to be safe in people should be used in the Ebola outbreak. It will also discuss whether, given the extremely limited amount of experimental medicine for Ebola available, if it is used, who should receive it.

The WHO Assistant directorgeneral, Marie-Paule Kienv, said in a statement: “We are in an unusual situation in this outbreak.

We have a disease with a high fatality rate without any proven treatment or vaccine.

“We need to ask the medical ethicists to give us guidance on what is the responsible thing to

do.”

The WHO statement said that “the gold standard for assessing new medicine involved a series of trials in humans, starting small to make sure the medicine is safe to use, and the guiding principle was to do no harm”.

“There is no registered medicine or vaccine against the virus, but there are several experimental options under development,” it added.

Jonathan, Biden Meet, agree to join forces against Ebola fever President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met with the Vice President of the United States Mr Joe Biden at the White House where both leaders agreed that the federal government and its American counterpart should join forces to combat Ebola threats in West Africa.

Our correspondent gathered that, during the meeting which was attended by the president and some members of his delegation, Mr Biden told President Jonathan that the US government would be fully involved in the quest to totally eradicate the spread of the deadly disease in West Africa.

Biden added that the entire African continent was very important and critical to the economy of the United States, a reason he said would make the Obama-led administration to ensure that Africa’s security becomes its priority.

In his response, President Jonathan assured the US leader that his administration was open to any positive idea that would bring an end to Ebola threats as well as insecurity and corruption.

South-west governors form coalition against Ebola South-west governors yesterday shoved aside their political differences to form a united front against the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD).

The governors that converged on Lagos for proactive and collaborative efforts to stop the rampaging disease that claimed its first victim in Lagos yesterday included Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, Dr Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and Mr Moses Adeyemo, deputy governor Oyo State, who represented his principal, Senator Abiola Ajumobi.

Their collaboration is coming on the heels of offer of life insurance by the Lagos State government to anyone that volunteers to work in the team of medical personnel being assembled to treat Ebolainfected patients.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, Ikeja House, Fashola, flanked by his counterparts, said they had met with the commissioners for health in their respective states before coming out with a common collaborative position

on ways they feel the disease can be contained.

Fashola said, “Essentially, we have addressed issues of containment and the challenges of illegal borders. We have felt the need to express appreciation to health workers who have taken responsibility from the front by attending to people who are showing symptoms and people who are suspected of having contact with the very first case that was reported in a man who came in from Liberia.

“All of what we have now are primarily related to that very first case and all the suspicious cases that have been confirmed and sicknesses that have followed are directly related to that first case, but you will hear more.”

Also speaking, the Ogun State governor Amosun lamented the porous nature of the nation’s borders, saying Ogun State alone has over 100 illegal borders.

Amosun said, “We are more prone and more at risk really in this Ebola virus than so many others, and I did mention that we have put all our security agencies and the respective medics at these illegal borders. But when you have in excess of 100, you and I know that the state doesn’t have the capacity really in manning these borders.

“Indeed, it is not our responsibility in manning these borders; we should collaborate with the federal government, which is what we are doing. As of the last, we have about 70 (illegal borders) that you can take containers and trailers and what have you; even on a normal day, people hardly use the official borders.

“It is the illegal ones that you see them packing all those smuggled cars and now it becomes more worrisome by the time you look at the fact that everybody now is taking proactive measures of banning flights. So, if people cannot fly, you know obviously they would find a way in entering the country. That is why we are calling on the federal government to assist us.”

Also speaking, Ondo State governor Dr Olusegun Mimiko argued that there is no question about who has responsibility of manning the borders, saying it is the responsibility of every Nigerian and everybody to abate illegal entry into the country to avert spread of the deadly disease.

He said,” So, we out there – all Nigerians and adjoining villages, everybody – must take responsibility of combating this new challenge as a nation and it’s very important for the message to go out.”

Ekiti State governor Fayemi said trial of drugs currently being used in the United States of America was one of the things that they reflected on in the meeting.

“We have heard that there is a test drug that is currently being

Fayemi

applied to the doctor who was taken from Liberia to Emery University Hospital in the USA and is being treated there and has some impact on his improvement.

“But this is still a drug that is on trial. From what we gathered, it has been tested on animals, but it has not been tested on humans yet, except for this particular case and there are processes a country has to go through to procure drugs that are still on trial.

“Even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not certified this drug for use yet, and if we are going to access it at all... my own limited knowledge of this process is that it can only be a controlled trial centre for it at this stage; it can’t be a certified drug for use.

“If what the federal government is trying to do is to be one of the centres to test the efficacy of the drug, I think that is well-meaning, that is commendable and we should encourage the FG to take that action.”

Delta designates 7 hospitals as isolation centres Delta State governor Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan yesterday disclosed that the state government had set up a committee to educate and sensitize Deltans on the prevention and management of the Ebola virus.

Uduaghan, who called on Deltans not to panic as there was no identified case of the Ebola virus in the state, said that seven hospitals in the state had been designated as isolation centres to handle any suspected case as part of the management measures put in place by the government.

Lawmaker urges Katsina to constitute committee The majority leader of Katsina State House of Assembly, Dr Lawal Aliyu, has urged the Katsina State government to urgently constitute an emergency committee on the dreaded Ebola virus.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday, Dr Aliyu said the call was necessary in view of the need for aggressive awareness campaigns on the disease, stressing that concrete measures needed to be put in place to prevent the citizens from contracting the disease.

Kogi govt bans sale, consumption of bush meat

Uduaghan

Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State has formally banned the sale and consumption of bat and other bush meat in the state, citing the rising spread of Ebola virus which scientists say is transmitted through handling of infected wild animals.

“For us in Kogi, we have advised on the halt of sales and consumption of bats and bush meat around the post office area in Lokoja and all the local government areas,” he said.

Quite a number of Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the reality of the Ebola virus as many believe it is either a Western invention to exploit Africa through drug sales or a fictitious disease being popularized through the media.

Reacting to these claims, Gov. Wada said, “Ignorance and disbelief are the leading cause of the spread of Ebola. Reach out to your people in rural areas and share your knowledge with them.”

Demand for bitter kola increases in A/Ibom Following the recent outbreak of Ebola disease and its attendant toll on humans across the West African sub-region, bitter kola, rumoured to cure or halt the spread of the deadly virus is now in high demand in Akwa Ibom.

According to LEADERSHIP findings, bitter kola now sells more than any other nut in most markets across the state.

At the popular Akpan Andem market in Uyo, the state capital, five nuts or seeds of the kola now sell for N100 as against N10 before, and buyers pay about N200 for six or seven nuts depending on the sizes.

Bitter kola price hike hits Makurdi As the scarcity of bitter kola looms in Abuja, the nation’s capital, and other major cities, the price of the product has risen in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State.

There is report that bitter kola is used to cure the dreaded Ebola disease, and the development is causing scarcity and increase in the price of the commodity.

LEADERSHIP’s investigation in Makurdi and other major towns of the state, yesterday, revealed that many persons were buying the product in bulk from roadside vendors.

NEWS 7

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Soldiers Recapture Damboa Town In Borno FROM PAGE 5

Alhaji Muhammadu Idrissa Timta, may have been helped to escape before the attackers could reach his palace. But no official confirmation could be sourced on that up to the time of filing this report.

The young monarch, who is in his early 40s, succeeded his father, the immediate past Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Idrissa Timta, after he was killed by Boko Haram gunmen on May 30 when he was travelling to Gombe to attend the burial of the late Emir of Gombe, alongside the emirs of Askira and Uba. The two emirs survived, but the king of Gwoza, who was the oldest, did not. His assailants

shot him in the head.

Efforts to get across to the police public relations officer, Gideon Jubrin, was not successful too, but a source at the police headquarters who pleaded anonymity in this story told reporters that “we have received signals that Gwoza is under attack, but we could not give details now because the CP himself is out of town”.

1000 Nigerian refugees fleeing Boko Haram arrive deserted island in Chad – UN The United Nations refugee agency has reported that nearly 1,000 people who recently arrived on the uninhabited Chadian island of Choua are Nigerian

refugees fleeing attacks by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

According to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the island of Choua, in Lake Chad, is about 4 kilometres from where the borders of Chad, Nigeria and Niger intersect.

The development monitored from the UN News Centre stated that refugees arriving on the island reported that they had fled violence and attacks on their village that resulted in the destruction of their houses and food reserves.

The group, which included mainly women and children, is in urgent need of food, water, shelter and medical care, the

UNHCR reports.

Ariane Rummery, UNHCR spokesperson, stated in Geneva, Switzerland, that the refugees were from the Nigerian city of Kolikolia, in strife-torn Borno State.

She said that at the request of the government of Chad, the refugees would be relocated to the safer and more accessible hosting area in Ngouboua, some 30 kilometres from the border, where a number of Nigerian refugees and Chadian returned refugees already lived among hosting villages.

Meanwhile, UNHCR and its partners have sent aid packages – including high energy biscuits, water purification kits, mosquito

Badeh

nets, communal tents, sleeping mats and other household items – to Ngouboua.

Latest improvement to experimental drug, Zmapp The drug so far has only been produced in very small quantities, but interest in it is stoking debate over whether it should be made more widely available to the hundreds of people stricken with Ebola in Africa while it remains untested.

“We want to have a huge impact on the Ebola outbreak,” Mapp CEO Kevin Whaley said in an interview at company headquarters in San Diego. “We would love to play a bigger role.”

Whaley said he was not aware of any significant safety issues with the serum. He would not discuss whether the company has been contacted about providing the drug overseas.

But he did note the novel manufacturing process carries its own risk, and would have to be cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of the approval process.

The FDA would, for example, have to be satisfied that the plant extraction process had not led to contamination of the resulting drug.

The tobacco plant grows quickly, said Reynolds spokesman David Howard, and “it takes only about a week (after the genes are

ANALYSIS

introduced) before you can begin extracting the protein.”

He declined to say how much medication each plant can yield or whether Kentucky Bioprocessing is in a position to produce ZMapp in significant quantities.

Scripps’ Saphire said it can still take anywhere from one to three months to produce the ZMapp serum for wider use, given the complexities of the process.

Pentagon Funding In 2007, Kentucky Bioprocessing entered into an agreement with Mapp Biopharmaceutical and the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University to refine the tobacco-plant approach. The approach attracted funding support from the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

For all the hope, however, the plant technique has delivered few commercial products. In 2012 the FDA okayed a drug for the rare genetic disorder Gaucher disease from Israel’s Protalix BioTherapeutics and Pfizer.

Called Elelyso, it is made in carrot cells, and is the only such drug to

reach the market.

Other companies have fallen far short, though it is not clear if the technique was to blame. Calgary-based SemBioSys Genetics Inc, which used safflowers to produce an experimental diabetes drug, folded in 2012 before it finished clinical trials.

Even Kentucky Bioprocessing, which at one point was developing monoclonal antibodies against HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), C. difficile bacterial infection, and the human papillomavirus, has dropped the last two projects, Howard said.

Last year Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp acquired a majority share of Quebec Citybased Medicago, which is developing influenza and other vaccines using the tobacco-plant technology. The other 40 per cent is owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris International.

Role of Tobacco in fight against Ebola Drugmakers’ use of the tobacco plant as a fast and cheap way to produce novel biotechnology treatments is gaining global attention because

of its role in an experimental Ebola therapy.

The treatment, which had been tested only in lab animals before being given to two American medical workers in Liberia, consists of proteins called monoclonal antibodies that bind to and inactivate the Ebola virus.

For decades biotech companies have produced such antibodies by growing genetically engineered mouse cells in enormous metal bioreactors. But in the case of the new Ebola treatment ZMapp, developed by Mapp Pharmaceuticals, the antibodies were produced in tobacco plants at Kentucky Bioprocessing, a unit of tobacco giant Reynolds American.

The tobacco-plant-produced monoclonals have been dubbed “plantibodies”.

“Tobacco makes for a good vehicle to express the antibodies because it is inexpensive and it can produce a lot,” said Erica Ollmann Saphire, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute and a prominent researcher in viral hemorrhagic fever diseases like Ebola. “It is grown in a greenhouse and you can manufacture kilograms of

the materials. It is much less expensive than cell culture.”

In the standard method of genetic engineering, DNA is slipped into bacteria, and the microbes produce a protein that can be used to combat a disease.

A competing approach called molecular “pharming” uses a plant instead of bacteria. In the case of the Ebola treatment, Mapp uses the common tobacco plant, Nicotiana benthanmianas.

The process is very similar. A gene is inserted into a virus that is then used to infect the tobacco plant. The virus acts like a microTrojan Horse, ferrying the engineered DNA into the plant.

Cells infected with the virus and the gene it is carrying produce the target protein. The tobacco leaves are then harvested and processed to extract the protein, which is purified.

ZMapp’s protein is a monoclonal antibody, which resembles ordinary diseasefighting antibodies but has a highly specific affinity for particular cells, including viruses such as Ebola. It attaches itself to the virus cells and inactivates them.

Culled from CNN

Ebola Virus Disease: Taming The Scourge

By Winifred Ogbebo, Abuja

The deadly Ebola virus disease, which yesterday claimed its first casualty in Nigeria, may jolt the country into funding of scientific research.

Minister of health Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, who made the announcement of the death of a nurse who had attended to the Liberian, Patrick Sawyerr, in First Consults Hospital, Lagos, yesterday said the country has now recorded seven confirmed cases of the disease with two dead, including the Liberian, while the other five cases were currently being treated at the isolation ward in Lagos.

Since the confirmed and reported death of the Liberian, Sawyerr, in Lagos over three weeks ago from Ebola virus, apprehension has set in. Perhaps it is to be expected, given the huge population of the country and the multiplier effect the disease could have on the populace if it spreads.

However, many health experts have expressed sadness over what they described as government‘s lip service to research and laboratory services.

According to them, the fact that Nigeria is in the West African region, given the outbreak of the disease in the hub, could have set it combat-

ready for any eventuality.

Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, but nothing has been done up until now.

Experts said Nigeria being the powerhouse of Africa could have spearheaded efforts for the cure of the disease before now.

“It’s important we develop laboratory capacity and capability by training laboratory personnel with laboratory infrastructure that will enable us as a country control diseases that have epidemic dimensions rather than depending on fire-brigade approach when there’s an outbreak,” one expert said.

But all hope is not lost. Both the UNAIDS country director, Dr

Bilali Camara, and the directorgeneral, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof John Idoko, said that it is a novel disease that would soon be controlled.

According to them, with the present intervention the federal government is putting in place, Nigeria will soon overcome the Ebola epidemic.

Idoko, who is a professor of virology, said the country experiences such acute epidemic from time to time.

He said the experimental drug produced by the United States can cushion the effect of the virus and, if properly handled, it can be controlled and managed within a

few months.

Meanwhile, the chief medical director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) and an expert in internal medicine, Professor Etete Peters, has advised that people live a healthy life style by adopting the universal protective method, so as to prevent contacting the deadly disease.

Though panic is expected among certain people in the country, it is instructive that the virus had never been in Nigeria until a foreigner from Liberia deliberately visited the country against medical advice. It is hoped that Nigeria will overcome the scourge and return to normalcy.

8 news extra

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Jigawa Launches Campaign To Curb High Rate Of Rape Cases

L-R: United States vice president, Joe Biden and president, Campaign for Democracy and Women Arise, Dr Joe OkeiOdumakin, during African Leaders Summit Civil Society Forum Global Townhall in US.

s

Irked by the increase in rape cases against girl child in the state, Jigawa State Justice Sector and Law Reform Commission has embarked on enlightment campaign to educate parents and communities on how to assist in curbing the problem.

The state attorney general and commissioner of justice in the state, Yakubu Ruba, disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in Dutse.

He said, the commission had also held meeting with stakeholders including traditional rulers, religious and political leaders on measures to be taken in addressing the problem that seems to be threatening the life and future of the girl child.

“Most of the time if a person is arrested on alleged rape case parents of the victims are not willing to cooperate in providing the exhibits that would help the court in trials and prosecution of the suspect.

“In view of this parents and community would be enlightened on how to protect their girl child from the evil people in the society.

By Muh’d Zangina Kura, Dutse

After 14 years, Okorocha Approves Gratuity For Primary School Teachers Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha has approved the payment of gratuity to primary school teachers in the state who retired between 1990 and 2000.

Similarly the governor has approved N36,000 per annum as medical bill for every civil servant in the state.

Governor Okorocha who disclosed this during an interactive session with the civil servants/ retired workers at Imo International Conference Centre, Owerri, yesterday, maintained that all the workers in the state are entitled to the approved medical bills.

He stressed that the state government has also released funds for equipping the state secretariat with basic amenities such as computers and working tools, adding that the state government is working out measures to provide buses before December to facilitate free transport for the workers in the state.

While addressing the senior citizens , he noted that the state government is set to pay bulk pension of two months every month to pensioners to enable government offset their 13 months outstanding arrears.

Governor Okorocha also expressed the determination of his administration to pay the families of those who lost their lives while waiting for their pensions.

By Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri

Dame Jonathan To Nigerians: Rise Up Against Threats To Peace

By Anayo Onukwugha, Port Harcourt

Wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan, yesterday called on Nigerians to rise up and check all forms of threats to peace in the country, including the continued insurgence by members of the Boko Haram sect.

Mrs. Jonathan made the call in Ozuoba, Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State, while flagging off the MDGs Economic Empowerment and Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes to 3, 650 households across the 23 local government areas of Rivers State, yesterday.

She commended senior special assistant to the president on MDGs, Mrs. Precious Gbeneol for the resourceful way she has integrated women empowerment and gender equality issues towards ensuring the attainment of the MDGs. While reiterating her commitment towards assisting the poor and less privileged in the society, the president’s wife promised to continue to do so through her non-governmental organisation, Women for Change and Development Initiative, to boost the transformation agenda of the federal

government.

Mrs. Jonathan said the distribution of the empowerment items and commodities to all communities in Rivers State was a collaboration between the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the president on MDGs and her NGO. She said, “This collaboration is meant to achieve improvement in the economic wellbeing of women and youths in our communities.” She noted that the programme was important to her due to the opportunity it offers her to assist the needy.

“I know the MDGs conditional cash transfer scheme has impacted positively on over 100, 000 household from 2011 till date.

“Let me once again emphasise that with the help of God, through my NGO, I will continue to work to assist the less privileged and the poor. This disposition is in line with the principles of the administration of the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, which is centred on good governance and poverty eradication.”

Mrs Jonathan reminded Nigerians that the federal government takes their welfare seriously and urged them to be good citizens and be peaceful at all times.

She said, “I therefore urge you to bear it in mind that the federal government has your interest at heart. I strongly urge you to be good citizens, holding on to all what is good and praying always for the country and its leaders.

“We must all work hard to check all forms of threats to peace in Nigeria and insurgence widespread in parts of the country. We must strive at all times to work for the peace, unity and development of our country, Nigeria.

“We need peace to achieve development, not only in the Niger Delta region, but in the country as a whole. Peace is very crucial to development, because there can be no development where there is no peace.

“This must be sustained by ensuring that there is peace in our homes, peace in our communities, peace in our local governments, peace in our states, and peace in our country, Nigeria.

We must put in more efforts until we achieve total peace in Nigeria.”

Earlier, senior special assistant to the president on MDGs, Mrs. Precious Gbeneol said the MDGs was one of the strategies to ensure sustainable income generation and wealth creation to eradicate poverty.

Gbeneol said it was also embarking on projects and programmes that will have direct economic bearing on the lives of most vulnerable individuals in the society.

The president’s aide explained that over 10, 000 economic items and commodities would be distributed to 21 local government areas in the state, while Okrika and Ogu-Bolo would be on a later date.

She listed the items to include, 210 tricycles, 21 eighteen seater buses, 1000 sewing machines, 500 grinding machines, seven speed boats, over 2, 500 wrappers, 2000 bags of rice, 500 roofing sheets, beverages and other items.

Patience Jonathan

Edo Assembly Crisis: Igbinedion Meets With Oshiomhole

By Patrick Ochoga, Benin City

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Edo State, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedi yesterday paid a surprise visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole in his office at the Government House, in Benin.

Chief Igbinedion, who is the Esama of Benin Kingdom and father of former governor of the state, Chief Lucky Igbinedion arrived the Government House at exactly 1:05 p.m.

Chief Igbinedion who was obviously absent at the PDP

national chairman’s tour of the South-South in Calabar, Cross River State on Tuesday, spent about 35 minutes behind closed doors with the governor.

He later told reporters that, “He is the governor of Edo State and I have come to see my governor”.

The patriarch of Igbinedion dynasty thanked Governor Oshiomhle for receiving him and his entourage to his office.

Sources however disclosed that part of issues discussed with the governor before jour-

nalists were allowed in may not be unconnected with crisis in the state assembly which resulted to parallel plenary of the APC and PDP legislators.

LEADERSHIP learnt that the nine PDP lawmakers who are at the receiving end in the over two months old crisis are tired of holding separate plenary whose resolutions are of no effect in the affair of the state.

On his part, the state governor congratulated the PDP chieftain on his forthcoming birthday saying, “Let me wel-

come you formally to my very modest office, thank you for taking time out to visit. I am in receipt of your birthday invitation; I promise you that I will be there live with our friends.

“It is something that we want to join in celebrating because longevity and good health are a rare combination.

Some people have longevity, but poor health, others have good health but not long life, so when God gives you both, only He and He alone decides whom he chooses to so favour.

news NATIONAL 9

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Anambra Legislators Angry With Speaker

By Okechukwu Obeta,Awka

Crisis looms in Anambra State House of Assembly as the speaker, Princess Chinwe Nwaebili has fallen out of favour with her colleagues.

She was accused of using her colleagues to curry favour from the governor, Chief Willie Obiano, as part of efforts to advance her ambition to represent Ogbaru federal constituency in the House of Representatives next year.

The seat is currently occupied by Hon Victor Afam Ogene, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives committee on Media and Public Affairs who was elected under the same APGA platform and is known to have ambition to recontest the seat since he is just spending his first term.

Nwaebili had, in a move to impress the governor, had on Tuesday during an executive session, presented a motion for the legislators to pass a vote of confidence on the state governor through the member representing Ayamelum constituency, Mr. Gabriel Onyenwife.

But hardly had the motion scaled before other members started grumbling over the propriety of the motion which they argued was unwarranted since the state’s chief executive was not facing any indictment from any quarters.

It was gathered that the lawmakers later found out and was to become angry with the speaker for arranging the vote of confidence motion to show Governor Obiano that she has the legislators in her pockets and that they

would always do her biding.

The legislators became suspicious of the propriety of the confidence motion brought by the speaker when they noticed an unusual presence of newsmen in the assembly complex, especially members of the governor’s press crew.

The legislators later stormed the Government House where they allegedly registered their displeasure with the way the speaker is allegedly using them for her personal gains.

When contacted, the chief press secretary to the speaker, Mr. Fidelis Nwakwesili denied any such incident, saying there was no issue between the speaker and her colleagues as a result of the passage of the confidence motion but said he did not know what warranted the motion.

Gov Aliyu, A Detribalised Nigeria – Attah Igala

By Abu Nmodu, Minna

The Attah of Igala and president, Kogi State Council of Chiefs, HRM Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni (Gabaidu) has described the governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, as a detribalised and selfless Nigerian who is committed to promoting unity, harmony and peace among Nigerians.

The paramount ruler of Igala Kingdom was speaking against the backdrop of the appointment of an Igala man, Mr Israel Ayegba Ebije as his chief press secretary and another Yunusa Abdullahi as special assistant on speech writing.

He said Governor Aliyu is indeed a true Nigerian

who is committed to building bridges of unity, harmony and progress across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

The governor’s chief press secretary said in a statement issued in Minna yesterday that the Attah Ameh Oboni disclosed this when he hosted the two sons of Igala lands in his palace at Idah, Kogi State.

He said he was grateful to Governor Aliyu for honouring their sons and by extension, the entire Igala kingdom and adding that he is one of the few leaders who is truly committed to uniting all the zones of the country and urged other leaders to emulate governor Aliyu’s leadership style.

Agip Probes Shutdown Of 5 Oil Wells

By Host Communities In Bayelsa

By Osa Okhomina, Yenagoa

Authorities of the Italian oil multinational,Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC),yesterday announced its decision to probe the weekend shutdown of five oil wells in Biseni community of Yenagoa local government area of the state.

Aggrieved indigenes of three communities of Biseni clan had on Sunday breached security mounted by the men of the Joint Military Task Force code named Operation Pulo Shield and shut down five oil wells belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company.

The aggrieved communities of Egbebiri I and II and Akudonu, according to security sources,launched

a surprise invasion with women,children and youths and shut down the oil wells over alleged refusal of the company to honour the memorandum of understanding on the provision of alternative power supply to the communities.

The affected oil wells 3,6,8,11 and 12 located along the Idu oil field were shut down and the roads leading to the oil wells barricaded from Agip workers and security agencies.

But the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) through an email sent to newsmen by its media relations office manager,Mr Filipo Cotalini, announced that the company is investigating the incident. Cotalini said the firm will issue a statement in due course.

Amaechi’s Six Commissioners to Join PDP In December – Wike

By Anayo Onukwugha, Port Harcourt

The minister of state for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike has boasted that six serving commissioners in the administration of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi will resign their positions by December this year and defect to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

This is just as the minister expressed optimism that the PDP will defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state during the governorship election come 2015.

Wike spoke yesterday at Ozuoba community in Obio/Akpor local government area of the state during the official launch of the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) economic empowerment and conditional cash transfer programmes to the 23 council areas of the state by the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan.

The minister, who did not mention the affected commissioners, explained that those concerned had an agreement with the state leadership of the PDP to tender their letters of resignation by December.

10

stories of the Thursday, August 7, 2014

...NEWS WITH A HUMAN FACE

AUTO CRASH: Trailer Crushes Pregnant Woman, Husband To Death

By Kola Eke-Ogiugo, Asaba

A pregnant woman and her husband have been crushed to death by a trailer carrying a full load of cement numbering over 1,000 bags along Sapele/Agbor road between Umutu/Urhonigbe axis of Delta State, yesterday.

Eye witness said that the lives of the husband and his wife including their innocent child in the womb were snuffed out in the accident which left residents of the areas in confusion.

Reports said that the victims were returning from a journey they embarked upon with their motor cycle when the trailer loaded with cement bags with Reg No GWW68AX lost control after veering out of his way to crash on the husband and wife who were coming back from a journey heading towards Ebedie, their hometown.

It was gathered that the driver of the trailer vehicle fell asleep while the vehicle was at a very high speed; a situation which led the driver when he later discovered, lost control and crashed on the family, killing them on the spot.

FRAUD: Tricycle Driver On The Run Over Missing N.7m

By Kola Eke-Ogiugo, Asaba

A middle aged tricycle driver identified as Moses Erughode in Asaba, Delta State, is nowhere to be found after he allegedly disappeared with N.7m in his custody.

Reports said that his whereabouts had remained unknown in the last two months after his friend who knew he was in the custody of the money, raised the alarm and reported to the police.

It was reliably gathered that the fleeing suspect had before the incident, was running a “local finance contribution meetings” where various persons including the said friend (the owner of the money) pay N20,000 monthly each into private account opened by him.

Sources said that while their meetings lasted, the tricycle driver had also suggested ways on how the funds could be handled by individual members of the meeting. This, our informed sources said, gave way for his friend identified as Isaac to keep in his custody, the said N.7 million.

Speaking to our correspondent, Police Public Relations Officer in the State, DSP Celestina Kalu, said the police were investigating the petition written by the owner of the missing money, adding that all efforts so far to track him down have proved abortive as the whereabouts of the man and his family members were still unknown.

A 7-year-old boy whose two eyes were plucked by suspected ritualists at Babujaye Gumau Toro LGA of Bauchi State, yesterday.

Photo By Nan

MURDER: Lover Boy Suspect Blames Act On Jealousy

BY MATTHEW DIKE, Lagos The man who murdered his lover in her residence in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos State, has confessed to why and how he committed the dastardly act.

Kelechi Williams Mmuojekwu, 31, claimed he murdered Njideka Lizzy Chukwudube, the managing director of Edmark International Limited because of jealousy.

The Commissioner for Police Lagos State Command, Mr Umar Manko paraded Mmuojekwu before journalists at the police headquarters, in Ikeja, yesterday.

Manko said investigations revealed that the lovers met in Ghana and dated until the love went sour and Mmuojekwu strangled Chukwudube, a mother of four children.

Manko said the suspect visited the victim on July 18 and on July 19, he murdered her and escaped with her Range Rover Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), her

mobile phones and other valuables.

The police boss said the suspect deceived the security man that the woman sent him to drive the car and withdraw money from the bank with her ATM. He said it was after the security man waited for several hours without seeing the woman that he called her brother on phone.

He said they had to climb a ladder and peeped through the window and saw the lifeless body of the woman on the floor, with foam gushing out from her eyes and nose.

He said the Area ‘E’ Commander, ACP Dan Okoro, used International Police (Interpol) to trail the suspect in other West African countries but succeeded in arresting him in Ghana and brought him back to Nigeria.

Narrating why he killed his lover, the suspect who hails from Umuoji in Anambra State, said the woman told him he wanted to drop something at her new residence but wasted so much time.

BODY ODOUR: Housewife Given Quit Notice

By Kola Eke-Ogiugo, Asaba

What appears to be an unfolding mild drama, has, again, enveloped Asaba community in Delta State, as a 32- year- old housewife, Theresa Okolie, was yesterday sent packing from her matrimonial home by a group of suspected thugs believed to have been hired to do the dirty job by the husband.

Reports said that the victim of the unfortunate circumstance, a resident of Ogbe-Osowe quarters in Asaba, developed the offensive body odour upon her return from a burial ceremony of her late mother-in-law in BeninCity, Edo State.

It would be recalled that sometime two months ago, a housewife in Ugbolu community was sacked for alleged body odour, a situation that was attributed to mysterious act.

But it was gathered that trouble started for the latest victim, a mother of two children when she started noticing rashes all over her body; a situation she thought was mere heat rashes and did not bother to follow it up.

Expectedly, while the mysterious rashes persisted, the housewife was said to have consulted a local patent medicine seller who prescribed some drugs that she immediately bought but after two weeks of use, there was no remedy.

Speaking to our correspondent, the husband who did not want his name in the print, dispelled as untrue, insinuations that he hired some thugs to remove her property from the house; saying that those who removed her property were not thugs rather they were his relations living in the same house and couldn’t help but to ask her to go and treat herself.

Demolition of property: Businessman Accuses Ex Rep Of Victimisation

By Nnamdi Mbawike, Enugu

A businessman identified as Mbajiorgu Daniel, has accused a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Frank Ugwu and one Engineer Mba, of destroying his property, goods and valuables worth over N20 million.

In a petition addressed to the Area Commander, Abakpa Area Police Command, Enugu State, Mbajiorgu said he only noticed that his valuables were destroyed on 3rd of July 2014.

The items allegedly destroyed by Ugwu, he stated included office complex/ bungalow building, blood circulatory machines and massages, Kedi Drug products or supplements, body check-up machines or Quantum Analyzers, among others.

He further alleged that the exercise was carried out by Hon. Frank Ugwu and Engineer Mbah, at the NNPC Filling Station premises situated opposite Trans Ekulu Police Station, Enugu.

Mbajiorgu, averred that when he approached Ugwu in 2002 to set up a structure in his filling station premises, he only had in mind to build an inexpensive or temporarily structure within his site.

He alleged that “ Hon. Frank Ugwu, whose intention as well as his wife’s as at that time was that I marry his wife’s youngest sister, Anulika, proposed that I build a more permanent and solid structure in his site”.

The embattled businessman added that Ugwu later provided him with his filling station site plan and recommended a proposed site for his meat shop/cold room facility complex.

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STORIES OF THE DAY 11

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Photo News

MURDER: Police Nab 4 suspects For Killing 18 -year-old

By Kola Eke-Ogiugo, Asaba

The Taraba State Police Command has arrested four suspects, Ibrahim Alih, Musa Garba, Shuaibu Abdullahi and Danladi Mallam Abubakar, for allegedly killing an 18 – year- old boy, Mansur Saidu alias Obasanjo.

Briefing journalists yesterday in Jalingo, the command’s public relations officer, ASP Joseph Kwaji, told newsmen that on the 26th July, 2014, one Saidu Adamu of Abbajo village in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of the state came to the police station and reported that his son was injured in a fight with somebody at the valley in Baba Diddi area of Jalingo.

“Saidu Adamu came to our station and told us that he received information from one Mallam Ishaku Iliyasu that his son alias Obasanjo fought with somebody and was badly injured” he said.

He noted that Saidu, alias Obasanjo who was dark in complexion and Fulani by tribe was last seen two months ago.

He stressed that the complainant further added that he suspected that his missing son must have been killed and dumped somewhere.

“Later, information had it that it was one Ibrahim Alih of Tudun Wada, Jalingo that fought with the said Mansur Saidu and since then, he had not been seen” he noted.

L-R: Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke; Minister of State for Power Mohammed Wakili and Minister of Aviation Osita Chidoka during the Federal Executive Council meeting at Aso Villa, yesterday. PHOTO BY REMI AKUNLEYAN

Kidnap: 90-year-old Sen Paulker’s Mother Rescued

By Osa Okhomina, Yenagoa

The combined team of armed policemen and ex-militant leaders in Bayelsa State, yesterday rescued the kidnapped 90- year- old mother of the Senator representing Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, Senator Emmanuel Paulker.

The state Commissioner for Police, Mr.Hillary Okpara, claimed that the abducted Senator’s mother was dumped at a fishing camp in Azuzuama community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Council of the state due to pressure from security operatives.

However, close family members of Sen ,Emmanuel Paulker, claimed that the intervention of the former militant leader and National Coordinator of the South-South Re-

gion Peace Advocacy Group, the Leadership Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI),General Pastor Reuben, led to the rescue of the octonegerian from the den of the kidnappers in Koluama area of the state.

Ex-militant leader, Pastor Reuben,is considered a close friend of the senator and showed concern over the incident based on his advocacy for peace and security in the region.

Security sources, however, confirmed to LEADERSHIP that the pressure mounted by the security agencies with the arrest of a serving police inspector, known as Tosin and some unidentified siblings related with a suspect identified as Abass ,who s a known auto mechanic along the Edepie area of the state capital.

L-R: Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu; minister of state for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan and chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Health, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu during a briefing on Ebola Virus at the House of Representatives Abuja, yesterday PHOTO BY OYEDELE OMOKAGBO

CRIME: Gunmen Attack Boat, Kill 3 In Taraba

By Andrew Ojih, Jalingo

Residents yesterday said gunmen attacked a boat conveying passengers from Dampar village in Ibi council of Taraba to neighboring Tella, killing three persons while others escaped.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the passengers were on their way to Tella Tuesday morning when the gunmen suspected to have come from neighboring

Plateau State trailed and attacked them.

Taraba Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Joseph Kwaji, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, however, said he was yet to be furnished with details of casualty figures.

According to him, two policemen who were also on board the boat that was attacked by the gunmen, escaped unhurt, adding that investigation was ongoing into the matter.

L-R: Acting director-general National Pension Commission (PenCom), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu and Minister of National Planning , Abubakar Sulaiman during a visit by the minister to the headquarters of the National Pension Commission in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO BY ADEFEMI ADEWUYI

KILLING: 6 Arrested Over Deaths Of 2 Navy, Army

BY MATTHEW DIKE, Lagos

No fewer than six people have been arrested in connection with the killing of one navy and one army officers in Apapa area of Lagos State.

LEADERSHIP investigation revealed that an army officer went to a night club on Payne Crescent with his girlfriend, on Tuesday, but the bouncers at the gate refused her entry on grounds that she is not a soldier.

The bouncers insisted that the female who wore camouflage knickers should pay gate fee.

A police sergeant attached to Area ‘B’ Apapa police command disclosed that there was heated argument among the soldier,

girlfriend and the bouncers which attracted a navy officer to the scene.

On hearing that the woman is not a soldier, the navy officer condemned the action of allowing her wear the uniform.

The officer who identified himself to the army officer was said to have supported the idea that the woman should pay gate fee.

His speech angered the lover man who allegedly pulled his Jack knife and stabbed the officer to death.

The news of the killing of the officer was said to have filtered into the ears of navy personnel who raced to the scene and in turn killed the army man.

People in the area were said to have scampered into hiding as the angry military men carried out the action.

L-R: General Manager, Development, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr Bayo Ojulari; chief operating officer, GE Oil and Gas, West Africa, Mr Uzochi Uwagwu and managing director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Mr Tony Attah at the 2014 annual conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Nigeria Council in Lagos yesterday. PHOTO BY GBENGA OLAJOBI

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Thursday, August 7, 2014

business news

NERC Insist On Refund For Private Investment In Distribution Networks

By Juliet Alohan, Abuja ,

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has insisted that a new regulation that compels electricity distribution companies (Discos) to repay individuals or communities for their investment in the networks will stand.

Speaking at a public consultation on the commission’s draft regulations on rate review and investment in electricity,

chairman of NERC, Dr Sam Amadi ,said such investments could no longer be ignored.

Amadi explained that many communities have complained about their investments in the networks, providing transformers while paying fixed charge and at the same time do not get enough power supply.

To this end, he noted that the new rule seeks to establish a process by which government,

individuals and communities could invest in the network and how such investments could be recovered.

He said: “If people make investments in the network whether as individuals, community of government, the disco in that jurisdiction has the responsibility to have to repay those people or find a way through energy credit to make them not have double payments.

Volume Of Traded Shares Up by 26%

By OLUSHOLA BELLO, Lagos

Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday traded 323.913 shares valued at N4.87 billion in 5,736 deals.

The volume of transactions represents 26.03 per cent increase over the 257.006 million shares worth N3.64 billion traded in 5,788 deals on Tuesday.

The financial services sector remained the toast of investors as Access Bank emerged the most traded equity. The sector accounted for 43.81 million shares valued at N433.21 million.

Zenith Bank came second with 40.32 million shares worth N1.01 billion while Transcorp accounted for 26.41 million shares valued N147.64 million.

UBA traded 22.25 million shares worth 171.31 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 21.62 million shares valued at N329.15 million.

The NSE All-Share Index appreciated by 46.91 points

or 0.11 per cent to close at 42,339.84 as against the 42,292.93 achieved on Tuesday. Similarly, the market capitalisation rose by N16 billion or 0.11 per cent to close at N13.981 trillion from the N13.965 trillion posted on Tuesday.

Mobil recorded the highest price gain of N4.13 to close at N169.62 per share.

It was trailed by Julius Berger, which gained N2 to close at N65, while NNFM appreciated by 93 kobo to close at N19.70 per share.

Beta Glass chalked up 81 kobo to close at N17.11, while CCNN rose by 77 kobo to close at N15.33 per share.

Conversely, MRS led the losers’ chart by N3.09 to close at N58.90 per share.

Wapco and Dangote Cement lost N1 each to close at N123 and N228 per share respectively.

Guinness lost 86 kobo to close at N200, while Stanbic IBTC dropped by 70 kobo to close at N29.30 per share.

Africa Is No Longer Emerging Market - Bloomberg

By Bukola Idowu and Olayemi Sowunmi

The chief executive of Bloomberg Philantropist Foundation and former Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, has said African countries were no longer emerging and ought to be rated along with developed countries such as the United States of America.

In his address at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum, in Washinton D.C, hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies Foundation in Collaboration with the U.S. Commerce Department, Bloomberg said, “In the decades ahead, there is almost no limit to the progress that Africa can make. The fact is Africa is no longer emerging.

It is here now. As Africa begins a new stage in its journey, we in America want to walk by its side. But we also realise that we have some catching up to do.”

Noting that foreign investment in Africa has reached record highs, Bloomberg said the United States

was being driven more by its own domestic policies.

“And we are letting Europe and China go faster than the U.S. And while our exports to the continent are at a record high, it’s also true that only two per cent of our total exports go to Africa. And that means that we’re missing out on a major opportunity to create jobs here at home.

“Africa is expected to reach a five per cent overall growth rate in 2015. It boasts six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies. It registered more than 400,000 new companies in the last year alone.

And its middle class, or consumer class, is the fastest-growing in the world,” he said.

He stated further that Africa has now developed into a global economic force, hence, its relationship with America must evolve and mature, adding that the forum would help recast Africa and America’s relationship as a full, equal, and advanced economic partnership.

L-R : General Manager Listing, Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE); Taba Peterside, Group Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc, Alex Otti, Regional Business, North of the bank, Oladele Akinyemi, at the bank’s facts behind the figures, in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO BY BENEDICT UWALAKA

N200bn Lekki Deep Seaport To Begin Operation In 2017

By Samson Echenim, Lagos

Tolaram Group has said that all things being equal, the N200 billion deep seaport being constructed in Lekki, Lagos, anchored by the company, would commence operation in 2017.

Director of finance of the group Mr Kundan Sainani, gave an indication of the impending actualisation of the Lekki Deep Seaport when a delegation from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) paid a working visit to the organisation, the promoter of the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) yesterday .

The Lekki deep sea port is estimated to cost $1.35 billion (about N200 billion), according to information minister, Mr

Labaran Maku, who gave the figure to newsmen after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), in December last year.

The port is expected to put an end to the perennial congestion at the various ports access roads in the country, including the Apapa port.

“The current administration, seeing the huge benefit of the project, had taken over the project to be executed under a PPP arrangement, while federal government also renegotiated the concessionary period in favour of Nigeria from 50 down to 45 years,” Maku said.

According to Sainani, work on the proposed deep seaport has advanced and the facility was

expected to commence operations in 2017.

The seaport will be Nigeria’s first deep seaport when completed. It is a public-private partnership (PPP) investment plan with the federal government and the Lagos State Government contributing 20 per cent each, while leaving 60 per cent equity to private investors.

In April this year, the federal government released N20 billion for the initial development of the deep seaport.

Sainani told the Shippers Council delegates that the capacity of the proposed deep seaport included container, liquid and bulk terminals, expansive quay and appreciable draughts, among others.

Ebola Virus: Health Officials Screen Inbound Passengers At Lagos Airport

By Samson Echenim, Lagos

As the Ebola Virus Disease continues to ravage three West African countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone with one death recorded in Nigeria, arriving passengers of Cam Air,

a Cameroonian based airlines were yesterday screened at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport(MMA), Lagos by officials of Port Health Services, a division of the ministry of health.

The passengers, who arrived Lagos airport at about 3.15 pm from both Cameroon and Gabon, were received by a team of port health officials attached to the facility, who immediately directed the passengers to be in a queue for the screening.

Follow these reports on leadership.ng/business

Thursday, August 7, 2014

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16 NEWS/BUSINESS

Senate C’ttee Lauds Benin Disco’s Planned $265m Investment Friday Atufe, Lagos

Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation has commended the move by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to inject the sum of $265million (N42.5billion) into its business operations over a period of time.

It also praised the distribution company for the progress made in their business operation Chairman, Senate Committee on Commercialisation and Privatisation, Senator Gbenga Obadara, made these commendations recently during an assessment of the distribution company’s operations in Benin, Edo State capital.

Specifically, he said their planned investment would create a “monumental growth” in the company’s efforts to bring value to it numerous customers.

He noted that the BEDC, which covers four states Ekiti, Ondo, Edo and Delta, had increased the distribution of electricity to its areas of coverage since it took over on

November 1, 2013.

The Senators said that the committee’s visit was to encourage the investors to do what was needed and to ascertain the level of conformity with the agreement they signed.

Obadara, who decried the level of electricity theft among consumers, power vandalism and the reluctance of some communities to pay their electricity bills, said that the Senate would encourage BEDC to make the financial commitment to check some of its challenges.

The Senate committee chairman further commended the distribution company for creating a convenient way of relating with its various customers and urged it to establish efficient and diplomatic measures for the collection of electricity bills.

“I believe that, the additional investment BEDC promised to bring into its operation, would bring monumental development and a phenomenal growth to the power industry.

We want to encourage them to do it because there is a lot of power theft, vandalism; it is a big problem,” he said.

KDSG Signs N2b MoU With BOA, BOI

BY ISAIAH BENJAMIN, Kaduna

The Kaduna State government yesterday signed N2billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Agriculture (BoA)

and the Bank of Industry (BoI) as part of efforts to revive the agricultural sector and to promote industrial development.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Kaduna State governor , Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, disclosed that the state government got the approval of the state assembly to use N500million from its 2013 Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment program (SURE-P) funds as counterpart fund to assess the funds from the Bank of Agriculture, and the Bank of Industries (BoI).

According to the governor, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) remain a critical aspect in implementing the industrialisation policy of his administration, reducing poverty and creating jobs and wealth among its citizenry.

While assuring of judicious use of the funds, he lamented the high interest rate charged

by the commercial banks which according to him, was a discouraging factor for assessing their loans.

Earlier in his remarks, the managing director of the Bank of Agriculture (BoA), Alhaji Mohammed Santuraki, disclosed that the bank have so far spent about N2.4billion naira to about 8,000 farmers in the state, while assuring that there were plans to extend credit facilities to about 2500 SMEs throughout the 23 local government area of the state.

Similarly, the managing director of the Bank of Industry (BoI), Rashid Olaoluwa, said the counterpart funding was geared towards the industrial development of the state.

He said, the synergy would provide the platform for accelerated economic growth and transformation of the state, adding that Kaduna State has now joined the league of dynamic states.

Olaoluwa also disclosed that BoI has disbursed over N23 billion as loans to businesses in the state.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Nigeria Records Major Deepwater Oil Production From Bonga Field

By Chika Izuora, Lagos

Nigeria;s deepwater oil exploitation recorded a major leap as Shell’s deep-water subsidiary in Nigeria, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo) begins oil production from the first well at the Bonga north west deep-water development.

The field is located off the Nigerian coast and the production is another milestone for the country’s energy industry.

“This is an excellent addition

to our deep-water portfolio – a key growth theme for Shell’s world-wide upstream business,” said Andrew Brown, Shell’s upstream international director.

“It’s also good news for Nigeria, as it is a new source of oil revenues and strengthens Nigeria’s deep-water expertise, a key driver of economic development,” he added.

The Bonga project, which began producing oil and gas in 2005, was Nigeria’s first deepwater development in water depths over 1,000 metres.

Bonga north- west represents

a significant step forward for the project.

Oil from the Bonga northwest sub-sea facilities is transported by a new undersea pipeline to the existing Bonga floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) export facility.

The Bonga FPSO has been upgraded to handle the additional oil flow from Bonga north-west which, at peak production, is expected to contribute 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, helping to maintain the facility’s overall output.

The Governor of Niger State Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu presenting the key of a Toyota Hilux to the Commander 31 Field Brigade, Minna, Brig Gen Abba Muhammad Dikko. With them are the Director MTN Foundation Alhaji Muhammad Danlami [2nd left] and the Deputy Governor, Hon Ahmed Musa Ibeto (1st right) in Government House Minna, yesterday. PHOTO: GOVERNMENT HOUSE

PAN Unveils Turnaround Plans, Declares Support For New Auto Policy

By Juliet Alohan and Abah Adah

As part of its effort to reposition and become more relevant to the Nigerian automotive market, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) has unveiled its restructuring strategies.

The company’s new turnaround strategies was made known by its MD/ CEO Ibrahim Boyi, when he led a team od management staff on a courtesy call to the Headquarters of LEADERSHIP Newspapers Group in Utako, Abuja yesterday.

Boyi was accompanied on the visit by PANs Head, Corporate Communications, Musa Usman and the MD/CEO of Okocha Motors, Chief A. C. Okocha.

Addressing senior management staff of LEADERSHIP led by the Group Managing Director of the Company, Azubuike Ishiekwene, who received

him and his team, Boyi said their visit was aimed at strengthening the long outstanding relationship between PAN and the media outfit.

He added that the need to update Nigerians in general on the new effort to resuscitate and reposition PAN for better performance as well as to seek LEADERSHIP’s cooperation and support towards realising the goal, also informed their visit.

“I and others have been invited to take charge with the mandate to reposition the company and make it better.

We have come to renew our partnership with you and to update you and the Nigerian public on the new development at PAN while seeking your support and patronage,” Boyi said.

He enumerated the turnaround strategies to include

rebuilding relationships, improving technical support terms, expanding coverage with Peugeot France, commence sale, support and assembly of Peugeot products.

He said the renewed effort to reposition PAN became necessary following the losses suffered by the company in recent years which crippled its operation, resulting in its being taken over by the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2012 which now owns 80 per cent of PAN’s shares.

Listing successes so far recorded by his new management team, Boyi said the company has now resumed relationship with all the stakeholders that left it during the crisis period such as AP France adding that PAN is poised to offer the best of products in the Nigerian market.

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18 BUSINESS/AGRICULTURE

Thursday, August 7, 2014

GES: Agric Ministry, IFDC Tap Into New ICT Platform When the Growth Enhancement Support (GES), an innovation under the agricultural transformation agenda of the federal government, was introduced, a major criticism was that many beneficiaries were unable to redeem their inputs due to GSM network failure or an absence of it in many remote areas. There is no doubt that, as part of the federal government’s plan towards a complete withdrawal from fertiliser procurement and distribution, the GES programme - a sort of supply chain management scheme - was evolved to liberate farmers who have been shortchanged in the past under phoney fertiliser subsidy programmes.

The Touch and Pay system devised to assist the farmers has received a boost with the adoption of a state-of-the-art technology to help overcome the perennial problem involving government procurement and distribution, which crowded out private sector. With this technology, the pervasive complaints about network problems in remote areas will soon be a thing of the past, going by the experiences from the two states where it was done on a pilot scale.

The unprecedented increase in farmers’ registration as well as input redemption have shown that, with this technology, farmers in remote areas no longer have to worry about being captured or about input redemption. For the 2014 wet season, the pilot targets 500,000 farmers, working with over 100 agro-dealers in FCT and Sokoto State. In the first three months, this technology has registered 290,000 farmers; a near threefold increase on the previous two years combined.

The number is growing.

The Token Administration Platform, or TAP, is an e-voucher scheme that uses the latest tablet and smartcard technology to change the way the Nigerian government collects data and delivers benefits to its citizens.

Although TAP is currently only active in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory and Sokoto State, the initiative is already changing the agricultural landscape.

TAP, which uses near field communications (NFC) and people-powered mesh networking to transfer data to field staff devices, is fast gaining ascendancy. Findings show that, in 2014, there will be more active users of contactless smartcards in Nigeria than the UK, a record achievement coming from the agricultural sector. With the present results, during the 2014 wet season, more Nigerian farmers used NFC technology than UK bank card users.

TAP technology was developed by a leading independent consultancy Consult Hyperion, in partnership with international development specialists GRM International, the agricultural non-profit International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), with funding from the UK’s Department for International Development, to transform the way agricultural subsidies in Nigeria are managed.

Under this arrangement, the system is using the latest mobile technology to connect online and offline farmers to their local agricultural dealers (agro-dealers), enabling farmers in remote regions where there is no network coverage to have access to the GES fertiliser discount scheme. The scheme will eventually involve more than 500,000 farmers and 100 agricultural dealers. Using a more secure, efficient and reliable process, TAP is directly supporting Nigerian farmers and boosting the local economy.

Six area councils and 62 wards are involved in FCT, with 109,000 beneficiaries, 46 per cent of which are women.

For the total population of beneficiaries, 83 per cent

agric focus

Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, “TAP allows our farmers to redeem their inputs in areas where there are no networks, simply by using Android phones as smart cards… just tap it on the phone and all the allocation shows up and the farmers redeem their seeds and fertilizer without any network.

It’s revolutionary. We are the first in the world to do it.”

Recently, while was registering under the technology at the IFDC office in Abuja, the minister said “this is a fantastic technology. It helps in identity management to synchronise stocks to get over the issue of double registration and helps with speed of redemption and will improve the integrity of GES platform with banks and agrodealers’ network.” The minister observed the “need to speed up registration (of farmers),”

promising “to have this demonstrated at the National Economic Council.”

Through the GES Scheme, farmers and agro-dealers have access to agricultural subsidies to drive production, output, and ultimately, the growth of the agriculture sector. NFC is used in farmer identification. Farmers are issued with a TAP contactless card, which is linked to the farmer’s record via the tablet’s NFC interface. The record includes a photograph of the farmer, which is subsequently presented to agro-dealers for verification at the time of voucher redemption.

TAP is being used to register farmers for the GES. It accurately records and transfers biometric and credit data, and delivers vouchers to eligible farmers and agricultural dealers.

It takes the discounts to the farmers by effectively extending mobile network coverage into an offline environment, beyond the current reach of mobile networks. TAP significantly reduces the risk of fraud and ensures that fertiliser subsidies reach the farmers for whom they are intended.

TAP offers full weekly reconciliation reports so that farmers get their discounts quicker and agricultural dealers receive their reconciliations quicker; it also has built-in fraud prevention and detection systems. Distributing 1.5 million vouchers, it has been estimated that TAP will save farmers £12.7 million. According to Paul Makin, head of Mobile Money Practice, Consult Hyperion, “we are overcoming obstacles of geography, identity and fraud to quickly and effectively provide farmers in Nigeria the fertiliser subsidies they are entitled to and need, when they need them.”

Nigerian farmers have opportunities to take advantage of this emerging technology.

Considering the multiplier effects of speed, wider coverage, greater number of beneficiaries covered and the transparency involved in the data

congratulate AlikoDangote for this $1 Billion (165 Billion Naira) investment for rice production in Nigeria. This is a mark of strong confidence in the success of our agricultural policies and the strength of our economy”. He further commented, “This investment shows the power of publicprivate partnerships to unlock Nigeria’s agricultural potential. I wish to commend the Minister of Agriculture, Dr.AkinwumiAdesina and AlikoDangote for developing

this strategic partnership which will transform Nigeria’s rice sector”.

AlikoDangote expressed his new optimism “This rice project is part of my renewed commitment to developing Nigeria’s economy through agriculture. The Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda is highly commendable as Nigeria is fast moving towards attaining food security thereby reducing the current high food import bill.

By OLUKAYODE OYELEYE

Adesina

received green card while 17 per cent received black card. Out of the 80,000 farmers who redeemed their input, 46 per cent were women. The overall redemption rate was 73 per cent.

In Sokoto State, 398,000 beneficiaries, 19 per cent of which were women, were enumerated in eight weeks, giving an average of 10,000 farmers per work day, of which 76 per cent got green card and 24 per cent got black card. The redemption involved 79,000 farmers after the second week.

Again, “the second year of TAP technology application is targeting 2,125,000 farmers, with one state per geo-political zone,” the IFDC source claimed, describing TAP as “a form of technology leap-frogging, giving an interesting outlook.”

Quoting the Minister of Agriculture and Rural

FG, Dangote Sign MoU On $1bn Rice Project

BY TONY OHAERI

Nigeria has moved closer to its goal of self-sufficiency in rice with the announcement of an investment of $1 billion (165 Billion Naira) for commercial rice farming and modern integrated rice mills by AlikoDangote, Africa’s richest man. The investment is expected to also turn Nigeria into the first and largest exporter of rice into the global market.

Nigeria’s President, Dr.GoodluckEbele Jonathan,

presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Dangote Industries Ltd. Nigeria has been pursuing an aggressive agricultural transformation agenda to unlock its huge agricultural potential, diversify the economy, revive its rural areas and turn Nigeria into a global powerhouse in food and agriculture. The governmentenabled private sector-driven agricultural transformation

agenda of Nigeria has continued to garner global acclaim and has attracted over $ 6 billion of private sector investments into the sector in a period of three years. At the forefront of the new drive on agriculture in Nigeria is unlocking its huge potential to produce rice.

President Jonathan expressed his optimism on the new investment “Nigeria recognizes that agriculture holds the key for inclusive growth that will help lift millions of our people out of poverty into wealth. I

Thursday, August 7, 2014

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Thursday, August 7, 2014

60 Hearty Cheers I join millions of Nigerians to felicitate with His Excellency, the Vice President, Arc. Muhammad Namadi Sambo GCON, on the occasion of his 60th Birthday.

I am particularly proud to be associated with this quintessential leader and a gentleman, an epitome of humility, an astute politician, a seasoned administrator, an architect of no mean standard, a de-tribalised Nigerian and a bridge builder.

I pray to Almighty Allah (SWT) to continue to enrich your life with good health and sound mind as well as grant you the strength and courage to continue to serve our fatherland in particular and humanity in general.

Congratulations Sir!

Signed:

Signed:

Arc. Muhammad Namadi

SENATOR ABDUL NINGI, CON Deputy Senate Leader

Sambo Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

GCON

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Thursday, August 7, 2014

energy news Eko Disco Seeks Security Agencies Partnership Against Vandalism The Eko Electricity Distribution Company has taken steps to safeguard its power infrastructure by seeking the collaboration of security agencies in Lagos state.

Speaking during a visit to the Lagos State Police Commissioner, the managing director and chief executive officer (MD/CEO) of the company, Mr Oladele Amoda, commended the police for beefing up security around power installations but sought better policing of electricity infrastructure to ward off vandals, especially around the company’s area of operations.

He solicited more assistance from the police in order to successfully combat the menace.

CAMAC Energy Makes Significant Oil & Gas Find A major oil find has been announced

by CAMAC Energy after preliminary results of its Oyo-8 well revealed more crude oil reserves.

The company said preliminary results showed a successful outcome in the Oyo field development initiative offshore Nigeria in OML 120.

CAMAC Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on energy resources

in Africa.

The Oyo-8 well commenced drilling operations in June this year and has both a vertical and a horizontal section.

The vertical section was designed to test for additional hydrocarbons in the previously undrilled Eastern fault block of the Oyo field. Oyo-8 was drilled to a total depth (TD) of 6,059 feet, and successfully encountered four new oil and gas reservoirs with total gross

hydrocarbon thickness of 112 feet based on results from the loggingwhile-drilling (LWD) data, reservoir pressure measurement, and reservoir fluid sampling.

The well will now be completed horizontally as a producing well in the Pliocene formation of the Central Oyo field. Oyo-7, which was successfully drilled in October 2013, will also be completed likewise.

GE, Dangote Conclude Agreement On Power Projects stories By Chika Izuora, Lagos

A fresh agreement that will enhance power generation capacity of Dangote Power has been sealed between the company and General Electric (GE).

The initiative known as GE-Dangote Framework Agreement will cover distributed power solutions.

Under the framework, GE will supply aeroderivative gas turbines to Dangote Group for captive power requirements.

Dangote Group on the other hand is expected to generate reliable and efficient power for the operation of its manufac-

turing assets within Nigeria and other African countries where Dangote industries operate.

In January 2013, both companies concluded a strategic collaboration agreement firming up GE’s commitment to boost the development of Dangote Industries in four key sectors, one of which is distributed power.

GE Nigeria’s president and CEO, Mr Lazarus Angbazo, expressed his excitement in joining forces with leading manufacturing conglomerate, Dangote Industries, to enter new realms of African business success.

Angbazo said he believed that the framework agreement had the potential to be an essential part of the African business success story.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to work with Dangote Group on this project. Insufficient and unreliable grid power is widely recognised as one of the key impediments to economic development.

“We therefore see distributed power as one of the answers for quickly addressing the power challenge faced by many of our customers - to deliver power where the traditional power grid cannot,” he said.

Sahara Power Boosts Human Capital Profile ...Engages 107 young engineers

Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo cutting the tape to flag-off the Trading Points Meter Hand-over to the market participants at Apo Transmission Station, Abuja. He is being supported by the Perm Sec. Amb (Dr.) Godknows Igali and the MD, Market Operation - Mrs. Ngozi Osuhor

UNEP Report: SPDC Explains Commitment To Stabilise Niger Delta The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited said it has made progress in addressing recommendations directed to it by the UNEPs report on the devastation of Ogoni land in the Niger Delta region.

It clarified, however, that a majority of the UNEP’s recommendations require multi-stakeholder efforts coordinated by the federal government.

Reacting to rising criticisms that parties involved in the devastation which included Shell had done nothing

after the report, the company said, “It is important to emphasise that neither the SPDC nor any other stakeholder is in a position to implement the entirety of the UNEP’s recommendations unilaterally.”

As the UNEP report stated, “Treating the problem of environmental contamination within Ogoniland merely as a technical clean-up exercise would ultimately lead to failure.

Ensuring long-term sustainability is a much bigger challenge – one that will

require coordinated and collaborative action from all stakeholders.”

But the company said it has an activity programme in place, focused on delivering improvements in the environmental and community health situation on the ground.

It stressed its commitment to work with the government, communities and a number of constructive nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups in the Niger Delta to accelerate progress.

Sahara power group has engaged 107 young engineers to boost its human capital base.

The company said the exercise was in keeping with the company’s commitment to youth empowerment and development of local capacity in the power sector.

Sahara Power comprises of KEPCO Energy Resource Limited, New Electricity Distribution Company and NG Power-HPS Limited with stakes in Egbin Power Plc, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and First Independent Power Limited (FIPL).

The young engineers, some of whom were sourced from the host communities where the subsidiary companies operate will commence a rigorous training programme that will equip them for their roles in the IKEDC, Egbin and FIPL. The managing director and chief executive officer (MD/CEO) of Sahara Power, Mr Kola Adesina, said at the induction ceremony for the recruited engineers that the exercise was in line with the robust human capital development policy of Sahara Power aimed at ensuring enhanced capacity and seamless employee succession through knowledge transfer.

Adesina said the intensive training programme which will be facilitated by the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN) will ensure the “bright engineers hit the ground running.” He said, “Sahara Power is laying a solid foundation for upscaling capacity, productivity and efficiency in our subsidiaries and the entire power sector through an army of young professionals who will be exposed to continuing training opportunities in line with global trends and practices.”

22 BUSINESS/mines & steel

Thursday, August 7, 2014

mines & steel REPORT

Nigeria generates N5.2bn in mining royalties, records geometric growth

A Stone quarry site

The Explosives Act And National Security

By Ruth Tene Natsa, Abuja

The Nigerian Explosives Act of 1964 and Regulations of 1967 are outdated and not conforming to present day challenges even after several calls have been made for their upgrade by stakeholders. Ruth Tene Natsa writes on the arguments surrounding the Act.

The Nigerian Explosives Act of 1964 and Regulations of 1967 are outdated and not conforming to present day challenges even after several calls have been made for their upgrade by stakeholders.

Ruth Tene Natsa writes on the arguments surrounding the Act. The constant insecurity as a result of activities of insurgents has become sources of worry to both government and citizens alike and it has become pertinent that people look at issues relating to bombing, explosives and other related matters as it concerns present day challenges.

It has, therefore, become important to look at efforts by government and stakeholders to ensure that legal access to explosives, which miners use for blasting in quarries and other mining operations, are limited to the use of experts in the field.

With bomb blasts having become daily affairs, the acting director, Mines Inspectorate, Mr Dauda Awojobi, has said the federal government will soon review the 1964 Explosives Act and 1967 Explosives Regulation to curtail the proliferation of explosives in Nigeria.

He gave the hint in Abuja during an interview with journalists, saying the review became necessary as issues relating to the use of explosives were becoming critical in view of the security challenges facing the country.

“The world is not rigid and things done in the past may not suit the circumstances of today; we need to update the law which was made in 1964 and the regulations of 1967.

“From 1964 to date is about 50 years; we believe that the law is due for review. The world itself is changing; technology has over taken events and issues,” he said.

Awojobi said that stakeholders in the mining sector, importers and manufacturers of explosives as well as law enforcement agencies would be involved in the review, adding that a stakeholder forum would be held where a draft of the bill would be presented, discussed and areas of amendment made before the bill is forwarded to the Ministry of Justice.

There have been arguments as to the kinds of explosives being used by the suspected Boko Haram sect which use these bombs and other explosives often.

However, there are people who argue that mining explosives are not as dangerous as those used by the sect and can do very little or no damage at all.

Towards the end of 2010, some bombers, allegedly miners, were said to have been arrested in Niger State after an explosion which rocked part of the city.

But after several investigations, it turned out that they were miners who had just returned from rock blasting which is their legal occupation.

Mining operations cannot be complete without the use of explosives which are necessary for blasting rocks from deep under the ground to the surface, making it easier for use by construction workers, miners and other end users.

This prompted the need for the federal government to update the Nigerian Explosives Act so as to curtail the movement of explosives from the point of purchase up to the point of final use, mostly mining sites.

During a stakeholders forum involving miners, construction companies, and military men, among others in August 2010, there was a general call for government to upgrade the

current Act which was said to be obsolete considering the current challenges of security breaches by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect. Following the bombing of the UN House in Abuja, the task team leader of the Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project (SMMRP), Ms Ekaterina Mikhaylovak, who had been on an oversight visit said it was high time the federal government updated the Nigerian Explosives Act. She had stated that the current Act needed to be updated so as to regulate the purchase, use and supervision techniques of explosives in the country as the current one in use was enacted in the 1960s and as such very outdated. In the light of that, the then permanent secretary to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mrs Elizabeth Emuren, had said that civil explosives were inevitable for uninterrupted mineral production, for extracting construction stones and oil exploration which she said were key to the economic transformation agenda of the present administration.

Speaking at a forum on commercial explosives, she had asserted that the recent security situation in the country had brought challenges in the area of control and monitoring procedures that could impact on supply to end users. She further stated that the ministry, in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 1 of the Explosives Act of 1964 and the Explosives Regulations of 1967 made pursuant to the principal Act regulates and controls the manufacture, importation, sales, transportation, storage and use of civil explosives.

The recent security situation in the country had brought challenges in the area of control and monitoring procedures that could impact on supply to end users

The acting director, Mines Inspectorate, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dauda Awojobi, has said the federal government generated N5.2 billion between 2009 and 2013 from royalties in mining.

Awojobi made the disclosure in Abuja during an interview with journalists recently. He said that N736.92 million was generated in 2009; N889,46 million in 2010, and N970.78 million in 2011.

He added that “N1.12 billion was generated in 2012, while N1.45 billion was generated in 2013,” all of which he described “as significant as the increment is in geometrical progression.”

Awojobi said the revenue accrued from more than 40 minerals that were mined across the country with 153.9 million tonnes of minerals mined in five years.

“Generally, we have a royalty template whereby royalties are calculated based on three to five per cent of the value of the minerals. It is as a result of this increase in production that we are able to make significant progress through royalties generated between 2009 and 2013,” he said.

The acting director listed the minerals mined during the period under review to include gold, coal, iron ore, clay, limestone, lead/zinc, kaolin, gypsum, baryte, columbite, copper, garnet, manganese, phosphate, talc and tantalite.

Others include aquamarine, basalt, coltan, dolorite, domomite, feldspar, granite, laterite, marble, shale, sapphire, talc, tin ore (cassiterite), topaz, quartz, wolframite, tourmaline, zircon, silica and sand, among others.

Awojobi said the ministry had a databank on the minimum work programme approved for each mineral title with operators expected to state the timeline of the activities to be carried within a particular period.

He said, “The minimum work programme would not only be used to monitor the activities of the operators but also be used to monitor their progress. These permits for mining minerals issued by the ministry were either for export, analysis or for commercial purposes.”

The ministry is planning to establish a databank on the statistics of accident recorded from mineral exploration which will enable the ministry to monitor accidents in particular mining titles, the causality figures and the number of injured persons.

“We will be able to know the magnitude of the accidents and the causes. We want to be proactive in this area because the mining environment ought to be safe and healthy,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ministry is collaborating with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to ascertain the contribution of the mining sector to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

INTERVIEW /BUSINESS 23

Thursday, August 7, 2014 About NASENI? The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) was established to fasttrack the industrial development of the country and nurture an appropriate and dynamic science and engineering infrastructure base for achieving homeinitiated and home-sustained industrialisation. Our mandate is specifically in the area of capital goods research, production, and reverse engineering.

interview

NASENI Can Address Power Infrastructure Challenges – Haruna Dr. Mohammed Sani Haruna is the Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI). In this interview with Kingsley Alu, Haruna talks about the agency’s research efforts, funding challenges and MoU with Czech government.

He also submits that local content promotion can boost the electricity industry and drive investment in power generation and transmission.

G o v e r n m e n t ’s plan to key NASENI into its power programme?

Government is much interested and it is doing everything possible to supplement power production in Nigeria. Recently, the minister of Power was in NASENI solar manufacturing plant Karshi and inspected facilities and identified the areas in which NASENI will help the ministry in terms of rural electrification using renewable energy and also key into the ‘Light Nigeria’ Project of the Ministry of Power. Not only that Haruna the minister visited a site where NASENI installed a small 5 Kilowatt kinetic hydro power providing power to a community that has never been connected to electricity before in Nassarawa State. The turbine is installed in Mada River, Nassarawa State.

Local production of power infrastructure components is critical to the sustenance of the gains of the reforms in the power sector. An institute of NASENI, Power Equipment and Electrical Machinery Development Institute (PEEMADI) Okene, Kogi State has made progress with technologies for the production and distribution of spares and component parts required for production of power equipment and electrical machines.

Number of pilot plants at the moment ?

Among the pilot plants that are successful is our solar manufacturing facility in Karshi.

The plant with the capacity of 7.5MW is established through a joint venture project with a foreign partner. The objective of this manufacturing facility centres on business creation, revenue generation, capacity building and ceding of technology. The required facilities for this project have been installed and full operation has commenced. The first solar panel was produced in the plant on September 10, 2011 and since then production has continued with greater success.

NASENI has also designed and manufactured the first EMR100 Rotary Furnace in Nigeria, the

first Made - in- Nigeria motorcycle; NASENI M1, and the first Made-InNigeria tricycle (Keke- NASENI).

Other efforts include the design and manufacturing of integrated Cassava flour processing plant, design, manufacturing and installation of cross flow small hydro power (SHP) plant in Nigeria, and also the manufacture of the first Made-in-Nigeria pole mounted transformer.Also having studied the problems and challenges science students face in carrying out practicals in science subjects, we decided to intervene in Nigeria’s education sector with the manufacturing of the first Made-In-Nigeria primary science kits and junior secondary science kits. The consumers are not only Nigerians, but also in the West African region, our products are rated the best and adopted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The international Junior Science Olympiad for 2015 has already contacted us for their product specifications.

Local production of power infrastructure components is critical to the sustenance of the gains of the reforms in the power sector

Level of funding support from government ?

Government has been supporting us tremendously. Our operation is directly supervised by President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the Chairman of the Governing Board of the agency and with him presiding over the Board of NASENI, all the provisions contained in the NASENI Act, including funding, would be restored soon. You know that when NASENI was founded, the idea was to have an agency whose operation is independent of mainstream civil service structure.

We are hopeful that Mr President would restore the

statutory allocation of 2 per cent of whatever accrues to the federation account to NASENI. We also look forward to the restoration of support for our industrial parks through levy on income or turnover of commercial companies and firms with turn-over of N4million and above in the country to be remitted to NASENI through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

We are also aware of the provision of some other revenue percentages that are due for further research and development and industrialisation of Nigeria, which ought to be remitted to NASENI. Capacity Building Efforts?

Training and retraining is among the core mandate of NASENI. We do capacity building not only for our staff but we also concerned about the available manpower in the country. A successful economy cannot be achieved without a high degree of knowledge.

We sponsor our staff to various post-graduate programmes within and outside the country up to the PHD level. We support programmes in universities and participate in the inclusion of need-oriented research in the curriculum building of higher institutions. At the moment, we are in collaboration with three universities sponsoring three different Masters Programmes that are special in nature and not available in the country per se.

In our collaboration with the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), we are sponsoring students in a Master’s Degree programme in Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. We have

provided our centre of excellence in Materials and Nanotechnology in Akure as a laboratory for this programme. This programme is also assisted by the World Bank and is taking off from this academic session.

It is intended to produce the critical mass of Nigerians that will key into what is happening in the world taking advantage of the innovative system that is achieved through nanotechnology, nanomedicine, and nanoagriculture . By collaborating with universities, NASENI has produced nanofilter that can purify water up to 99.9 per cent; a cheaper method that rural people can use without having to build water treatment plants.

Now with the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), we have also commenced a Master’s programme in Electronics and Electrical Products Development. It is expected that before graduation, the students must develop and produce a prototype that is market ready using our Electronic Equipment Development Institute at Awka.

The third Masters Programme we are running with the support of the World Bank is Mec hatronics Product Development with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. That one will also take advantage of our Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre in Jalingo which is serving as a practical centre for this purpose.

The Nigeria- Czech Trade and Investment Council brokered a joint venture agreement between the technology agency of Czech Republic and the NASENI on information exchange.

Insight Into this joint venture agreement?

The MoU has as its main objective to support and promote bilateral and multilateral scientific research and development, and in particular joint ventures between Nigeria and the Czech Republic.

We also agreed to exchange best practices and knowhow in the area of Research & Development and information, support technology transfer and commercialisation of output.

The priority areas in the agreement include: information and communication technology; biotechnology and pharmaceuticals; agriculture and food technology; systemson-chips; genomic medicine; energy technology; sustainable development of transport; protection of environment; and mining technology.

Let me say here that the agreement is a huge success for Nigeria in terms of building the critical capacity in the areas of technology to attain the country’s vision 20:2020.

The agreement is for an initial period of five years which can then be renewed for another five years with a funding support from Czech Government to the tune of one hundred million euro.

24 BUSINESS/ENERGY

Thursday, August 7, 2014

FG To Empower Youth For Power Infrastructure Protection STORIES By juliet alohan, Abuja

The federal government has put measures in place to make Nigerian youths industry-ready to man the evolving private sectordriven power sector.

These were aimed at providing self, paid employment for the youths, while also meeting the local content requirement for the sector and helping to prevent foreign domination.

The minister of power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, made this known during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Youth Summit of the Youth Initiative for Leadership and Rural Development (YILARD) with the theme “Power Sector Reform and its Benefits to Nigerian Youths” in Abuja recently.

He disclosed that about 7,400 young men and women were to receive training that would revolutionise the Nigerian electricity market when President Goodluck Jonathan officially flags off the skills acquisition and entrepreneurship scheme for the power sector.

He explained that the reforms in the power sector were well thought out and deliberately planned to incorporate the wealth creation component of this initiative. Nebo pointed out that specific schemes and initiatives targeted at empowering young Nigerians included the power sector entrepreneurship programme, SURE-P, and capacity development offered through the National Power Training Institute

(NAPTIN) whose graduates were already being engaged to provide the needed technical expertise in the privatised power sector.

He maintained that the reforms were being religiously implemented with a view to achieving sufficiency in power supply which will usher in industrialisation and greater economic growth.

On the recent success in securing the delivery of 248 containers of vital electricity equipment abandoned at the ports for several years under previous administrations, the minister said the abandonment was a demonstration of the need to privatise the sector as no private entrepreneur would have tolerated such waste.

ENERGY REPORT

Gas-To-Power: CBN Leads Initiative On Debt Settlement As part of efforts to ensure adequate supply of gas-to-power plants, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it is leading an initiative that will provide financial package to ensure steady production and supply of gas to the power sector.

Part of the initiative is its decision to offset an outstanding N25 billion gas-related legacy debt owed to gas suppliers by the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

According to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while speaking at an inter-ministerial briefing in Abuja recently, the apex bank plans to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with the Bankers’ Committee to support the gas-to-power sector of Nigeria.

Giving details of the CBN’s intervention measures, Emefiele said, “The issue for us is that the Bankers’ Committee has had some engagements and that engagement also led to the CBN Governor being asked to continue discussions with the ministries of petroleum and power and the process of the engagements has revealed that there is an outstanding legacy debt of about N25 billion.

vacancy announcement Vacancy number: VN-NGR-33-2014 Post Title: Child Protection Specialist Level: National Professional (NOC) Contract Type: Fixed Term (FT) Duration: 2 years Location: Enugu The successful candidate will be responsible for formulation, design, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of the Child Protection programme in focus states to ensure overall efficiency and effectiveness of the programme management, delivery and accomplishment of programme goals and objectives.

Major Duties and Responsibilities: 1. Enhance effective sectoral or inter-sectoral collaborative partnerships in planning, development and implementation of the Child Protection workplan in selected states. Provide substantive advice, recommendations and input in the formulation of Child Protection programme through the gathering of data and evidence.

2. Promote the organization goals of UNICEF through advocacy and policy dialogue through active engagement in communication, networking and participation at every opportunity inside and outside UNICEF, leveraging the strength of UNICEF mission, goals and programmes; and forge broadbased partnerships to raise awareness and stimulate open dialogue on the rights of the child and practices that create social exclusion or harm children.

3.

Promote knowledge management by exchange of knowledge, information, situation analysis, experience or lessons learned; promote knowledge sharing and technical input or recommendations on major programme directions and on introduction of new initiatives in the states. Collect relevant data in order to inform programming.

4. Promote the quality of rights-based Child Protection programmes through participation in the formulation of programme goals, strategies and approaches, collaborating with key partners to address the multiple aspects of the protective environment; and to bring coherence, synergy and added value to sectoral or inter-sectoral management processes using a resultsbased management approach to planning and design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

8. Ensure exchange of information, experience, identify new strategies and courses of action to accelerate/improve delivery of services and achieve Child Protection programme requirements and objectives. Conduct field visits to monitor programmes and collect information. Conduct periodic programme reviews with Government and nongovernment counterparts.

5. Takes primary responsibility for the development of the sectoral work plan and technical decisions at field office level as for programme management, implementation and monitoring of assigned activities, in compliance with the defined programme strategies and approaches, with adequate consultation with relevant stakeholders.

Support maintenance of information system for monitoring gender/sex disaggregated data.

Qualifications and Competencies required: • Advanced university degree, preferably in the social sciences, law or other relevant field.

• Five years of professional work experience at national and international levels in child protection, including field work experience.

• Background/familiarity with responding to emergencies.

• Fluency in English.

6. Ensure programme, sectoral or intersectoral, efficiency and delivery through a rigorous and transparent approach to monitoring and evaluation. Participation in evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual review meetings with government counterparts, with involvement of all stakeholders. Ensure the preparation of annual Child Protection sector status reports, with contribution of all major partners.

Vacancy number: VN-NGR-34-2014 Post Title: HIV/AIDS Specialist, Paediatric HIV Treatment, Care and Support Level: National Professional (NOC) Contract Type: Temporary Appointment (TA) Duration: 11 months Location: Abuja

7. Coordinates with Operations and Supply staff on supply and non-supply assistance activities ensuring proper and timely UNICEF and Government as well as all implementing partners’ accountability; and to orientate and train Government and all UNICEF implementing partners in UNICEF supply and non-supply policies and procedures.

Certifies disbursements of funds, monitors and submits financial status reports to

management in compliance regulations and guidelines.

with

the

UNICEF Nigeria seeks the services of an experienced HIV/AIDS Specialist, Paediatric HIV Treatment, Care and Support to provide technical support to Federal and State level Ministry of Health in the implementation of the EID/Pediatric ART programme in Nigeria. The incumbent will also be responsible to provide technical support to UNICEF supported 6 + 1 HIV priority states on EID/PART programmes.

Facilitate and support a process to determine and document the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and challenges/bottlenecks in scaling up PART services in Nigeria. Promote

and support the strengthening of routine MNCH services as entry points for follow-up on EID and paediatric HIV-testing Qualifications and Competencies required: • Advance university degree (at least a Masters level) in public health, medical sciences or related field • Five years or more experience in decentralized programme planning, support to implementation and monitoring and evaluation in the field of PART, or PMTCT • Up to data knowledge on global PART, EID, PMTCT technical guidelines, programme guidance and knowledge of proven successful interventions • Proven experience in successfully applying this knowledge at national and subnational levels.

• Proven experience with leading bottleneck analyses, assessments etc and using the results for strategic programme planning.

• Strong writing and communication skills and the aptitude to handle competing messages and priorities with multiple audiences • Fluency in written and verbal English is essential.

Candidates interested in the above positions should submit his/her application, accompanied by updated CV in English and a completed United Nations Personal History Form, (which can be downloaded from our website at www. unicef.org/employ) to the email address below on or before Thursday, 21 August 2014.

Email: nrecruit@unicef.org Please put the position title you are applying for on the subject line of your email.

UNICEF, a smoke-free environment, is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Well qualified candidates, particularly women are strongly encouraged to apply.

commerce/BUSINESS 25

Thursday, August 7, 2014

BoI To Spend N1bn On SME Agro-based Project In Oyo Stories By Kingsley Alu , Abuja

The Bank of Industry, (BOI) has set aside the sum of N1 billion for the implementation of the Oyo State agro-based One Local government One Product (0LOP) pilot scheme.

While the bank is providing the funding for the programme in nine local government areas of the state, the scheme is going be in partnership with the state government, Small

and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) and Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA).

SMEDAN and JICA are also expected to provide capacity building, technical support as well as identifying markets (local and abroad) for finished products. South West zonal coordinator, SMEDAN, Gbenga Ogundeji, said the OLOP project would identify one product in each local government where

they have comparative and competitive advantage over others and develop it.

He said the project would benefit the people at the grassroots as it would create employment, enhance their capacity to run their business successfully and expose them to international market by assisting them in the area of packaging. “We also want to enhance their capacity through entrepreneurship training, and JICA will help in the area of machinery

fabrication,”he said.

The head, Bureau of Investment Promotion and Public-Private Partnerships in the office of Oyo State governor, Folakemi Akinleye, said the local governments chosen for the project would provide clusters for the agro-products, accessible land, roads, factory shed, boreholes, and electricity, as well as security adding that the programme would be routed through cooperative societies.

RMRDC To Partner NIPC On Agric, Mineral Sector Development The director-general of the Raw Materials Research and Development Agency (RMRDC), Dr. Ibrahim Hussaini, has revealed the agency’s readiness to collaborate with other public institutions in promoting investment in agriculture and mineral sectors of the economy.

Dr. Hussaini, during a recent interaction with journalists in Abuja, said the council would be discussing with partners like the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) on areas of collaboration in promoting investment in key sectors of the economy.

He said, “You know that the secretariat of National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDP) is housed with SMEDAN and all these programmes cannot work without a formidable data bank of the country’s raw material resources which the RMRDC has established over the years. Our collaborations are not only limited to NIPC and SMEDAN, but we shall contact and work together with all the stakeholders in raw materials exploitation, processing, and utilisation.”

When asked how local fabricators have fared compared to imported equipment, he noted that the RMRDC had been organising the local fabricators, saying that even though they may have some challenges in terms of quality of steel that is available for their work at least they have a very high technical knowhow.

He remarked that local fabricators did well at investment promotion fairs such as the Biennial Technology Exposition (Techno Expo) which is designed to showcase the engineering capabilities of indigenous fabricators and inventors in process equipment and other products and that they continue to improve by the day.

“To further encourage them, we have instituted a yearly award for engineering designs and fabrications; very soon we shall expose our fabricators to the process of reverse engineering so that they can bring innovative ideas to bear on their products,” he said.

‘Nigeria Customer Awards Encourage Firms To Leverage On Value Orientation’ Organisers of the Nigeria Customer Service Awards (NCSAs) said yesterday that the award seeks to recognize companies that deliver effective customer service(s) with a view to making them to leverage on such value-orientation.

Speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, the coordinator of the NCSA, Dr Aliyu Liasu, said the 2014 3dition of the Nigerian Customer Service Award, which would feature 28 award categories, is also meant to encourage other entities to emulate such commitment to business and excellence, as well as social responsibility principles.

“The Awards is designed to create the consciousness among corporate business owners to go beyond paying lip service to customer service by establishing a closer connection with customers and rewarding businesses that meet the Award assessment criteria for meritorious recognition by consumers and other stakeholders,” he said The award categories include banking and finance, telecommunication, media, hospitality and tourism, transport, real state, oil and gas, fast food/restaurant, haulage, construction, government agencies, manufacturing, beverages – FMCG, agriculture, automobile, supermarket and insurance.

Others are pharmaceuticals, healthcare service providers, education service provider, entertainment, courier service, pension fund administrators, manufacturing sector, information technology, and lastly, 2014 most promising customer service company.

26 Tribute

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Tribute To Malam Mohammed Ahmed Abdullahi

By Sule Ya’u Sule

As perception principles go, being admired in public service for the right reasons is good politics. A reputation manager’s biggest luck is to find a principal with unassailable character; a man of integrity who can be trusted to take the moral high ground even if it by his choice, his personal material space is diminished. These submissions formed the knob of a paper titled “Public Relations and the Challenges of Reputation management”, which I presented to the selection committee for the award of Fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), in Kano, in December, 2011. My paper drew substantially from my experience as Director of Press and Public Relations to the twice elected Executive Governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Sardaunan Kano. My task was simple; to draw open the curtain and let the public scrutinize the Governor without interference.

I concluded my paper with a conviction that a spin put on a bad product must carry an expiry date.

Two months after I was awarded the prestigious fellowship of the Institute, the most important influence in my choice of that topic and the doyen of reputation management in Nigeria, Malam Mohammed Ahmed Abdullahi, passed away and will be committed

to mother earth today. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. The passage of this foremost reputation manager at this time in our national life is very tragic and regrettable. These are dire times when our country needs leaders with strong moral strength and courage of conviction to come forward and lead. Nigeria, and indeed the public relations profession has lost a great man, which is unfortunate because this is a time we seriously need reputed practitioners like Malam Abdullahi to mentor the younger generation, and to teach them the rewards of patience, hard work and personal integrity. There goes a successful professional and reliable colleague.

We shall continue to live by his inspiring words.

The late Mohammed Abdullahi will be mourned by the thousands of family members, friends and professional colleagues who knew him in his lifetime but I feel his loss personally because our paths crossed on several life’s journeys.

The man we fondly called ‘General’ epitomized the professional thoroughness and high sense of ethical judgment he often preached as essential, in fact irreducible, in building a lasting reputation. He inspired me very much. From his humble and hardworking days as a student at Bayero University, Kano, our alma mater, where we struck a good friendship despite his being one year my senior,

of public relations practice in Nigeria, Professor Ike Nwosu and took over as President at the expiration of Nwosu’s tenure. It was at the 2011 NIPR General Conference and Annual General Meeting, which I hosted in Kano as chapter chairman that he was re-elected for a second and final term, with members expressing satisfaction with his leadership style and the new direction the institute was going under his guidance. Early this year, Malam Abdullahi handed over the baton Late NIPR president M A Abdullahi in turban with the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero and other members of the institute during to his successor, Mr. Rotimi Oladele at a well-attended AGM a courtesy call on the Emir of Kano in Abuja. Every professional Mohammed Abdullahi would go always kept in touch and cared association thrives when it enlists on to become the most recognized for his protégés’ professional members’ commitment to a higher name in information management development. To him, there was vision. NIPR continues to march in Bauchi state, the entire North, no growth without knowledge. into greatness on account of the He shared his optimism and hard work, vision and meticulous and indeed the country.

His last assignment was with counselled upcoming practitioners mentoring of new members by the Bauchi Radio Service, where he to strive for improved knowledge likes of Malam Abdullahi. was General Manager. His long and higher certification. He was a There is no greater eulogy to a years of service apart, he was a repository of knowledge in public fallen colleague than recognizing natural leader and presided over information and reputation and appreciating how he changed our meetings with a firm but fair management, and he readily your own life. I am indebted to shared this wealth of experience Malam Abdullahi for his brotherly hand.

The late Mohammed Abdullahi with others. love and for mentoring my public Many Nigerians will perhaps relations career. He never stopped was a father figure and mentor remember Malam encouraging me and others like to hundreds of practicing public best relations professionals today. He Mohammed Abdullahi as a two- me. He was always on phone call encouraged me to vie for Council time President of the NIPR. In with a good advice. In his death, I membership of NIPR but advised this position, he wrote his name have lost a benefactor and a pillar me to prepare myself intellectually in gold, having left footprints of of support. May Allah reward him for the task. Inspired by his vision accomplishment in leadership, with life in al-Jannah. and kind encouragement, I took accountability and fairness.

As Vice President, he – Sule is a fellow, Nigerian Institute up the challenge. He was generous with his time and advice. He understudied another doyen of Public Relations, NIPR

27

the law Thursday, August 7, 2014

LAW REPORTS INTERVIEW

Impeachment: Open Letter To State CJs

By Ahuraka Yusuf Isah

The impeachment of the former governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako may become a lid to floodgate of impeachment of state governors and perhaps the President and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of Nigeria to come.

At the beginning, it was all through the rumour mills we were hearing that some state governors including Adamawa, Nasarawa, Rivers and now Edo, Oyo and others yet to be named would be impeached. The rumour of President Goodluck Jonathan’s impeachment also struck the airwaves and fizzled out, ostensibly with the manner the move was crushed before it was hatched. But now, it is no longer a rumour, Nyako has been impeached while Governor Tanko AlMakura of Nasarawa State is in the impeachment Golgotha.

Elections are the means by which democracy is practiced or is fired into action. In such exercise, legitimacy is conferred on some people to act as leaders or captain of their ship sailing through the tide or a given period of time.

In contrast, impeachment or the removal of an official elected by the people is an exercise carried out with just a handful. It is either a mark of sunset to crisis or convocation to crisis.

That informed General Yakubu Gowon and Alhaji Shehu Shagari at the prompt of General Ibrahim Babangida to move in quickly to counsel former Speaker Ghali Na’aba and the former Senate President Pius Ayim not to pronounce the impeachment of the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002.

The concern of this opinion writer is the fate of judiciary in this comic dance of absurd in our nation’s democratic practice. Prof. Yemi AkinseyeGeorge (SAN) had sounded a note of warning to judges in his book, ‘’Legal System, Corruption And Governance in Nigeria’’ saying judges must at all material time avoid acts that led General Babangida to make judiciary a scapegoat for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

In his annulment proclamation, General Babangida held that ‘’the judiciary has been the bastion of the hopes and liberties of our citizens.

Therefore when it became clear that the courts become intimidated and subjected to the manipulation of the political process, resulting in contradictory decisions and orders by courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction, then the entire political system was in clear danger. Accordingly, it is in the supreme interest of the laws and order,

political stability and peace that the presidential election be annulled’’.

In the same vein, General Sani Abacha blamed the judiciary for sacking Chief Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government (ING), following Justice Dolapo Akinsanya of Lagos High Court’s judgement declaring ING illegal and an aberration.

The role of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the Chief Judge of a state in the impeachment of a President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a state governor respectively are well provided for in section 188 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The constitution asked occupants of these positions to constitute panels to investigate allegations of ‘‘gross misconduct’’ properly levelled against the President or the state governor by the National Assembly or the state Assembly as the case may be.

Section 188(5) of the 1999 constitution as (amended) for instance vested the powers on the state CJ to appoint 7-man panel to investigate allegations of Gross Misconduct of the Executive Governor of a State.

While carrying out this function, the chief judges are also to be guided by other sub-sections of Section 188.

The mere failure by some CJs of states in the past, especially, since the advent of the current democratic dispensation in 1999 has left many CJs of states and other judges to be untimely confined judiciary graveyards.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) which is charged by the same 1999 Constitution to appoint and discipline judges have always taken exception with utmost seriousness with any judge that side-step this provisions of the constitution which are crystal clear or unambiguous. ‘‘At an emergency meeting held at Abuja on 20th December, 2006, the National Judicial Council, acting with powers vested on it by Paragraph 21(d) of the Third Schedule to the 1999 constitution suspended the Chief Judges of Anambra, Plateau and Ekiti states for the partisan roles played in the impeachment of their respective states.

Those suspended were Justices Chika Okoli (Anambra), Ya’u Dakwang (Plateau), and both the Chief Judge of Ekiti state, Justice Kayode Bamisile and the former acting chief judge of the state, Justice Jide Aladejana. The suspension takes immediate effect. Signed by the Executive Secretary of the council, Mr Danladi Halilu’’.

Chuka Okoli, former chief judge of Anambra State, will not forget in a hurry the powers of NJC. He was placed on suspension by the council for what is considered to be his inglorious act in the controversial impeach-

Mukhtar

ment of Peter Obi as governor of the state. Before Governor Virginia Etiaba effected the decision of the council to appoint an acting chief judge, Okoli even tried to give instructions to other judges as if NJC does not matter.

Justice Kayode Bamisile, his Ekiti State counterpart, was also sanctioned for similar misconduct. The former chief judge allegedly compromised himself by appointing on the investigation panel persons believed to be cronies of suspended Governor Ayodele Fayose, to probe the alleged misconduct of the governor. But Jide Aladejana, who stepped into Bamisile’s shoes without due process, goes with his boss in line with the council’s recommendation. Lazarus Dakyen, the chief judge of Plateau State, also lost his job because of his reluctance to be guided by law in his participation in the processes leading to the removal of Governor Joshua Dariye.

Before them were Okechukwu Opene and D. A. Adeniji, who were indicted for taking bribe on the matter of the senatorial election in Anambra State.

While Opene allegedly took N12 million, Adeniji was said to have collected N15 million. Though Akin Olujimi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and then federal attorney-general, advised President Olusegun Obasanjo against their dismissal, the President upheld the decision of the NJC. Olujimi based his advice on the procedure adopted by the council in determining the case.

They are not the only judicial officers who fell victims to the political crisis in Anambra State. Stanley Nnaji, then a judge of Enugu State High Court, was suspended in March 2004 for wrongly assuming jurisdiction on a matter outside his state. The judge had ordered Tafa Balogun, then inspector-general of police, to remove Chris Ngige, who was then the gov-

ernor of Anambra State.

Nnoruka Udechukwu, the state attorney-general and commissioner for justice, petitioned the NJC, complaining that the ruling was in bad faith and against the code of conduct of judicial officers. Nnaji was probably encouraged by the reluctance of the federal government to implement a similar decision of the council on Wilson Egbo-Egbo, another high court judge, for granting an injunction directing Ngige to stop parading himself as the governor. But shortly after Nnaji committed his own misconduct, Obasanjo approved Egbo-Egbo’s retirement. The latter is one of the nine judges so far retired for endorsing unnecessary ex-parte applications. They are not the only casualties of political cases. Five others were implicated in the 2003 Election Petition Tribunal in Akwa Ibom State. They adjudicated on the petition against the re-election of Governor Victor Attah

by Ime Umanah, candidate of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, at the election. By the time the NJC concluded its job, Matilda Adamu, a judge of the High Court of Plateau State, Christopher P.N. Senlong of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and James Isede, a chief magistrate in the Edo State judiciary, had earned themselves dismissal from the judiciary. D. T. Ahura of the High Court of Plateau State and A. M. Elelegwu of the Customary Court of Appeal, Delta State, were recommended for suspension.

The federal government, after approving the verdict of the council on the higher officers in February 2004, sent their case files to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, for trial.

– Ahuraka wrote in from Abuja

The National Judicial Council (NJC) which is charged by the same 1999 Constitution to appoint and discipline judges have always taken exception with utmost seriousness with any judge that side-step this provisions of the constitution which are crystal clear or unambiguous

28 DEFENCE FOCUS

Thursday, August 7, 2014

We Take The Issue Of Human Rights Seriously- DHQ

T

he Nigerian military welcomes the interest being shown by international bodies and civil society groups on the observance of Human Rights in all aspects of ongoing counter terrorism campaign in Nigeria. Despite the highly challenging and peculiar nature of the variables in the operations, the importance of accountability for all actions has remained paramount. The Armed Forces of Nigeria is conscious of the nation’s obligation to observe all rules, regulations and commitments in all activities, and wishes to reassure the international community, bodies and citizens that it will not encourage or condone any form of violation.

It is expedient to particularly address the recent allegation of gross Human Rights abuses leveled against the military by the Amnesty International and those circulating video footage purportedly showing Nigerian military carrying out extra-judicial killing of suspected terrorists.

For the records, we must unequivocally state that the Nigerian military takes the issue of Human Rights seriously and will never condone any proven case of abuse by its personnel. Military authorities are deeply concerned about the set of video footage being circulated and which unfortunately has also become reference data for Amnesty International in its report. Much as the scenes depicted in these videos are alien to our operations and doctrines, it has to be investigated to ensure that such practices have not crept, surreptitiously into

the system all to the detriment of expectations, in line with best practices to which the nation’s military has committed itself.

The Defence Headquarters considers these allegations too grievous to be associated with Nigerian troops, considering the doctrinal and operational contents of the training imparted to personnel on a continuous basis; emphasizing the importance of respect for Human Rights and dignity of human person as well as observance of humanitarian laws. Rather, the scenes in that video clip clearly depict a pattern consistent with the atrocious operations of the terrorists.

Notwithstanding the cases of impersonations that have pervaded the counter terrorism operations in Nigeria and many other related issues which cast doubts on the claims made in the video, the Defence Headquarters views those grave allegations very seriously, more so as it borders on the integrity of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation, which must be sustained in the interest of our national survival.

Consequently, the Defence Headquarters in addition to the already existing Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has constituted a team of senior officers and legal cum forensic experts to study the video footage and the resultant allegations of infractions in order to ascertain the veracity of the claims with a view to identifying those behind such acts. This will further determine and stimulate necessary legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable in accordance with

defence focus

By BAYO OLADEJI

Jonathan

Badeh

the provisions of the law.

You will recall that a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was earlier constituted based on previous allegations of human rights abuse. The JIT is still in place and have regularly conducted visits to detention facilities. It is currently on tour of some of such facilities across the country. The JIT has also regularly forwarded names of those suspects who are culpable to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution. An additional list is currently being compiled to facilitate the decongestion of detention facilities.

These attempts at protecting the rights of detained terror suspects categorically point to the fact that as a professional institution with thorough-bred officers and

men, the Nigerian military cannot be party to such degree of savagery, as portrayed in the video footage available to Amnesty International. The Nigerian military has over the years demonstrated a pedigree devoid of such acts in several operational theatres in and out of the country.

There is no reason why this should change at this stage of our national life.

Without mincing words, the Nigerian Armed Forces cannot condone any action or inaction that tramples on the right to life of any Nigerian.

The ultimate objective of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operation is the complete cessation of the heinous and barbaric activities of the terrorists and to stamp out every vestige of terrorism in our

country with the application of international best practices in such operations. It will, therefore, be absurd for the Nigerian Armed Forces as an institution to perpetrate such unprofessional acts in the manner and level depicted in that video as alleged by Amnesty International.

Respect for the sanctity of life is always boldly emphasized in our doctrinal trainings. Indeed, that level of barbarism and impunity has no place in the Nigerian military.

It must thus be reiterated that the Nigerian military is a very well organized professional body of troops whose conducts in war and peace times are guided comprehensively by law.

We assure Nigerians and indeed the international community that the Nigerian Armed Forces recognizes the concern of Amnesty International as well as other similar bodies and therefore remains committed to the observance of the rules of engagement and human rights in its counter-terrorism operations.

Excerpts of the response of the Defence Headquarters to the alleged extra-judicial killings against the military by the Amnesty International signed by its Director of Information, Major General, Chris Olukolade.

Olukolade

Profile: Sen. George Thompson Sekibo

Sekibo

Senator Sekibo is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and Army. He represents Rivers East (Senatorial District) under the aegis of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Date of Birth 1957-04-01. Previous Elected Office: Member, House of Representatives, June 2003- 2007 where he served as the Chairman, House of Representatives, Committee on Special Duties, 2003 and 2007.

He has been a Co-Sponsored several Bills and Motions: Schools attended included St. Martins

State School, Ogu, 1970 – 1975; Government Secondary School, Ogu, 1975-1980; Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt, 1981 - 1985 (B. Tech (Honours) Architecture); and University of Port Harcourt, Choba 2002 -2008 for his M. Eng. Masters in Environmental Engineering Previous Appointments included Executive Chairman, Okrika/Oyigbo/Tai/Eleme L.G.A Jan. 1988 -April 1989; Executive Chairman, Okrika L.G.A, April 1989July 1989

Top 3 DEFENCE STORIES ➊ Police ban vigilante, nongovernmental security outfits ➋ We’ll never condone abuse of human rights- DHQ ➌ Boko Haram have displaced over half a million Nigerians – UN estimates

Campaigners Suspend Protest

education

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Thursday, August 7, 2014

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Lucky winners to emerged in the P & G competition

F E AT U R E S N E W S R E P O R T S I N T E R V I E W

L-R: Lagos Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladun joye; Gov Babatunde Fashola of Lagos; Special Adviser to Lagos State g overnor on Eko Project, Mrs Ronke Azeez; Chairman, Lagos House of Assembly Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Mr Waham Alawiye-King and others at the Governor’s Education Award in Lagos, yesterday. photo by nan

Transforming Our Education Through Raising Peace Ambassadors

BY Vanessa Akuboh, Abuja

Children in a way are open to challenges that could be traumatic for them.

And when such challenges are not curbed these little ones become deviants at an early age.

In many educational functions, guest speakers read off papers (phones, tablets) and forget the crux of why they were asked to address the audience in the first place.

However, delivering a speech on the occasion of the 3rd annual speech/prize giving day of Command Children School, Lungi Barracks in July, 2014 at the school premises, Mrs. C.M Udenyi shared such profound and thoughtprovoking words that concern parents, teachers and the society as well. They border on peace.

Peace is fundamental to societal well-being and development. Peace is needed in our individual, family, corporate, state, national and our social lives in general, for any meaningful development to take place.

The crises in war-torn areas of Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and indeed, the insurgence in north east Nigeria have left untold hardship, maiming, sorrow and devastation on their trail. Peace on the other hand reflects and creates the atmosphere of love and warmth of relationship that help development in all critical aspects of life (be it social, economic, political) and in our interpersonal life.

Peace indeed is a priceless commodity that everyone should treasure and sustain in all spheres of our human endeavour. We

should all remember that there is a thin line between peace and war, and we should all be careful not to ruffle the feathers so that the rough hand of war will not ravage and consume us all.

I commend school authorities who make the effort to maintain peace and produce well behaved pupils; and parents who do all they can to train their children in the way of peace through showing good examples. However, there are more issues bothering on peace that should be looked at in view of the security challenges facing the nation currently.

Peace has eluded many societies because of injustice, corruption, tribalism, religious intolerance and bigotry, selfishness, marginalization, and political indiscipline, just to mention a few. In order to avert wars and unpleasant situations, many great men have spent their lives advocating peaceful co-existence among different ethnic groups in nations and also to negotiate peace in serious international conflicts.

People like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King lived and advocated principles that foster peace among their people and the peoples of the world. In our quest for peace in Nigeria we sing that the labours of our heroes past shall not be in vain and we pray God to help us live in peace and unity. There are many NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) that are advocating peace worldwide which affirms the

importance and necessity of peace in the world.

Disagreement, fight and conflicts cannot be ruled out in our human experience. The question is how do we resolve our differences, grievances and conflicts so that they do not degenerate into unrest that will scuttle the peace we all so cherish. When conflicts are not resolved amicably, they breed resentment, hatred, terrorism, vandalism and rebellion, to mention a few.

Take Nigeria as an example. The spate of killings, insurgences and terrorism have dented the face of the legacy that we may leave for our posterity. It is true that children learn faster by observation, so you can imagine what they might have imbibed so far from the situation of violence they have been exposed to. Watching violent films may have further compounded our problems.

What about the situation they face at home? Some parents do fight and batter each other. Some of these actions take place in the glare of some children. Sad to note that when such aggressive behaviour are resolved at times, the children may not be let into how and when resolutions were arrived at. Some may feel it was none of their business any way.

So, early in life, children are not exposed to conflict resolution.

Children in a way are open to challenges that could be traumatic for them. And when

such challenges are not curbed these little ones become deviants at an early age paving way to social vices that could disturb the peace of the society.

Let us beam our search light on the home front: • Some children are left in the care of househelps whose characters and upbringing are unknown to many parents.

Through this act, children are known to have been introduced to strange behaviour.

• Some parents leave or abandon their children in school for long hours after closing.

• What of the level of insecurity they are exposed to as some of them are made to hawk goods on our streets?

• Then the frustration, stress and the untold hardship that the high cost of living, rent, and transportation have turned couples into? The situation has further worsened the tension between husbands and wives and created conflicts and the children are the ones living with the consequences of what they know nothing about.

Children more often than not helplessly suffer greatly when peace is eroded in the homes and society. It is important therefore that they have a say in what affects them-peace initiatives.

Since peace is so important, a lot needs to be taught, and put in place CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

30 EDUCATION/NEWS

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Woodland Hills Students Plan To Study Abroad

short news

Osun Students Told To Be Focussed

By JOSHUA DADA, Osogbo

By Taiwo Ogunmola Omilani, Lagos

Several of the students of the Woodland Hills High School who graduated recently are dreaming of travelling abroad in furtherance of their education.

The students bared their minds on this during the second valedictory service for the class of 2014 held at Shasha in Lagos where the school is situated.

Some of the students who are interested in schooling abroad include Adeola Oluwaseun who wants to study in Marbella, Spain, Aderele Felicia who wants to study law in the University Cambridge, London, Anyanwu Anita who wants to study medicine at Toronto University and Omife Ifeanyi who also wants to study in London among others.

The guest speaker, Dr. Irene Osemeka, who spoke on the topic, ‘The Nigeria Student in the Age of Information’, said there had been a steady decline in the quality of Nigerian students.

“This manifests in many ways -poor grammatical expression in the use of the English Language by the students, many of our graduates are unemployable.

Most graduates are unable to scale through the first leg of an interview even though they have graduated with honours.

“As a result, it has become fashionable for parents to send their children to schools outside the country. Some of popular destinations for Nigerian students are United Kingdom, USA and many more”, she said.

Osemeka attributed the trend to many factors, including inadequate funding, poor quality of teaching, and inadequate facilities in schools.

Cross section of Military graduants of Exercise Haske Biyu 2014 in Jaji, Kaduna recently. photo by NAN

UNILAG VC Inaugurates Committee On SUG

By Taiwo Ogunmola Omilani, Lagos

The vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Rahamon Bello has inaugurated a 43-man constitutional drafting committee for the Students’ Representative Council as part of steps to bring back the Students’ Union Government of the institution.

Describing the inauguration of the committee as marking a turning point in students’ unionism in the school, he said the committee would provide a framework for a full blown

students’ union in the university.

“Before the commencement of this process, the management had taken tours of similar institutions around the world with the hope of gaining understanding of how students organized themselves to contribute to the smooth running of academic activities of the universities visited.

“Management had studied the recommendations of the reports of these study tours and shared the ideas with various student leaders all across the university to promote understanding of the concept and appraisal of the students’ union activities that is suitable for the

students of the university.

“The feedback from the joint appraisal, my management, staff and students is encouraging. It is this that has encouraged the inauguration of the constitution drafting committee we are witnessing today”, he added.

Present at the inauguration ceremony are Deputy ViceChancellor (Academic and Research), Professor Babjide Alo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Professor Duro Oni amongst others. The membership of the committee were drawn from the staff and students.

Students in middle and high schools in Irewole Local Government Council of Osun State have been admonished to work hard so they can be better equipped to champion the transformation of the nation in the nearest future.

The chairman, Osun State Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Mr. Dayo Oyebanji gave the admonition in Ikire when he presented some of the students and their teachers with books, school uniforms, cash donation, handsets and various gift items.

He expressed the hope that his gesture would boost their morale and complement efforts of the state government.

Transforming Our Education Through Raising Peace Ambassadors CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

31

to establish peaceful co-existence, mutual respect and tolerance in our society-starting from the family unit.

There is a dire need for the advocacy of entrenching principles of peace in our young ones early for sound foundation, and for raising them as peace ambassadors to nations. They should be taught and given the foundation and rudiments of peaceful co-existence and conflict resolution to enable us to catch them young. Whether formally or informally, schools should teach the pupils: • Steps towards conflict resolution • Respect for human dignity and differences in ideas • The different apology languages • Virtues of humility, integrity and understanding

• The principle of tolerance • The concept of being at peace with one’s self and nature • Rudiments of good human relations: with parents, with other pupils and with the society • How to take responsibility for the peace of their environment • How to build self-control • and inculcate the love and respect for God and human beings To entrench the culture of peace and to groom peace ambassadors, all hands must be on deck.

In a situation where parents fight in the presence of their children and watch these little ones plead in tears for the situation to be resolved, such parents should remember that, by their act, they have eroded their children’s trust in them. They have created insecurity in their children’s lives; and such parents are turning these children into time bombs waiting

to explode in the near future.

Indeed some children in Nigeria have been victims of abuse as far as domestic violence are concerned.

What about some teachers who beat pupils aimlessly and even beyond the offence committed?

To turn such battered children into peace ambassadors becomes an uphill task. The joy however is that it is not impossible to achieve.

All stakeholders- parents, teachers, and all members of the society must resolve to teach by laying good examples for the children to follow.

• The school is a good place to build a foundation for peaceful co-existence among different groups of people. When it is done at the early stage it will go a long way to help the nation breed new sets of people who will be peaceful and this will translate into a peaceful society with progress and development.

• Peace clubs should be introduced in schools to further strengthen the resolve for peace among the young ones.

• Guidance and counseling programmes in schools should be targeted at helping children that have been affected by domestic violence (or abuse) to be positively minded.

• Government should intensify efforts to bring offenders (those who disturb the peace of the society) to book so as to serve as deterrent to the children.

• Providing basic amenities such as affordable housing, adequate transportation, more opportunities for the parents of these children to be engaged in decent jobs with good earning potentials will go a long way to douse the tension on the home front.

CONCLUDED

Thursday, August 7, 2014

31

32 EDUCATION/INTERVIEW What are the challenges confronting teachers in the state?

They are numerous. Part of it is the inability of government to actualize the promise made in relation to the outstanding 11.5 out of 27.5 per cent that the entire states agreed as kick-off for teachers specific allowance. We have made presentation before the joint negotiating council and we hope that the payment would be done as soon as possible. Aside from that, teachers are confronted with enormous activities in the classrooms, one of it is the outrageous population of students particularly in secondary schools.

There, we have a teacher to 100 students and above all, effort by the government to put in place necessary facilities is well acknowledged but it is not adequate compared to the suffering teachers are going through in such direction.

Do these inadequacies apply to the learning process?

We have a shortage of teachers in all subjects, particularly in core subjects. This results in a few people teaching more than necessary. The number of periods we have in a week is 40 which means that if a teacher commences work from 8am, he will not stop till 2pm and if he does not stop, he will teach for like 40 periods in a week.

This brings about unnecessary stress. Recently, a teacher at Lagos Island in the process of teaching slumped and died instantly and this is part of what we are talking about. Another one which the union is trying to look into is introduction of e-learning which will ease the work of the teachers than rigour. The commitment we have for teaching is because we have discovered our call into the profession and that is the way we can contribute our quota to the development of the state.

How do you want to tackle the identified problems facing teachers?

In the area of 27.5, I have written

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Raheem

The Elite In Nigeria Are Unfair To Workers – NUT Boss Comrade Adesegun Raheem is the chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Lagos State chapter. He spoke on the challenges confronting the teaching profession and his plans for teachers in this interview with TAIWO OGUNMOLA OMILANI

to government and presented our position and we hope that government will actualize it.

The agitation has been on for a long time even before this administration. When this administration came on board, they started paying but because of the introduction of minimum wage it was halted. Let me add that this administration has not been magnanimous to teachers generally. There are so many allowances that have been removed from the teacher’s salary; before now, there used to be Mathematics allowance among others. They removed all the allowances

because they said the economy could not take care of it. If we say government should pay the 27.5 per cent, I don’t think we requested more than necessary.

The issue of teachers/pupils ratio, what we can do on this is to continue to advise government that it must make sure that the United Nations ratio of teacher/ pupil should be strictly adhered to; this will make government to see the outcome of teaching and learning. There is the issue of policy somersault at the federal level with the introduction of a lot of subjects in the secondary school system without any preparation

Ex NANS President Cautions SUGs On Counterproductive Unionism

BY Patrick Ochoga, Benin City

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Following the existing harmony between the federal government, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) and the National Association of Nigeria Students, (NANS), students in tertiary institution in Nigeria have been cautioned against unproductive unionism that is detrimental to their academic pursuit.

The Senior Special Adviser, (SSA) to President Goodluck Jonathan, on Student and Youth matters, Comrade Jude Imagwe, gave the advice when he paid an official visit to the exco’s of the Students Union Government, (SUG),

of the University of Benin. Imagwe revealed that his academics sojourn remained his topmost priority even as he urged them to adopt a more mature approach in resolving issues on campus rather than embarking on what he described as “unnecessary protest” against constituted authorities.

According to him “I want you to understand the fact that unionism is different from academic work.

If I had not graduated, I wouldn’t have been an SSA to the president today, if I had not placed my education as priority irrespective of how I go about my Union activities I would have graduated with a third class or past degree.

for the teachers that will teach the subjects. They want somebody that studied sport to teach spare part mechanization and somebody with the knowledge of Physics to teach welding and so on. If you are not trained to teach a particular subject, you can only bring idea not the exact thing.

In the area of e-learning, the union has taken a bold step by having a working agreement with the government that our teachers will be supplied with laptops to work. Let me appreciate all our officers for encouraging our teachers. The union as a responsible body has packaged a lot of things to make sure that teachers generally from the classroom have their voices heard.

We put in a place a kind of communication system, we also open social networking in order for us to speak to them direct and to get feedback. We also put in place seminars and workshops to assist teachers for promotional examination. If there is no promotion it is like something bad has befallen one. The pension reform put in place by the federal government, we discovered that most retirees don’t get their entitlement in time, so we have put in a place a scheme that help the teachers to put body and soul together. This commenced two months ago and they have been enjoying it.

If government fails to meet your demands, what will be your next line of action?

Government gave us 9.2 out of 27.5 and they promised that when economy improves they will pay but it has improved now, they are yet to pay. We wrote, they didn’t reply, we requested for a meeting, it did not hold and the national body of NUT directed that any state government that did not pay the teachers, they must proceed on strike. So we acted on the direction of the national that time. Let me appreciate Governor Babatude Fashola for not allowing the strike to take too long before he called us and we have a good understanding of what happened.

Why We Embarked On 3 Days Warning Strike – COEASU

BY Patrick Ochoga, Benin City

43 Man committee to bring back SUG IN UniLag

Members of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, (COEASU), have said the reason why they decided to embark on a three days warning strike against the management of the institution was basically to press home their demand which they complained borders on staff welfare. It would be recalled that members of the academic union declared a 3 day warning strike last Monday after series of peace meeting with management in meeting their demand failed.

Giving credence to their action, the Chairman of (COEASU), Comrade Fred Omonuwa, said

they are demanding among others the immediate payment of 2013 headship allowance to heads of department/coordinators, deans/ directors of various schools including the non- payment of 2010, 2011 remaining promotion arrears and 2012, 2013 promotion arrears. In addition the Lecturers also complained that a lot of money was being owned their trust fund, and that they now receive half salaries.

In a similar vein, the Coalition of Unions of State Owned Tertiary Institutions, Edo state, also appealed to the Edo state government to pay the 16 months salaries owed staffers of state owned institutions.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

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34 OPINION

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Where Are The Subsidy Thieves?

By emejuiwe victor

Have we heard the last concerning those that ripped the nation dry, from the petroleum support fund?

Please we need to know. Perhaps a quick response to the question above will satisfy our curiosity.

This question has become necessary following the new dimension in which discussions about petrol subsidy has taken. It has all the while been call for the removal of fuel subsidy and silence on the prosecutions of indicted subsidy thieves.

To keep the records straight, we recall that the federal government decided to stop payment of fuel subsidy following the discovery of escalated subsidy figure from N260 billion in 2009, to N1.7 trillion in 2011. Thanks to a very active citizenry who saw the impending hardship accompanying such decision and unanimously rejected the move.

The magnitude of the public reaction led to the call for investigation of the subsidy regime.

The committee set up was able to unravel what led to the sudden increase of the subsidy figures. We also recall, that the investigation, carried out by Farouk Lawal exposed over 93 oil marketers and individuals. These marketers fraudulently obtained money for fuel not supplied by presenting unverified documents.

A total of N960 billion was discovered to have been falsefully collected by these marketers. There are various unverified amounts and cases claimed to have been recovered and cleared by the court, but yet there is no basic information about the prosecution of the companies or individuals; and the status of the amount recovered.

Madueke

Where are the subsidy thieves?

Are they roaming freely, going on with their normal business and possibly obtaining more fraudulent funds from government?

This question is thrown to the concerned authorities, and several reasons warrant the asking.

First is that, we have a country where quick succession of crime is reported daily, as a result new crimes takes precedence of the old. Unfortunately; these crimes all fade away after public attention have been drawn to something more recent. I am afraid if this has also become the status of the oil thieves.

Second, the government has been rooting up strong campaign from different stakeholders for the removal of fuel subsidy, whereas the root cause of the subsidy frauds have not been dealt with. The government and these agents have been claiming that subsidy payment is taking a lot of money from the nation. I beg to ask, having determined the frauds

We seek for the whereabouts of the subsidy thieves because we need to recover the money they stole from Nigerians

associated with the escalation of the subsidy figure, is the federal government still paying petroleum marketers the same amount that previously made petroleum subsidy uncharitable? In essence, if the fraud claims can be clearly separated from the actual claims, then the government should be currently paying less on subsidy. In this case parting with N260bn on behalf of the citizens should not be too much sacrifice to make Third, we seek for the whereabouts of the subsidy thieves because we need to recover the money they stole from Nigerians. It is not enough to set up committee with tax payers money and after spending such valuable time and money and arousing public interest; they are left to walk away without visible punishments accorded to them.

Fourth, if we recover the stolen money from the marketers, it will make up for the shortfall of revenue once recorded by the government and it can be used to build more refineries so as to relieve the poor of the pains they would suffer when subsidy is removed. In other words, until adequate refineries are built in Nigeria, subsidy on petrol is bound to continue.

Fifth, following the illegality perpetrated by the oil marketers, it will interest Nigerians to know; if the government is still comfortable trading with the same marketers despite their lack patriotism to the nation. If that be the case, what happens to the duty of government in upholding ethical and moral standards across the nation? There are penal codes with provisions for sanctions against fraudulent persons, and I don’t think the subsidy thieves should be exempted.

– Victor writes from the Centre for Social Justice

Atiku: A Patriot, A Democrat

by Abubakar S Baba

Letters & Opinions Letters to The Editor, P. O. Box 9514, Garki II, Abuja.

Text: 08116759791.

E-mail: Opinions@ leadership. ng (no attachments please).

Fax: 09-2345360

At a time his sojourn in politics was waxing stronger, several attempts were made to discredit former vice president Atiku Abubakar in the court of public opinion and in the eyes of the Nigerian public but the mission of his detractors turned out to be futile as such attempts did not see the light of day.

Efforts of his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo to rubbish his image in the petroleum fund scandal amounted to nought as nothing incriminating was found on him.

Even the then dreaded Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which went about perceived enemies of Obasanjo became lameduck in its effort to nail down Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku’s patience and endurance to see truth triumph over falsehood was quite legendery as he fought gallantly for the people to achieve greatness.

His economic and political influence cut across the entire country as he made friends with

those he came across irrespective of religion and ethnicity.

As defender of the people and dye-in-the-wool democrat, Atiku Abubakar had shattered the conspiracy against the Nigerian nation from those who possess the apparatus of state power and the instruments of coercion.

As someone who believes in destiny, his so called defeat in the PDP 2011 presidential primaries did not stop him from carrying on his journey towards a progressive Nigeria.

His creativity towards finding lasting solution to the problems afflicting the nation led to the stability of the polity which some other politicians today claim to have achieved which in the real sense is not true.

His philanthropic gesture and magnanimity in reaching out to the poor and the downtrodden clearly marks him out as a man of large heart who is out to offer generosity to individuals and organisations for the purpose of helping them attain their goals.

The Atikus in Nigerian politics are

direct heirs to the likes of the late Moshood Abiola who was known to be a philanthropist and a politician of great repute.

Chief Abiola is credited to have won the ever free and fair elections in the history of Nigeria despite standing on a Muslim-Muslim ticket which recorded a landslide victory.

The historic June 12 1993 election is associated with Atiku’s political sagacity, being a direct heir to the political throne left by the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua which Atiku is using in consolidating his political enclave till today.

The effort of the former vice president to realise his presidential ambition since 2003 was adjudged to be his frantic effort in uplifting the ideals of democracy to be copied by future generations of Nigerian politicians.

His recent defection to the All progressives Congress (APC) must be seen to be borne out of his zeal in rescuing the Nigerian nation from the verge of collapse.

– Baba, a public affairs analyst wrote from Kano

Inside Out

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Osun: Let The People’s Will Prevail

T

he die is cast as the electorate in Osun decides who governs the state for the next four years. There are 20 candidates in the Saturday election, but the leading contenders in the race are incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and PDP candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore. The others are at best, aspirants, just desirous of a political adventure. The leading two are folk heroes in their rights and command a large followership that could be mobilised to sway the result in their favour.

For almost a year now, the polity of the State has been unduly heated up by the various tendencies. Competing interest groups, religious insinuations and other mawkish sentiments have been spawned by the gladiators to canvass why voters should choose one and jettison the other.

The truth is that both have a trajectory. While the APC have the incumbency factor in their favour, the Ekiti gubernatorial result has become an elixir for the PDP to aspire to ‘recapture’ the South West. Senator Omisore might have been a deputy governor or a senator and could have won unlikely polls in the past. His biggest albatross, hanging on his neck, like the sword of Damocles, is the unending allegation that he had a hand in the death of Chief Bola Ige, former Attorney General and a political demagogue. No matter how he tried, not many want to believe his story. The court and Police investigations might not have found him complicit, but in the court of public opinion, the spectre is like chameleon faeces, it just refuses to wash.

It may not be the sole determinant of the poll.

There are those who simply feel Ogbeni has not lived up to expectations. The workers of the state, for instance, forced him to eat humble pie, a few weeks back over unpaid salaries. The biggest of the challenges facing Saturday’s poll, in my view, is security.

Owing to the fierce opposition and crass opportunism that stomach infrastructure, has engendered in the Southwest politics, heightened tension now envelopes the state with an aura of a do-or-die election in the making. Already, the security forces have occupied the state. New (or acting) Inspector-General of Police (IG), Suleiman Abba has read a riot act to politicians and others he called perpetrators of evils and troublemakers, who may on the day of the election foment trouble, it remains to be seen how the war of attrition to occupy Oke Fia will not snowball into crisis.

The PDP alleges that governors of APC in the state have brought with them hoodlums and fake electorates. Nothing will dissuade the APC leadership that the president and his party are altruistic by ‘militarising’ the state. There seems to be no middle position. Now that APC has said if PDP wins, there will be a parallel government, one is at a loss how to assuage the two parties that INEC will be fair to all concerned.

The prayer is that the military men, armed mobile and regular police men, Civil Defence Corps as well as the operatives of the Directorate of State Security (DSS), now in all the nooks and crannies of the state, especially places considered flashpoints of crises, like Ile Ife, Osogbo, Ede. Iwo and Ilesa should be professional.

They should know that their actions and inaction could make or mar the poll.

While it could diffuse tension or make it easy to arrest electoral offenders, there is the fear that the electorate could be intimidated and may be afraid of coming out en-masse during the poll.

ISSUES 35

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Impeachment Saga: A Deconstruction Of The Nasarawa Experience

by Aja n. aja

All eyes were on Nasarawa State where the gale of impeachment had berthed its twists and turns.

Twenty members of the twentyfive member House of Assembly were up in arms against their chief executive for what they called gross misconduct and impeachable offences. However, the battle cry from the Nasarawa State House of Assembly has suddenly dovetailed to a whimper going by the politics of the game there.

Impeachment is a veritable constitutional tool for exacting accountability from the executive branch of government but, as usual, we have twisted it into a weapon of blackmail and score settling. Although the word is not mentioned in the constitution, it is adapted to cover the process by which parliament removes a chief executive for violating provisions of the constitution or for gross misconduct. In the United States of America, impeachment is but the first step in a two-legged process, which ultimately culminates in removal by the Senate. The meaning being that you may be impeached but not removed, as was the case of Bill Clinton. In Nigeria, the procedure is not any different.

Impeachment implies that a slur has been cast on your official integrity. It presupposes that grounds of wrongdoing have been established even if unproven yet.

It then means that the moment the House of Assembly votes by two-third majority to proceed to investigate the particulars as contained in the notice of impeachment, the governor or his deputy stands impeached. But the second and more critical limb of the process has to return a verdict

of guilt on any of the grounds of impeachment before further steps can be taken.

Now, Governor Tanko Al Makura could not be impeached as his removal from office was subject to a verdict of guilt by the 7-man panel set up by the Chief Judge of the state which returned a noguilty verdict on the governor.

Ealier, in a curious twist, the state Assembly suddenly got jittery and passed a resolution rejecting the panel set up by the CJ and calling on the NJC to promptly remove the CJ and appoint another. This indecent resort to panic tactics and measures clearly mapped out the desperate and unholy mindset of the ‘vulnerable’ members of the Nasarawa House of Assembly and also signposts the fact that the script had been compromised by a display of astuteness on the part of the Chief Judge.

The involvement of the judicial arm of government by the constitution is deliberate.

Removing the head or deputy Head of the executive branch is an onerous task that invites a sober and reflective attitude. That is why an independent arbiter is tasked to empanel an odd number of citizens to dispassionately interrogate the facts with a view to arriving at a fair and balanced verdict because at that point, the legislature is seen in law and in fact as prosecuting the indictment of the chief executive or his deputy.

The constitution concedes a certain level of discretion to the CJ in this regard by providing that he should set up a 7-man panel of people who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any legislative house, political party or public service.

While the CJ is expected to

Al-Makura

Removing the head or deputy head of the executive branch is an onerous task that invites a sober and reflective attitude exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously, and excepting any certified bad character being included in the panel, there is just no way the legislators can successfully challenge the composition of the panel.

In addition, the only forum where such agitation can be ventilated is the court and not by any recourse to a spurious administrative remedy. The meaning of the long grammar is that the House of

Assembly members are in a knotty constitutional bind, and not even Abuja can help here.

Let’s also put this discretion matter in perspective. The House enjoys even more interpretative latitude in the removal of a governor or his deputy. The chief executives can only be removed for gross misconduct. The constitution is clear that gross misconduct is either a violation of the constitution or a misconduct of such nature that

amounts to gross misconduct in the opinion of the house of assembly.

The implication is that the governor or his deputy can be impeached for the flimsiest of reasons because “Discretion means a power or right conferred by law of acting officially in certain circumstances according to the dictates of own judgment and conscience uncontrolled by the judgment or conscience of others.” (see FRN Vs. BULAMA (2005) 16 NWLR (Pt. 951) What this means is that both institutions have some latitude in harvesting their discretion and none must be impeded or influenced externally.

The courts cannot look beyond what parliament considers to be gross misconduct just as no other authority can decide who has unquestionable integrity except the Chief Judge, provided such persons meet the other constitutional requirements.

So there is a balancing of discretion between Parliament and the Judiciary. At least in principle. But the weird part of this whole brouhaha is the fact that the legislators seem to speak for themselves and not for their constituents.

Else how do we account for the fact that protesting citizens have practically forced them out of the state despite the fact that their party has overwhelming majority in the House! Or is there something fundamentally different between Adamawa and Nasarawa? I am not sure there was such a sustained atmosphere of open hostility to the process of removing the governor in Adamawa as we find in Nasarawa as the constituents have taken the challenge a step further by initiating the process of recall of key elements in the impeachment saga.

– Aja Esq. wrote in from Abuja

As NSA Seeks Solutions To Crises Among Pastoralists And Farmers

by HAMMID TAJU

Competitive struggle for scarce resources, suspicion, insecurity and frustration from inadequate outlet for cattle made violent conflict inevitable

In most communities in Northern states of Nigeria, peace, social cohesion and tolerance had prevailed within society and between ethnic groups prior to the spate of violent clashes witnessed since year 2000. In agricultural communities, operational boundaries which existed to identify the spheres within which farmers and pastoralists functioned independently were sustained as inalienable. Indeed parties, crop growers and mobile cattle breeders maintained mutual cooperation enabling harmonious relationship.

Causes of frequent malignant clashes Collapse of operating boundaries resulting from acute shortage of space and essential farm and cattle breeding resources inflamed tension in communities. Debilitating impact of climate change, accelerated population increase in persons and livestock, usurpation of grazing reserves, dispossession of massive farmland compounded by transhumance influx

into the country intensified insurgency and violent confrontations.

Cattle rustling, an act of violent theft of large number of animals from breeders, often perpetrated with murder of victim and abduction of relations continuously devastate pastoralists and livestock farmers. In a nutshell, competitive struggle for scarce resources, suspicion, insecurity and frustration from inadequate outlet for cattle made violent conflict inevitable. Multiple grievances were criminalised in many communities and the impact turned contagious.

Aggravation of conflict Accelerated economic growth in the country resulting in urbanisation, massive infrastructure layout and extensive highway construction deprived grazing reserves and cattle routes critical funding and effective management.

Facility depletion has been compounded by failure to gazette existing grazing reserves. Continuous reduction in size of farm land, cattle route obstruction, diminishing number of reserves, absence of pasture, water, and resting points on

migration corridor portray constraints which defy solution.

Regional dimension of the conflict unfolded with drought in the Sahel and desertification thereby intensifying North South transhumance movement characterised by ubiquitous transborder migration. Further onslaught on resources magnified tension and mystified perpetrators of conflict. It is anticipated that government will complement ECOWAS programme on sustainable condition for transhumance including integration of the security ingredients, particularly the adoption of pastoral transhumance certification with view of mitigating the disastrous impact of cattle population pressure on farming communities along the migration corridor.

Resolution of conflict Feasibility of short and medium term resolution of conflict is premised on the interventionist role of government.

Participants at a recent conference organised by the office of the National Security Adviser in Kaduna recognised the

significance of sustained interaction and dialogue between Fulani (Fulbe) nomadic cattle breeders or their recognised and influential association – Miyetti Cattle Breeders Association on the one hand and communities’ farmers or their associations on the other. Damages inflicted on each party are enormous and emotions are deep rooted with vexation and acrimony.

The situation is further aggravated by depreciating asset value due to continuous loss of cattle. However, stakeholders consistently anticipate reconciliation which could be precipitated by regular dialogue. As priority, restoration of permanent peace must be linked to the reward accruable to nomadic cattle breeders from livestock value chain, the realisation of which is derivable from immediate deployment of technology and competences in the agro business sub sector. Government would be required to translate current initiatives into ranchbased entrepreneurial scheme.

– Taju is former executive director/coordinator, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc

36 ISSUES

Thursday, August 7, 2014

As Sokoto State University Matriculates Students...

by SANI UMAR

Matriculation of students in any tertiary institution is introduction to academic culture, and recognition of students as bona fide population of the academic environment, subject to the campus laws and discipline.

Sokoto State University established by the administration of Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (Sarkin Yamman Sokoto) matriculated a total of 783 students from three faculties: Education, Arts and Social Sciences and Sciences. It is a credit to the founding Vice Chancellor, Professor Nuhu Yaqub and the Special Adviser on Higher Education, Professor G. V. Ardo (a seasoned academic) that the University has established encouraging departments within just under one year.

On ground with active teaching and learning departments are in the Faculty of Education, Guidance and Counseling, Computer Science, Management Studies, Mathematics, Physics and Biology.

In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are departments of English and Linguistics, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Nigerian Languages (Hausa at present) and Arabic and Islamic Studies

(Arabic at present). In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are departments of Political Science, History, Geography, Economics and Sociology. Faculty of Science has the following functional departments, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Microbiology and Physics.

The Governing Council of the University is composed of visionary personalities carefully selected by Governor Aliyu Wamakko’s administration. The Pro-Chancellor and chairman of the Council, Alhaji Umaru Ali Shinkafi, a lawyer and former director of NSO (now SSS) carved a niche of monumental achievements in various leadership positions. He is well experienced to firmly entrench the mission of the University into enduring education legacy. The core value of the institution include to pursue excellence in research and community service; be dedicated to having quality leadership, sound management and accountability; strive to produce the best quality academic programmes to meet the needs of diverse students and create an environment conducive to learning and the actualization of human potentials.

Governor Wamakko envisioned the University to global citadel of

Sokoto State University matriculating students

The core value of the institution include to pursue excellence in research and community service; be dedicated to having quality leadership, sound management and accountability academic excellence in consonance with the scholarship culture of the Seat of the Caliphate, and, therefore, eschewed parochial sentiments in appointments of the overall managers of the institution. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Nuhu Yaqub, a first class graduate from Bayero University, Kano, is from Kogi State. He is well knowledgeable about Sokoto environment. He is a renowned academic and administrator.

He was head of Political Science

department; dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Deputy Vice Chancellor (administration), Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

Professor Nuhu Yaqub also served as Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja. He is an erudite scholar that belongs to numerous professional bodies.

He has many scholarly publications to his credit. He is, therefore, justifiably saddled to water the flow of the vision of the nascent

university to become a world-class institution that produces globally competitive graduates who can advance economic development and who are prepared to meet the challenges of time.

Indeed, Governor Wamakko right from inception of his administration never faltered an iota in taking education to higher level in Sokoto State. His choice of Professor G. V. Ardo can be roundly applauded because he, a Science Educationist, has proved beyond any doubt his enormous capacity to manage the building and start off of academic activities of the Sokoto State University, from scratch.

Unlike its kinds, the university started from permanent structures of world class. We have at various publications acknowledged his efforts to produce eligible candidates from Sokoto State for tertiary institution admissions in tandem with the visions of Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko’s administration.

Through the concerted efforts of the management team of the university coupled with structures provided by the administration of Governor Wamakko, NUC approved initial carrying capacity of 1000 students for the institution against the normal 300 to 500 students.

– Umar wrotes in from Sokoto

politics today Thursday, August 7, 2014

37

REPORTS ANALYSES REVIEWS INTERVIEWS

Jonathan

Tinubu

Oyegun

Osun Poll: A Race Of Equal Opportunities Comprising four distinct sub-Yoruba ethnic groups namely the Ijesa, the Ife, Igbomina and Oyo speaking people scattered within the 30 local governments making up the state, the four groups have their political administrative headquarters in four principal townships of Ilesa (Ijesas), Ile-Ife (Ife speaking people), Iwo (Oyos) and Ila Orangun (the Igbominas)

On Saturday, the people of Osun State will go the polls to elect their governor and as usual, the exercise has pitched the two rival political parties against one another. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will once again square up against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in a battle of wits and ego. OLAOLU OLADIPO appraises the chances of the incumbent Rauf Aregbesola and the challenger, Senator Iyiola Omisore in this piece.

T

o understand the prospects of the leading gladiators in the governorship election in Osun State, one needs to understand the make up of the geo-political space whose sobriquet is ‘state of the living spring’.

Carved out of the old Oyo State in 1991 by the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, it forms the bulk of what was then known as Osun Division within the old Ibadan Province during the colonial era.

The nomenclature is derived from the popular Oshun River, a river synonymous with the state capital, Osogbo, where an annual festival is held in honour of the supposed river goddess who people from far and near usually gather together to appease.

Comprising four distinct subYoruba ethnic groups namely the Ijesa, the Ife, Igbomina and Oyo

speaking people scattered within the 30 local governments making up the state, the four groups have their political administrative headquarters in four principal townships of Ilesa (Ijesas), Ile-Ife (Ife speaking people), Iwo (Oyos) and Ila Orangun (the Igbominas).

Apart from these townships, there are some other township whose political and cultural loyalties are to one or more of the above stated townships such as Ede, Ikirun, Osogbo, the state capital, Ijebu Jesa and scores of others which are grouped into six divisions.

All these townships have been administratively divided in 30 units in what is today known as local governments. Just as in other states, Osun is divided into three senatorial districts; East, West and Central.

It must be noted that all the senatorial districts have equal number of local governments

which is ten each. For the records, the governorship had oscillated between the West and Central districts with personalities such as Isiaka Adeleke and Adebisi Akande, with Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) being the first from the East zone to lead the state.

Though there are about 20 eminently qualified personalities jostling for the plum office, in the end, the major battle has been restricted to the East zone between the Ijesa and Ife sons; Aregbesola and Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Aregbesola is from the Ijesa while Omisore is from the Ife. In terms of the number of local governments within the zone, the incumbent has an advantage as the Ijesas are located in six out of the ten councils of the zone.

In the end, several factors will determine the outcome of the polls

Aregbesola

and a comparative analysis of the prospects of the two will reveal that it is indeed an even contest between the two gladiators in the race. ➔ CONTINUES ON PAGE 38 Donald Ojogo, Group Politics Editor

38 POLITICS TODAY

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Osun Polls: A Race Of Equal Opportunities ➔ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37

by the implementation of the school reclassification exercise, the Christian community felt slighted as schools hitherto owned by some of its denominations were merged with others from other faiths.

It is instructive to note the two religions are evenly distributed between adherents of the two faiths. So if religion is a factor, Omisore might have an edge in the East while Aregbesola might secure massive votes from the West where Muslims are very dominant.

On this score, the Central might become the battle ground for the two in the contest to secure the Government House.

Control of Levers of Power Both of them have the advantage of control of state apparatus at their disposal but the balance on this score tilts towards Omisore owing to the fact that his party is in firm control of all coercive state machinery, unlike his main opponent who only has advantage of presiding over state resources.

On this score, the Central might become the battle ground for the two in the contest to secure the Government House

Perception of Platform/ candidate Over time, the APC has prided itself as the offshoot of the old Obafemi Awolowo political dynasty known and credited as having performed creditably in the past. It is the credit of the late sage that subsequent governments have used in measuring others after him.

On the other hand, the PDP is seen as a direct opposite of the APC in terms of outlook as both are essentially at polar ends of the political spectrum. This will form the thinking of the electorates as they file out to elect their governor on Saturday.

By virtue of the fact that Aregbesola is the incumbent, apart from the fact that he has the state machinery in his bag, he has the plus of using his achievements and accomplishments to woo voters.

On this, he is credited to have done well in the area of provision of infrastructure, especially in the area of roads and schools across all the nooks and crannies of the state. But this in itself has brought with it some form of controversies.

Most of the projects embarked upon in the area of urban renewal have been controversial in area of failure to compensate affected property owners in spite of a firm pledge made by the governor that N2b has been set aside for compensation.

Also, the schools re-classification exercise has received as much applause from stakeholders as it has generated controversy in its implementation by the government. It is on record that the policy has pitched him against a certain religious community in the state.

For Omisore, a one time deputy governor of the state and two term senator representing the East zone at the upper legislative chambers, one major baggage which he has to contend with is the tag of being involved in the murder of the late Chief Bola Ige. Though he was acquitted by the law courts, his opponents have made a recourse to the moral aspect of the case to woo electorates to their side but one thing that Omisore has going for him is the fact that he has the control of the grassroots and the intricate workings of the political terrain of the state.

Mu’azu

Omisore

Oyinlola

This might be a major impediment in his task to win his zone owing to the fact that the incidence generated much bad blood between the Ife and Ijesa speaking people. This factor can be countered by the fact that Omisore’s mother is an Ijesa

princess from Ifewara.

Religion As A Factor Curiously, the election might assume a religious dimension as the two leading gladiators belong to both Christian and Islamic faith.

Owing to the acrimony generated

Disposition of stakeholders Being majorly a civil service and an agrarian state, members of the state workforce constitute a major opinion molding community in the state. Though efforts had been made in the past to improve on their welfare, there have been some disruption in the salary payment scheduled to them in recent times.

Also, the payment schedule of pensioners has also been affected, a situation the governor has constantly explained is caused by a shortfall in allocation to the state. It is to the credit of this administration that the payment of the 13th month salary was introduced to civil servants.

The ability of the governor to pacify this segment of the society to come along with him or if the opposition succeeds in getting them to their side, can swing votes in any direction.

Traditional rulers are the heads of the various communities and they wield immense influence on their subjects. It is not known how the they have endeared themselves to this critical segment of the society but if anything, some of the monarchs have not been too happy with the current government for doing very little to advance their welfare.

This might be an advantage for the PDP candidate to capitalise upon to tilt the odds in his favour though owing to perceived infrastructural development, this possibility could be countered.

By disposition and inclination, the student movement might be keen to cast their lots with the APC but the failure of the government to pay their bursary might be a major snag that the PDP might capitalise on to its advantage.

As with the contest between the two parties, it is expected that the polls will be a contest of wits between a grassroots embedded incumbent and the challenger who seems to want to capitalise on perceived disenchantment of the elites to tilt the odds in his favour.

No doubt the contest will be keen.

POLITICS TODAY 39

Thursday, August 7, 2014

It’s Time For Ndigbo To Embrace Apc – Apugo A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Benjamin B. Apugo is optimistic that the party would produce a president of Northern extraction in 2015. In an exclusive interview with MIKE UBANI, he speaks about the crisis in Abia State chapter of the party, the impeachment of former governor of Adamawa State and what Ndigbo stands to gain by joining APC en masse.

There are two groups struggling to control the state executive of APC in Abia State.

What gave rise to this situation and how can the crisis be resolved?

The APC candidate will come from the North. That one is non-negotiable. And that was one of the reasons we left PDP to join the APC. APC is one

First of all, let me say that all the members of APC in Abia State are my own people. We are having a small in-house misunderstanding which we’ll definitely get out of it shortly. The people sent by the national secretariat of the party to conduct congress in Abia didn’t do a good job. Everybody knows that there was no congress in Abia to elect the state executive of the party. I am of the opinion that the national secretariat of the party should urgently send people down to Abia to take a decision on who and who would constitute the membership of the state executive of the party. They can adopt the option of harmonisation instead of thinking of going for fresh congresses. It is not that the party here cannot go for fresh congress, after all, it is a matter of one or two days exercise. But if you want to conduct a congress here, one group will call itself Nyerere group, while the other group will call itself Ikechi Emenike group. I wouldn’t want any group to feel hurt by the outcome of the congress, particularly the group led by Chief Ikechi Emenike. I asked Emenike to join APC and went ahead to register him in the party. I don’t see anything wrong for anybody to join APC, but what is wrong is for people to come into APC with the mindset to hijack the party. I am already a national officer of the party but I cannot keep quiet and see APC lose the election in Abia State in the forthcoming general elections. If we are not united and work together as APC in Abia State, we cannot win the election. So, I am calling on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to settle the problem in Abia once and for all because the matter was not settled before the former interim national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, left.

So, you are suggesting the

option of harmonisation to have an acceptable state executive of the party in the state?

Yes. If we cannot hold a fresh congress, the matter can be settled through harmonisation. So, there is no way I will allow the two groups to fight each other. They should stay together, plan together on how to win the election. The people of Abia want APC; the people want a change.

Do you see APC defeating PDP at the national level in the forthcoming general elections?

I am a member of the APC, so definitely what is uppermost in my mind is for the APC to capture power from PDP at the centre PDP in 2015. The signs are there that APC will defeat PDP in 2015.

Nevertheless, we don’t have to play do-or-die politics.

What is your take on the impeachment of former APC governor in Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako?

The PDP should not be wasting its time impeaching APC governors because when you impeach a governor, you haven’t impeached the people who voted for that governor. They are still there.

If 20 members of the House of Assembly impeaches somebody who had 400,000 votes, what does that mean? There must have been something else more than that impeachment; otherwise the lawmakers would have settled the issues through dialogue.

The deputy governor should have taken over instead of the speaker of the House of Assembly if the lawmakers meant well.

But the deputy governor resigned?

The deputy governor said he didn’t resign. He said he couldn’t have resigned and submitted his letter of resignation to the speaker of the House. If a deputy governor resigns, he submits his letter of resignation to the governor. That is the position of the law.

Apugo The national chairman of APC is from Edo State; the presidential candidate of the party may likely come from the North, and his vice from the South-West. So, the speculation is that there is no position left for Ndigbo. How do you react to this?

been president or vice president and the prospects are not there even in the next 50 years for PDP to produce its presidential candidate or vice from Igboland.

So you are saying Ndigbo would gain more by leaving PDP to join APC?

You described it as speculation and my answer is that it remains a speculation. But what we are saying is that Igbos are not a group one can say “don’t mind them’, or for anybody to joke with. No matter the treachery that some of them perform, whatever you are in politics, you must not say ‘don’t mind the Igbos’. You do so at your own detriment. Nobody can play around with the Igbos. I am appealing to Ndigbo to come out in their numbers to join APC and when they do, they will be able to correct anything wrong in the arrangement.

Yes. I have left PDP. Any Igbo man that is still in PDP should be able to identify one or two things that he got for his people in his state of origin. There is no airport in Abia, no stadium in Abia, no good roads, no light, no water, no scholarship, no empowerment – nothing.

The governor of Abia today is my brother. I cannot say anything that will harm him, if I say it I will die.

But I will tell him the truth. If we don’t have airport, we don’t have airport; if we don’t have stadium, we don’t have stadium.

Some Igbo elites are saying that the arrangement is for the vice presidential slot to go to the South-West. Is that correct?

The APC candidate will come from the North. That one is nonnegotiable. And that was one of the reasons we left PDP to join the APC. APC is one. The issue of who gets the APC presidential candidate from the North is not going to be a problem. When we go for primaries, anybody who emerges as the presidential candidate will be supported by the party.

No. The arrangement has never been that the vice presidential slot should go to the South-West.

The arrangement is that the vice presidential candidate of APC should come from the South-East.

But let the people from the zone come out to claim this position.

Will they stay in PDP and take the vice presidential slot in APC? Let the Igbos come over to APC and take the position reserved for them.

This is the time for them to embrace the APC and by producing the vice president, the next position for the Igboman to occupy is the president on APC’s platform. The PDP has been around for almost 16 years now and no Igbo man has either

Where will the APC presidential candidate come from?

From what you have seen so far, is there internal democracy in APC?

Yes. At least we held a successful and credible convention. Does that not convince you that we practice internal democracy in APC? I want to repeat that those who are in their houses and shouting that there is nothing in APC for the Igbos should come out and take their rightful positions in APC.

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Thursday, August 7, 2014

Thursday, August 7, 2014

41

42

Thursday, August 7, 2014

BORNO STATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILLORS’ FORUM All Progressives Congress

FOR A

COMPETENT,

COMPASSIONATE,

GOVERNOR His Excellency

Alhaji Kashim Shettima Executive Governor, Borno State

W

e the entire 312 members of the Borno state Councillors Forum, have at the end an all-inclusive meeting of our Forum unanimously reiterated our commitment to support the government and leadership of our amiable Governor, His Excellency Alhaji Kashim Shettima, the Governor of Borno state.

On behalf of the 3993 APC Electoral Wards Heads of the 27 Local government Councils in the state, we have all decided to back and fully support Governor Kashim Shettima as our indisputable candidate for the 2015 governorship election.

We have said it at various fora and different press conferences just as we are emphasising it here, that as far as 2015 is concerned in Borno state, Governor Kashim Shettima’s land mark of people oriented projects executed during this difficult period is his pass mark for another second term.

We don’t have to deceive ourselves about the political reality in Borno state; we are the ones that are at the grassroots and we know the only person that can lead us to the promised land is Governor Shettima; that is why the entire 312 councillors that represent the 3993 electoral units in the state are showing our 100 percent support for him.

Governor Shettima has identified education as the best panacea for uplifting Borno people and ending insurgency, that was why he invested so much in education by sponsoring Borno indigenes to study abroad; support girl child education; increase study allowances of medical students; and above all; he personally purchased mega buses to enhance free transportation of students

from their homes to schools in Maiduguri.

SIGNED:

How could we turn our backs against a man who, against all odds, had been able to give a new face to healthcare through the renovation of hospitals, improved maternal healthcare and construction of roads and drainages within various parts of the Maiduguri metropolis and other towns outside the state capital.

Even if we don’t have any reason to support Shettima and remain in the APC, his giant stride in the areas of housing projects where about 2500 housing estates were being built in the state solely for the poor residents of the state as well as his huge investment in the agricultural sector that empower the farmers are enough reason for us to sacrifice our all for this illustrious son of Borno who has the masses at heart.

HON. (DR) ABDULLAHI MUHAMMED SHEIKH (SECRETARY OF THE FORUM, VICE CHAIRMAN KALABALGE LOCAL GOVERNMENT)

It is cheering and heart warming to note that for the first time, Borno state is being governed by competent minds under the stewardship of a man who has a deep heart for sympathy, kindness, tolerance and patience.

We also want to put it on record that no matter what distractors might say about the APC in Borno state, our party remains firm and unshaken, especially at the grassroots, and none of us has any mission in going to any party.

We have all decided to stand by the governor and our great party the APC. LONG LIVE GOVERNOR KASHIM SHETTIMA! LONG LIVE BORNO STATE! LONG LIVE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC)!

HON. YUSUF MARKUS SAWA

(CHAIRMAN OF THE FORUM AND VICE CHARIMAN GWOZA LOCAL GOVERNMENT)

ALHAJI MODU GANA

(VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE FORUM, AND VICE CHARIMAN MOBBAR LG)

r e ”

r e ” -

n

g e

news north-East, north-west 43

Thursday, August 7, 2014

We Are Updating Tactics To End Insurgency – CAS

By Isaiah Benjamin, Kaduna

The Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of then Nigeria Air Force (NAF), Air Marshal Adeshola Amosu, on Wednesday disclosed that the NAF is updating its tactics to bring to an end the activities of insurgents in the country, particularly those of the Boko Haram sect.

Speaking shortly after the 43rd graduation ceremony of students from the Air Force Institute of

Technology (AFIT) Kaduna, the CAS expressed satisfaction with the level of achievements of the NAF in tackling security challenges in the country, adding that efforts are also being intensified to completely eradicate all forms of insurgency in the country.

He stressed that any institution that is unable to train and continuously train manpower, is doomed to failure, while expressing happiness with the training of the graduates as part of the NAF

contribution that will help address the national security challenges.

“What we are asking for now is the AFIT bill before the National Assembly, when passed it will help us to develop more technologies that will further help in the fight against insurgency in the country,” he said.

Speaking earlier, the special guest of honour, the Senate President David Mark, represented by the Senate Committee Chair-

man on Air Force Senator Kabiru Marafa, commended the giant strides of the AFIT, stressing that that the institute is willing and able to surpass its current achievements, given the needed resources and legal backing.

Two hundred and sixty students graduated in 17 courses and were awarded various classes of certificates to include national diploma, postgraduate diploma and Masters in various fields among others.

-

Cross section of graduant at the 43th graduation of Air force Institute of technology, held in Kaduna yesterday.

PHOTO BY GBENGA ABIOLA

short news SURE-P: Shema Inaugurates Katsina LG Coordinators

Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema of Katsina state on Wednesday inaugurated local government council co-ordinators for the state chapter of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

Speaking at the inauguration, Shema said the state has N14 billion of the SUREP fund and assured that the funds would be used for projects in all corners of the state.

Shema said the SURE-P projects would complement other projects executed by his administration in all parts of the state.

BY Muazu Elazeh, Katsina

2015: APC Warns Southern Kaduna Against PDP Antics

By Midat Joseph, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has warned the people of Southern Kaduna to be conscious of the “use and dump antics” of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state ahead of the 2015 general elections.

The party, which was reacting to the alleged plans by the state governor to force the people of the area to endorse his gubernatorial ambition ahead of the 2015 elections in the state, urged the people of Southern Kaduna to “resist the temptation of being used as sacrificial lamb”.

Barrister Mohammed Musa Soba, the secretary,

APC Justice Forum, in a statement on Wednesday alleged that some people in Southern Kaduna are been forced into organizing a political rally for the purpose of endorsing the current governor of the state as their sole PDP candidate ahead of 2015 governorship election.

The group said, “Ordinary, we have no quarrel with people’s right to endorse their preferred candidates, but where a sitting governor uses the instrument of coercion to force political aides into submission, that in itself is political aberration.”

It alleged that the governor of the state, Muktar Ramalan Yero has directed his aides from Southern Kaduna through one Mr. Mat-

thew Gwaza “to organize a solidarity rally for the Governor and endorse him for 2015. We believe that the people of Southern Kaduna are very much aware of their recent political history and the contempt with which they are being treated by the PDP political family.”

Consequently, it urged the people of Southern Kaduna to “the temptation of being used as sacrificial lamb” and to continue the political slavery of the region under the present state administration.

“Endorsement of Governor Yero by any group or community in Kaduna state under whatever guise is an endorsement of underdevelopment and political uncertainties,” the statement read.

N300m SUV Purchase: Fintiri Did Not Default – Adamawa ALGON

By Mohammed Ismail, Yola

The Adamawa Association of Local Governments has said the controversial 21 Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) were bought through its joint account with the State.

The acting governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, was accused in a media report of unilaterally spending N300million to purchase the SUVs for the chairmen in order to curry their support for his ad-

ministration.

Addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Yola, capital of Adamawa State, the Adamawa State ALGON Chairman Alhaji Sahabo Aliyu Gurin said the report was a deliberate attempt to tar the image of the acting Governor by the “enemies of his administration”.

According to Gurin, arrangement to buy the SUVs were already completed before the birth of Fintiri’s administration. Fintiri replaced Murtala Nyako, who

was impeached last month and his deputy resigned. Nyako defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC) last and has had a running battle with the PDP-dominated House of Assembly.

The ALGON boss said the present administration is “more like a paramedic to the local governments starved of funds and turned to beggars” where the chairmen had to abandon their councils due to paucity of funds to run them.

short news Desertification: Katsina Employs 100 Youths For Tree Planting No fewer than 100 youths have been employed by the Katsina State government for planting and nursing of trees in 34 local government areas of the state.

Governor Ibrahim Shema disclosed this at the launching of tree planting exercise held in the state, and said the measure was part of effort to fight desertification in the state.

He added that his government would not shirk from its responsibilities of combating desertification and ensuring conducive environment for the citizenry.

By Muazu Elazeh, Katsina

Katsina Assembly Urges State Govt To Repair Collapsed Bridges Katsina State House of Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution urging the state government to immediately commence work on two collapsed bridges in the state even as it called on the executive to include the affected roads in the 2015 budget.

Our correspondent reports that owing to heavy down pour, two bridges, one in river Bunsuru at Dangani village of Musawa local government and the other in Kuraye village of Charanchi council area collapsed.

While the Dangani bridge is on a popular road that links five communities of Musawa, Matazu and Danmusa council areas, the Kuraye Bridge links seven communities in six council areas of the state.

The situation in Kuraye village was so worse as the collapsed bridge has crippled vehicular movements on the road which links six local government areas of the state.

Resident of the communities said they had embarked on self help but it appears their efforts were not good enough as they could not stem the tide of further deterioration.

By Muazu Elazeh, Katsina

Food Security Is Critical To Wamakko’s Administration – Tureta Sokoto state commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Mohammed Arzika Tureta, on Wednesday in Sokoto said food security is a cardinal focus of governor, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko’s administration.

The commissioner, who said this during the flagging off the dry season aerial spray exercise against queala birds invasion in the state, added that, the state will support the federal government to achieve that target.

According to Tureta, the state government will also support the fight against other insects and rodents that affect food production in the state.

The commisoner added that the state government will complement President Goodluck Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda.

Speaking earlier, state Director, Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Jubrin Audu Enessey explained that the exercise was in response to the promise made by the minister to control queala birds menace twice each year across the country.

On his part, the Zonal Pest Control Officer in-charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states, Mr. Jude Omoregbee divulged that the exercise was sponsored by the federal government to boost food security across the country.

By Ankeli Emmanuel, Sokoto

44 news south-South south-East Ebonyi NUJ Condemns Attack On Journalists

By LG Boss The Ebonyi State chapter of Nigeria Union of Journalist NUJ yesterday described as unfortunate the attack on two journalists from the state radio and television station, the Ebonyi State Broadcasting Corporation (EBBC) who were on official assignment by the coordinator of Ngbo East Development Centre, Mr. Benard Onwe.

In a statement in Abakaliki, the chairman of NUJ, EBBC chapel, Mr. Tony Nwizi regretted that journalists still go through inhumane treatment in the hands of politicians who usually order their thugs to descend on journalists.

Mr. Nwizi called on public officers and the general public to always respect members of the press on their official assignments adding that the attitude of the coordinator was not in tandem with the attitudinal change policy of the present administration.

By Obinna Ogbonnaya, Abakaliki

‘Ihedioha Committed To Jonathan’s Reelection’ The South East Amalgamation for Jonathan/Sambo has called on desperate politicians in the 2015 governorship elections in Imo State to face their aspirations and leave the deputy speaker, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, alone, insisting that Ihedioha has no presidential ambition but was rather committed to the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a statement in Abuja signed by a former commissioner of information in Imo State and national coordinator, Nze Elvis a Agukwe, it stated that the said aspirants having failed to convince the people by dropping the name of President Jonathan and phantom adoptions and endorsements they have now resorted to cheap blackmail.

By Millie Ibe, Abuja

CLO Threatens To Drag Bayelsa To Court Over Multiple Taxation The leadership of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Bayelsa State yesterday threatened to drag the state government to court over alleged imposition of multiple taxation, saying such wrongful tax policy is killing small businesses in the state.

The CLO, in a position paper presented yesterday during a call on the members of the Federated Correspondent Chapel(FCC),said it is unfortunate that small scale businesses were subjected to a litany of taxes from the various agencies of the state government.

By OSA Okhomina, Yenagoa

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Outrage Trails Suspension Of Ahmadu Ali’s Wife By PDP

By Kola Eke-Ogiugo, Asaba

Outrage has trailed the suspension of the wife of the former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mrs. Mariam Ahmadu Ali by the Oshimili south executive and stakeholders of the PDP in Delta State on Tuesday, just as a group of concerned youths yesterday threatened bloodbath if urgent steps

were not taken to reverse the suspension.

The concerned youths at a press conference addressed in Asaba by its leaders, Comrade Emeka Ibe Okonta and Joseph Okoh, described the suspension of Mrs. Ali as calculated attempt to scuttle her senatorial ambition, adding that if the party chieftains in Oshimili south did not rescind their decision, there may be bloodbath

and chaos.

It would be recalled that Oshimili south executive and stakeholders of the PDP had on Tuesday suspended Mariam Ali, an aspirant to the Delta North senatorial seat in the 2015 general elections for allegedly assaulting the state chairman of the party, Chief Peter Nwoboshi at a recent occasion of the party in the state capital, Asaba.

The suspension was at the in-

stance of an enlarged congress of the party held at its local government secretariat in Asaba. The congress also condemned the protest at the national secretariat in Abuja on Monday by some party members claiming to be PDP stakeholders from Oshimili South local government calling for the removal of the state party chairman, Chief Peter Nwoboshi over his face-off with Mrs. Mariam Ali.

short news Unemployment: Sure-P To Sign MoU With Enugu Govt The Subsidy ReInvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) initiated by the federal government to tackle unemployment in the country has concluded plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Enugu State.

The chairman of SURE-P, General L-R: Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Mrs Precious Gbeneol, First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and Martin Luther Minister of State for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, at the launch of MDGs Economic Empowerment and Conditional Cash Agwai(rtd) disclosed this yesterday during Transfer Programme in Port Harcourt, yesterday. PHOTO BY NAN an orientation training for interns and firms representatives in Enugu State held

By Obinna Ogbonnaya, Abakaliki because Chief Chukwuma Nwazunku not followed by Nwobashi’s loyalists, at the Brown and who was declared impeached insists Nwazunku remained the speaker.

Brown Centre.

Three weeks after the controversial that he is still the speaker while Mrs. In the letter with reference numHe stated impeachment of the speaker of EbHelen Nwaobashi also claims to be ber EBHA/LAD/C/2014/101, the that SURE-P was onyi State House of Assembly, Chief the new speaker. clerk alleged that the actions of the partnering state Chukwuma Nawazunku, the clerk of The Assembly complex has been Nwobasi faction breached Sections governments with the House, Mrs. Rose Nwokporo has closed with security men guarding 101and 92 (c) of the 1999 Constitua view to increasing written to the state governor, Chief the place. tion as well as several sections of the the number of Martin Elechi saying the impeachIn the letter to the governor, Chief House Rules.

Interns that needed ment of the speaker was unlawful.

Apart from the House being Martin Elechi, and copied to the to be engaged, The clerk recounted events sur- state director of State Security Ser- on recess, explained the clerk, the adding that about rounding the purported removal of vices and the police commissioner, Nwobashi group failed to get 16 7000 firms were the speaker, describing the move as the clerk said the impeachment is members out of the 24-member already partnering “illegal”.

House, or the two-thirds majority out of place. with SURE-P. Two persons have been parading The letter dated August 1, 2014, required by law to effect any change themselves as speakers of the House stated that since due process was in the Assembly leadership.

By Nnamdi Mbawike, Enugu

Ebonyi Impeachment: Clerk Writes Governor Elechi

Group Strategize To Return Jonathan In 2015

By Patrick Ochoga, Benin City

A Pro- President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organization ahead of build-up to the 2015 elections yesterday declared that the body as officially constituted remained intact in ensuring that Jonathan is returned back to office come 2015.

The group under the umbrella of ‘Jonathan Shall Lead Again-Movement’ (JOSLA-M) made the declaration in Benin, the Edo State cap-

ital following misgivings among members that the body’s leadership had been polarized, a development if not checked may spell doom for the organization.

In a statement yesterday by the founder/National Coordinator, Anthony Eromosele, also urged Nigerians to join hands with the re-election of bid of Jonathan in continuing and sustaining his transformation agenda for the people, just as he appealed to the Nigerians

to shun ethnic and religious politics “We are making this clarion call to every Nigerian irrespective of ethnic and religion status to join in the Jonathan Shall Lead Again Movement (Josla-M) for President Goodluck Jonathan 2nd term bid crusade.

He said the body is poised to give recognition to all its affiliates’ body nationwide but however added that such recognition must have the blessing and permission of the national coordinator who is vested

with the full responsibility and authority to direct the affairs of the body “There are no illegitimate factions as long as they bear the official name of JOSLA MOVEMENT. This founding board under the leadership of Anthony Eromosele Irabor the principal founder and national coordinator is by default vested with the full authority to recognize all affiliate and subdivisions. It added.

news 45

Thursday, August 7, 2014

2014 Guber Poll:

Osundecides

Saturday, August 9

Osun Youths Rally Support For Aregbesola I’m Confident Of Victory Despite Ahead of the August 9, so that the future of the Oyinlola’s Exit – Omisore governorship election youths can be assured. in Osun State, the coalition of youths in the state has called on the people to come out enmass and vote for Governor Rauf Aregbesola, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The youths who at a sensitisation rally held yesterday at Osogbo called on the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) and security agents to ensure free, fair and credible governorship election, noted that Aregbesola represents the best that can happen to the state considering his achievements in the last three years.

The youths noted that Aregbesola has focused on the youths in his first term in office and should be allowed to continue

The youths charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a free, fair and credible election saying that the people of the state will not accept any election that fails to reflect the wishes of the people.

The youths under the aegis of Youth Reformation Group (YRG) and Student and Youth Coalition (SYC) in their hundreds matched from Osogbo City Stadium to the popular Olaiya Junction in Osogbo, the state capital distributing hand bills with the inscription “one man one vote”.

Addressing newsmen, the national coordinator of YRG, Comrade Oludele Abiola said the rally was organised to sensitise the

Aregbesola

people and called on the INEC chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega to ensure smooth conduct of the election.

He said, “We are aware that various security agents, the Army, Police, the SSS and others are deployed for our protection and as such should not turn to instruments of oppression and harassment before, during and after the election.

Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore has given assurance that the people of the state will vote him as the next governor of Osun despite the defection of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Reacting to Oyinlola’s defection to the APC, Omisore said in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr Diran Odeyemi that “The former governor is a confirmed serial betrayer, a politician who had lost whatever little followers he had due to his inconsistency, his political somersaults and unreliability in political alliances.”

Omisore who stressed that the exit of the ex

governor from PDP cannot stop the victory of the PDP on Saturday noted that Oyinlola’s followers were still with him in the PDP. He said, “We want to put it on record that his defection has no impact on the electoral fortunes of the PDP in the Saturday election. If any, the exit has cleaned the PDP of the last dark spot which constitutes a moral burden on our shoulder.

By defecting, PDP has become fully sanitised and poised for a new lease of life in the government to be formed after the August 9th victory.”

He added “For those who may not know, the political life of Oyinlola is characterised by double dealing, betrayal of allies and instability of political

Omisore

allegiance. That scorecard is widely known to leaders both locally and nationally. From Iyiola Omisore Organisation which masterminded his governorship in 2003 to field workers within the party.

It is on record that he betrayed the Iyiola Omisore Organisation on which platform he rode to the governorship in 2003.”

Stories By Joshua Dada, Osogbo

south-west Nigerians Must Rise To Dismantle PDP’s Rigging Machine – APC Youth Leaders The All Progressives Congress, (APC) youth leaders in Edo State yesterday in an emergency meeting called on Nigerians , especially the people of Osun State as they prepare for governorship election on Saturday August 9, 2014, to rise against the rigging machinery of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) .

Addressing journalists in Benin, the executive director, youths affairs, to Governor Adams Oshiomhole , Comrade Emmanuel Yakubu, said the undemocratic statements credited to the PDP national publicity secretary , Olisah Metuh was a pointer to the fact that the PDP had perfected plan to manipulate the whole process as they did in Ekiti State.

Comrade Emmanuel Yakubu therefore urged the Osun State youths to prepare to match PDP force for force and prevent their destiny from being stolen by the desperate party .

“Nigerians must rise against the rigging machineries and undemocratic statements of PDP in Nigeria.

By Patrick Ochoga Benin City

Emergency Call Centre Will Boost Osun Enonomy – Security Adviser

By Joshua Dada, Osogbo

Osun State government has said that the recently commissioned Emergency Call Centre established to assist in prompt response to any emergency, disaster, robbery and other related incidents will not only secure the state but will also boost investment.

The special adviser to the governor on security matters, Adekunle Victor Amos who stated this yesterday in a chat with newsmen in Osogbo pointed out that the centre had been equipped with modern facilities and experienced security

personnel.

Amos who noted that the centre was the first of its kind in Nigeria, maintained that the huge investment of government in security sector would open window of opportunity for the state globally.

He urged members of the public to familiarise themselves with the code of the center which is 080067866786, and utilise it at the appropriate time for the benefit of the society.

He said, “I want to enjoin users of this number not to misuse the opportunity as I want them to be giving us authen-

tic information and while they are doing that, I also want to assure them of urgent treatment to any information given”.

Amos said further that, the number can also accommodate at least One Hundred (100) callers at a time while another One Hundred (100) calls will be under call waiting.

He said government had procured a helicopter since 2012 as part of efforts to ensure prompt response to emergence situation in the state.

The special adviser noted that with the aid of the helicopter the centre could respond to any emergence case.

INEC To Distribute PVC In Ondo

By Tope Fayehun, Akure

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Ondo State, has concluded arrangement to distribute permanent voters card, PVC, to the electorate in all the 18 local government areas of the state.

The state resident electoral commissioner, REC, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, made the disclosure in

Akure, at a stakeholders meeting on the preparation and process involved in the distribution of the PVC to the electorate in the Sunshine State.

Present at the stakeholders meeting were members of the various Civil Society Organisations in the state, representatives of political parties and political observers.

Orebiyi said the distribution

of the PVC is crucial to the 2015 general elections and that it will commence on Friday, August 15 and runs till Sunday, August 17, 2014 in the state.

He added that the continuous voters registration, CVR, exercise which is for those who are registering for the first time would hold between 20th and 25th of August at the various registration centres and ward.

short news Oyo’ll Protect Tobacco Farmers’ Interest – Commissioner

c

Oyo State government has assured tobacco farmers of the protection of their welfare, saying that government will not allow any company to short change farmers in the course of selling their farm produce.

The state commissioner for agriculture, Alhaji Ambali Hammed while speaking during a fact finding visit to the tobacco farmers in Oke Ogun, yesterday, advised tobacco farmers in the state to be steadfast and continue their working relationship with the British American Tobacco Nigeria. (BATN) without fear.

By Adebayo Waheed,

46 news Lagos

Thursday, August 7, 2014

NDLEA Promotes 1,283 Officers

Fashola Accuses FG Of Lying To Nigerians On Electricity Capacity

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has approved the promotion of 1,283 officers and men of the agency. The mass promotion exercise which cut across various cadres is one of the numerous counter-narcotics strategies adopted to adequately motivate officers.

Officers and men of the agency are in high spirit as a result of the promotion exercise.

Chairman/chief executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade disclosed that the promotion is one of the ways of enhancing productivity, loyalty and dedication.

He said, “The importance of promotion cannot be ignored in a sensitive job as drug control.

It is one of the ways of enhancing productivity, loyalty and diligence. The agency will continue to conduct promotion regularly in line with normal career progression”.

A total of 1,283 staff was affected in the promotion list released by the agency. 54 Deputy Commander of Narcotics were promoted to the rank of Commander of Narcotics. 77 others were moved from the rank of Assistant Commander of Narcotics to Deputy Commander of Narcotics.

47 officers moved from the rank of Chief Superintendent of Narcotics to Assistant Commanders of Narcotics.

By Nkem Osuagwu, Lagos

Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola yesterday said the statistics being quoted by the federal government in the power sector is vague and deceptive.

Fashola who said this while speaking at the 2014 edition of the Lagos State Governor’s Education Awards in Ikeja added that lack of adequate electricity in the country is impoverishing the nation.

He said the federal

CP Faults LG Boss’ Allegation Of Threat To Life

Uncompleted pedestrian bridge along Abeokuta expressway, by Ile-Epo Bus Stop in Lagos, yesterday .

The commissioner of police Lagos State command, Mr. Umar Manko has said that the chairman of Amuwo Odofin local government, Ayo Adewale has accused the police of planning to kill him.

Manko said during a press briefing at the command headquarters, Ikeja, yesterday, that Adewale was accusing Area ‘E’ Commander, ACP Dan Okoro of planning to kill him.

Manko said Adewale wrote a petition to Governor Babatunde Fashola and he (Fashola) forwarded same to him.

The police boss said Adewale came to his office with some traditional rulers to complain against Okoro and he told them that Okoro has four local governments under his area command.

He also asked them why is it that it is only Adewale that have been complaining and not others?

He said he has told the chairman to prove the allegations he had against Okoro and the Area Command.

He also warned against mudslinging or wrong accusation, saying when you accuse somebody wrongly, you will face the wrath of the law.

By Matthew Dike, Lagos

BY GEORGE OKOJIE, Lagos

government is not sincere in its acclaimed efforts to tackle the problems of electricity in the country.

According to him, “These children have the capacity to solve the problem of power in this country if they get the right funds even if the central government is busy lying about electricity. If they continue with those lies, the next generation of people in Lagos will solve it.

“It is important to understand that electricity

is what is keeping Nigeria in poverty. We have done a basic power audit and we have discovered that an average two bedroom flat in Lagos will consume about over one thousand kilowatts of electricity.

“By generating this power through generating set, he spends N2, 097 daily. If there was public power, the person will be paying about N600 daily. This difference in funds would have been kept if the central government provides

power for the citizens.

“This money would have helped to reduce the rate of poverty in the country; such fund would have been used to provide other needs rather than enrich the countries that provide the generating sets.”

As part of his administration’s determination to solve the problem of electricity in the state the governor explained that his government has approved the installation of solar facilities for public schools in the state.

short news

UN Global Compact Urges War Against Corruption

PHOTO BY BENEDICT

UWALAKA

How Beneficiaries Of Amnesty Education Programme Were Selected – Kuku

By NKEM OSUAGWU , Lagos

Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku on Wednesday clarified the criteria for selecting beneficiaries of the onshore educational programme under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

He said this was not based on state allocation, federal character or the volume of crude oil produced by states in the region but the minimum cut off mark of 180 scored in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board ( JAMB).

He said the major criteria for beneficiaries was that of belonging to any of the defunct militant camps that voluntarily surrendered arms and embraced the amnesty programme at its inception in 2009.

Kuku said all such camps were captured and documented in a data system at the inauguration of the programme and that subsequent selection of beneficiaries were drawn from such data.

Kuku said the 254 beneficiaries of the 2014 onshore educational programme met the cut-off mark requirements in addtion to having five credits in their school certificate ex-

SSANU Disrupts LASU Convocation

By Taiwo Ogunmola Omilani and GEORGE OKOJIE, Lagos

Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities(SSANU), Lagos State University, Ojo, have disrupted the proceedings of the institution’s 19th convocation ceremony.

The workers who lamented the insensitivity of LASU authority to their plight defied the heavy security presence on campus

and held the university management team to ransom after they matched out of the convocation arena.

They carried placards with inscriptions, such as “No more maladministration in LASU;” “Pay us our June and July salaries;” “Obafunwa is killing LASU” and “Our salary is our right.”

Though their action was peaceful, security operatives discreetly whisked away the vice-chancel-

amination .

Speaking yesterday in Lagos at a pre- departure orientation programme for 77 youths from the region sent to Dubai for six months vocational training in pipeline welding and electrical installation, he said information making the round that Akwa Ibom State beneficiaries were shortchanged from the programme is not true .

He said the NUC requires that beyond scoring above 180 in the JAMB examinations, the beneficiaries should have the minimum educational entry requirements into Nigerian universities, which is five credits including Mathematics and English Language.

lor of the university, Prof. John Obafunwa, from the convocation arena.

It was gathered that after the VC had left the venue, the protesting workers matched to the major road on campus and blocked it with their Toyota bus, an action that caused heavy traffic in the institution for more than three hours.

It took the intervention of the institution’s registrar, Oladapo

The United Nations Global Compact has urged investors in Nigeria to henceforth make fight against corruption an investment decisions in their dealings, to curb increasing rate of corrupt practices in the country.

Speaking at a forum yesterday in Lagos, Regional Representative – Africa Head, Transparency and Anti-Corruption United Nations Global Compact, Ms Olajobi Makinwa said Network Nigeria has been at the forefront of efforts to advance the 10th Principle against corruption.

She explained that the principle, “Asks businesses to work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

By george okojie, Lagos

Lewis, who addressed some of the SSANU members led by their chairman, Mr. Saheed Oseni, at the Administrative Block of the university, to agree to end the agitation.

They, however, vowed to continue the protest today. The second leg of the convocation holds on Thursday and the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola is to inaugurate some projects on the campus.

news NATIONAL 47

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Gender Equality Included In MDGs – NAFDAC DG

Jonathan Made Me Leave PDP – Oyinlola

In a bid to sensitize Nigerians on the need for gender parity, the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control ( NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii, has said that gender equality is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and also part of the fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

He disclosed this yesterday in Abuja during the launch of a Gender Policy Handbook for use in public service in the country.

The NAFDAC DG said the effort was in line with the National Gender Policy of the federal government.

He informed that the book would further help in mainstreaming gender issues into the agency, with the aim of creating an enabling environment for promoting gender equality, empowering women and promoting equal opportunities at the workplace.

By Winifred Ogbebo, Abuja

by JOSHUA DADA,OSOGBO

Sunflag, Tana signs MoU on mosquito nets production As government continues the fight to eliminate mosquitoes and malaria in the country, Sunflag Nigeria Limited and Tana Netting, yesterday, signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to produce long-lasting insecticidal nets.

The signing, which took place in Abuja, has a target establishing a world class mosquito net production facility in Nigeria in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) required standard.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, representative of Tana Netting, Rune Bosselmann, said the partnership of his company with Sunflag was to enhance local production of the nets in Nigeria, and also for his company to transfer the technology in the production of the nets.

By Blessing Ukemena, Abuja

Reps Diaspora Affairs Committee Gets Award In US

The African Union Diaspora African Forum, (AUDAF), a Washington D.C. arm of the African Union-endorsed Diaspora African Forum, honoured the Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs with the ‘African Bridge-Builders Award’.

The award which took place in Washington, DC during the week was in recognition of the committee’s contributions toward strengthening relationships and providing opportunities for Africans returning to Africa.

While receiving the award, Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa said she was excited that her committee was being recognized.

Abiodun Oluwarotimi, New York

The former National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola has blamed his exit from the party to All Progressives Congress (APC) on President Goodluck Jonathan.

Speaking with newsmen in his country home at Osogbo yesterday, Oyinlola attributed the President’s lackadaisical attitude to his plight to lack of political will to act decisively on urgent issues.

His words: “President Jonathan does not want to see my face, he

should be held responsible for my exit”.

He observed that it was apparent that some people like the President does not want to see his face in the party adding that there was no need staying where one is not wanted.

On his choice of APC, Oyinlola said that of all the parties, APC is the most formidable party that can take over from PDP that is already heading for the rocks.

Oyinlola also blamed the President for his role in the efforts to rescue the Chibok girls saying the girls would have been rescued if the

President had acted fast enough.

He also faulted the President’s handling of the Book Haram issue saying what the President is doing is just placing the cart before the horse adding that what is required is intelligent actions that will expose those behind the insurgence.

The former PDP chieftain had at the Tuesday mega rally for the reelection of Governor Rauf Aregbesola charged Yoruba indigenes not to cast their votes for the PDP and its candidates come Saturday, August 9.

Oyinlola listed several reasons

why the people must not vote for PDP among which is what he termed the deceit of the party by its leaders and the total sidelining of Yoruba in national scheme of things under the PDP government.

Oyinlola said that President Goodluck Jonathan deceived the former President Olusegun Obasanjo to get his backing to become the President in 2011 election.

Describing the PDP in Osun as an empty shell, Oyinlola said those who have not left the PDP for APC have left for the Labour Party.

short news Osun: AA Petitions INEC Over Candidate Replacement Ahead of the governorship election in the State of Osun, the Action Alliance (AA) South West has petitioned the National Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, over the replacement of the party’s gubernatorial candidate with another person unknown to the party.

National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), 2014 batch ‘B’ members on parade in preparation for their swearing, at the Kubwa NYSC orientaIn the petition tion camp in Abuja yesterday. PHOTO BYOYEDELE OMOKAGBO signed by the party’s Zonal Secretary, Olu Omotoso, a copy of which was made available

By Winifred Ogbebo, IAbuja markable reduction in new in- goals, which meant be pushed to journalists in fections, significant reduction to 2020.

Ibadan yesterday, The director general, National in the elimination of mother “We cannot afford to relax a staff of the Agency for the Control of AIDS to child transmission and use and experience some of the set electoral body, (NACA), Prof. John Idoko, and of treatment as prevention. backs that countries like UganAminu Idris, who stakeholders in the sector have He noted that concerted ef- da and some parts of the United is the assistant solicited for support and com- forts needs to be made to sus- States have seen, things like indirector, Political mitment from relevant bodies tain the project especially in creased new infections, and inParty Monitoring to sustain the country’s set goal the face of the various succes- fections among men who sleep and Liason was of eliminating the HIV/AIDS vi- sive recorded since the debut of with men.” fingered as the rus by 2030.

Earlier, during a panel sesthe virus since 1986. official being used This was disclosed yesterday He said, “We cannot relent sion the representative of PERwithin the agency during the national dialogue on in our efforts, beyond 2015 FAR, Dr Obinna Ogbunefe, said to perpetrate the effective implementation and we must ensure that the HIV/ that Nigeria needed to show act. post 2015 development agenda. AIDS programme is still on more commitment and focus The NACA DG said that Ni- the agenda. It must be part of more on states where the virus Adebayo Waheed, geria as a country has seen re- the sustainable development is quite high.

Ibadan

We Need Commitment To Eliminate HIV/AIDS By 2030 – Stakeholders

2015: Elections Will Be Better Than Previous Ones – DGD

By Ruth Tene Natsa, -Enugu

United Nations Development Program, Democratic Governance for Democracy (UNDP/ DGD) has expressed optimism that after all the interventions and endorsement by the UNDP/ DGD in the Nigeria democratic process the 2015 elections will be better organized than all past elections Speaking in an exclusive in-

terview with LEADERSHIP, an expert with Democratic Governance Dr Sadeeq Abba, who represented the Coordinatorof DGD, Mourtada Deme, at a twoday launch of the South-East popularization of the Nigerian youth agenda on Political participation which ended in Enugu on Tuesday said “the DGD operates on four platforms which include the Independent Nation-

al Electoral Commission (INEC), National Assembly/Political parties, CSOs/Media and the Gender/Youths Components” According to Abba “barring all other unforeseen circumstances, the 2015 elections will be successful, free, fair, credible and violence free because that is the target of the DGD. The elections will be violence free and conducted in an atmosphere of peace and

tranquility and a spirit of fairness by both winners and losers.

“Our expectations and aspiration is that after all the interventions and endorsement by the UNDP/DGD in the democratic process in Nigeria the 2015 elections is going to be a historic milestone, in the sense that it will be better organized than all previous elections combined” he said.

48 News north-central

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Gov Aliyu Backs Deployment Of Soldiers For Elections

BY Abu Nmodu, Minna

Niger State governor and chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NGF), Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu has threw his weight behind the decision of government to deploy men of the Nigerian Armed Forces to provide security during elections.

He made this known yesterday in Minna when he received five pick up vans equipped with communication gadgets donated to the state by a telecommunication company, MTN, to aid movement of security operatives in the state.

The governor, who argued in favour of the militarisation of election which has come under serious condemnation by the opposition political parties, also said though security during elections was not part of the constitutional role of the military, the ‘do or die’ approach of politicians to election matters has necessitated it.

He said, “We need the police,

short news Medical Tourism: NMA To Sponsor Bill Prohibiting Travelling Without Referral A veteran unionist and medical consultant with the Jos University Teaching Hospital , JUTH, Dr. Pokop Wushipa Bupwatda has disclosed that a bill will be forwarded to the national assembly to prohibit travelling abroad for medical attention without a referral from qualified hospitals within.

Bupwatda made this known during his swearing in ceremony after emerging as the chairman of Plateau State of the striking Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).

By Achor Abimaje, Jos

we need the men of the Nigerian Armed Forces, we want men of the Nigerian Air force and Civil Defence to provide security during elections, Nigeria is under policed”.

“In the Nigerian situation”, he continued, democracy has not been entrenched to the extent that people will accept defeat. Politicians want to win at all cost hence the deployment of men of the armed forces for election duties”.

Arguing further, Aliyu noted that the strength of the Nigeria Police Force is just 470,000, out of which over 150,000 are deployed to civil works which has made policing of elections by only the police to be inadequate.

“We need all the security we can get especially at these trying times,” he declared while also saying that some politicians join political race just because they want to be ‘settled’ and not because they are genuinely interested in the contest or they are popular.

Plateau: APC Guber Aspirant Asks Assembly To Probe Jang Over Financial Misconduct A governorship aspirant under the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Plateau State and vice chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Barrister Solomon Daluug, has called on Plateau State House of Assembly to commence investigation into allegations of gross financial misconduct levelled against governor of the state, Jonah Jang.

According to him, there is need for the state assembly to ascertain the truth or otherwise in the claim made by an independent body, the Plateau Patriotic Forum, and rid itself of the tag of being a mere rubber stamp and megaphone of the state government.

He maintained that the court has no right to stop members of the State House of Assembly from investigating the governor because it is their constitutional responsibility to do so, adding that the House had acknowledged the receipt of the petition and the proper thing to do is to start investigation immediately and inform the people they represent if the allegations were unfounded or true because it is their right to know.

By Achor Abimaje, Jos

short news Nasarawa To Employ Over 2,000 Primary School Teachers

Following efforts by the Nasarawa State government to revamp the educational system in the state, arrangements have been concluded by the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) to recruit over 2000 primary school teachers.

The executive chairman of the board, Mallam Abdulkarim Mohammed, who disclosed this in Lafia after a consultative meeting with local government chairmen in the state, said the move is aimed at filling the gap created by those who retired from service, died or voluntarily left the service, noting even with the replacement, more teachers would need to be recruited.

By Abdullahi Olesin, Ilorin

Wife of Kogi State Governor, Halima Ladi Wada (right), her husband, Governor Idris Wada and others during the presentation of wheelchairs to the physically challenged in Lokoja.

Kwara Redeems N17bn Bond Obtained In 2009

BY Abdullahi Olesin, Ilorin

The Kwara State government has redeemed the N17 Billion Bond it obtained in 2009 for infrastructural development projects.

The state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed announced the redemption during a meeting with stakeholders in Ilorin, the state capital while expressing satisfaction that the state had met all its obligations under the bond.

He said the N17b was utilised for the Kwara State University, Malete, the International Aviation College, Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre, the Ilorin

Township Stadium, Ilorin Water Reticulation Project (Phase One) as well road and electrification projects across the state.

Ahmed, in a statement by his senior special assistant on Media, Dr Muideen Akorede, said information from the Nigerian Capital Market indicate that the market is excited and re-invigorated in their interest to subscribe to the Kwara State proposed N23 Billion Bond for the state infrastructural development.

He expressed confidence that the new facility, when obtained, will also be judiciously utilised and serviced by the state government in line with established tra-

dition.

Also speaking at the occasion, the senior special assistant to the governor on Investment Promotion and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Ogunshola, said the state government never defaulted in the payment of coupons to bond holders on June 15th and December 15th of every year.

Ogunsola said the 14% fixed rate 5 year bond maintained an issue rating of A and issuer rating of Bbb issued by Agusto and Co rating, a pan-African rating agency. According to him, this signifies the superior quality credit profile of the Kwara State government.

2015: Kwara APC Sure Of Victory, Wants Saraki In Presidential Race

By Abdullahi Olesin, Ilorin

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has expressed confidence that it will sweep all the elective offices in the 2015 general elections.

This is just as the three senatorial districts in the state have urged the leader of APC and former governor of the state, Senator Bukola Saraki to contest the 2015 presidential elections.

The APC chieftains stated this yesterday in Laduba, Asa local government area during a special prayer session for Senator Saraki

and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.

Alhaji Jimoh Adeshina, Kwara Central Senatorial chairman and spokesman of the conveners of the programme, 17 Wards Elder’s Forum, APC Asa local government area, said that the APC is the party to beat come 2015 in the state.

“The difference is clear because the state is home of peace and hospitality. We are not perturbed at all because we have the backing of the people. In Kwara State, over 90 percent of the electorate are behind APC”, he said.

“As part of preparation for the

elections, we have sensitised our people to come out enmasse come 15th of this month to come and collect their permanent voter’s cards. Those are our weapons of elections and on the days of election, they should come out to cast their votes for the candidates of their choice. And our choice will be our leader’s choice”, he stated.

On the reason for the prayers, Alhaji Adeshina added, “We are gathered here to offer special prayers for our leader, Senator Bukola Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed for God to meet their heart desires.

Kogi First Lady, Group Donate 575 Wheelchairs To Physically Challenged By sam egwu, Lokoja

A foreign non-governmental organisation, Free Wheelchair Mission in the United States in conjunction with the office of the First Lady of Kogi State and the Associated Health Resource Centre have distributed 575 wheelchairs to the physically challenged in the 21 local government areas of the state, motherless homes and orphanages.

The distribution, which took

place at the Lokoja township stadium, attracted several physically challenged in the state who thronged the stadium to benefit from the largesse of the governor’s wife office.

In her speech, Kogi State First Lady, Hajiya Halima Ladi Wada, said the programme is part of her numerous life touching activities capable of giving hope to the vulnerables in terms of mobility, open a new world who ordinarily would not have had the opportunity.

Govenor Idris Wada also commended the donor agency and his wife for their efforts at giving a sense of belonging to the physically challenged.

He promised that government will key into the programme by providing more wheelchairs, establish a training outfit to train the disabled to maintain the wheelchairs, ensure passage of the disabled bill and 2% employment opportunity to the physically challenged in the state civil service.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

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52 WORLD NEWS

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Ukraine Crisis: Putin Orders Retaliatory Sanctions

A resident of Gaza using the truce to return to sift through the rubble of her former home.

A shopper in a Moscow supermarket

Russian President Vladimir Putin has banned or curbed agricultural imports from countries imposing sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

In a decree, he ordered the measures, which also apply to food imports, to be introduced for one year.

Government departments were instructed to come up with a list of products subject to the order.

Russia has imposed import bans on other states in the past, but normally on grounds of public health Wednesday’s decree did not specify which countries would

be affected by the new measures but the EU and US recently tightened sanctions on Russia, with Brussels extending them from individuals to sectors of the economy.

Russia buys fruit and vegetables from the EU worth an annual 2bn euros (£1.6bn; $2.7bn), and food and agricultural products from the US worth about 1bn euros.

Last week Russia banned most agricultural imports from Poland on grounds of public health in what was seen as a thinly veiled retaliation for Poland’s advocacy of tough action over Ukraine.

The decree cites Russian

“national interests” as grounds for the punitive measures.

The list of goods being affected should be ready by Thursday, according to the Russian business daily Vedomosti. Wine and baby food will not be affected, it added.

Russia, which was first subjected to sanctions after annexing Crimea in March, has been accused of fomenting the armed rebellion in Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Brussels hardened its sanctions at the end of July, amid growing anger over the downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet.

Gaza Conflict: Lasting Truce Tops Cairo Talks Agenda A temporary ceasefire is holding in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as Egyptian mediators pursue talks with Israeli and Palestinian representatives on a long-lasting end to the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory.

Egyptian intelligence officials met in Cairo with a high-level Israeli delegation late on Tuesday, a day after conferring with Palestinians who included envoys from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group, Egyptian officials said on Wednesday.

“The indirect talks between the Palestinians and Israelis are moving forward,” one Egyptian official said, making clear that the opposing sides were not meeting face to face.

“It is still too early to talk about

outcomes but we are optimistic.”

Egyptian and Palestinian sources said further discussions were expected to be held in Cairo on Wednesday, with expectations of an initial response by Israel to Palestinian demands, which it has so far shown no sign of accepting.

Meanwhile international Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair and UN Middle East peace process coordinator Robert Serry held talks with Egyptian officials on Wednesday.

Israel withdrew ground forces from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning and a 72-hour Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas went into effect as a first step towards a longer-term deal.

—Al Jazeera

Disaster: Death Toll Rises In South-western China Quake The death toll in southwestern China’s earthquake has risen to 589 as search and rescue teams push into isolated mountain communities to clear debris from collapsed homes.

The Yunnan provincial government said that more than 2,400 people were injured in Sunday’s 6.1 magnitude quake in the mountainous farming region of Ludian county - the country’s deadliest tremor in four years.

“As of 10.30 on Wednesday ... 589 people have died,” China’s Civil Affairs Ministry said on its website.

No explanation was given for the sudden increase from a toll of 410 given on Tuesday, though rescuers have been pulling corpses from the wreckage.

The ministry added that 2,401 people in Yunnan were injured by the quake, and 230,000 people had been evacuated, while more than 80,000 homes had fully or partially collapsed.

At a makeshift headquarters in the forecourt of a cracked middle school in the worst-hit town of Longtoushan, a senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army said there might still

be hope to find survivors.

“There are a lot of people that we may never be able to dig out,” senior Colonel Feng, a military officer based in Sichuan province and an unofficial spokesman, said.

“But there is still hope.”

Wednesday’s big jump in the death toll - up from 410 on Tuesday - was due to rescuers arriving in places where they had previously been unable to contact anybody, in small farming villages built into the mountains above the main towns, Feng said.

—Al Jazeera

UN Says Ukraine Violence Will Affect Millions A senior UN official has warned that ongoing violence in Ukraine will affect four million people living in the country’s east as water and power supplies have sustained significant damage.

John Ging, director of UN humanitarian operations, said at an emergency meeting on Tuesday that violence, especially in

urban areas, will put more people at risk and lead to “an increase in the numbers killed” if a political solution cannot be reached.

He warned the Security Council that the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is steadily worsening as power and water supplies become scarce, homes are destroyed and health workers flee.

“Immediate action is therefore required to prevent this,” he told council members.

In Donetsk and Luhansk, the water supply has been cut to a few hours per day, health supplies are running low and an estimated 70 percent of health personnel have fled, he said.

—Al Jazeera

THE NATION’S CAPITAL 53

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Expert Seeks Private Sector Support On Sports Development

By Igho Oyoyo

The officer in charge of sports in Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Elisha Musa, has called on private organisations to support sport activities in the area for proper development.

Musa who made this call while speaking with journalists in the council , said the FCT will be represented by the Kuje Handball Team at the National Handball Competition scheduled to kick off on August 7 to 14, 2014, at Idah in Kogi State.

According to the Musa, sporting activities in the council has been successful. He, however, said that sports have been dogged by severe financial challenges and lack of sponsorship, stressing the need for private organisations to come in and sponsor the sporting activities, especially in the council.

He revealed that the area council sports department had organised several football competitions where many teams from various wards participated actively since the beginning of the year.

According to him, one of the competitions organised by the department was the Sen. Philip Aduda football competition which took place from May 7 to 15, 2014 with 10 wards in participation.

“10 wards in Kuje participated in the competition and Chibiri ward came first, while Kabi and Gwargwada ward came second and third respectively. The Kuje handball team came first in the FCT Inter area council under 15 Handball Competition held recently at Area 10 Garki,” he said.

3 FCT Schools Emerge Winners Of ATCN Quiz Competition

By Patience Ivie Ihejirika

Three schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have emerged winners of the Primary School quiz competition organised by the Automobile and Touring Club of Nigeria in Abuja.

The quiz competition involved 14 schools drawn from different districts of the FCT with two pupils representing each school.

LEADERSHIP gathered that three schools emerged winners at the end of the competition, with the First Baptist Nursery/ Primary School, Garki, clinching the first position and the second position went to Local Education Authority (LEA) Wuse Zone 1, while LEA Kubwa, took the third position.

In his remarks, the pesident of the club, Mr. Ishaku Bamayi, said that the aims and objectives of the club are to campaign for road safety, educate people on environmental issues, tourism and sports tourism.

He said, “the club organised trainings for schools before the quiz competition. The pupils were educated on traffic rule; use of seat belt and child restraints; pedestrian crossing and safety; road behaviour and habits, how to stay bright at night and how to inaugurate road safety club in their schools.”

After the first round of the training, the second round was characterised by practical’s where students were trained on identification of traffic lights, using pictures for better understanding, road signs and their meanings as well as different types of pedestrian crossings.

The flooded Olusegun Obansanjo Way opposite Ministry of Defense Headquarters’, Area 10, Garki, yesterday. PHOTO

BY OGOH JOSEPH.

Pensioners Hold Mass Protest In FCT

By CHIKA OTUCHIKERE

Retired military personnel and pensioners of other federal government yesterday staged a peaceful protest to press home their demand for payment of their pension arrears by the federal government.

The elderly men who carried placards calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to direct the finance minister to commence the payment of their pension arrears from 2010 till date, threatened to unleash violence, should the government continue to ignore their call.

Brandishing the placards,

some of which read, “ Mr. President, pay our pension arrears or forget 2015,” “Mr. President hijacked arrears approved by senate for payment,” the group which converged at the junction between the federal secretariat and the Presidential villa, accused President Jonathan of not obeying the directive of the Senate to pay them.

In a statement by staff Sgt. Labaran Sani (retd.), the pensioners said the government has failed to fulfil its constitutional obligations to its past heroes, noting that it had been silent on the payment of pensions to retired military personnel.

The protesters from various states of the federation, said their pension was reviewed by 53.37 per cent in July 2010

by Jonathan, but claimed that they have not benefited from the review three years since this was done.

“The few of us who sustained partial or permanent disabilities and those who survived the harsh military operations in different trouble spots in our youthful days count ourselves lucky.

“Those who survived the Nigerian civil war are now few in number and are very old, government owe them the obligation of looking

after them properly,” the pensioners stated in their statement.

The Chairman, Military Pensioners Pressure Group, Ibadan branch, Gabriel Oaikhena, explained that the protesters planned to storm the Presidential villa, but were restrained by some senior military officers.

He said,”Our plan was to block the road that leads to the villa and let them come and do the worst.

When we protested at the national conference, three senators that addressed us said the money has been appropriated in the 2014 budget, but it has been hijacked by the Presidency.”

FCT NULGE Applauds Community Health Insurance Scheme

By Igho Oyoyo

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has applauded the ongoing FCT Area Council Health Insurance Scheme (FACHIS) for providing affordable health care delivery to residents of the territory, especially the rural dwellers.

President of the union, Mr Abubakar Yakubu, gave this commendation at a workshop organised by FACHIS to interact with leaders of NULGE, NUT and other labour unions in the FCT with the aim of increasing the coverage and accessibility of the scheme.

According to Yakubu, the union actually spearheaded the creation of scheme because they refused to be merged with the Federal Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS) from the beginning, saying that although the programme is still new and there are challenges, adding that the union will put heads together to surmount those challenges.

He said, “part of the challenges we face is that our staff are not being attended to at the general hospitals; some of our members are not allowed to go to hospitals of their choice, which are closest to them. I am convinced that those issues are being

addressed to aid general acceptability.”

In her remarks, the coordinator of the Community Base Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS), Dr. Grace Aganaba, explained that the 2 day workshop was organised to have an interactive section between the union leaders in the FCT in order to effectively deliver health benefits to the residents of communities in the territory.

She further explained that few hospitals were participating in the scheme when it was flagged off initially, adding that it will be expanded so that more hospitals will now be involved in the scheme, for

more effective coverage.

Dr. Aganaba said, “we know that if we have little money and spread it among hospitals the conditions will not be better but if the money is big, we can spread to other hospitals so that the benefactors would be allowed to choose a hospital of their choice.

“All these positive results we’re getting from the community health insurance scheme was made possible through the kind gesture of the FCT Minister of State, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, who believes that health is wealth and wants to ensure that residents of the FCT have access to affordable health care delivery.”

54 NEWS /CRIME

Thursday, August 7, 2014

‘Boko Haram ‘Chief Butcher’ In Police Custody’

By CHIKA OTUCHIKERE, Abuja

The Police High Command has said that Boko Haram ‘chief butcher’ Zakari Mohammed is still under their custody.

Force spokesman ACP Frank Mba made this disclosure yesterday while parading Zakari to journalists to dispel reports that the suspect had escaped from police custody.

It would be recalled that Zakari Mohammed was arrested along Darazo-Basrika

Road, Bauchi, on July 12th, 2014 in Bauchi by some police operatives and he confessed to have been the chief butcher of the sect.

The suspect, who was shown to a cross-section of the media, confessed that he only slaughtered five people in his two years of active involvement as a Boko Haram member.

Mba said not only was the suspect still in a police facility, but he was already assisting the investigators to

unravel the misery behind the activities of the sect.

In his words: “The Police high command was shocked to receive the news of Zakari Mohammed’s escape from police custody. For the avoidance of doubt, we are all here now to see for ourselves that this same suspect is still under our custody.

“Journalists should always cross-check their stories before publishing it because this could cause some ripples in the country. Our doors

are opened at all times for clarifications of stories before publication”.

The Force Spokesperson called for the understanding and support of the public for the efforts of the police and other security force in tackling insurgency, terrorism and other related crimes headlong, noting that although the war on terrorism is unrelenting, it is certainly not insurmountable and must be won with the cooperation of all.

Man, 63, Dies In Beer Joint In Ogun Tragedy struck yesterday as a 63-year old man slumped and died shortly before drinking a bottle of beer at a beer parlour in Odeogun Quarters area of Idi Iroko, Ado Odo local government area of Ogun State.

Izora Michael, was said to have died shortly before he purchased the bottle of beer.

LEADERSHIP learnt that Michael had barely bought the unnamed beer when he suddenly slumped.

It was further learnt that he slumped and was rushed to a nearby health centre, Mayowa Clinic where he was later confirmed dead.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the incident added that Police detectives had visited the scene of the incident but said the police did not suspect any foul play.

Muyiwa further stated that Michael’s corpse had been released to his family who also rejected any post mortem on their relation for burial.

Gbenga Adeboye, Abeokuta

Police Commission Partners PDI over 2015 Elections

The suspectedChief butcher of Boko Haram from Bauchi State, 30-years-old Zakari Mohammed. Photo By Okeke Jane

Police Dock Okada Rider For Killing Passenger Over N50

By OLUGBENGA SOYELE, Lagos

The deceased gave the accused N500 and to collect change of N450, the accused claimed not to have change

A commercial motorcyclist, Tashiru Ibrahim was yesterday arraigned before an Lagos Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ebute Metta, Lagos, for allegedly stabbing one of his passengers, Sofia Olayiwola to death over N450,00.

He was arraigned on onecount charge of murder bought against him by the Criminal Investigation Department, of the Lagos Command of Nigeria Police.

Though his plea was not taken, the Magistrate, Mrs. M. O. Tani Molajo ordered that the accused person be remanded in prison custody, pending an advice

from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The prosecutor, Corporal Ishola Samuel informed the court that the commercial motorcyclist committed the crime on July 3 at about 8.30 p.m., at Ikola Ilumo Ipaja, Lagos.

The prosecutor also alleged that the deceased boarded the accused motorcycle from Church bus-stop to Ikola busstop, and that an argument ensued between the okada rider and the passenger over N450,00 balance, and that the accused angrily stabbed the deceased with a dagger.

He said; “the deceased gave the accused N500 and to collect change of N450, the accused

claimed not to have change.

“The accused and the deceased had an argument which led into a fight,the accused brought out dagger and stabbed the deceased on his left leg.

“The deceased was rushed to Grand ville medical centre,Nikola for treatment but he died the following day.”

Corporal Ishola told the court that the offence committed by the accused contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

However, the presiding magistrate adjourned the case till September 3 for mention, and ordered the prosecutor to duplicate the case file and forward it to DPP for advice.

The Police Service Commission (PSC) is to partner with the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) in the training of police officers ahead of 2015 elections.

The chairman, PSC, Mike Okiro made this known when he paid a courtesy visit to the Peoples Democratic Institute yesterday in Abuja.

He said the training institute has played a vital role in Nigeria’s democratic development since it was set up in 2000 and cannot be ignored.

Okiro who callled on the management of the institute to continue its effort at educating Nigerians on democracy and peace, assured PDI of a collaboration of the Nigeria Police and the PSC in creating awareness among members of the police in handling the public in elections.

In his remarks, the Director General, PDI, Dr. Lanre Adebayo said the PDI as a think-tank organisation was deliberately set up to provide policy support for leadership in Nigeria.

He noted that the institute is working to grow political parties in Nigeria and the PDP in particular adding that the PDI is willing to work with PSC to train police officers to better function under democracy.

By Augustine Agbo, Abuja

55

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Senegalese Officials To Officiate Flying Eagles vs Junior Crocodiles

By ONJEWU DICKSON, Abuja The Confederation of African Football has appointed Senegalese Daouda Kebe as Referee for next weekend’s 2015 African Youth Championship qualifying match between the Flying Eagles of Nigeria and

Junior Crocodiles of Lesotho.

Kebe, 28, and who became an international referee only last year, will be assisted by compatriots Nouha Bangoura (1st Assistant), El Hadji Abdoul Aziz Gueye (2nd Assistant) and Daouda Gueye (4th Official), at the match that the

Nigeria Football Federation has already confirmed for the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna on Saturday, 16th August.

CAF has also appointed well –known Beninoise football administrator, Bruno Arthur Didavi as the Match Commissioner.

Rugby Federation Concludes Plans For Independence Tourney

By ONJEWU DICKSON, Abuja The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation has concluded plans to host this year’s Independence Sevens after all necessary logistics towards a successful hosting of the tournament have been put in place..

Disclosing this over the weekend inside the mainbowl of the National Stadium, Surulere during the South West League, the Vice President who also doubles as the Technical Director of the federation, Tunji Fasimoye said “we are hosting

the Independence Sevens which we held last year and it is an international invitational tournament.

Speaking further about the tournament, the experienced administrator disclosed that more innovations will be witnessed this year as a result of improvement on last year’s tournament won by Police Rugby Football Club of Lagos.

“Last year, we had 4 teams from abroad in attendance for the tournament but this year we are looking at expanding to 5 to 6 teams”

The annual 2 day rugby festival which started in 2009 will be held between the 10th and 11th of October at the Onikan Stadium.

He concluded that this is just one of the programmes endorsed by the Sir Edward Pam’s led administration to expose club and national team players to the current global trends in the sport.

“We hope that it will also give our indigenous players the opportunity to actually know more and learn more from the game” “The Sevens tournament is a good platform for us to actually push and promote the sport here in Nigeria.”

Rugby action

AFCON Qualifier: Don’t Joke With Rwanda, Babangida Warns NFF

By ISALIFU USMAN, Abuja

First match is very important for any team.

So, we shouldn’t joke with Rwanda. I know we have the talents and all what it takes to beat Rwanda here and away, but we shouldn’t take them for granted Tijani Babangida, Former Super Eagles winger

Former Super Eagles winger, Tijani Babangida has cautioned the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) not to allow the current leadership crisis in the federation derail Super Eagles’ preparation for the all important 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against the Amavubi of Rwanda on September 5, 2014.

Super Eagles, who are the AFCON defending champions are drawn in Group A of the qualifiers, alongside Rwanda, South Africa and Sudan.

But with less than a month to begin the defence of their title against the Amavobi of Rwanda, the team is still without an authentic coach

following the expiration of Stephen Keshi’s contract at the end of the team’s campaign at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and NFF is also engulfed in leadership crisis.

The former Ajax forward believes that even though Nigeria has all it takes to defeat Rwanda both home and away, lack of focus and proper planning as a result of the crisis could spell doom for the nation and warned the NFF not to joke with the game against Rwanda.

“First match is very important for any team. So, we shouldn’t joke with Rwanda.

“I know we have the talents and all what it takes to beat Rwanda here and away, but we shouldn’t

Lampard Begins Loan Spell At City

Lampard

Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard began his loan spell at Premier League champions Manchester City on Wednesday, just two weeks after joining Major League Soccer club New York City FC. Lampard, 36, left Chelsea in June after 13 years at the club but will be back in the Premier League for six months before joining up with City’s affiliate club New York for their inaugural season.

“Joining up with Manchester City is a fantastic opportunity for me to continue to train and play at

the top level and make sure I am in top condition for New York City,” Lampard, who trained with City for the first time on Wednesday, said.

“It has been an amazing few days for me since the unveiling in Brooklyn and everyone connected with both clubs has been fantastic to me. This is a new chapter of my career and I’m really excited about the experience. I met (City manager) Manuel Pellegrini and some of the players in New York and I’m looking forward to getting into training.”

take them for granted because if you don’t prepare well you will fail.

“There is no minnow in modern football. The federation need to focus on the task ahead and prepare the team well for the AFCON qualifiers because we need to defend the title,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rwanda’s coach, Stephen Constantine has said that said his team is ready to face African Champions in the group stage of the 2015 AFCON qualifiers.

Speaking after his team’s 4-3 victory in penalty shootout over Congo Brazzaville last weekend in a play-off to qualify for the group stage, said he is looking forward to facing Nigeria.

Umeh

England Referee Howard Webb Retires Howard Webb has retired as a match referee and has been appointed technical director of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the Premier League announced yesterday. In his new role, Webb will be responsible for overseeing the technical direction and standards that govern the on-field performance of match officials. In a statement on the Premier League’s website, Webb expressed his excitement and said he is looking forward to the challenge.

“I am very excited to start this new chapter in my career after a wonderfully rewarding 25 years

on the pitch,” Webb told the Premier League website. “I have spent over a decade with the best seat in the house for Barclays Premier League matches, been lucky enough to be involved in nine Uefa and Fifa tournaments, and taken charge of the Uefa Champions League and Fifa World Cup finals. “Refereeing has given me so much and it’s important that match officials who have had the rewards remain in the game to pass on their knowledge. I also have much more to learn about the business of refereeing and the best place for me to do that is with PGMOL.”

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The Thursday Column

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY

What embarrasses the country most and increases President Jonathan’s difficulties are the people he has surrounded himself with

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The Jonathan/PDP Legacy 08052407030 (SMS only) abba@leadership.ng

Abba Mahmood President Goodluck Jonathan’s eye is firmly set on the 2015 race. As a person, Jonathan is a nice fellow but his administration has been hijacked by some vested interests so much so that many have come to the conclusion that President Jonathan is well-meaning but incompetent and ineffective. Regardless of his good intentions, the Jonathan era will be remembered for political manipulation, social exclusion and widespread corruption. It is therefore not surprising that the campaign to keep President Jonathan in power beyond 2015 is confused, leaderless and given to hysterical warnings about the consequences of his exit.

From 1960 to 1999, Nigeria earned N4.8 trillion, according to a graphic presentation of the country’s revenue as published by M.J. Jaji on page 57 of the Daily Trust of 25/06/13. In the years since 1999 when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been in power, Nigeria has earned over N50 trillion! But what do we have to show for this? It appears that, in this dispensation, the more revenue government generates the higher the amount being stolen and consequently the lower the performance in terms of service delivery. Corruption did not start with this government but it has escalated under the PDP; so it is not about Jonathan but the PDP since corruption is in its genes.

For almost 16 years now, the PDP has consistently ignored healthcare, so that billions are taken out annually by citizens in search of quality health-care outside. The PDP has ignored the economy so that poverty rate is highest ever now. The PDP answers are all wrong.

There is no manufacturing; there is no domestic refining; the education system and other institutions have collapsed. They have the highest revenue to do what is to be done, but it is so far 16 years of PDP failed leadership and failed policies that are leading the country to stagnation.

Oil, telecommunications, banks, and a few other sectors account for most of the new wealth being created but these employ few people and

NO 7, Ex-Minister’s Quarters, Off Rabah Road, Near NDA Officers Mess, directly opposite Arewa House.

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hardly reinvest their profit in Nigeria. Manufacturing has collapsed: in Kano alone 3 million jobs were lost as a result. We import all that we eat, wear or ride, thus creating jobs and incomes for companies based abroad. Most of the money spent by the government on boosting the economy or providing infrastructure goes to companies mostly foreign-owned, who have limited local links. It is a website economy we have which reels non-existent statistics, however rebased it may be.

But the most dangerous legacy is the threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria. Since the civil war, Nigeria has never been so divided like now. Most people now speak on behalf of their ethnic, religious or sectional groups with virtually no one to speak for hardworking Nigerians.

Northerners are viewed with contempt and suspicion in the south so much so that they are asked to register in some of the states. In return, a group under the auspices of Concerned Arewa Citizens sent a bill to the Kano House of Assembly for registration of southerners and to protect the state “against drugs and human trafficking, kidnappings, baby factories, armed robbery, importation of firearms, pipeline vandalism and other terrorist activities which have become prevalent in the south”. All these have forgotten that it is not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies.

Just as there is correlation between corruption and underdevelopment, there is a nexus between domestic and foreign policy as they are two sides of the same coin. Consequently, due to the country’s ugly domestic situation, Nigeria is not respected abroad and is hardly consulted on anything globally. France had to host a common meeting with our immediate neighbours to strategize on counter-terrorism in Paris.

Even ordinary citizens suffer humiliations abroad. There is no initiative, no proactive decisions even on regional issues anymore.

What embarrasses the country most and increases President Jonathan’s difficulties are the people he has surrounded himself with and who are supposed to be his

government officials and friends.

They are mostly inexperienced first-class sycophants who hardly know the country but make reckless, careless and outrageous statements that always compound the country’s problems. Others who are referred to as amazons clearly enjoy the game of mobilizing their ample female resources against normal male instincts. A combination of these characters may well result in an exceptional failure or in a firstclass flop.

Out of a combination of insensitivity and desperation, the PDP is now set to use impeachment against some opposition governors as a tool for 2015. The first impeachment in this regard took place in Adamawa State where the PDP-controlled House of Assembly suddenly woke up to Nyako’s “misrule” after more than seven years.

That impeachment in Adamawa was of dubious legality, regardless of how unpopular Nyako was portrayed to be. However, it is difficult to fly the impeachment thing in the south-west. Thus, in Ekiti State, a first-class brain and incumbent governor of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Fayemi, was said to have been “defeated” by a barely literate Fayose of the PDP due to what they called “stomach infrastructure”. It is a huge joke that the advocates of change are being short-changed.

The tide, as Adagbo Onoja wrote recently, is not directed at Jonathan as a person or as a regime but a consciousness warranted by the country’s uninspiring history of hopeless leadership. And, as Dr Mato wrote in the Weekly Trust of 29/06/13, page 39, “what should work for him (Jonathan) should be what he has done with the mandate in his hands and not false issues of where he comes from, the faith he professes or some claim to eight years’ rule as some of his point men are already making”. Clearly, the PDP ideas are out of touch and they are running out of time.

There is need for a new direction and a new lease of life. A growing and better informed middle class would have higher expectation and

higher demands of their government. Government, in turn, would have to ensure that the growth is more equitable and that opportunities are not limited to a privileged few. If anything, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.

The gini coefficient, used by economists as a measure of the inequality of income and wealth, is getting worse in Nigeria. There are a few billionaires in the midst of millions who are living below two dollars a day, and yet government claims ours is the largest African economy.

In his appeal to President Jonathan not to re-contest the 2015 presidential election in the interest of Nigeria, Mr Joe Igbokwe, the APC publicity secretary in Lagos State, stated: “Jonathan’s handling of the Nigerian state is disastrous and tragic. His stellar performance in growing corruption, exhuming convicts, murderers, those facing corruption changes and rehabilitating them with limitless illicit resources to go and wrestle states and liberalize illegality and gangsterism for the purpose of annexing states and remaining in power has crashed the economy of the nation; it is certainly going to crash this democracy if men of goodwill do not stand up and confront this brigandage.” History is on the side of the oppressed.

GHANA MUST GO FG has no hand in attempt on Buhari’s life — New IG

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