Binder1234567 sunday, july 13, 2014

Sunday Edition

Sanctity of Truth Sunday, July 13, 2014

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Vol. 1 No. 145

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NEWS/LIFE

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WRITERS, OTHERS CELEBRATE PROF. WOLE SOYINKA @ 8O

Nigerians misunderstood Sanusi’s $49.8bn claim – Makarfi

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Sanctity of Truth

ON SUNDAY

S’EAST BEATS

Page 15, JULY 13, 2014

NTWEEKEND ONLINE AT www.newtelegraphonline.com/body&soul

I never planned to become a pastor

Ndigbo originated from Egypt, says Nri monarch

–Ituah Ighodalo

Look the part, dress for the job you want

Senator Ita-Giwa signals high society

Time to quit that marriage

}39

As Boko Haram plots fresh suicide attacks

Abuja under security blanket Emmanuel Onani and Joe Obende

T

he nationa’s capital, Abuja, came under heavy security cover yesterday following ‘credible intelligence’ received by security agencies that Boko Haram was planning to organise suicide bomb attacks on buses and parks in the city

and its suburbs.

The Force Headquarters yesterday said it received ‘credible intelligence’ indicating a fresh plot by Boko Haram to launch another round of attacks on motor parks in Abuja and its environs.

A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mba, said the suspected terrorists

planned to hit their targets through suicide attacks or Improvised Explosive Devices concealed in luggage, bags, cans and other receptacles.

Consequent upon these potent threats, the city came under security cover yesterday, as soldiers were seen conducting searches at some security points while patrol vehicles with officers

from the Guards Brigade provided round-the-clock surveillance on the city.

New Telegraph on Sunday observed a traffic snarl on the ever-busy Abuja-Nyanya-Keffi expressway, with fortified military checks on both sides of the road.

The threat is particularly disturbing, when viewed against the backdrop of the recent suicide bomb attack

Who wins World Cup 2014?

argentina

on EMAB Plaza in Wuse 2, where over 20 people were confirmed dead, including the Managing Editor (North) of New Telegraph, Mr. Suleiman Bisalla.

This is notwithstanding the April 14 and May 1 deadly attacks that rocked a crowded park at Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja, with serious casualties in the trail.

The Department of State

Security had recently warned that terrorists were planning to bomb fuel tankers in the city.

Notwithstanding the fresh threat, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, has asked Abuja residents to remain calm and vigilant.

This is even as Abubakar CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Poly lecturers SUSPEND 11-MONTH-OLD

GERMANY

Strike

lColleges of Education unions, minister to meet Mojeed Alabi

T

he umbrella body of lecturers in the nation’s polytechnics, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, yesterday, revealed the reasons behind its sudden decision to suspend its 11-monthold strike.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Messi

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Lahm

HELEN PAUL WRITES: TIME TO QUIT THAT MARRIAGE }47

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Sport

Messi, Kroos top FIFA’s list Golden Ball award FIFA has named Argentina captain, Lionel Messi and Germany’s Toni Kroos as top contenders for the Golden Ball award.

The world football governing body announced the shortlists for the adidas Golden Ball (10) and those for the adidas Golden Glove (3) and Hyundai Young Player (3) Awards. The respective lists have been submitted by the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG).

Candidates for the adidas Golden Ball at the 2014 FIFA World Cup (in alphabetical order):

Germany vs Argentina: A World Cup final of redemption and revenge

C

ontest between Germany and Argentina will revive memories of World Cup finals of the late 80s and 90s as the sides face each other for a record third time in Brazil at the Maracana today, with both sides remembering the history of the fixture with mixed emotions.

Both their last World Cup triumphs came against each other, with Germany crowned champions after defeating the Argentines in 1990, while the 1986 final being the last time the South Americans won the trophy after edging West Germany in Mexico.

Joachim Loew’s men have had the upper hand in their most recent World Cup contests, defeating Argentina on penalties on home soil in 2006, before thumping Maradona’s men 4-0 in South Africa.

Should they triumph at the Maracana, Germany will make history as the first ever European side to win a World Cup on Latin American soil. Despite their annhilation of the hosts, native support in Brazil is likely to be behind Die Mannschaft in favour of Brazil’s nearest and bitterest rivals.

Head to Heads: Argentina have the slight edge in all matches played between the two sides, both putting 28 goals past each other.

Argentina wins: 9 Goals for: 28 Germany wins: 6 Goals for: 28 Current FIFA Rankings Germany: 2 Argentina: 5 Top Scorers at this World Cup Germany: Thomas Muller (5) Argentina: Lionel Messi (4)

Statistics: Argentina have o n l y scored eight goals in the run up to the final, c o m pared to Germany’s 17.

After their drubbing of the hosts, the Germans are now the highest scorers in World Cup history with 223 goals, overtaking Brazil.

The Argentines have however conceded no goals in knockout stages of the competition and only three in total during the championships.

Memorable Moments: Argentina 3-2 West Germany World Cup final Mexico 1986: In a tournament forever remembered as the Maradona show, Germany fell two-nil behind in Mexico City early in the second half. The Germans, managed by Franz Beckenbauer, pegged it back to 2-2, with goals from KarlHeinz Rummennigge and Rudi Voller with less than 10 minutes to play. The contest looked to be going into extra time before one moment of brilliance from an otherwise quiet Maradona made the winning goal.

El Diego played an inch-perfect through ball to Jorge Burruchaga who rushed towards goal and shot under German stopper Schumacher to make it 3-2 in the dying embers of the game. It was West Germany’s second consecutive World Cup final defeat and Argentina’s last triumph in the competition.

Argentina 0-1 West Germany World final Italy 1990: The two sides met in the following World Cup in an equally tight affair at the Stadio Olympico. This time the Germans, who were making their third consecutive appearance in the final, enacted revenge in a game considered to be one of the worst World Cup final spectacles ever. Following the end of the Berlin wall, the newly united Germany would also be playing their final tournament as West Germany and were favourites ahead of the clash.

Argentine Pedro Monzón became the first man to have ever been sent of in a World Cup final after a challenge on Jurgen Klinsmann, in a turgid match that had been devoid of any real quality.

The breakthrough came five minutes before the end when Rudi Voller was challenged in the box and up stepped defender Andreas Brehme to despatch the spot-kick.

It was enough for captain Lothar Matthäus to lift the trophy in what is still Germany’s last World Cup final win.

Who to Watch: All eyes will be on Lionel Messi, who at the age of 27, will be playing in his first World Cup final. Argentines will be hoping that the greatest player of his generation will be able to summon the spirit of Diego Maradona and honour the memory of recently deceased Alfredo Di Stefano by leading them to victory on the soil of their bitterest rivals.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

All the games between Argentina and Germany in the FIFA World Cup Game World Cup Date Stage

Results

1.

1958 Jun 08, 1958 1st Round, Group 1 Argentina 1 - 3 W/Germany 2.

1966 Jul 16, 1966 1st Round, Group 2 Argentina 0 - 0 W/Germany 3.

1986 Jun 29, 1986 Final Game Argentina 3 - 2 W/Germany 4.

1990 Jul 08, 1990 Final Game Argentina 0 - 1 W/Germany 5.

2006 Jun 30, 2006 1/4 Finals Argentina 1 - 1 Germany

( 0 - 0 )on extra time

( 2 - 4 ) on penalties 6.

2010 Jul 03, 2010 1/4 Finals Argentina 0 - 4 Germany 7.

2014 Jul 13, 2014 Final Game Argentina - Germany

Angel DI MARIA (ARG), Mats HUMMELS (GER), Toni KROOS (GER),Philipp LAHM (GER),Javier MASCHERANO (ARG),Lionel MESSI (ARG),Thomas MÜLLER (GER),NEYMAR (BRA),Arjen ROBBEN (NED) and James RODRIGUEZ (COL).

The adidas Golden Ball will be awarded to the best player of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The adidas Silver and Bronze Ball Awards will be presented to the second and third-best players.

Candidates for the adidas Golden Glove at the 2014 FIFA World Cup (in alphabetical order): Keylor NAVAS (CRC), Manuel NEUER (GER), Sergio ROMERO (ARG). The adidas Golden Glove will be presented to the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

Candidates for the Hyundai Young Player Award at the 2014 FIFA World Cup (in alphabetical order): Memphis DEPAY (NED), Paul POGBA (FRA) and Raphael VARANE (FRA). The Hyundai Young Player Award will be presented to the best young footballer (born on or after 1 January 1993).

All award winners will be decided by the FIFA TSG. The winners, including the adidas Golden, Silver and Bronze Boots for the tournament’s top scorers and the FIFA Fair Play Trophy, will be announced after the 2014 FIFA World Cup final at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro on 13 July.

• Match facts • • Germany have scored more goals in this tournament than they did in 1990 and 1966 - a total of 16.

• Germany are the first team to score seven times in a World Cup semi-final.

• Thomas Muller has scored 10 goals and provided six assists in 12 World Cup matches.

• Germany are now the highest scorers in World Cup history with 223 goals, overtaking Brazil.

• Germany striker Miroslav Klose became the World Cup’s record goalscorer with 16 goals in 23 games.

• Germany’s semi-final win was Brazil’s biggest defeat in World Cup finals history.

Italy’s Rizzoli to referee Final

J

ust as it happened in the grand final of the 1talia 90 FIFA World Cup match between Germany and Argentina, when an Italian referee was the man at the centre, Nicola Rizzoli an Italian referee will officiate as the same countries meet in the 2014 decider.

Rizzoli, a 42-years-old an architect from Bologna, has already refereed three matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, taking charge of Spain-Netherlands and Nigeria-Argentina in the group stages and the quarter-final between Argentina and Belgium.

Rizzoli started his international career in 2007, going on to referee the final in each of the two main European club competitions. He was the man in the middle for Atletico Madrid-Fulham at the climax of the 2010 UEFA Europa League, followed by the all-German decider between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 UEFA Champions League.

In 2011, the Italian was selected for the FIFA Club World Cup, where he presided over two games. In 2012, Rizzoli was tasked with handling Spain-France in the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2012 and two more matches during the same competition. Last year, he was in Turkey for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he took charge of two fixtures.

Rizzoli will be assisted by his compatriots Renato Faverani and Andrea Stefani, who are both 44 years old. The fourth official will be Carlos Vera from Ecuador. Nicola Rizzoli will be the third Italian referee in the history of the FIFA World Cup to officiate a final, following in the footsteps of Sergio Gonella in 1978 and Pierluigi Collina in 2002.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Sport

2014 FIFA World Cup Finals Update Things to know before Argentina v Germany World Cup final

A

rgentina and Germany, who have met before on this big of a stage, are both looking to bring home the FIFA World Cup trophy to their respective countries. It’s going to be a showdown to remember.

It’s South America vs. Europe.

It’s Die Mannschaft vs. La Albiceleste. On Sunday at 3PM ET, the 22 best players over the past month will take the field and try to win their country a trophy and prove to the world that they are the best football club. Here are some things you need to know before Argentina and Germany take the pitch for which should be a hard fought battle.

Club Resumes The Germans have played in the World Cup 18 times and have won 3 championship titles (most recently in 1990). The Argentineans have played in 16 World Cups and have won the FIFA World Cup Trophy twice (most recently in 1986).

Players to Watch The German and Argentinean rosters boast some of the best players in the world and truth be told the most attractive as well. Lionel Messi, the best player in the world, suits up in the No.10 jersey for La Albiceleste and Thomas Müller wears the No.13 jersey proudly for Die Mannschaft. Messi has 4 goals and 1 assist in the tournament and Müller has 5 goals and 3 assists.

Alejandro Sabella vs. Joachim “Jogi” Löw Joachim “Jogi” Löw was an assistant to former German national coach and current U.S. coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, between 20042006. The 54-year-old took over as manager when Klinsmann left. The guy who mans the other bench? Meet Alejandro Sabella.

The 59-year-old Argentinean born manager has been the national team coach since 2011 and in his first World Cup appearance he has made it to the Final! Sabella played in the 1983 Argentinean national team, who lost 1-0 to Brazil in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Final.

FIFA Ranking Germany is ranked 2nd only behind Spain, who didn’t advance out of group play. Argentina is ranked 5th with just Brazil and Portugal separating the two finalists. Clearly in this World Cup the rankings mean nothing with 4 of the top 10 teams not even advancing out of group play but despite that, this 2 vs. 5 matchup should be one for the ages.

Road to the Final: Germany defeated the U.S. 1-0, Portugal 4-0, and tied Ghana 2-2 in Group play. The Germans went on to defeat Algeria in the round of 16, they bounced the French in the quarterfinals and defeated host and World Cup favorite Brazil 7-1 to advance to Sunday’s final. Argentina defeated Bosnia 2-1, Iran 1-0 and Nigeria 3-2. They downed Switzerland in the round of 16 and Belgium in the quarterfinals. Their next victim? The Dutch, who had their trophy dreams crushed in PKs.

Mertesacker warns Germany not to drop standards M ertesacker warns Germany not to drop standards against Argentina Per Mertesacker has warned even a small drop in standards on Sunday will mean defeat for Germany in the World Cup final.

Germany go to Rio de Janeiro as favourites for a fourth title in the wake of a breathtaking 7-1

victory over hosts Brazil in their semi-final on Tuesday.

But Mertesacker reckons it will take only the slightest loss of focus to open the door to an Argentina side aiming to lift the trophy at the home of their neighbours and bitter rivals.

“We must play the same way that we did against Brazil, otherwise we have no chance,” said

the Arsenal centre-half, who has not started since the second round game against Algeria.

“Our performance against Brazil was nearly 100 per cent. If you look at the stats, the passing, the goals we scored, everything was so fluent. But if we drop five per cent then we will have no chance. “(Winning 7-1) is dangerous for us. We can’t lose our focus now

Zabaleta: It will be sweet to win on enemy’s soil A rgentina defender, Pablo Zabaleta, admits it would be especially sweet to win the World Cup on enemy soil.

A fierce rivalry between the Albiceleste and hosts Brazil dates back more than a century, with enduring comparisons between Diego Maradona and Pele a more recent focus for bickering fans.

Brazil, humiliated 7-1 by Germany on Tuesday, remain the only World Cup winners not to have triumphed on home soil but victory for Alejandro Sabella’s side in the iconic Maracana would serve as further insult.

Around 100,000 fans are expected to descend on Rio de Janiero for Sunday’s showdown and Zabaleta admitted his team-mates are desperate to deliver a first World Cup triumph since 1986.

“It’s special for us to play in this country,” the Manchester City defender said. “Especially because Brazilian fans have been against Argentina for this

World Cup. “Sometimes, if you have all the people against you, you feel even stronger. I think that we showed that

against Holland and we feel very proud to have made the final.”

Germany are favourites for the final clash after inflicting the heaviest semi-final defeat in World Cup history but Zabaleta insists Joachim Low’s side holds no fear for his team-mates.

“Germany are probably of the best teams in this World Cup,” he said. “But as we say in Argentina ‘we don’t play the final, we win the final’.

“This is something that we are thinking about and hopefully we can play a great game and try to win it.”

Lionel Messi will skipper Argentina, hoping to emulate Maradona’s feat in Mexico, and Zabaleta believes it would be fitting for the Barcelona star to cement his standing among the greats.

“He is our main player, he is the captain of this team, he is the leader of this group of players,” Zabaleta added.

“We can imagine how special it would be for Messi to lift the World Cup.”

because we scored seven goals.

We must keep calm and be aware of the situation. Our main target is to win the final.

“We want to finish on a high.

We want more history. We don’t want to just settle for this result before the final.”

Several German players are chasing individual honours on top of the team prize ahead of the Maracana final.

Thomas Muller is one goal behind Colombia’s James Rodriguez as he pursues a second successive Golden Boot, while Manuel Neuer is nominated for the Golden Glove award given to the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

The 10 nominees for the Golden Ball award feature four Germans: Muller, Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos and captain Philipp Lahm.

PAST WINNERS 2014 2010 2006 2002 1998 1994 1990 1986 1982 1978 1974 1970 1966 1962 1958 1954 1950 1946 1942 1938 1934 1930

?????

Spain Italy 1 Brazil France Brazil Germany Argentina Italy Argentina Germany Brazil England Brazil Brazil Germany Uruguay not held not held Italy Italy Uruguay

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Moments

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Enugu was agog last Friday when Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria FMBN-Elim Estate was officially commissioned in Enugu State. Here are some of the personalities at the event.

A cross-section of Traditional Rulers arriving for the event

L-R: Programme comperes: Flora Ojukwu of Radio Nigeria; former Director General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Omotayo Omotosho; and Umar Azare.

L-R: Estate Developer, Ugochukwu Chime; Managing Director/CEO, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo; Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi; Vice- President, Namadi Sambo and Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, at the inauguration of the FMBN-Elim Estate in Enugu State

Executive Director, Loans Production/Securities Issuance and Market Development, FMBN, Bola Ogunsola (left), and Executive Director, Policy and Strategy/Loans Set Up/ Payoff, Mike Nwogbo, at the event.

Members of staff of FMBN at the event Chairman, Senate Committee on Housing, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, giving a goodwill message

Representative of NLC President/President, Trade Union Congress, Bala Kaigama, giving a goodwill message

Part of the commissioned Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria FMBN-Elim Estate, Enugu

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

L-R: Bauchi State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sagir Aminu Sale; NCPC Federal Commissioner, North-East, Archbishop Nemuel Baba; ES NCPC, John Kennedy Opara and Bauchi State Governor, Dr. Isa Yuguda, during NCPC 2014 Sensitization visit to Bauchi State…recently

L-R: Chair of Judges, Sarah Ladipo Manyika; Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher; and Prolific Writer/Film Maker, Tsitsi Dangaremgba, at the Judges Unveil event for the 2nd edition of the Etisalat Prize for Literature in Lagos… on Friday. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

L-R: Zonal Business Manager, Airtel Nigeria, Lagos, Olawale Alao; MD/CEO, Easy & Quiet Limited, Mohammed Mutiu Anthony; Manager, Lagos Showrooms, Grace Henshaw, and Airtel’s Regional Operations Director, Femi Oshinlaja, at the launch of the Airtel Express Shop at Festac, Lagos...on Friday

L-R: Proprietress, Temple School, Ilupeju, Lagos, Mrs. Shirley Okharedia; Head Girl, Temple Primary School/ Temple Ambassador award winner 2013/2014, Ikeoluwa Ali-Balogun, and Principal, Mrs. Adeola Arofin, at the School’s Prize Giving Day in Lagos

5

Moments

L-R: Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga; Managing Director, Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX), Yusuf Abdurrahi, and Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Yinka Sanni, at the launch of Electronic Warehouse Receipt System in Abuja…on Thursday

L-R: Director, Society for Corporate Governance, Dr. Fabian Ajogwu; Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr.Okey Itanyi; Representative of Minister of Communications and Technology, Mr. John Ayodele and Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, during the launch of corporate governance code for the telecommunications industry in Lagos…on Thusday. PHOTO:GODWIN IREKHE

Chief Consultant, Visage PR, Mr. Afolabi Andu (left) and Mr. Alistair Soyode of BEN TV, during the Nigerian Centenary Award event held in London... recently

Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji (right), addressing members of Ukwa-Ngwa Progressive Forum, during the one million man match at the Government House Umuahia…yesterday

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

has ordered the FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, and CPs of Niger, Nasarawa and other adjoining states to, as a matter of urgency, beef-up security, to forestall the plan.

It further charged the management of parks to ensure that luggage without identifiable owners are identified and destroyed while other security measures should be introduced in and around parks.

Mba’s statement reads in full: “Credible intelligence reports at the disposal of the Nigeria Police indicate that terrorists have perfected a plot to carry out attacks on the Abuja transport sector.

“The attacks which are intended to cause panic amongst Abuja residents and visitors alike are planned to be perpetrated through suicide bombings, or through the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) concealed in luggage, bags, cans, and other receptacles.

Abuja under security blanket “The Police High Command therefore, while ordering FCT Commissioner of Police in particular and other CPs in adjoining States to beef-up security at major parks around Abuja and its environs, enjoins the general public, particularly those within and outside the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to be roundly vigilant and report any suspicious persons, objects, movements or activities to the Security Forces without delay.

“Meanwhile, the Police Authorities enjoin citizens not to panic as the security forces are working round the clock to neutralize and effectively deal with the threat.

“As part of additional efforts at forestalling the attacks and strengthening security around the transport sector, the Police High Command has called on

the management of Motorparks to ensure that travelers and workers’ safety comes first.

“It charges them to constantly conduct regular and routine scanning of their environments while insisting on carrying out a thorough search on passengers and their bags as well as vehicles entering and leaving their parks. It also advises that such searches must have the active participation of the passengers involved and warns that any item or luggage unaccompanied by any passenger must be rejected outright and should not be allowed into the vehicle. Passengers are also enjoined to be on the lookout for any passenger, who might come in with luggage but will attempt to disembark without such luggage.

“While operators of motor parks are strongly advised to discourage overnight

parking of vehicles at motor parks, particularly by unknown persons, the Police authorities further advise motor park workers to reduce congestion at the parks by disallowing the indiscriminate parking of private cars, tricycles and motorcycles at the precincts of motor parks.

“In addition the Police High Command advises that the general public in other places outside the motor parks should also monitor their environments as the terrorists may likely shift attention having known that their plots have been uncovered.”

The Force gave the following phone numbers for inforrmation: FCT Police Control Room – 07057337653; Force Intelligence Bureau Operations Room - 08139379245, 08075650624; and National Emergency Line -112.

Joe Obende Meanwhile, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has called on Nigerians to be vigilant, irrespective of where they reside in the country.

The governor, who spoke on Friday in Asaba, the state capital while addressing journalists in one of his quarterly briefings, said even though terror attacks were raging mostly in the North-Eastern part of the country, “no one should assume it is not not happening in my location.”

He added, “We need to be vigilant. We must all be vigilant. We do not know what they will attempt next. Raise alarm of suspicion. Everybody must be up and vigilant. Let us fish out strange persons and know what they are up to. The new one now is that we must know our neighbours. We must know those in four, five

houses away from us. With that, we can easily identify strange persons.

“When a neighbour bicycle rider suddenly turns a Hummer jeep owner, we should raise eye brows, we should ask questions, that is how to be safe. Nigeria is such that everybody is affected one way or the other.

Your relation, your friend or your neighbours could be affected.

“We in Delta are doing our best. The committee we constituted is up and doing because there is an increasing influx of persons from the North to Delta. An increasing number of internally displaced persons are coming, even though these do not constitute any problem but we must be vigilant.”

He touched on other challenges being faced in the state which he said included communal clashes and erosion due to heavy rains.

‘State interest payable interest on BDCs’ N35m deposits’ Chijioke Iremeka

T

he brewing controversy over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s increase of the minimum capital base of Bureaux De Changes from N10 million to N35 million is yet to go away as an operator has called on the apex bank regulator to state the interest rate it intends to pay on BDC’s N35 million cautionary deposits.

CBN had in a circular, signed by its Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Kevin Amugo, offered to pay an unstated interest rate on the new mandatory cautionary deposit.

Managing Director, Garba Bureaux De Change Ltd, Lagos, Alhaji Garba Suliman said that the N35

million deposit is idle cash, which would boost their business horizon, if deployed into their daily businesses.

He said: “If the CBN wants us to keep such volume of money with it, then, it has to pay a wellstated interest rate on the N35 million deposits just like the commercial banks would pay a well defined interest rate on the customers’ deposits. There is no issue of paying interest based on the banking industry’s savings account rate. It has to come up with a well defined percentage.”

But a CBN source told New Telegraph on Sunday that the interest rate the apex bank would pay on a BDC’s N35m deposit is not fixed but the payment will

be based on the prevailing savings account rate at the time of payment.

According to the source, previously there was no interest paid on cautionary mandatory deposits but CBN accepted to pay interest based on its meeting with BDC operators and other stakeholders, who complained that the time was short and the money was rather too high to be deposited with the apex bank without interest on the deposit.

The apex bank source noted that both the acceptance to pay interest on sterile deposits and extension of the deadline to July 31, 2014, was as a result of these meetings but warned that upon expiration of the new deadline, only BDCs that met the

11-month-old strike suspended CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The union’s National President, Mr. Chibuzor Asomugha, in an interview with New Telegraph on Sunday, said the decision was taken at the union’s emergency National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja yesterday, after considering the pleas from the newly appointed Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

He said the union had met Shekarau upon his resumption into office on Thursday, and that the visiting members were convinced of his reassurance that all the contradictions affecting the relationship between the union and the Federal Government would be resolved amicably, and “very soon too.”

Asomugha, however, said the strike would be suspended for three months, warning that if government fails to meet its demands by September, the union will not hesitate to resume the industrial action.

While explaining their expectations from the new minister, Asomugha said the union believed that with Shekarau’s background and track record, there were assurances from other stakeholders that all the issues affecting the education sector, and the polytechnics in particular, would be addressed.

Meanwhile, striking lecturers in colleges of education have resolved to meet with Shekarau on Thursday towards addressing the issues peculiar to the union.

The National President of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, Mr. Emmanuel Nkoro, who confirmed the development yesterday, also said the outcome of the meeting would determine the next position of the union.

Shortly after the Academic Staff Union of Universities suspended its strike last year, lecturers in the nation’s polytechnics and colleges of education had commenced theirs, saying the agreement entered with their unions by the Federal Government must also be respected and honoured.

They were also joined by members of the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education and Non-Academic Staff Union of Colleges of Education.

requirements are qualified to be engaged as agents by the licensed International Money Transfer Operators for inward and outward money transfer business in Nigeria.

However, Amugo had, in that circular, advised all

BDCs that paid the mandatory caution deposit of N500, 000 prior to the new order; or those who were in the process of applying for registration, to apply for refund in order for them to pay the current fee, adding that at the end of the month,

CBN will stop funding the dissidents BDCs. Going forward, another CBN statement published on its website, expects the BDCs’ recapitalisation to deliver superior value and returns to the foreign exchange market.

2015: 500 POLITICIANS TO WATCH

Osun: Guber poll to shape 2015 One of the battlegrounds in the South-West for the 2015 elections is Osun S t a t e .

The polls will witness a major electoral battle between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Though the governorship of the state would not be part of the contest, as it is expected to be decided on August 9, national and state Assembly positions would be fought for between the rulling APC and the opposition PDP. Will the state replicate the 2011 feat when it braved the odds and voted for the presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), when other states in the South-West backed the PDP’s candidate?

Grab a copy of New Telegraph tomorrow for an incisive analysis on the epic battle and personalities who will determine its outcome.

New Telegraph …Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in Politics and Business

7

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

World / News

Dozens of Nigerian women smuggled to UK, Italy as sex slaves – Report

Firefighters trying to prevent a petrol tanker that fell on Nyanya-Abuja Highway from exploding …yesterday.

D

ozens of Nigerian women are being smuggled into Britain as sex slaves every year under the threat of black magic curses, says a report by Mail Online.

Police are increasingly concerned at the threat of international trafficking rings who target vulnerable and poor African women.

They believe that ‘close to all’ the 160 Nigerian victims rescued last year had been subjected to sinister rituals aimed at terrifying them into submission.

Many were taken to witchdoctors who cut them, rubbed black powder in their wounds and threat-

ened them with death if they ran away from their captors.

In some cases young women were forced to sleep in coffins, drink chicken hearts soaked in alcohol or ‘sacrifice’ intimate items.

The disturbing reality of the little known crime emerged as three evil human smugglers were jailed for a total of 13 years.

Olusoji Oluwafemi, 44, Johnson Olayinka, 45, and Florence Obadiaru, 48, were the London connection in a global trafficking conspiracy.

They conned an innocent 23-year-old into flying to Heathrow on a bogus passport with the promise of

education, a job and a new home.

But instead she was raped, beaten and subjected to a ‘juju’ ritual before being sent to Italy where she was destined to be pimped out on the streets as a prostitute.

The victim’s terrible ordeal was only uncovered when officials in Milan spotted her forged passport and sent her back to London where she was saved by police.

Obadiaru was jailed along with Oluwafemi and Olayinka for being the London connection in an international trafficking ring.

Liam Vernon of the National Crime Agency told Mail Online that the Nige-

Photo: NAN

rian sex slave’s experience was typical of many other Nigerian victims.

He said, “This isn’t a phenomenon that is just affecting Britain, it is a Europewide problem. They are moving women around to avoid detection.

“These rituals are simply a method controlling the women who are from a region where juju is not always seen as necessarily a bad thing.

“But it is very powerful and there are very strong beliefs that you must adhere to what is said or very bad things will happen to you and your family.”

Investigators believe the 23-year-old victim, who

was poorly educated and spoke little English, is just one of many victims of the Nigeria-based organised crime group.

The trio were in constant contact with a shadowy ‘fixer’ woman who prowled poor Nigerian villages looking for young women to exploit.

The woman, who remains at the centre of an international manhunt, also supplied women to another crime gang that was smashed last year.

Investigators discovered the victim volunteered to travel to London because her family had fallen into hardship since the sudden death of her father in 2008.

She was told that she must repay £40,000 by working in Britain and taken to a witchdoctor to pledge her total obedience to the gang.

The woman swore an oath in a juju ceremony that involved cutting her armpit and pubic hair and taking finger nail clippings.

She flew to Heathrow in September 2011 before spending several weeks at the house of Obadiaru, in Brockley, South East London.

The victim was then provided with a false passport and throwaway mobile phone and sent to Milan where immigration officials turned her away.

On her return it took weeks and several painstaking interviews before experts from the NCA could understand what had happened to her.

When officers raided Oluwafemi’s home they discovered he was using it as

a ‘forgery factory’ and had more than 60 images of fake documents on his laptop.

They built a case against the three traffickers using communications data from their mobile phones which supported her account of their movements and links.

All three defendants were convicted of trafficking the woman for sexual exploitation and arranging for her transfer to Italy.

Mastermind and counterfeiter Oluwafemi, who orchestrated the British side of the operation, was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Johnson Olayinka, 45, who collected the victim from Heathrow and organised her false UK passport, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Florence Obadiaru, 48, who kept the victim at her home in London for twoand-a-half weeks before she left for Italy, was jailed for two years.

She has worked as a care assistant for ten years and has just finished a degree in nursing at Bedford University in Luton.

Judge Rebecca Poulet QC told them, “This was a sophisticated and carefully planned operation in Nigeria which must have cost a considerable amount of money to the traffickers.

“The expected returns were also considerable. She was subjected to a juju ritual with the threat of death.

“She would have been forced into controlled prostitution as she had no possible way in which she could conceivably support herself in Italy.”

Etisalat unveils judges for Literary Prize FG denies nationwide Vanessa Okwara

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tisalat Nigeria, an innovative GSM provider in Nigeria, on Friday 19th July, 2014 announced the judging panel for the second edition of its prestigious literary prize the Etisalat Prize for Literature.

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher said the judges for this year’s prize are some of the most respected individuals in the literary world and they will bring in diverse experiences and expertise to the judging panel. “What is most exciting is that we have a very diverse panel that will bring in their individual perspectives to the judging process. They are an accomplished panel with

vast amount of experience in the creative writing world”.

The panel of judges for this second edition will be chaired by renowned Nigerian writer Sarah Ladipo Manyika. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and currently teaches literature at San Francisco State University. Her writing includes essays, academic papers, reviews and short stories. Sarah’s first novel, Independence, is published by Legend Press (London) and Cassava Republic Press (Abuja). Sarah was one of the inaugural Judges for Etisalat Prize for Literature 2013.

Speaking at the event, Manyika said she is highly honoured and grateful for

the opportunity to chair the judges once again for this prestigious prize for literature in Africa. ‘’This is indeed is a phenomenal feat put together by Etisalat Nigeria because this prize for literature is very unique and thoughtfully put together to be bring out great men and women out of this great continent.

We welcome copies from first time fiction writers and their publishers and we look forward to another exciting year of bringing out Africa’s finest in the fiction category’’ Other distinguished panel consists of award winning British/Sudanese writer Jamal Mahjoub, prolific Francophone writer, Alain Mabanckou and writer and filmmaker Tsitsi

Dangarembga.

Now in its second year, the Etisalat Prize for Literature is the first ever panAfrican prize to applaud first time writers of published fiction from African citizenship. The Prize was launched in June 2013 and has become one of Africa’s most prestigious literary prizes for fiction and has a board of patrons which include some of Africa’s finest intellectuals.

Submitted works must be the writer ’s first fiction book of over 30,000 words and published within the last twentyfour months. The winner of the prize receives £15,000 and an Etisalat sponsored Fellowship at the prestigious University of East Anglia.

aviation fuel scarcity

Adeola Yusuf

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he Federal Government on Friday debunked fears that a nationwide fuel scarcity had hit the aviation sector.

Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, who issued the denial on the sideline of an interactive session in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State maintained that the nation has 18 days reserves capacity aviation fuel in stocks.

Speaking against the backdrop of large numbers of passengers and aircraft at some airports, which were blamed on the scarcity of aviation fuel, the GMD stated categorically that

this, if it exists at all, should not be blamed on aviation fuel supply.

“There is nothing like aviation fuel scarcity. Today, as we speak, we have 18 days reserve capacity in our stocks of aviation fuel,” he stressed.

According to the NNPC helmsman, there may be commercial or contractual issues between the airline operators and their customers and this should not be blamed on national supply.

“There may be a commercial issue between the airlines and their customers, in which we do not have any role to play here. But I must make it clear that Nigeria, as a country, has 18 days reserve capacity in our stocks of aviation fuel,” he added.

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

News

Senator urges Jonathan to work with Obasanjo Leo Sobechi

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L-R; Chief Executive Officer, Brockport, Aghayere Ezekiel; Commissioner for Trade & lndustry, Bayelsa State, Kemela Okara and a Lawyer from Whitgift Solicitors, Leke Adefala, at the Bayelsa State investment and Economic Pre Forum cocktail in Lagos

2015: Investors shun equities for bonds

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und managers in Nigeria have been moving cash into government bonds this year and selling riskier assets, dampening a stock market rally as uncertainty over forthcoming elections and growing security risks hit demand for equities.

Nigeria’s main stock index returned 44 per cent in dollar terms in 2013, thanks to a stable naira currency, making it one of the best performing African equity markets. The gains boosted its allure as an investment destination, attracting foreign investors and pension funds.

But Africa’s largest economy has since suffered currency weakness, down almost three per cent this year, and is beset by uncertainty over upcoming elections, coupled with April’s abduction of over 200 schoolgirls

by Islamist group Boko Haram.

That, plus a string of bombs across the north and

centre of Nigeria - including three in the capital Abuja blamed on the militants, have brought it home to many foreign investors that Africa’s top oil producer faces grave security problems.

Nigeria’s stock index has struggled to rise much above a 43,000 point resistance level. It is up 4 percent this year, lifted largely after index compiler MSCI reweighted Nigeria, making it the second biggest in its frontier index after Kuwait.

The stock exchange in the first quarter said that local participation in the equity market had waned as domestic buyers composed mainly of retail investors stayed wary of stocks, which fell more than six percent during the period.

“Once elections are over, there will be greater clarity. The safest thing to do at this point is to buy bonds,” Adeniyi Falade, managing director of Crusader Sterling Pension, which manages

over N100 billion ($616 million) in pension funds, told Reuters.

Asset management firm FSDH, which manages over N50bn, said it viewed the equity market as overbought and had cut its exposure in favour of treasury bills.

At the end of March, pension funds had 13 per cent of industry assets worth N4.2 trillion invested in equities and 68 per cent in government bonds, data from the pensions regulator showed.

Pension funds can invest half of their portfolio in stocks.

Nigeria rebased its GDP in April, pushing it up to $500bn and enabling it to overtake South Africa to become the continent’s largest economy, although it also slashed growth estimates for 2012 and 2013.

But a spike in violence by Boko Haram in the same month underscored the growing instability faced

by Nigeria.

It had previously had a muted impact on financial markets, as attacks had been largely restricted to the north, but this year they have radiated towards the centre again to cities such as Jos and the capital Abuja.

Falade said fund allocation to bonds had risen to 70 per cent in the third quarter as portfolios took less risk, a situation he expects to continue until after elections in February 2015.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest stock index witnessed a one-off rally to hit a four-month high in June after MSCI increased Nigeria’s weighting to 19 percent, from 12 percent, in its frontier market index.

“There is more exposure to fixed income. Our current allocation is 80-85 per cent,” said Micheal Oyebola, managing director at FBN Capital Asset Management, whose assets under management rose to N32bn in under a year, from N4bn.

mmediate Vice-Chairman Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Senator Anthony Agbo has called on President Goodluck Jonathan, to retain and maintain a large space in his heart for the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo saying that such cooperation would help in national reconciliation and peace.

Senator Agbo, who spoke to New Telegraph on Sunday over the weekend stated that ex-President Obasanjo’s thorough knowledge of the country, its divergent peoples and dispositions as well as his massive network of foreign friends will be useful to the current president in his efforts to salvage and heal the country of its current woes.

He noted that Obasanjo is still the greatest statesman that Nigeria has and one of the great people in Africa, stressing that it took a man of his strength of character

to enact the intricate permutations and elevated superb thinking that took Jonathan to the presidency.

“And spiritually speaking, a central pillar in man’s love of God involves appreciating what God has done, including the instruments he used at critical junctions in the lives of a person or people; even the entire South-South should celebrate God and Obasanjo for this,” the Senator said.

He noted that the attendance of Obasanjo and other past leaders at the recent Council of State meeting was a morale booster and confidence building in the hearts of Nigerians especially “at this time of national security and social challenges”.

Agbo who represented Ebonyi North Senatorial district in the Senate remarked that “those who advised the presidency to do otherwise and try to pitch the president against Obasanjo are standing on the pedestal of personal aggrandisement.

Islamic cleric shot dead in Kaduna

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n Islamic cleric, Mallam Yunus Adam has been shot dead by unknown gunmen in his house at Unguwar Dosa, Kaduna.

Mallam Yuunus was said to have been shot at about 7pm on Friday shortly after he came back from the mosque where he went to say his prayer s after breaking his fast.

His attackers were said to have trailed him to his abode at Unguwar Dosa where they shot him in the presence of his family in a tri-cycles - a newly introduced mode of transport in Kaduna.

Efforts to talk to the deceased’s family were abortive as they were in mourning mood, with sympathisers milling around and condoling them.

The Kaduna State Police Command public Relations officer, Superintendent of Police Aminu Lawal confirmed the incident, saying that it was a case of armed robbery.

“The people demanded for certain things which they could not get, and they shot him” He said that the police are still investigating the incident, even as no arrest has been made.

‘PDP reaping benefits from Edo Assembly crisis’ Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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ajority Leader of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Phillip Shaibu, yesterday accused leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party of reaping huge benefit from the lingering supremacy battle at the state legislature.

He said the stalemate

would have been over by now but for the economic benefit it serves some of the opposition PDP leaders in the state.

Shaibu, representing Etsako West 1 constituency, stated this in Benin in reaction to the verdict by judges of the Court of Appeal sitting in the state capital which asked the four suspended lawmakers of the PDP to obey the ruling of the High Court

restraining them from the house.

Shaibu described the ruling by the appellate court as laudable exercise to the nation’s judiciary, and took a swipe of the opposition party members for depending on the “handout’ from Abuja which he noted is fuelling the crisis.

The APC lawmaker however urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to prosecute all the police-

men who allegedly aided PDP lawmakers to break into the hallow chambers to organise a parallel plenary.

Said he: “For me, the PDP decided to turn the crisis into political issue because normally the house has its rules and within that rules suspension was slammed on erring members and if such person show remorse through appeal such person is recalled,”

He explained that: “Their suspension was not based on their defection, we are supposed to declare their seat vacant and not to suspend them, but because they know that section 109 is clear about defection and they know that their defection does not have the blessing of the section, they rushed to court to stop us from declaring their seats vacant.”

He said that “as law aiding legislators that are obedient to the rule of law decided to obey the court because it restrained the assembly from declaring their seats vacant, so it is not about defection because Abdul Razak Momoh defected he was not suspended, Festus Ebea is a member of APC and he is suspended. It is about misconduct which the House cannot condone.”

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SUNDAY, JUly 13, 2014

Improving Nigeria’s worsening workers condition

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global survey of working conditions in 139 countries has revealed that Nigeria, India, China, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, are among the 24 worst countries in the world for workers. Others are North Korea, Zimbabwe, Greece, Turkey, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Colombia, Fiji, Guatemala, Swaziland, Zambia, and Belarus. The survey titled: “Global Rights Index: The world’s worst countries for workers”, also indicted the Word Bank labour standard and recommendations.

A World Bank report “Doing Business” had said, “driving down labour standards is good for business.” The survey noted that the World Bank’s recommendation was unacceptable for an organization that claims to be committed to poverty reduction.

The report was compiled by the Geneva- based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) based on information from its network of affiliates including the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations during the survey period from April 2013 to March 2014. In the survey, countries were given a ranking of between 1 and 5 – with 1 representing the best and 5 the worst. The ranking is based on how countries scored against a checklist of 97 indicators that look at incidences of violations of workers’ rights and their severity. A special ranking of 5+ is given to countries where “the rule of law has completely broken down and workers get no protection whatsoever.” Eight countries received this lowest of- the-low ranking: Central African Republic, Libya, Palestine, Somalia,

South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.

The survey also said that, of the 139 countries surveyed, only Denmark managed to cleared all the indicators on their checklist and is world’s best country for workers. While the worst ranked countries may have been expected for some, it’s disconcerting to note that a few developed countries are ranked very low in the survey.

The situation of Nigerian workers contending with a paltry minimum wage of N18,000 per month is horrendous. This is an amount many state governments have not complied with, giving the excuse that the monthly federal allocation is not only penurious, the internally generated revenue is abysmally low and therefore inadequate to accommodate the minimum wage as several developmental projects needed to be carried in the overall interest of the people of the respective states, yet, these states dissipate these scarce resources on conspicuous consumption.

Yet, the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides in section 16(1b) that, government shall control of the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity.

Working condition of workers in both the private and public sectors is generally nothing to write home about, usually subjected to serious, unimaginable and harrowing maltreatment. Workers have had their hands legs or hands amputated without compensation, some of them are manhandled, or sexually harassed.

Many never get their gratuity and pension before they give up the ghost.

The workers have not been given a place of pride in the scheme of things in the country, despite their enormous contributions to the growth and development of the country in diverse ways. They are relegated to the background as drawers of water and hewers of wood, while the parasitic parliamentarians who contribute next to nothing in nation-building and national rebirth pay themselves outrageous allowances and emoluments.

To make matters worse, there is no sign that there will be any improvement, even in the nearest future.

Yet, the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides in section 16(1b) that, government shall control of the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity. Section 16(2d) states suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reasonable national minimum living wage, old age care and pensions, and unemployment, sick benefits and welfare of the disabled are provided for all citizens. These are labour welfare related matters embedded in the constitution, but have never been

strictly adhered to by government.

Nigeria cannot continue to do the same thing and expect new answers. This is time for change, change for every segment of the Nigerian society especially the rights of workers and labour relations matters. A democracy that focuses on the needs of the rich in society, that increases their allowances and emoluments, that provides for them all the things of life that alienate the workers and deny them of their legitimate rights and aspirations, is a system of government that is unfit for any decent human society.

It is very important to note that the economy presently confronts monumental challenges in form of dilapidated and chronically non-functional infrastructure. The decay in the country’s infrastructural base reflects decades of poor maintenance and weak technological base. The weak technological base is a consequence of low research and development efforts and disconnect between research findings and industry.

The private sector is equally weak and diffuse with poor response record to industrial incentives. The reason for this despicable state of affairs is because the rights and conditions have been abridged and circumvented, and until this pitiable situation changes it is not yet a new dawn of hope for the genuine progress of the country. Therefore, the government must look for pragmatic ways of improving the socio-economic well-being of the workers and in the same breath, the well-being of the economy would be effectively taken care of.

GABRIEL AKINADEWO Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU Deputy Managing Director/DEIC SULEIMAN BISALA Managing Editor, North YEMI AJAYI Editor, Daily LAURENCE ANI Editor, Saturday EMEKA MADUNAGU Editor, Sunday LEO CENDROWICZ Bureau Chief, Brussels MARSHALL COMINS Bureau Chief, Washington DC SAM AMSTERDAM Editorial Coordinator, Europe EMMAN SHEHU (PhD) Chairman, Editorial Board JULIET BUMAH Deputy Editor (Sunday) PADE OLAPOJU Production Editor TIMOTHY AKINLEYE Head, Graphics ROBINSON EZEH Head, Admin.

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

OPINION Why conspiracy against Tinubu’ll fail

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Kehinde Bamigbetan

irst, my prejudice: I am committed to the promotion, elevation and celebration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Just like lovers of Chief Awolowo, I wear caps with his chain logo.

I understand him and I have written tomes of articles to try to make people see him in as best a light as possible.

I should remind you. I was his Deputy Chief Press Secretary from 2003 to 2005 and his Chief Press Secretary from 2005 to 2007. When he left office in May 2007, I continued as his media adviser until I was elected into office as Executive Chairman of Ejigbo LCDA. As a media and political strategist, I understand perfectly that the Presidency knows that Tinubu is one of the key strategists of the APC. He thinks outside the box and has rare expertise in plotting the logistics of electoral campaigns. So strategic that if his services to the party could be neutralised, the Presidency’s plot to overrun the APC will be easier to achieve.

Second, Tinubu is one of the key grassroots mobilisers of the APC, particularly in the South-West where he has demonstrated capacity to roll back the territorial gains of his party’s opponents.

Politics is competition for power. The nearer to the election, the more desperate is the urge to put down your opponent.

Because voters determine the outcome of election, the battle for their minds is critical to the battle for their votes.

The social media and online journals have been awash with syndicated negative bombardment of Asiwaju in recent weeks.

The aim is to alienate him from his teeming followers, demonise him as someone undeserving of their affection and devalue his political stature and by extension the

attraction the APC generates.

Much of the content in the media are the rehash of stale rumors, efforts to convict by association. They have been on the media shelves since 1999. But their purveyors sell them because Tinubu continues to be relevant in the country’s public life.

When such incredible falsehood no longer jelled, the alchemists of hatred have come up with noxious fallacies. It is to these fallacies that I now turn.

The Tinubu Dynasty: Yes, it is true that Oluremi Tinubu, his wife, is in the Senate.

It is true that Hon. Oye, his son in law, is in the House of Representatives and it is true that his daughter, Mrs Shade Oye, is the Iyaloja -General of Lagos.

What ratio of the senators who have represented Lagos State since 1999 belong to Tinubu’s family? Do the Maths: 16 senate seats have been occupied since 1999.

Answer: 1 -15. If you take the members of House of Representatives from Ekiti State since 1999 and rate one seat occupied by his son in law to the number, the ratio is much higher: 1 to over 60. And each of these two family members have not even completed a term! Certainly it is a mischievous exaggeration to describe this as a family dynasty.

The antagonists are silent on hundreds of politicians such as Kehinde Bamigbetan from Ile-Ife, Osun State who were spotted and supported for public office yet have no blood relationship whatsoever with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. When the Iyaloja issue came up, I asked as many of them as I could to know the situation. I was told that the departed matriarch had expressed her wish to be succeeded by her and that had been the understanding at least a year before she passed on.

2. Asiwaju is undemocratic As Chief Press Secretary, I got used to

a ritual. Asiwaju would invite me into his office and the first question would be: What are people saying? He always made sure he stood on the popular side.

As the party grew and became a popular platform, managing electoral contest became more difficult. The campaign of AD in 2003 witnessed clashes among followers of aspirants because everyone knew that once you got the ticket, you would win.

Primaries were held amidst heavy security.

Even party members began to fear the risk of attending primaries.

To reduce the conflict of inter-party primaries, elders and leaders were encouraged to manage competitors within their constituencies. Groups were encouraged to hold shadow elections. Still, there were complaints of abuses and peddling of influences. These disagreements were ultimately resolved at the apex leadership. It was never a one-man show. The idea of a “a capricious Tinubu fixing candidates in his bedroom” is a romantic misrepresentation, a perversion based on ignorance and mischief.

Happily, by 2011, internal audit of the party’s electoral process led to reforms.

The party, now ACN, held primaries. I know as a matter of fact that delegates queued to vote at the party’s secretariat in Lagos to vote their choices. The event took the whole day. The fact is that all the members of the House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate representing Lagos State today were elected at the primaries.

Furthermore, the party has responded more by ensuring that the recent ward and local government congresses were duly held. In fact, only 153 of the 377 ward chairmen were returned.

3. The untouchable: Tinubu’s legacies Those who seek to demonise Asiwaju Ti-

nubu attack the person to destroy his value because they know there is a place they dare not go: his legendary achievements.

Who built the finances of Lagos State that it became the only state independent of federal receipts? Tinubu. Who initiated a mass employment programme that mopped unemployed graduates from the streets of Lagos through KAI, LASTMA etc. Tinubu.

Who began the infrastructural renewal -Kudirat Abiola/ Oregun, Agege RoadLawanson-Itire, Egbe-Igando- LASU-IBA and brought the private sector into road intervention and refuse clearing? Tinubu.

There are many reasons why the Federal Government would have an axe to grind with Tinubu. He asserted the right of states to control vehicles’ registration and produce plate numbers within their domain, among so many others. The antagonists know very well that if they succeed in neutralising Tinubu, a defender of the people, there would be fewer men of courage with the financial capacity to fight the lords of Aso Villa.

This conspiracy must not be allowed to stand because of the danger it poses not only to Tinubu as a person but to the poor and helpless Nigerian.

Tinubu is not perfect. But he has shown that he believes in Nigeria. His investments are here and they provide employment for thousands. The local governments and LCDAs created by his administration have increased the human and material development of Lagos State. This is the Tinubu that I celebrate every day and night. This is the Tinubu that deserves our solidarity at a time those who have no vision seek to blur our vision of a great statesman and man of the people.

•Bamigbetan, journalist and activist, is the Chairman, Ejigbo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State

Two jerseys, one dance and cultural dimensions to the beatiful game

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s you read this, chances are, you have one eye fixed on the television and ready to watch the grand finale of the greatest sports event in the world; the FIFA World Cup final. Like me, you probably have stayed glued to your television set and witness sports pundits around the world turn the dictionary inside out and yet run out of adjectives to describe the antics of Messi, Neymar and our very own Vincent Enyeama. Conversely, they seem not to have a shortage of invectives for the men in black (that will be the referees to the uninitiated and yes, I know they no longer wear black all the time) who seem to always want to get in the headlines as much as the players.

This not an analysis of event in Brazil that may incur the wrath of the guys on the Sports desk, but I want us to look at cultural dimension that has been added to the jerseys and celebration at the event.

When Ghana stepped into the pitch in their all white outfit for their match against USA, I applauded when I saw the Kente fabric sewn to the shoulder of their jersey.

It was African culture on display and they chose the biggest sporting platform to demonstrate that sports, fashion and culture can harmoniously co habit. Every time the camera closes in on a Ghanaian player, African culture is unleashed on the world at large. Not to be outdone in the fashion stakes, the Camerounians also had a splash of batik print on the sleeve of their jersey in their game against Croatia. While not as pronounced as the Ghanaians, they added their

Eyitayo on Sunday Eyitayo Aloh

tayalo@hotmail.com

voice to a cultural conversation that was going on simultaneously with the football.

The Camerounians have been world leaders when it comes to football fashion. Who can forget their pioneering knee length shorts that is the fad today or the sleeveless jerseys they wore at the African Nations Cup in 2002 or the onesie they pulled on at the same competition in Ghana 2008? However, they hardly project any African fashion in their efforts and to see them go the way of Ghana is commendable. Unsurprisingly, they both had the same kitter in Puma.

I advocated something similar in 1994 when Nigeria qualified for the first time.

I wanted to start a campaign to have them dressed in traditional attire for pre- match ceremonies instead of the traditional track suits but I was silenced by the editor. However, consider his argument which also reveals something about our society.

What is the traditional attire of Nigeria?

A mix and match of the three major ethnic groups? What happens to members of the team who come from minority ethnic groups? Would they be willing to participate

in such cultural display? Will the team be united if they are so different on the pitch?

‘Why start something you can’t finish or out of your hand to finish?’ he asked rhetorically. It was at that point I realised that our diversity is our adversity. We cannot seem to agree that our rich culture can really be a uniting force even in the world of sport and as such, explore ways of showcasing it. Just look at the National confab and see how a simple matter of women’s representation can turn ugly and bring out ethnic rather than gender sentiments. We cannot seem to agree on anything and the arguments are never based on sound reasoning; always on ethnic sentiments.

Definitely, if there is one way of changing the negative attention we are getting on the international stage, we have to focus on that which we excel at -our cultural heritage. We need to show it at every opportunity, including sports. It would have provided a readymade answer to the question of the sports journalists who wondered why terrorists were choosing football viewing centres to attack. Keshi could have said, ‘Look at us

when we play, we show our culture and we are united.’ Sadly, that is not the case and the opportunity is now lost.

Ghana though, did not miss that trick and while their football exploits has come to its end, their cultural mark is still being extolled.

Canadian TV pundits are still discussing their entrance into the various stadium that they play. The captain, Asamoah Gyan, cymbal in hand, leads a chorus of traditional songs that all the players join in with matching dance steps. They take this onto the pitch with them. Every Ghanaian goal was also celebrated with a choreographed Azonto dance. While it can be said that it did not eventually translate to team unity, their off camera antics is not remembered if not seen.

I salute our Eagles and Stephen Keshi. He got the boys as far as two of the previous foreign coaches and as such the campaign is not a failure. Joseph Yobo too needs commendation for attaining his century of caps and for the years of selfless service. Unlike most people I know, I see potentials in the team.

However, we need to see ways of changing the conversation about Nigeria on the international level and I strongly think our culture is undervalued in this regard. Beyond sponsoring actors to the event, there has to be something more that can be done visibly. A 30-second dance routine before the match like every New Zealand team or singing while matching onto the pitch. There has to be some creative minds out there with ideas in this regard.

Now, let’s all enjoy a celebration of the beautiful game.

Letters Editor to the

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JULY 13, 2014

You have a right to be heard! Send your letters and photographs to sundayletters@newtelegraph.com.

Letters should not be nore than 100 words and must have the name and address of the sender.

Akpabio’s ‘plastic surgery’ Dear Editor, I had almost turned in for the night when my eyes caught another feeble attempt to sell Udom Emmanuel by Ndueso Essien, PA Media to Gov Akpabio in his article titled “UDOM EMMANUEL: INTERFACE OF FEAR AND FAITH”.

He attempted to make it sound as if people are afraid of Udom Emmanuel’s entry into the AKS governorship race because of his banking credentials. Rubbish.

What he doesn’t know is that Udom Emmanuel would not be contesting any election in 2015. Therefore there is no reason for anyone who had or is nursing a governorship ambition to fear him. Why fear someone who isn’t in the race? Gov Akpabio would be the one contesting, wearing Udom Emmanuel’s face.

Rather than ask for a third term (which is illegal) Gov Akpabio has decided on political Botox. In cosmetic surgery, Botox is a quasi invasive approach to changing ones face using a toxin made by botulism bacteria. It seems to me our dear and caring governor has suddenly noticed great wrinkles on the faces of the people he is governing. As a caring governor he must kindly recommend the people to subject themselves to be infected not by botulism bacteria but by “udomtulism” bacteria to correct their faces. The question is, what did he do that so generally and so rapidly paralyzed the people’s facial muscles causing wrinkling in so short a time? Hunger, deprivation, inequality,unemployment? Only Gov Akpabio can answer these questions. He is the only one who can also advise on where his new udomtulism was tested.

Talking about fear, I think Udom Emmanuel is the one afraid. For if he was sure of himself he would have simply resigned from banking and presented himself to the people for consideration without hiding under the canopy of Gov Akpabio.

If there’s anybody afraid of Udom Emmanuel, it is me. I fear for the future of the state with a government by remote control. I fear for government of the people by the few and for the few. I fear for a government where every decision would be cleared from Ukana. But I have a vision to save the state from amputated-democracy. I have no money, no tool than my conviction and intrinsic power. When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

James Abang Atte-Okiuso Village Urueoffong/Oruko LGA. Akwa Ibom State

Worsening Electricity situation Dear Editor, I would like to use this medium to tell the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) and Protectors of Nigerian Posterity that the power situation is worse than ever.

All what they say are mere propaganda. At night, the streets of Abuja are lit while the homes/ neighborhoods remain in utter darkness for days on end. Public policy built on falsehood and deceit does not last. For how long are we going to be patient? For 16 odd years, the government could not fix the light.

Next year, they will make promises on things they have no objective empirical grasp as to how to tackle them.

James Emeh · Abuja

LENSE IN MOTION….lets see, who gets the best shot. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Calling on FG to repair Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road

Satellite TV providers and bad weather

Dear Editor, I would like to use this medium to first of all thank the Governor of Abia State, His Excellency Theodore Orji for working on Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road.

He visited the road which links Abia State to Akwa Ibom State through Oboro, Ikwuano LGA of Abia. So many parts of the road have deteriorated so badly that heavy duty vehicles that make major use of the route have started falling down due to the appalling state of the road. From Ndoro, Oboro in Ikwuano LGA , Ariam and parts of Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom state, road users are going through hell plying this road.

A journey from Umuahia to Uso which normally takes about two hours now last close to seven hours or at worst, close to 12 hours. The annoying part of the whole issue is that this is a federal road. The Abia State governor visited the road last week on an inspection tour and has started filling the bad areas of the road with granite which to an extent has helped but the Federal Ministry of Works should step up and fix this road for good. It is not good for President Goodluck Jonathan to be preaching his message of transformation while a major road that links both states is in very dilapidated state.

Iheanyi Agomoh Umuahia Abia State

Dear Editor, It is sad that in the year 2014 Satellite TV does not broadcast anytime it rains or there is a change in weather. But since this service is ‘pay as you go,’ subscription payment still runs despite the interruption of service by the providers.

Since the rains started, we do not have much service and for those without terrestrial TV antenna that means no television. Please the Consumer Rights Awareness Advancement And Advocacy Initiatives and Consumer Protection Council should look into this. Since the rain started, I have not gotten any service but when my subscription expires the service providers will not add any extra second before cutting me off despite their constant service disruptions.

Justin Esade Lagos

Nigeria’s Suspension from FIFA Dear Editor, I want to write about the recent suspension of Nigeria from world football organisation, FIFA, following the crisis rocking the NFF. I think it’s high time that we put our house in order. It is so embarrassing that every time the Super Eagles go for an international event, there is a constant scandal involving payments of the players’ allowances and all sorts. This recurrent problem has always affected the morale of the players and also affects the mindset of prospective players. Also, the Ministry of Sports treats football as if it is the only sport in the country. I remember that Mr. President asked that we re-organise our football and many called for his head. But look at the progress NFF has made since he made that call.

I think that FIFA’s suspension is a blessing in disguise.

Noah John Yenogoa Bayelsa State

No light in Ibusa Dear Editor, I write to inform that the Ibusa Community has been without electricity for the past one year. The hardship this has subjected us to is unfathomable. We have experienced deaths,business failures, economic meltdown and other unpleasant experiences.

We want to appeal to the Federal Government, the state government and GENCOs and DISCOs to please come and help us. We are part of Nigeria and voted for President Goodluck Jonathan. What we are passing through can best be imagined than experienced. Please New Telegraph help us send our SOS out, we need help and we need it fast.

Azubuike Ugbomeh Ibusa, Delta State

Life

I didn’t offer anybody N2.5m to kidnap a child - General Overseer p.14

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JULY 13 , 2014

Soyinka

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Tony Okuyeme and Ebere Ameh obel Laureate, Prof.Wole Soyinka, has been aptly described as the conscience of Africa -”one of Africa’s most imaginative advocates of native culture and of the humane social order it embodies” - and Nigeria’s special gift to the world. And just recently, President John Mayama of Ghana exclaimed, “Wole Soyinka will never die.”

As a writer and an activist, Soyinka has remained phenomenal and an enigma. A renowned wordsmith, a poet, and playwright, he is one of Africa’s finest writers and the first African to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature (1986).

As the renowned scholar and quintessential artists, the big masquerade in the Nigerian literary firmament, turns 80 today, the theatre and literary landscapes, and indeed, the art sector, are agog with activities, turning his home town, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, into a huge theatre stage. Scores of the ‘who is who’ in the literary scene across the continent and other parts of the world are expected at his Ijegba residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Some of his plays such as A Dance of the Forest (which performances opened at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, in Lagos), Death and the King’s Horseman, among others, will be staged as part of the celebration.

Streams of tributes have continued to pour in for Soyinka, also known by some of his admirers as ‘Kongi’. The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management services), University of Lagos, Prof. Duro Oni, described Soyinka as “an enigma, a quintessential artists, the very best of our own, literary icon of our times, the social conscience of the nation, our own W.S.” Recalling his first encounter with Soyinka many years ago, Prof. Kole Omotosho described him as a teacher and brother, icon of icons.

His words: “I first met Soyinka when I was in sixth form at Kings College, Lagos, so many years ago. And over the years, he has been a teacher, an example; a brother, caring and somebody who has been there to make sure that our literary urge continues. So we are here to celebrate with him as he is 80, and share experiences and wish him more years.

People talk about icons; Soyinka is not just an icon, he is an icon of icons; that is among even the best, he is the best. And he is ours.”

Dance in the Forest of Ijegba, as Kongi turns 80

In a goodwill message at the grand finale of this year’s edition of Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, read on his behalf, Globacom’s Chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga, described Soyinka as one of the world’s biggest literary giants, a role model.

“As a teacher, role model, social activist and advocate, Prof.

Wole Soyinka has directly impacted millions of lives on the continent of Africa and beyond.

We are deeply honoured to be part of a project like this, which celebrates this living legend and seeks to encourage the coming generation to aspire to attain such academic excellence in the literary world,” Adenuga said.

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame extolled the virtues of Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate and literary icon, Prof. Wole Soyinka, describing him as a “tireless fighter”, who “ruffled many feathers, and paid a steep price for his outspokenness; but did not surrender or fall silent”.

President Kagame stated this in his remarks at the launch of ‘Crucible of Ages– a Collection of Essays’ to commemorate Soyinka’s 80th birthday. “I have very good reasons for wanting to pay tribute to Wole Soyinka. What first comes to my mind is his moral clarity, in particular his firm solidarity with the people of Rwanda. At the height of the genocide in 1994, he wrote: ‘All notions of sovereignty with respect to Rwanda should be completely forgotten and we should just go in and stop the killing,” Kagame said.

Describing Wole Soyinka as an amazing figure in African culture and literature, the CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, Mathew Willshere said: “ I think what is so incredible is how he has bestrode so many different art forms; and I think he is a real leader in that way. He is someone that we can always look to for innovation, for continuing to try new things and do the right thing. He is someone that we all have huge respect for.”

In his ‘A Voyage Around Essay’ published in 1989, Soyinka recalls his father’s home in `Isarà. On his childhood at Ake, he wrote ‘The Years of Childhood’ published in 1981.

His teenage years coincided with the period when Nigeria was battling for her independence. He captured that experience in ‘Ibadan, The Penkelemes Years, A Memoir: 1946-1965 (1994)’. His first mature plays, ‘The Swamp Dwellers’ and The Lion and the Jewel’ were written during his study and apprenticeship in Europe. He published his highly controversial play, ‘A Dance of the Forests’ to coincide with Nigeria’s independence in October 1960. ‘A Dance of the Forest was considered an affront to Nigeria’s political leaders who saw it as a satirical presentation of the reality of the time. The play, which he prophetically used to warn Nigerians and

all Africans to spend their energies trying to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, put him at odds with the newly constituted government.

Back to his father land, he spent his times at Ife, Ibadan and Lagos pursuing his vision of a new and better Nigeria. During that time, he wrote and directed a good number of plays like the ‘Trials of Brother Jero’, ‘The Road’, ‘The Strong Breed’ and ‘Kongi’s Harvest’. In these plays, he encourages a return to good African cultural practices.

He wrote for radio and TV a couple of other satires all geared towards engineering positive change in the society. His first novel, ‘The interpreters’ and his first book of poetry ‘Idanre and other Poems’ were published in 1965 and 1967 respectively.

His unrepentant desire for a change among the corrupt ruling class set him at loggerheads with the government. He eventually entered mainstream politics in order to be the change he advocates but he did not have a smooth sail. He was detained at different times, most of them in solitary confinement.

He recounts his ordeal in another of his authobiographical books titled ‘The Man Died’.

‘A Shuttle in the Crypt’ (1972), his book of poems and ‘Season of Anomy’ (1973), a novel, were the channels through which he relayed his

imprisonment and bitter face off with the authorities. He wrote them and two other tragic plays, ‘Madmen and Specialists’ (1970) and ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’ (1975) while on voluntary exile.

He later wrote ‘Myth, Literature and the African World’ (1976) and ‘Art, Dialogue & Outrage’ (1988) before coming up with ‘The Open Sore of a Continent’ (1996), a book on the unpopular military government in Nigeria, which pronounced a death sentence on him and the extra judicial killing of his fellow Playwright, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

He has written numerous essays and delivered speeches at different fora with his characteristic and unrepentant boldness.

A book, ‘The Crucible of the Ages’, a collection of essays has been written and launched a few days ago to celebrate this great man of our time.

Edited by Ivor Agyeman-Duah and Ogochukwu Promise with a foreword by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, it has renowned African writers like Nobel laureates- Nadine Gordimer, Toni Morrison and Derek Walcott; three African leadersformer President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and scores of distinguished writers and scholars including Ama Ata Aidoo, Ngugi wa Thiong o’, Sefi Atta, Ali Mazrui, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Toyin Falola, Nicholas Westcott and Prof. Atukwei Okai as contributors.

Works by Soyinka Plays Keffi’s Birthday Treat (1954) The Invention (1957) The Swamp Dwellers (1958) The Lion and the Jewel (1959) The Trials of Brother Jero ADance of the Forests (1960) My Father’s Burden (1960) The Strong Breed (1964) Before the Blackout (1964) Kongi’s Harvest (1964) The Road (1965) Madmen and Specialists (1970) The Bacchae of Euripides (1973) Camwood on the

Leaves (1973) Jero’s Metamorphosis (1973) Death and the King’s Horseman (1975) Opera Wonyosi (1977) Requiem for a Futurologist (1983) Sixty Six (short piece) (1984)[36] A Play of Giants (1984) From Zia with Love (1992) The Detainee (radio play) A Scourge of Hyacinths (radio play) The Beatification of Area Boy (1996) King Baabu (2001) Etiki Revu Wetin NovelsThe Interpreters (novel)|The Interpreters (1964)

Season of Anomy (1972) Short storiesA Tale of Two (1958) Egbe’s Sworn Enemy (1960) Madame Etienne’s Establishment (1960) Memoirs The Man Died: Prison Notes (1971) Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981) Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years: a memoir 1946-65 (1989) Isara: A Voyage around Essay (1990) You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006) Poetry collectionsIdanre and other poems (1967)

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Life

I didn’t offer anybody N2.5m to kidnap a child – General Overseer On June, 26, 2014, there was pandemonium at the Majidun area of Ikorodu, Lagos State. The news that Mrs. Rosemary Chukwu, a mother of four, kidnapped a seven-year-old boy, Emmanuel Emeka, and stuffed him into a big suitcase after tapping his mouth, hands and legs broke and travelled like a wildfire.

The woman later alleged that her pastor, the General Overseer of Holy Family Ministry a.k.a House of Mercy, Pastor Ernest Chukwuemeka Nwankwo, offered to give her N2.5 million, if she could bring a boy about Emeka’s age. Nwankwo, 49, was arrested and handed over to detectives at the State Criminal Investigation Department, (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos for interrogation. Nwankwo later spoke with some journalists at SCID. JULIANA FRANCIS writes.

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Pastor, what really happened? have a ministry formerly called Jesus Divine Healing and Deliverance Ministry. It is now known as Holy Family, Happy Family Ministry. I was out of Lagos for two weeks. I came back on Tuesday, June 14, and came to my ministry on Wednesday morning.

I don’t know how these allegations of ritual actions against me started. My ministry has existed for 17 years and we had never been associated with such allegations. On that fateful Wednesday, my plan was to quickly do some work and rush out again, because I was supposed to leave for Abuja for another programme.

But around 7.30am, a group of people, numbering over 300, armed with dangerous weapons invaded our ministry. They started breaking everything. They also descended on our members who were over 50 and were in attendance for the morning worship. They not only subjected our members to serious beating, they also took all their bags and stripped all the women and children naked. I was inside the office when they Do you know the woman? Is she a member of your church? invaded the place but they later broke into my office and I can’t remember seeing or meeting the woman before. A lot descended on me. We were all seriously wounded and of people come to my ministry. It will be very difficult for me our bodies were covered in blood. to know all of them. However, the police at Panti interrogated My ministry does not engage in ritual killings or such hor- both of us. I can’t even remember whether she called me on rible things as those people claimed. People usually troop telephone or not because I cannot say the number of people to our ministry. We organise Children’s Day for over 30,000 that call me on telephone every day. My phone number is children all over our branches every year. In Ikorodu, we nor- available and given to people freely. She claimed that the Holy mally have not less than 10,000 children during the day. We Spirit told her that I should give her N2.5 million, and that she have hosted these children since we started and we had never came and asked me to give her the money but that I told her had any problem for more than 10 years now. We have also that I had no money. According to her, she came back again been doing well in all our activities. We have a rehabilitation to me and requested for the money and I then asked her to centre where mentally challenged people are healed. Relations go and bring a child to me before I could give her the money. of such people bring them to our ministry and also stay with Is it true? them until they are healed; after which they will go home. We I asked her where and when we discussed this! If she had any don’t charge them! evidence to show that she ever visited my ministry! Visitors to You were telling us how your ministry was attacked. the ministry always register their names before seeing me, or if Yes! Four of the hoodlums took pity on me and rescued me there was any other evidence to show that we discussed that as they were hitting my head with machetes and dangerous kind of thing. I punctured her story. I could not understand weapons. They took me to Owutu Police Station where I made what concerned me with her message and her Holy Spirit! a statement. When they asked me how it started, I told them What happened next? that some hoodlums invaded our ministry for no just cause.

She claimed that I had been seeing her in the spirit to suck It was while we were there that the people who rescued me her blood and that of her daughter with two gallons since she told me that a woman claimed I sent her to kidnap some- failed to bring a child to me. She also claimed that I used to body’s child. stand at her door for two days, tormenting her. She said that Before the police, I asked for the identity of the woman and was why she had to go for the child when she was caught. I why she claimed I told her to kidnap a child. They said it was asked her where we met and discussed because I had been out for ritual purposes. After I recovered from the shock, the police of town for two weeks. How did she know that I was back? suggested I should go and treat myself because I was bleeding She said she was aware that I came back because I used to profusely. I went to the hospital for treatment, only to read in carry out consultations. It is well known by everyone that my the papers the following day a lot of other damaging stories consultation days are announced for members of the public. and that I was on the run.

She also claimed she called me on phone in December 2013 Were you not on the run? and that she came to the ministry once this year but she could No! I personally reported to the police at Owutu in Ikorodu not substantiate where and when we discussed her claims. after treating myself and also personally reported at the SCID She was thoroughly interrogated but she kept on contrathe following day, which was a Monday. By Thursday morn- dicting herself as if she was either insane or under a spell. ing, the rumour was everywhere. On Friday, while I was going Unfortunately, her 14-year-old daughter whom she said I was to treat myself, I quickly sent my lawyer to SCID because the sucking her blood with hers was not there during the intercase had been transferred there. My lawyer told them that I rogation. I had hoped the girl would be there, for all to be able personally reported to the police at Owutu after the incident and that I was allowed to go and treat I believe that part of the problem in Africa is that we myself.

Were you detained at SCID? worship people whom we should hold accountable.

Actually, my lawyer wrote an undertaking to produce me the next Monday and we all came to In Nigeria, people cannot hold question God but SCID on that day. I went there, straight from LASUTH, Ikeja, where I had an X-ray. Even one of my believe heaven will pay; we treat our leaders as gods ribs was said to have been cracked and I sustained and cannot question them other serious injuries.

to decipher what her mother was talking. At 14, she should be old enough to speak for herself. I had never had this kind of ugly experience and I pray never to again. I also pray that the police should endeavour to get to the root of this case because I have suffered over this matter. A matter I know nothing about.

What about the bones and people found tied up inside your church?

The man people are saying was kidnapped was actually brought from Anambra State and was one of the mentally challenged people undergoing treatment in my ministry. He is known by almost every regular member of the ministry. He was brought to the ministry by his family members for help in line with the social responsibility and spiritual obligation of the ministry. The man’s cousin who brought him to the ministry is Mr. Atuanya, a member of my ministry and his wife was with him in the ministry while he was undergoing treatment. They are living witnesses and are ready to testify to anybody who cares to know the truth. My ministry operates an open door policy. We have no no-go areas; both visitors and members of the ministry are never restricted even up to my personal office. Why should I send her to bring a child to me when I am happily married with children? What would I do with the child?

How are your friends, members and family taking this event?

People have been calling me from all parts of the world and you know that bad news travels fast. It’s very unfortunate that people believe such a story when there is no substance. When you look at the woman, you will know that she is somehow deranged and we are convinced that by the time police finish their investigation, the truth will be out.

What I cannot fathom is why she chose to tell all these lies against me. She may have been sent by somebody to run me down because people in that neighbourhood said they saw an SUV hovering around in the wee hours of the morning before the incident. They said the mother of the victim said she saw an exotic vehicle which later picked up the woman’s children. Police should investigate who owns the vehicle and where they were taken to. Whoever picked her children must have a link with this incident. Police should also find out whether this is the first time she is doing this sort of thing. How many people must have fallen victim to her antics? Worse, nobody has told us where the woman is from because the way the media descended on the ministry; they left out the main ingredient of the whole matter as if they were sponsored to run down the ministry. All I know is that she cannot be doing this alone. Her sponsors should be fished out. So far, the police have been professional in their interrogation and they made us understand that investigations will take time and that the truth must surely surface. Inside the cell, I detested being treated like a criminal but I took it as another message point in terms of ministration. After all, Jesus went through worse tribulations in life.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Diaspora Notes/ International Education

Uniting Nigerian students in the Diaspora T

Akanimo Odon

he Nigerian youth is very talented and energetic; unfortunately these talents are sometimes either latent or expressed negatively. It is imperative to create a veritable platform for the Nigerian youth to express energies positively for the common good. Every year, it is estimated that over 20, 000 Nigerian students go to the UK to study and that number is increasing yearly with the development of other education destinations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Against this backdrop, several organizations have developed different programmes, events and projects centered on this powerful resource, which if brought together, can be transformational. This is the latent power of the Diaspora that needs to be unleashed towards national development. One of such organisations is Xn Foundation, a non-governmental organization set up in 2006 by two outstanding Nigerian Youth. As launch point, the organization set up the International Conference of Nigerian students (ICONS), which is the single largest gathering of Nigerian students in the United Kingdom. The inaugural event held in 2007 at Lancaster University and brought together about 200 Nigerian students from all over the United Kingdom. The aim of this initiative was to foster national development, emphasize and enhance the unity of the diaspora community, increase the image of Nigeria as a country

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against a backdrop of negative perceptions about the Nigerian state and its people, empower these students towards recognizing their status and capacity to impact the nation and to show case the work of distinguished Nigerian students while celebrating and awarding success.

In eight years, this initiative and event which has been hosted by six UK Universities (Lancaster University, Univeristy of Hull, University of Kent, University of Northampton, University of Coventry and the University of Central Lancashire), has garnered outstanding achievements including building a data base of over 10,000 Nigerian students who have studied in the United Kingdom; hosting over 50 short seminars on a range of topics peculiar with and attractive to Nigerian Students in the UK; built a working relationship with over 30 UK Universities who have been well represented in the programmes; hosted over 200 international guest speakers and dignitaries including Members of Parliaments of the UK Government, Vice and Pro-Chancellors of different UK Universities, Chief Executives of a wide range of UK and especially Nigerian organisations, businesses and government; received sponsorships and funding from a wide range of reputable UK and Nigerian organisations including British Council, different reputable UK Universities, banks, Telecommunication

giants, education organisations; provided a platform for the set up of over 20 private companies, organisations, programmes and initiatives by Nigerian students in the UK and in Nigeria; developed the largest consultant and partner base to support Nigerian students in the UK across a wide area of specialization peculiar to the Nigerian student population in the UK. This year, the international conference of Nigerian students in the UK took a different strategic dimension

with a theme that focused on the enterprising capacity of the Nigerian in the Diaspora and how this capacity can be harnessed to with to make an impact. The conference, which had over 200 participants from across the UK, was hosted and sponsored by the University of Central Lancashire with other sponsors including London School of Business and Finance, Sochitel Group UK, IOA Consults, Divine Keys to mention but a few. It was at-

tended by very eminent personalities including the Mayor of Preston City, Councillor Nick Pomfret, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire, Lynne Livesey, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, Ben Osawe, the Founder of the Centre for Volunteering and Community Leadership, Allethea Melling MBE, am international consultant Dayo Akenroye to mention but a few.

SCHEMES AND OPPORTUNITIES

n this section, we will explore three schemes and opportunities that are worth considering for Nigerian students on the international education front.

NIGERIAN STUDENT CAREERS PROGRAMME (NSCP) The Nigerian Student Careers Programme (NSCP) is a new initiative of Xn Foundation, a UK and Canada registered non-governmental organizations run by Nigerians, as an offshoot of the prestigious International Conference of Nigerian Students (ICONS). The programme was conceived by the organization as a way to bridge the gaps in knowledge faced by Nigerian students who resume for different courses or programmes overseas. Resuming for a new course can be daunting especially when one is new to the study environment. Understanding what to do while studying in other to enjoy maximum benefit during and after ones study, especially when a student pays exorbitant tuition fees, is big nut to crack. This programme attempts to bridge these gaps.

Did you know that acquiring skills from a work experience even if it is an unpaid work is almost as important as if you were paid to do it? This might not be the case in Nigeria but in several developed

countries and in many international organizations, this is true. What is vital is if skills were acquired in the process of doing the job. This puts a different face to the act of volunteering which is a mind set Nigerian students should have when they resume for their programmes overseas. This is more so important when work experience is a crucial requirement for graduate jobs, a requirement many Nigerian students seem to lack after their programmes. Did you know what joining a professional body in your course of study tells an international employer?

It says that to some extent you are up to date with global models, process or knowledge in your course area? NSCP is a one-day programme that exposes Nigerian students to the fundamentals of careers and employability, enterprise and personal development, etiquette in overseas locations, visas and immigration challenges and how to overcome them. This programme is now available to organizations, companies associated with the Nigerian student populations including scholarship bodies, education agencies, organisations sponsoring Nigerian students to study overseas, higher institutions sponsoring their staff to undertake overseas programmes and even

individual students wanting to be fully equipped before they resume for their courses overseas.

HND TOP UP PROGRAMMES Everyone knows of the HND dilemma that has inflicted career pains to several Nigerian students and graduates. The negative perception and almost paralytic disdain associated with the HND certificate is simply appalling yet remains an old tale of incumbent consequences. This is particularly so when compared to the bachelors degree certificate. On the back of this, several institutions have made an attempt to support HND certificate holders through the development of strategic conversion and top-up programmes that guarantees the issuance of a bachelors degree upon completion.

This is the case for Kaaf University College Ghana, a private university with over 1,000 students who is fully accredited by the Kwame Nkrumah University to run this programme both in Ghana and overseas including Nigeria under a flexible delivery model. The tuition fees for 2014 is about 3,000 US Dollars and the top-up programme has a ninemonth running duration starting at the end of August this year. For 2014, HND

top programmes would be in Business Administration and Engineering particularly in Electrical Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering.

On the international front, Aberystwyth University have also developed a Pre-Masters programme for Nigerian students under their International English Centre, which aims to develop both academic and language skills needed for post-graduate study in the UK. The pre-masters programme is designed for students who need to improve their English before commencing with their post-graduate degree and for students whose undergraduate programmes is not equivalent to a British undergraduate degree. This is particularly useful for HND holders. The Pre-Masters programme is a 30-week course that begins in September 2014 with tuition fees of 8,500 Pounds.

There is also a fast-track option of a 15week course study commencing in January 2014 with tuition fees of 5,000 pounds.

In addition to this, all students who undertake the Aberystwyth University Pre-masters programme would have an automatic scholarship of 1,500 pounds towards their actual Masters degree programme upon the completion of the Pre-Masters course.

Sanctity of Truth

ON SUNDAY

Page 15, JULY 13, 2014

I never planned to become a pastor

窶的tuah Ighodalo

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Look the part, dress for the job you want

Senator Ita-Giwa signals high society

Time to quit that marriage

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Body&Soul

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Juliet

Contents 13.07.2014 COVER If you don’t live life according to God’s rules, you will end up making the mistakes of life that can make you lose your peace; and it can happen to anyone

-Ituah Ighodalo

} 18-19

BEAUTY For some of the more vain ones after 30 among us, every birthday is a day to look more critically into the mirror to figure out if we look our age or not

} 21

GLAM DUDES

FASHION

Dressing to fit into your company’s code shows that you are a team player and are concerned about the image you and your company present to clients

T h e Te a m l Juliet Bumah (Editor)

l Vanessa Okwara (Correspondent)

} 22&43

l Wole Adepoju

ACCESSORIES

Make sure your heel is not too far back or it won’t support your weight properly. The centre line of the heel should be directly under the centre of your own heel

l Biwom Iklaki (Correspondent) l Abimbola Sodeke l Ugochukwu Nnakwe (Graphics) l Edwin Usoboh (Graphics) +234 (0) 811 675 9770, +234 (0) 701 110 1014 chibumah@yahoo.com julietbumah@newtelegraphonline.com

} 17

Associates

BED, WORK & LIFE

There is nothing wrong with growing a moustache but you must make an effort to keep it tidy all the time

} 44

Vixen is presently in Germany with her husband. She claims the book helped her to hook the man for good.

Hmmmmmmmm!

Kathryn turns more pages until she gets to that chapter and leans back on the divan.

‘While it is true that some men are

turned on by women who look available, act like a puppy and wiggle a bit, women should realize that men are biologically programmed to seek out women and devote themselves to winning their approval and affection

} 20

Helen Paul

Stanlee Ohikhuare

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Accessories

17

Body&Soul

Structure of comfy heels Biwom Iklaki

E

very lady worth her salt in shoes knows the value of heels. Take a look at the poise and shimmy in the steps of a lady in heels. It gives an extra sexy spring to her step besides extra inches in height. There is a confidence that comes with wearing heels that flats don’t quite give you. However, beauty is pain they say, so it is expected that a certain level of discomfort will come as a price for looking this gorgeous. A few things can, however, make the heels more painful than is due.

• Heel placement Make sure your heel is not too far back or it won’t support your weight properly. The centre line of the heel should be directly under the centre of your own heel. Thicker heels often do this automatically, or you can look for narrow heels that dip in slightly at the top.

• Sole thickness High heels are much more comfortable with a little padding, especially on hard surfaces. So, some sort of a platform is always a good idea. If your shoes don’t have a platform, try adding a gel insole.

Despite so high, the shoe on the right is probably more comfortable on city sidewalks thanks to that thick platform.

• Sole rigidity Avoid shoes that have rigid soles made out of wood or hard plastic. The leather and rubber soles have more give, allowing them to move with your feet and adjust better to inconsistencies in the ground.

Despite having a relatively thin sole, the rubber and leather combo is probably more comfortable and easier to walk in.

• Heel Thickness When your heel is wide, you enjoy more stability. Wedges are considered more stable, especially when they are not too narrow and the entire sole touches the ground.

Chunkier platforms like the one on the right often have a rounded sole, which helps keep your weight back on the balls of your feet, instead of forward on your toes, to give you greater stability.

• Security When it is difficult for you to slip out of your heels, the harder they will be to walk in. It is best when your shoes feel like an extension of your body, not something foreign that could fall off at any moment. A beautiful pair of sling backs or a pump is preferable to a mule, but a boot or something with a strap that goes across the front of the foot or ankle is even better.

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Body&Soul

I never planned to become Right from the beginning, fate had orchestrated events to bring him to God’s divine alignment for His creation. No wonder when he deviated in his thoughts, his father’s counsel redirected his path. Bringing to fruition, his search for peace placed him face-to-face with God. Today, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, who spoke to CHIJIOKE IREMEKA on his career and priestly calling, is Chairman, Fina Trust Microfinance Bank; Chairman, UniCourage; Managing Partner, SIAO, a chartered accounting and auditing firm, and Pastor-In-Charge, Trinity House among others One boiling issue in the country today is the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N35m recapitalisation figure for Bureaux de Change.

How will this affect the economy?

I want to believe that the CBN had thought through the policy before embarking on it.

I believe also that BDC business is a way of bringing foreign currency down to the people. If the CBN makes it difficult for people to enter the business, it becomes thorny to ensure free flow of foreign currency throughout the country. But I guess the CBN would have their reports to necessitate such a policy. Perhaps, they have done that to attract more serious minded people to the business but I’m not sure if the N35million capitalisation requirement will make financial sense for the people, except they increase the volume of supply to each BDC operator, especially now that the operators will be reduced. More so, BDC is a business and everybody looks at his business model to see how it can reward him financially. I’m not sure the CBN wants to interfere too much with how a person runs his business. Again, the approach should be more of regulation than making BDC another symbol of job creation. It should be seen as more of regulatory, fiscal and monetary policy issues rather than driving employment control for it.

Today, bond-taking is in vogue and many states of the federation are taking Federal Government bonds. As a business strategist and tax adviser, what are the implications of bond-taking to the economy?

Bond-taking is good. There is almost no serious government that wants to make a serious impact on the lives of the people that does not borrow at one point or the other or take some bonds to finance one project or the other.

But the key to that bond is that, it’s well-thought out and tied to a project or a set of projects that have economic and social values; of which its repayment is tied to the ability of the revenue generating capability of the government overtime. If all these parameters are there, it’s a welcome development because, if the infrastructure borrowed for are not

done, the state of the country might not be worth living in.

If for instance, you want to build an airport to open up economic activities in a particular area, you need to do it immediately; because in 10 years’ time, that opportunity in such environment might not be there again and you might never catch up with it. When there is no money, take bonds, plan well, and within short period of time, you get the reward from such project. This is how responsible governments are able to repay their bonds.

Some projects are self-funding. By the time you build a nice road, and a million cars pass on it on daily basis, taking N10 from those cars as toll, which they are not bothered about, the project recoups the money within few years. But if you don’t do the road, the economic and social implications on the people might be terrible.

that is not bankable. It’s just the way it’s structured that either makes it bankable or non-bankable. If you want to build a house that can take three years, it can be done within three years. If you want to give somebody a six-month loan to build a house over three years, of course, you can see that the project is not bankable.

We have to match the project with the kind of funding it requires. Some projects need two months gestation and others, five years gestation and so on. The issue of bankability does not arise if you have proper structure and funding, except there is adverse fraud. But the issue remains, are the products in the right quality and quantity needed? Are they available in the right proportion and proper manner? If these are answered, the bankability becomes the issue of structuring finance to meet production.

There is increasing concern over unbanked money in Nigeria, yet banks are whittling down their branch networks in the rural areas against CBN’s policy on rural banking. How can this be harnessed for developmental projects in the country?

The unbanked money in Nigeria runs into trillions of naira. Nigeria is still a cash-based economy even as the CBN is trying hard to make it a cashless society. The reason the CBN is doing this remains the fact that the cost of cash handling is expensive, whether minting or otherwise. The CBN must bring out a realistic policy. If you asked banks to open a number of branches in a community with about 3000 people, of which their economic activities are worth N1 million, asking five banks to go and scramble for 3000 people will be a big challenge.

There have to be certain rebates or subsidies by CBN to encourage banks to provide partial social services in the rural areas for a certain period of time; say, the first four years of the projects until they break even. The banking activities in such areas will also promote the economic activities of the communities, which eventually lead to the viability of those branches themselves. If these are not induced or supported, either by the CBN or the Federal Government, it will continue to affect the economy adversely.

May be, as a way out, if it costs a bank N1million to open a branch in the village, the CBN and the bank may share the cost just to encourage them for a certain period of time. When the banks know that their losses are mitigated or reduced by the CBN, they will move into these areas and get the unbanked. Also, the banks will now have money to lend to people, thereby, increasing economic activities of such areas. With this, we can harness the unbanked money and put it to work.

Lack of planning and bankable projects are said to be responsible for low access to funds for developmental projects in the country. As a project developer and planner, how can Nigeria wriggle out of this?

To be honest with you, there is no project

How will indigenous accounting firms help in solving these problems?

For instance, in SIAO, we try to give financial advice and evaluate the project itself to see the best structure that will make it survive, in terms of finance, equity and debt, tenure longevity and others.

One thing is to make sure that the person driving the project has the required experience, knowledge and skills to execute it.

Having done this, we consider the managerial infrastructure to ensure there is no fraud, leakage and abuse of the entire process. Once you can guarantee that, you don’t have any problem, the project will rest well.

Also, when necessary, we suggest and advise on the best personnel for the project, because one of the challenges that might be encountered is the lack of skilled personnel to handle it, due to absence of training and retraining for good exposure. This is where the government should be fully in charge, especially in our educational and technical trainings that have gone to rest.

We need a proactive and thinking economic atmosphere and leaders who can think ahead and help to manage the economy, without which, we will just be fishing in the dark.

How many storms did you weather to get to where you are in the accounting profession today?

Perhaps, we are the leading Nigerian indigenous auditing and accounting firm in Nigeria today. One of the things we do is working to develop local content in auditing firms, encouraging the accounting profession in Nigeria. Right now, the accounting profession in the country is dominated by the so-called international firms, denying the local firms their jobs. This results in capital flight, and using Nigerian resources to build another man’s economy. Every industry has passed its own revolution. There was a time in Nigeria, when most of the architectural jobs were handled by international firms. Over time, most of them were addressed and today, there are more local firms in it, same for engineering and

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Body&Soul

a pastor – Ituah Ighodalo

the same we want to do for accounting, which has come of age. It’s critical now because you don’t get enough business and you don’t get to employ the right quality of staff. Government has to embark on accounting support regulations for companies registered in Nigeria to be audited by the local firms. But at SIAO, we are progressing, we have quality staff, we do a lot of training and exposure and we are doing well by God’s grace. We will do better if the government insists on that. Can you imagine that not one of the banks in Nigeria is audited by local firms? We do not mind if the international firms come in, but the work has to be shared between the international and the local firms so that the local firms can develop too. In China, there are certain jobs that the government insists must be done by local firms. Same can be done here.

Was accounting the original course you wanted to study as a child?

Not really, as a young child. I had wanted to be an engineer and later changed my mind to go into business and make money but my father advised me to have a profession before going into business.

So, I looked for a business-related course, and my father being an accountant, I chose accounting.

Now, from accounting to being a pastor.

How did you receive the calling, to the point of becoming the General Overseer of a church?

Well, I would like to refer to myself as ‘Pastor-in-Charge’ and not General Overseer. But the point is, I never planned to become a pastor, I was trying to find my

peace. Like I said, after my education, I got a job with PriceWaterHouse, where I was working, but it wasn’t working for me. I lost my peace and was frustrated to some degree. I went to the God that I didn’t know so well and I said, ‘God, if you are there, help me and give me back my peace. I need peace.’ He visited me in a distinctive way and I regained my peace. He encouraged me to join a church and I started with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Apapa branch.

I threw in whatever I had in that church and very soon, I started receiving celestial responses to my issues. I became a worker, joined ushering and became a minister. After a while, I started going for evangelism and foreign missions. Afterwards, I was asked if I would like to pastor a parish. Initially, I didn’t want it because I thought I could be a minister, doing more of ministry support but God didn’t give me rest until I accepted and they gave me a parish.

Did you see the hand of God frustrating you, taking your peace, perhaps, to bring you close to Himself?

Well, you wouldn’t say that God tried to frustrate me. God just allowed me to go through the natural course of life without divine assistance to get the result I got.

It’s like the law of gravity, which says that what goes up comes down. Certain things will happen to you if you do certain things.

If you drink and smoke, you are most likely to end up a smoker, addict and drunkard. There is nothing God can do about that. If you are sexually promiscuous, there is every tendency that you will

pick up one form of disease or the other.

However, if you don’t live life according to God’s rules, you will end up making the mistakes of life that can make you lose your peace; and it can happen to anyone. But one day in everybody’s life, we will come back to the question ‘what is the meaning of life?’

Some people go through life’s issues without peace and believe such is life, but it isn’t normal. God said He has not given us the spirit of fear but of love and a sound mind. But if you don’t do the right thing, you will not get the proper result.

In other words, God allowed me to go through that progression of life to bring about the result that I got to make me know that I should seek Him for directions. Surely, I get directions from Him. Above all, there is hell and there is heaven. If you live a certain trajectory of life on earth, you will get the result at the other side of the great beyond. It is either peace here on earth and peace in heaven or war on earth and war in heaven.

As a young man full of blood and vigour, how did you contend with the issues of evangelism?

Oh! This is an important aspect of Christianity. First of all, part of the things that make you feel and know that you are on the right track as a born again is that burning desire in you that everybody must hear the good news and join the fellowship of the brethren. It’s unusual that people found a good thing, and look for others to enjoin them but Christianity affords you that opportunity. For the matter of compulsion, you must get them to come and join you in the good works.

So, what do you consider the funniest thing you have done for God? Well, I can’t remember but I hold God very seriously. I don’t know if I have done anything funny for God but I would do anything for God. What are your hobbies?

In those days, I enjoyed playing swoosh and a bit of golf, watching soccer and others. But today, I don’t have such time for these because I really run a very busy schedule. I still find time to enjoy a bit of soccer.

What do you do for pleasure?

Well, my business is my pleasure and I enjoy my pastoral calling. I have no desire for any other kind of pleasure but when I need to relax, I relax; when I need to take it easy, I take it easy; and when I want to rest, I rest or watch television or relax, talking with my wife or taking a walk. Yes, I do other things to balance my life.

What are favourite meals?

I’m not a food person, I like salad and fruits.

With the number of things you have on your hands, do you find time to sleep?

Most days, I get to bed between 1am and 2am. Between 4am and 5am, I’m up to pray. But sometimes, after praying at about 7:30am, I go back to have a light nap before going out. Sometimes, I sleep earlier. Moreover, any day I have sleep deficiency, I take a day or two out to make up for it.

20

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Body&Soul with

Juliet Bumah +234 81 1 675 9770

chibumah@yahoo.com

I’ll get a hubby in six weeks (1)

K

atryn walks back to the divan and sits, curling her legs under her. It is going to be another long, lonely weekend. It has been like this for two months now. She still can’t seem to understand why she has not netted a serious man.

She uncurls herself from the divan, walks into her room and is back at the verandah, moments later, with a slim book. Since she bought the book, she had not read a single sentence from it. However, this Friday night, she will read a relationship expert’s advice on how to net a man for marriage.

She has detoxed herself of the numerous men that have crowded her world. At 36, none of them has shown any sign of taking the relationship to the next level. And does she want to move to the next level? Yeah… like yesterday!

Katryn, like some women, feels that a man falls for a woman with a pretty face, great legs, nice butt and…and the right wardrobe. Such women use great looks and at times, sly behavior, to attract the men of their choice.

It has worked for her for years, but they have not helped in tying a man down for a lasting relationship. She makes herself more comfortable on the divan and turns the first few pages of the book, ‘How to net and keep the man of your choice for ever.’

She scans through the pages, looking for a particular chapter –the one recommended by her friend, Vixen.

“You need to read that book, especially a chapter that teaches you how to think like a man. After reading it, Kathy, you’ll beat the man at his game,” Vixen has said with a giggle.

Vixen is presently in Germany with her husband. She claims the book helped her to hook the man for good.

Hmmmmmmmm!

Kathryn turns more pages until she gets to that chapter and leans back on the divan.

The author begins, ‘While it is true that some men are turned on by women who look available, act like a puppy and wiggle a bit, women should realize that men are biologically programmed to seek out women and devote themselves to winning their approval and affection.

‘It will interest a woman to know what a man wants in her. I’d really have loved to ascribe the following to friend Joe, but a guy who is worried that more ladies are still finding it challenging to get their choice men, has decided to help them out.

‘Approachability is the key quality,’ he says. ‘Every lady wants a man to see her as someone that he will like to meet, be around and perhaps ask out, based on personal qualities which, incidentally, is exactly the same thing that men want. When we see you, we see a girl and we expect you to act like a girl, at least within reason - just like you expect us to act like a guy.’

Kathryn picks an apple from a fruit bowl on a side table and bites into it absentmindedly. She reads on.

‘Even fabulously beautiful women may often find themselves lonely if they have an approachability problem, so be nice and friendly. Like you, we’re intimidated by the opposite sex. If we know that you’re the type of person who is receptive, then we will be more likely to approach you, get to know you, and like you.’

So men can be intimidated by women?

Do I intimidate men? Kathryn wonders as she turns the next page.

Men love real women.

‘If you think something is really funny, do you laugh uncontrollably without regard

for what people think? Good for you - we do, as long as it’s not a phony laugh. We like it when women fuss over us a little, it has something to do with mummy, I guess.’

Is that so? Is that why Ayo refuses to see me again? She signs.

Men may admire but do not really enjoy the company of ladies who have attitude.

‘Do you have a whole lot of class? Dump it....unless you pull it off in a very feminine way, then it’s all right. Having class is fine just be careful how much.’

“I know I have class and I attach premium to it,” Kathryn mutters.

Dress well and be clean.

‘Dress with the crowd - but just a hair better. That is, fit in but always look just a bit better groomed and dressed than everybody else and be clean.’

“Now, that’s not new. I have always known that,” she tells herself but reads on anyway.

Watch your words.

‘Never say, ‘F--K!’ or tell downright dirty jokes even if accepted because deep down, we don’t like hearing women say it.

Mummy didn’t say it and there’s a lot of a ‘mummy’ in what we like about women.’

Don’t talk about other guys.

‘Never talk about how great some guy is.

It puts us off because we can never compete with how great some guy sounds when a woman is telling the story. Don’t talk about other guys if you don’t have to.

It makes us uncomfortable.’

Maintain the appearance of popularity.

‘If you are around a group of men, or women, and is being ignored - get away from them. Never try to be the centre of attention, but don’t let men see others ignore you either.’

Watch your breath.

‘When talking to men, don’t blow your breath towards them unless you know what it smells like. If you blast a garliccoated breath once, they’ll think about it every time they’re near you. There are ways to talk, even close up, that won’t cause this. Learn them.’

Don’t act dumb.

‘Intelligent women are interesting, fun to talk to and sexy as hell. We all want one.’

Hard but true.

‘We’re instinctively attracted to women, in general, for purely mating reasons. After we get to know them, as individuals, it’s a different story but keep in mind that this is the basic reason we are attracted to you. Never trust a guy that tells you that it’s not true.’

Keep your legs together.

‘Don’t sleep around, or rather, don’t let it be known if you do. Each and every one of us wants to nail you and think it’s fine if you sleep with us but terrible if you sleep with someone else. It’s an illusion we don’t even understand ourselves.’

Show interest.

‘When you meet men, follow up. Go out of your way to be attentive the next time you see them. Hook them into your circle

of men that are attracted to you. The more you’ve got, the more you can choose from.’

By the time Kathryn gets to the end of that chapter, her body is shaking uncontrollably with laughter.

“So, men are not different from women?

So they feast on attention the way we women do?” Kathryn nevertheless reads the last nugget.

‘We like girls with hair – mostly long but short also, as long as it is only on their heads - and their... well... you know. So ladies, you don’t have to be a beauty to attract your dream man, you just need these secrets and the willingness to use them.’

Kathryn folds the last page of that chapter and drops the book on the side table.

She looks long and hard at the traffic snaking round the road in the distance, throws her head back and lets out the most unfeminine laughter she has ever come up with.

She said to herself, “If these are the only things I need to tie a man forever, then, why haven’t I done that? I didn’t read a single thing that I didn’t know in that book!”

On a second thought, she wonders if truly she has put all to practice and concludes that she hasn’t.

She stands up, crosses her heart and mutters, “On my honour, I promise to have a man walk me down the altar in the next six weeks or I walk one down there.”

She rushes into her room, picks one of her best dresses and her killer heels. An hour later, she looks into the mirror and is happy at her looks. She then picks her car keys and sashays out of her flat.

Where is Kathryn off to? Keep a date with me next Sunday!

21

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Body&Soul

Stop inviting wrinkles!

•SMOKING Smoking is not only cancer-causing, it is also responsible for wrinkles.

Biwom Iklaki

F

or some of the more vain ones after 30 among us, every birthday is a day to look more critically into the mirror to figure out if we look our age or not! The thought probably never crosses our minds all year round until we hit the landmark day of our birth.

This is all good and fine but don’t forget that in order to look in that mirror and get a favourable reflection, you need to watch all the habit you partake in day in, day out!

• DRINKS If your ‘drink’ means alcohol and not water, you need to note that alcohol dehydrates the skin.

When skin is dehydrated, it loses its elasticity and will appear less plump and sallow. Alcohol also has a negative impact on your Vitamin A level in your body.

Vitamin A is very important in the production of collagen, which keeps your skin supple and taut.

If your ‘drink’ is water, keep drinking your wrinkles away.

• SLEEPING IN YOUR MAKEUP There is no louder way to call forth wrinkles than sleeping with makeup on your face. When you sleep, your skin regenerate naturally. During this period, if there

•CHEWING GUM Chewing gum can cause a defined line on your lower mouth, the line down your nose and around your mouth.

When sustained over a period of time, it can cause that area to wrinkle as well as other structural issues with the mouth.

i s makeup on your face, it marries with the environmental pollutants you would have picked up throughout the day and together they seep into your pores. This will further break down the collagen and elastin, speeding up the aging process and leaving you with fine lines.

Cleanse and moisturise every day before bedtime.

• FOODS Too much sugar in your diet causes premature aging through a process called glycation. So, too much refined sugars and carbohydrates not only have an impact on our weight, but also speeds up the appearance of wrinkles. After all, you are what you eat.

•SLEEPING There is beauty in catching your Zs. When you sleep, the skin refreshes itself.

It does self-rejuvenation, which is very essential to beautiful and youthful skin. The collagen and elastin is renewed which plumps up the skin.

•STRETCHING SKIN TO APPLY MAKEUP Who doesn’t love her retro inspired makeup? Yes, you need some precision to apply that winged eyeliner but stretching your skin to do so will invariably cause it to wrinkle.

•PICKING YOUR FACE Every time you pick at or pull your skin, you can irritate the skin and even cause wrinkles. Instead of picking those annoying zits, use natural products on the spots or allow them come out on their own.

22 JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Look the part, dress

Body&Soul

43

Hardball Nigerians misunderstood Sanusi's $49.8bn claim –Makarfi p.28

biyi adegoroye, ASSISTANT Editor, Politics biyi.fire@yahoo.com

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Tel: 08033024007

JULY 13, 2014

Interview Shelle: APC is mortgaging states’ future p.27

23

Politics ON SUNDAY

NDDC: Agent of growth or cash cow? (1) Against the recent revelation that the Niger Delta Development Commission has over 4,000 uncompleted projects scattered across nine states, CHUKWU DAVID in Abuja and EMMANUEL MASHA in Port Harcourt in this report examine the fundamental objective, core mandate, budget and performance of the agency in the last four years

President Jonathan

W

Eighteen and half kilometre Erema Road in Rivers State being constructed by the Niger Delta Development Commission.

NDDC Managing Director, Dan Abia

hen the Niger Delta Development Commission, a federal agency, was set up 14 years ago by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo (retd), stated that it has 4,000 uncompleted projects recently, not a few Nigerians were taken aback. They wondered why the commission which has the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich but scandalously degraded and neglected region has accumulated such despite the fact that over N826 billion has been earmarked for it in the last three years.

The disclosure may have given credence to fears of poor performance of the commission as expressed in many quarters. For instance, in 2013, during the commission’s defence of its budget in the National Assembly, the Senate President, David Mark, accused the NDDC of not delivering on its mandate. He said that the NDDC, “over the years has completely failed to perform and I remember that the last time we passed their budget here, all of us without exception condemned the fact that they were not performing.”

The same sentiment was also expressed by not less a person than President Goodluck Jonathan, when the new board resumed duties. He had promised to take special interest in the running of the NDDC for the benefit

ous disruption of oil operations in attempts to compel change to be effected in the region.

These disruptions came with extremely costly consequences to the Nigerian oil industry, the multinationals and the Federal Government. The government, aware that oil is the mainstay of the economy, started working towards uninterrupted extraction operations.

Therefore, the NDDC became a child of circumstance, delivered purposely to address these concerns by attempting to satisfy the demands of the people of the Niger Delta.

During the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, the Federal Government took a major step towards actualising these developmental and turn-around initiatives in the then crisis-prone region. Yar'Adua announced the formation of a Niger Delta Ministry to provide the administrative framework, which would drive the policies that would bring to reality the demands of the devastated inhabitants of Niger Delta. Following the emergence of the ministry, the commission automatically became a parastatal under it.

of the people, and faulted the situation where enormous funds were released to the commission but there was no corresponding level physical development on ground.

Jonathan said, “The Niger Delta people feel that the NDDC is not really doing what it is supposed to have done over the period. There are so many ongoing projects and a body like NDDC should not just go into a voyage of contract awards.”

The President, therefore, warned that all ongoing projects must be completed for people to benefit before new ones are awarded.

He added, “There are just too many ongoing projects and we believe that you don’t even have enough manpower to manage the ongoing projects. If you aggregate the total amount of money the Federal Government has spent on this agency, it is enormous. But I do not believe that we have something on ground to show very clearly.’’

Flashback

With benefit of hindsight, one can recall that NDDC was created largely as an interventionist initiative. It was created in response to the agitations of the Niger Delta people, who have been pushing to attract the Federal Government's attention to their socio-economic and psychological trauma brought upon the re-

gion by the activities of multinational oil companies. The Niger Delta area is inhabited by diverse ethnic minorities, mostly those of Ijaw and Ogoni extraction. They formed pressure groups to confront the Federal Government and multinational oil companies such as Shell, Chevron and Mobil to respond to their plight.

Over the years, the people of the Niger Delta have been able to justify their grievances by making reference to the extensive environmental degradation and pollution from oil activities that have occurred in the region for over six decades. In spite of their agitations, they received little attention from government and the oil companies.

The environmental remediation measures were limited and negligible. Consequently, the region became highly underdeveloped and poverty stricken. Basic amenities such as roads, schools, hospitals, electricity, etc were scarcely available. Farmlands and aquatic creatures were almost totally eliminated by the activities of multinationals.

With government’s seeming unresponsiveness to the people of the area, out of frustration they resorted to violent confrontation with the state and oil companies, as well as with other communities in the area. This started affecting oil production adversely. The angry youths, through their organisations, orchestrated seri-

Mandate of NDDC

Based on the NDDC Act 2000, which established the commission, the agency has the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

24

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Politics / Analysis

NDDC: Agent of growth or cash cow? (1) C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 3

following responsibilities to carry out in order to accomplish its purpose of existence: formulation of policies and guidelines for the development of the Niger Delta area; conception, planning and implementation, in accordance with set rules and regulations, of projects and programmes for sustainable development of the Niger Delta area in the field of transportation including roads, jetties and waterways, health, employment, industrialisation, agriculture and fisheries, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications.

Others are: Surveying the Niger Delta in order to ascertain measures necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development. Preparing master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the region and the estimation of the member states of the Commission. It is also saddled with the implementation of all the measures approved for the development of the region by the Federal Government and the states of the Commission and identifying factors inhibiting the development of the region, and assisting the member states in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the region.

Besides the above, it is also expected to assess and report on any project being funded or carried out in the region by oil and gas companies and any other company, including non-governmental organisations, as well as ensuring that funds released for such projects are properly utilised.

It must also tackle ecological and environmental problems that arise from the exploration of oil minerals in the Niger Delta region and advise the Federal Government and the member states on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution.

It also liaises with the various oil mineral and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution, prevention and control, and execute such other works and performing such other functions, which in the option of the commission are required for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region and its people.

Budgetary allocation since 2011

In order to achieve these onerous objectives, budgetary allocations are made to the commission annually. In the past three years for instance, over N826bn has been allocated to the commission. A breakdown of this shows that in the 2011 budget, the National Assembly approved the sum of N261 billion for it, while in the 2012 budget, it approved the sum of N250,857,925,434.00.

The approved budget for 2012 comprised Personnel Expenditure of N10,218,484,743; Overhead Expenditure of N7,565,400,131,00; Capital Expenditure (internal) Expenditure of N1,017,825,000, as well as Projects (Development) Expenditure of N232,056,215,560.00.

In 2013, the budget sum of N315 billion was approved for the commission, translating into N15 billion for personnel costs, capital expenditure got N2 billion, overhead expenditure had N11.99 billion, while N286 billion was allocated for development projects.

In 2014, the commission’s budgetary estimate is N322.6 billion. The revenue represents a two per cent increase over the 2013 expenditure. The proposal which has been presented to the Senate for consideration and approval is still undergoing necessary legislative processes in both chambers of the National Assembly. It comprised personnel expenditure of N15.80billion, recurrent expenditure of N10.186 billion, capital expenditure of N2.281billion and project development

Another on-going project of NDDC in the region

expenditure of N295.051billion.

The commission said the 2014 budget is set to address the goals of the consolidation phase of the Master Plan (Niger Delta Development Master Plan), which is in its seventh year, by complementing previous budgets’ objectives.

Therefore, the thrust of the 2014 budget will be to consolidate the commission’s efforts in employment generation, wealth creation and poverty alleviation.

Performance of NDDC

But how has the commission performed in the past few years? It said it has executed about 850 projects running into billions including in agriculture, infrastructure development, health, education, and communication technology and job creation. In the area of infrastructural development, about 550km asphalted roads were reportedly completed in various parts of the region during the last budget year.

On provision of water, the commission's spokesman told the Senate Committee on Niger Delta that the agency completed the construction of 50 water schemes within the region during the 2013 budget year, while 70 communities were connected with electricity and about 300 transformers installed in various parts of the region to improve power supply last year.

Under communications technology, the commission is reported to have constructed high speed internet network in some universities and provided computing facilities for tertiary institutions and 28 public schools across the region, just as it claimed that about 500 farmers received subsidised inputs through the commission's enhancement scheme. It trained over 2000 young men and women across the region in agricultural methods and provided them with farming starter kits for fishery, snail keeping, cassava, rice and animal rearing.

In the area of education, the commission reported that it has delivered four new 500bed hostel blocks to four universities in the region and awarded 200 foreign scholarships to Niger Delta youths and completed some classroom blocks; while in the area of women empowerment, about 500 women were trained as traditional birth attendant, with 100 empowered in various skills acquisition programmes.

As regards the health sector, the commission has undertaken construction and repairs of specialist hospitals and cardiovascular hospital in partnership with private sector service providers. It also said that 89 patients benefitted from its foreign medical aid on life threatening ailments while 5,000 people benefited from its free medical service programme. In the area of job creation, the commission had

through its skills acquisition programme empowered 500 youths in welding and fabrication, entrepreneurship development among others.

Reactions from catchment areas

An appraisal of the activities of the commission the various states under its coverage in the past few years is of interest to all Nigerians.

In Rivers State, one of the biggest projects being handled by the commission – the Bonny Ring Road - remains a work in progress. Last year, the abandonment of the project led youths from Bonny Local Government Area to protest. The youths alleged that while the completion of some NDDC projects in the area was being delayed, others had been utterly abandoned. They urged the government to revoke the N11.2bn contract.

One observer, a lawyer, who preferred to speak on the condition of anonymity, identified the poor execution of contracts, as well as the cases of project abandonment as a ‘clear indication of failure by the NDDC.’ He added, “We have a situation whereby contracts are awarded without the commission ensuring that quality jobs are delivered. And when these projects with very short life spans get bad or worse, they are re-awarded. To me, that is an injustice against the Niger Delta, whose people are supposed to benefit from the Federal Government allocation to the NDDC.” Steve Obodokwe of the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development, is of the view that the NDDC has received so much to make serious impact in the Niger Delta, but that corruption has trapped it and denied the people of the goodies expected from the commission.

He said, “If the NDDC has performed, the people of the region won’t be complaining.

The Niger Delta people continue to confront the very challenges the NDDC should have addressed more than a decade after it was established. The truth of the matter is that those running the commission don’t seem to understand why it was established in the first place.

The NDDC is supposed to be an interventionist agency with well spelt out responsibilities in the Niger Delta. The huge resources at its disposal place it at a vantage position to solve some common needs of the people.”

He acknowledged though that the commission deserves credit for constructing some roads and other small projects, but “the people of Niger Delta know that the NDDC is a cesspit of corruption - a place where political appointees and supporters settle themselves with the resources they ought to use in developing the Niger Delta.”

On the Federal Government resolve to hold on to parts of the allocation due the commis-

sion, Obodokwe condemned the move, saying that it limits the commission’s effectiveness.

Chief Wellington Echewe, a prominent farmer and community leader, wants the NDDC to use the ‘huge resources’ at its disposal to launch an agricultural revolution to reduce unemployment in the nine states under its catchment area.

He observed that the present duties of the commission’s conflict with those of most governments within the Niger Delta, and stressed the need for the commission to take a different route to development.

“Take a look at all the states in the Niger Delta region, and you will discover that the NDDC does nothing other than carry out the same project that state governments undertake. State governments construct roads, claim they train graduates in skill acquisition, and abandon them to their fate after such trainings. That is the same path the NDDC has taken since former President Obasanjo established it. It awards contracts for less than five-kilometre roads rather than implement its development master plan.”

But a contractor, who has handled projects for the NDDC in the past, scored the commission very high in terms of performance since it was established, crediting it with not only improving infrastructure in the entire Niger Delta region, but for also alleviating poverty.

He said that those accusing the NDDC of underperforming miss the point, arguing that without it, the Niger Delta would have been ‘a complete mess’.

He said, “When people make sweeping comments on the NDDC, they fail to realise the poor state of infrastructure, as well as unemployment in the Niger Delta prior to the establishment of the commission. I am talking about the era when the state governments were struggling to meet the development challenges confronting them. The emergence of the commission has changed the situation by reducing that burden, and even leading the charge in some areas.

“We should be more concerned on how the Federal Government should release the billions of Naira due the NDDC that it has withheld without any justifiable reason. The development challenges facing the Niger Delta cannot be solved by seizing funds budgeted for the NDDC. In my mind, the NDDC has done very well and should be encouraged to do more.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the commission on the level of implementation of the last three years’ budgets of the NDDC were unsuccessful as its Communications Director, Mr. Ibitoye Abosede, said the documents were unavailable and promised to present them at a future date.

25

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Politics / Column

Makarfi’s report, subsidy brouhaha and public interest

T

hursday July 10, 2014, was a remarkable day in the annals of the legislative life of the Seventh Senate. It was the day the Red Chamber took critical decisions on the highly controversial and widely celebrated issue of the $49.8 billion alleged non-remitted oil revenue by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC).

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had in September 2013, alleged that the NNPC was indebted to the national treasury to the tune of $49.8 billion, being non-remitted oil revenue from the various transactions it carried out from January 2012 to July 2013.

This allegation did not only spark apprehension and protests within some sections of the public, it also provoked calls for a comprehensive inquiry into the matter. Consequently, the Senate directed its Committee on Finance at one of its plenary sessions in December , to carry out an in-depth investigation into the matter, in order to ascertain the authenticity or otherwise of Sanusi's claims.

Ironically, when he first appeared before the committee in December, 2013 during the investigative hearing, Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, started adjusting his earlier claims. He then posited that, out of the initial $49.8 billion said to be missing, it was $12 billion that NNPC did not remit to the Federation Account. Later on, he reduced it to $10.8 billion and finally raised the figure to $20 billion.

At the end of the committee's investigation, which lasted for six months, the panel first of all punctured Sanusi's claims by saying

From the Chukwu David chukwudavid68@yahoo.com

that there was no missing $49.8 billion. The report says: "the committee could not see how the figure of $49.8 billion was arrived at by the CBN Governor for instance. The CBN governor at the first hearing had put forward the figure of US$12 billion as monies to be reconciled and changed his position to $US $20 billion at subsequent hearing. At the conclusion of his written submission, he posited that it could be $US $20 billion, US$10.8 billion or anything in between."

Considering the report on Thursday, the Senate lavished encomiums on the committee for what it described as the painstaking, courageous and thorough work done on the matter, which generated so much controversy and insinuations in the polity. Accordingly, the legislators considered and voted on the 22-point recommendations of the panel.

However, item number 11 in the recommendations, which asked the Federal Government to remove the subsidy on petroleum products because of the alleged misapplication of billions of dollars being voted annually for the scheme, was rejected. This does

not mean that the whole Senators rejected the idea. It is only that in a democracy, the minority will have their say, while the majority will have their way.

At the beginning of the consideration of the report, the issue of subsidy removal sharply split the Senators into two parallel factions. While one faction canvassed for the total removal of the subsidy from petroleum products, the other group vehemently spoke against the proposal. But the interesting and intriguing aspect of the issue is that each faction claimed its position was propelled by public interest.

For instance, Senator Ayogu Eze suggested that the country should do away with subsidy and that those who had been found to have enriched themselves illegally through the proceeds from oil sales should be punished. He posited that subsidy had festered corruption in the oil industry, and unless it was abrogated, the fight against corruption in the industry would remain effort in futility.

Similarly, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri from Bayelsa State said that subsidy was

encouraging corruption and called on the executive arm of government to probe the subsidy regime, and also remove it from the system. His word: "Subsidy is one evil that will continue to resist the fight against corruption. Therefore, the only way to defeat corruption in the oil sector is to do away with subsidy".

On the contrary, Senators Abdul Ningi, Ahmed Lawan, Olugbenga Kaka, Smart Adeyemi and Kabiru Marafa all kicked against it. The bases for their opposition to subsidy removal campaign is that, subsidy is the only automatic way of making the common people in the country to benefit from the wealth of the nation. They are also of the opinion that fuel subsidy removal will impose unbearable hardship on the people.

In ruling on the matter, the President of the Senate, David Mark, cautioned those calling for the removal against working contrary to public interest, saying that adequate public enlightenment and education must be carried out so that facts would be made available to the people and then public opinion at the end of the day would count.

Looking at the above scenario, public interest has become a matter of controversy.

However, the truth is that, one out of the two opposing views as it affects subsidy removal and public interest is more realistic. Those who argue that it should be removed tend to be looking at the long term effect on the economy while the other camp is simply interested in the immediate succour it tends to provide for the masses. However, time shall determine how it will be resolved.

Ortom and burden of supervising Aviation Ministry

D

r. Samuel Ortom is the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, and the supervising Minister of Aviation.

A man of humble beginning, Ortom is one politician without controversy despite his many years in the political arena.

As Chairman of Guma Local Government Area of Benue State (1991 to 1993) on the platform of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, he was voted the Best Performing Chairman in 1992. He thereafter, became State Publicity Secretary of the National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN); State Treasurer of the All Peoples Party (APP); and State Secretary as well as Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), all in Benue State.

Ortom was also director of operations of the PDP gubernatorial campaign in Benue State in 2007 and director of administration and logistics of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization in 2011. He served shortly as national auditor of the PDP before he was appointed minister in July 2011. All these years, nothing negative had been heard about Ortom until he assumed the supervisory role of the Aviation Ministry.

Today, he is a frontline aspirant to the Benue Government House come 2015 on the platform of the PDP. But since coming into the Aviation Ministry, stories have been flying and Ortom’s name has suddenly become synonymous with the traditional controversies of the Ministry. Last week, he was before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation headed

by Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha to respond to questions on the $500 million Chinese loan obtained by the Federal Government last year for the remodeling of the Port Harcourt, Abuja, Lagos and Kano airports to international standard. He was also quizzed on the allegations of missing N174.7 billion in the Ministry. These issues have been in the media for some time now.

In as much as these activities took place

From the

GreenChamber

Philip Nyam long before Ortom assumed duty in the Ministry, he has been made to face the music being the man in charge at present. There have been different versions of the story in the media. But at the interactive session with the Committee on Aviation, he explained that the $500 million Chinese facility for the remodeling of the nation's airport has not been accessed since there was no budgetary provision for it in the 2014 Appropriation Act. He explained that the Ministry was fully involved in the negotiation of the $500 million Chinese facility adding that the money will be accessed directly from the Chinese Exim Bank when the counterpart funding is ready. The Minister also dismissed media report on the alleged N174.7 billion missing fund, noting that Ministerial Committee set up when he resumed duty, was assigned to verify the actual debt liabilities of the Ministry.

Since the coming on board of the current civilian dispensation in 1999, the Ministry has always been embroiled in controversies. No Minister has passed through it without having to battle allegation or another. It started with Mrs. Kema Chikwe, the first female Aviation Minister during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s first term in office. Chikwe’s controversy began with the National Airspace Management Agency contract for the installation of radar for the coverage of

ternyam@gmail.com the country’s airports. Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha who was then the chairman of the board of NAMA was unceremoniously sacked over alleged inflation of the contract.

Chikwe found herself in the black book of the House of Representatives, when she consistently ignored summons from the Lower House during the probe of the award of radar contract. A threat of arrest by the House forced her to eventually appear before the committee. The committee however absolved Okorocha of any wrongdoing.

Chikwe would later engage in a rough fight with the then Director- General of Bureau of Public Enterprise, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, when the Ministry attempted to privatise the Nigeria Airways without recourse to the BPE. Prof. Babalola Borishade who succeeded Chikwe did not fare better. His tenure as minister was characterised by incessant plane crashes. So much money was injected into the sector yet there was no improvement, compelling the National Assembly to mount pressure on President Obasanjo to relieve him of the post. But before long, Obasanjo bowed to intense pressure from the National Assembly as well as from families of the ADC crash victims and Nigerians at large and sacked Borishade.

With the sack of Borishade came the fire spitting erstwhile senior special assistant on

public affairs to Obasanjo, Chief Femi FaniKayode. Fani-Kayode’s reign was not different from that of his predecessors such that even after leaving office, he was slammed with charges of corruption. Fani-Kayode, who has just been left off the hook by the EFCC was first arraigned in December 2008 before Justice Ramat Mohammed on a 47-count bordering on money laundering.

On March 6, following the EFCC’s amendment of the 47 counts to 40 counts, the former minister was re-arraigned before Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia. In the charge, the accused was alleged to have transacted with funds exceeding N500, 000 without going through a financial institution. He was also alleged to have accepted cash payments of about N100 million while he was Minister of Aviation and Minister of Culture and Tourism respectively.

Under the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Mrs. Fidelia Njemazi held sway in the Ministry. As usual, there were series of controversies but she survived.

Then came Princess Stella Oduah, whose tenure courted controversies from day one.

In spite of the transformation she brought to bear on the sector, Stella was consumed by the banana peel in the ministry. Allegations of violation of the procurement act in the purchase of bullet proof cars at the cost of N255 million stirred a protest from the parliament and the general public against the minister. Pressure was mounted on President Jonathan until he was forced to ask the minister to resign.

Today, Ortom holds sway in this controversy-laden Ministry. But for a man who has evaded controversies all his political career, this Ministry is certainly not for him. A s a new set of Ministerial nominees were announced last Thursday, I pray one of them takes this burden from Ortom. I only hope that Ortom will leave this Ministry with clean hands just like he came in.

26

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Politics

Tense 24-hour air trip to Ghana

G

hana is one country in Africa that I have always looked forward to visiting. As compared to Nigeria, it is indeed a small country with a population of just about 25 million people. Ghana's story particularly its efforts at ensuring steady power supply to its small population have always caught my interest.

Records do show that within the continent, it is better-off on this score with roughly 72 percent of its population having access to electricity.

Like a doubting Thomas, I had always wanted to see for myself this small African country which has to some great extent been able to confront the monster 'power', trading where bigger nations in the continent like my dear Nigeria are yet to get it right.

A Ghanaian friend, Simeon Dworwulu, based in Abuja ones told me that if there was anything they ought to be proud of, it is the ability of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to provide them with uninterrupted power supply. Apart from few times when there was insufficient water in the Akosombo dam and times when there have been a few operational difficulties, Dworwulu told me clearly that the ECG in collaboration with the Voltage River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) has always provided the public with uninterrupted power supply.

Last Monday offered me that opportunity to visit my long dreamed country. Invariable, other Nigerians would desire to travel to Europe. But as early as 6am, I had left my small apartment in Nyanya, a suburb in the nation's capital for the Presidential Villa, just to beat the morning traffic gridlock and join the advance team of the President for an official trip to the Ghanaian capital, Accra.

President Goodluck Jonathan was one of the participants at the 45th Ordinary Session and two-day summit of the Heads of State

T

he success story of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ekiti State will continued to be told for some time. Until the commission is able to post a better performance somewhere else, Ekiti story will continue to sound like a metal gong.

INEC Deputy Director in charge of publicity, Nick Dazang, last week, revealed how the commission was able to resolve the issue of perennial late arrival and distribution of election materials on Election Day in last month's governorship election in Ekiti State.

As a background to the story, it could be recalled that to the surprise of many Ekiti electorate and independent observers who monitored the election, materials meant for the election were distributed in the polling units as early as 8 am. Unlike what was the case in the previous elections, there was no report of delay in commencement of election, no report of lack or shortage of election materials by INEC officials and no complaint of missing names in voters' register.

Again, in the previous elections, election materials (both sensitive and non-sensitive) from INEC headquarters in Abuja were kept in the state branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria before distribution, on Election Day, to various local government areas. This is irrespective of the fact whether the local government area is in the riverine or not. That was why election materials arrived at some polling units as late as 12 noon. And when they arrive, some of the materials would be missing because politicians would take advantage to pilfer some (perhaps, in collision with election officials) to rig the poll.

But in Ekiti, the reverse was the case. INEC was able to overcome the challenge, accord-

Anule Emmanuel emmyanule@yahoo.com

Disturbed by the protest, Arik officials were later compelled around 2:20am to secure accommodation for the passengers and Governments of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS) which held in Accra to deliberate current security challenges facing the sub-region and the need to enhance free movement of persons, goods and services for improved trade relations among member countries. I was among his media crew.

So many things are wrong with our system. Our problems as Nigerian citizens is compounded by the fact that often times, we do not know our rights, or maybe, we do know but choose to shy away from them.

For the trip, I had been informed that joining the President's team, we were to fly on Arik Airline to Ghana on an afternoon flight for a stopover in Lagos, then later 7pm on the same airline to Accra.

In a well coordinated arrangement, presidential protocol officers ensured that we arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on schedule, an hour before the take off time. After passing through the rigorous security checks that is now common at our airports because of the increasing incidences

of terrorism, we began the waiting game.

I would later understand during the waiting hours that some passengers whose flights were as early as 8am had them canceled by airport officials who made announcements and gave technical issues as reasons. Several flight arrangements for different routs including international travels were canceled while I waited with my colleagues to hear the announcement of our flight take off. I prayed fervently against its cancellation. After two hours of waiting, we finally took off to Lagos and arrived at about 6:15pm.

As I sat listening to many flight cancellation of flight in Abuja just before we boarded, I wondered what would be the fate of a few passengers who may have been strangers in the city. You could see the frustration on their faces. While I thought over this, unfortunately, I never knew that something more than what made me have pity on the Abuja passengers was in waiting for me and my colleagues on the way to Accra.

We had no problem obtaining boarding passes when we got the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed airport in Lagos, cleared through the several security checks again and headed straight to the boarding lounge. This was where another range of the proper waiting game started.

Arik flight from Lagos to Accra was scheduled for Monday 7:20pm. Together with my colleagues, we located the board-

ing gate and sat for hours without any information from Arik officials. Again, in Lagos, we were not alone in the waiting game. Some passengers had been there for the 11am flights to Ghana and Senegal.

It became glaring to everyone at about 12:45 am that there would be no flight that night. Even at this time, Arik officials were secretive about the true situation. Most passengers already had accepted to their fate.

Some slept on the floor while others took spaces on the available chairs to pass the night. Everyone was indeed stranded.

But a few passengers decided promptly and chose not to allow this injustice go without a protest. They knew that with the unfortunate development, it was the responsibility of Arik to fend for the passengers until another flight arrangement was made.

Disturbed by the protest, Arik officials were later compelled around 2:20am to secure accommodation for the passengers. A few buoyant ones had left earlier to nearby hotels and secured accommodation for themselves. I joined 42 others to Ibis Hotel later arranged by Arik, a few kilometres away from the airport where we passed the night.

Finally, we arrived at the Kotoka International Airport Accra early hours of Tuesday.

Really, travelling to Ghana with this nasty experience from Abuja can be no different to going by road. Not withstanding, I have since confirmed for myself Ghana's history of steady power supply. For the three days we spent in Accra, specifically greater Accra, no one witnessed a blink in power. One desires for Nigeria huge success in the power sector reform considering the critical place of electricity to economic revival. What is of note again is the fact the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), needs to improve in its supervision of airlines particularly as it relates to treatment of passengers in airports around the country.

The secret of INEC electoral success in Ekiti

INECDiary Onyekachi Eze

Again, in selecting the centers, INEC should still insist on the use of public buildings and avoid the temptation of accepting offers from politicians "for comfort and security of INEC staff and materials" ing to Dazang, by creating Super Registration Area Centers (Super RACs) in every ward.

What this means was that the electoral commission indentified a special center, usually a school building or town hall, where election materials and INEC staff could be kept/ sleep on the eve of the election under heavy security watch for early distribution the following morning.

Although, Ekiti has no riverine community (that was why the release of election result was prompt and timely), Dazang also gave

ezekatchy@yahoo.co.uk

insight on how INEC is planning to beat likely (or existing) sabotage by transporters and marine operators who would be engaged to convey electoral officials and materials to election venues.

Usually, INEC depends of third party for the conveyance of election materials to required designations. On land, it relies on commercial transporters while marine operators were engaged to ferry the materials by boat to riverine areas.

But trust Nigerian politicians, they can go to any length to achieve their aim. They can out price INEC to ensure that transporters reject election materials in place of their non-existing cargo. Even where they agree to convey the materials, the vehicle or boat can develop 'fault' on the way or mid-sea so that the materials would arrive late to the destination.

To overcome this challenge, INEC decided to engage the services of Marine Department of the Nigeria Police (instead of commercial operators) to move election materials and

staff to riverine areas, which will be escorted by officials and men of the Nigerian Navy and police.

In Ekiti, INEC has proved that distribution of election materials could be possible despite the challenges. The commission should however, be in mind that it took politicians in the state by surprise. Now that it has its way, it should not take for granted that future elections should be as smooth without politicians' interference.

Now that they have learnt the secret, the commission should not expect that politicians will not go down without a fight. The reason why sensitive materials were kept in the branch state offices of CBN is for security.

But with the use of Super RACs, which assist in early distribution on Election Day, the areas should be well fortified and secured to ensure that they are not tampered with.

Again, in selecting the centers, INEC should still insist on the use of public buildings and avoid the temptation of accepting offers from politicians "for comfort and security of INEC staff and materials", which may turn out to be private residence of a powerful politician in the ward, thereby compromising the transparency and credibility of the election.

The commission cannot afford to relax after a superlative performance in Ekiti.

Nigerians, and indeed, the international community expect that the August 9 governorship election in Osun will record an improvement.

27

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Politics

APC is mortgaging states’ future, says Shelle

R

ecently, those who were standing trial over the murder of Funsho Williams were acquitted.

What is your reaction to this giving the fact that he was your gubernatorial candidate many years back?

I wouldn’t want to judge the judiciary, but I find it somehow illogical to have come out with such judgment. Funsho Williams was the PDP candidates in the 2007 election and I believe everybody could see he was coasting to victory due to his popularity, maturity, pedigree, antecedent and his love for the people and being loved in return. He was a brilliant person and he would have been the governor at the start of democratic rule in Nigeria. But for some reasons, he was denied the ticket and was somehow asked to step down by the leadership of the party then.

He eventually moved to the PDP where he made waves and was doing well and was seen as someone who could win the election. And a group of criminals knocked life out of him- I do not want to point accusing fingers at anybody but those people who didn’t want him to be the governor did this ungodly act.

If you juxtapose this acquittal with the series of unresolved political motivated killings in the country - Dipo Dina, Marshal Harry and others. What impression does that give you of the criminal justice system?

To be fair to the judiciary, we need to understand that on the one hand, murder cases are very difficult to handle. Most of the time they want to give benefit of doubt to the accused and it takes a very long time to come to conclusion. Take for instance the case of the athlete, Oscar Pistorius who shot his girlfriend in South Africa. One would have expected the case to be over and concluded by now, so easily but it is taking a long while because you have to consider so many evidences before you arrive at a logical conclusion.

Probably we don’t have enough investigative capacity and the technology is not there and could delay justice in one way or the other. But all the same I will expect our judiciary to be proactive. There are some of this cases that are clear cut and I wouldn’t want to conclude that the police is not doing its best. Sometimes they tend to appear in court which they fail to do for one reason or the other and sometimes someone might be taking treatment and would not appear in court. And the justice on their own part who is compromise they can from time to time delay justice all these put together speak volume for our judiciary and judiciary system.

The Attorney-General for the Federation and the Minister of Justice I believe are trying to make the judiciary a better arm of government now. And I believe with time things will get better. On the issue of Funsho Williams, who are those people that were arrested? Are they the real culprit? If they were, why are they talking about forensic deficiency and evidence developing virus even long before now? This means the case is been predetermined, and they were being deceitful.

Senator Iyiola Omisore has said that in the past four years N157billion was released to local governments in Osun State, but if you visit these councils, you won’t see anything?

The Constitution states that allocation from the Federal Government supposed to go to the local government via the state government. It’s not for the state government to collect the allocation and spend it on whatever they like. In most cases, this allocation is abused. In many states in the

Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Lagos State chapter, Olatunji Shelle, spoke with BIYI ADEGOROYE on various national issues

Shelle

country, once the allocation is collected, the state government only releases money to pay salaries of the local government chairmen and their councilors and staffs.

And maybe a little imprest. They don’t use the money to develop the local government. They will prefer to take money to prosecute election in other states.

And to what extent have the opposition parties risen to give the required opposition?

Yes, we are doing so but before now, election rigging at all levels was the order of the day. The police were compromised, INEC and security agencies too. But now that the leadership of the country has woken up to realise this, they had to deploy enough security agencies to places like Ekiti State during the last election and that woke INEC up to conduct a free and fair election. We have raised the alarm so many times; we realised that the last local government election held in Lagos, the results were announced in Badagry openly but what did they do with it? They went back to their office at Yaba and upturned it. Even at Obalende/Ikoyi Local Govern-

A lot of these states have mortgaged the future of the citizens, because they are indebted to banks and they take bonds of N50billion to N100 billion just to give us light roads and bridges.

Now they are using it for beautification and this is what other states ruled by APC do ment, the results were on ground and instead of collating them; they took it down to their office in Yaba and changed it.

We took both results to them at the tribunal and we won. But at the end of the day, they still challenged the tribunal’s verdict, and went on appeal and they were declared the winner of the election.

Some of their candidates in various local governments are not even qualified to be

in the office because they don’t have the qualification. We raised all the alarm but if you take them to court the court is compromised. The case of the former President of Court of Appeal is an example.

It is often said that PDP governors have the history of poor performance especially in the South-West. What could be the problem?

In the case of Ogun State, I have never seen a governor that opened up the place as fast as Gbenga Daniel did. The road from Shagamu to Abeokuta junction was the first which he dualised and it facilitated easy connectivity, business transactions and make transportation easy.

He did that within a short time, while he embarked on so many other projects that have never been done before. Mark it, development is a continuous exercise; you can’t finish all the work in a day, but what the APC states normally do is they go to foreign banks, take loans to come and deceive us here that they are working. What is the cost of the contracts they are executing? Where a Kilometre of road is supposed to be constructed for N500 million, some of them are awarded for about N1 billion.

A lot of these states have mortgaged the future of the citizens, because they are indebted to banks and they take bonds of N50billion to N100 billion just to give us light roads and bridges. Now they are using it for beautification and this is what other states ruled by APC do. They come to Lagos see the bridges, the roads and they go to replicate them in their states.

Is it bridges they need in Ogun or Oyo State? There are so many other priority projects that should be embarked on and APC should just stop going to the Stock Markets and banks to take loan and bonds and cumulatively they keep owing.

What do you think your state governors should do to ensure victory?

The PDP has sat down with the leadership and drawn up some guidelines.

You will be a governor only if you are able to perform and perform creditability. That is why people of integrity are being prepared to occupy that office so that the office does not lack in qualitative administration. So, PDP is now ready to work, win elections, and give good example to transform the South-West if given the opportunity to rule. We shall start from Ekiti State and we are moving to Osun and other states where elections will be taking place. And we can assure you we have people who can do it especially in Lagos where people have been deprived the basic necessity, the good roads are not there. For example look at Ago Palace Way, Igbo-Efon in Lekki, and visit every interiors parts of the state and you will not see development except the major roads. And these major roads were inherited when Lagos was the federal capital. They only carry on maintenance works but they are not coming up with new ideas. We are shall win Lagos convincingly. The leadership of APC has failed the people of Lagos and it’s enough for us to win election without much ado.

But we shall ensure we present credible and qualitative candidates in all our elections, which is our major strategy. Every other strategy is kept to our chest, but we promise to rule the people of Lagos the best way possible.

28

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Politics / Hardball

Nigerians misunderstood Sanusi's

Makarfi

Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance and former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, in this interview explains how his committee investigated the controversial $49.8bn crude oil revenue funds allegedly unremitted by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to the Federation Account, terrorism and other issues. CHUKWU DAVID was there

H

ow would you describe the current level of insurgency in the country today? It appears that the war against terrorism and insurgency is not achieving the expected result.

Well, the war against terrorism in Nigeria is still ongoing. That should tell you that insurgency and terrorism are not issues you dismiss with a wave of the hand. They are issues that require a multi-faceted approach. A number of policies need to be put in place and dialogue should be a continuous exercise. There is also the need to explore other avenues of dialogue and reach agreement for peace. So in my opinion, the non-constitution of a permanent team by government to continue to explore avenues for dialogue is personally considered as a missing link. Be that as it may, security issues such as this, in my opinion, are not things you discuss in

this kind of interview. This is because when you do so, you may even undermine the avenues for resolving them. There are those things you can discuss in public that can undermine security efforts, because out there, people are listening.

And whatever you propose that might even work, some people will be working very hard to undermine it. Before you start, you are actually stopped in the process. But while I urge all of us to be calling for efforts to be put into the fight against this insurgency, we should not expect that those charged with the responsibility of addressing this challenge will really come out at this time to tell us how they intend to address it. Talking to us without doing much about it will not work.

Similar to the Boko Haram insurgency are the frequent violent conflicts between Fulani cattle herders and farmers, particularly

in the North-Central states of the country.

What do you think is the solution to this problem?

That is the plea I’m making to all of us. Not just me but so many people bigger than me. I believe the problems we are having between farmers and herders, the ethnic conflicts we are having in the Middle Belt is a less cantankerous issue compared to the insurgency. The major issue is the issue of the insurgency, as far as I am concerned.

The governors and all the leaders in those respective states must give the needed responsible leadership. No governor should be seen to take sides in the conflict. If any governor, whether because he said so or his body language indicates that he has taken sides, he will never be able to restore peace. People will continue to fight. So, I urge all the governors to watch what

they say and what they do and how they even move because even their body language must be such that it would tell everybody that, ‘I am your governor; for all of you, I have the responsibility to safeguard your lives and property and I am here to do so’. And by action take measures that would tell all that that is the stance of the government. I tell you, people would pull back.

But the moment any party to the conflict seems to develop a feeling that the leader is biased to any particular thing, that is the end of peace. So, responsible governance by all of us is key to the resolution of these crises.

When you were the governor of Kaduna State, you also faced ethnic and religious crisis. How did you tackle the problem?

Don't you think that states having internal crisis should get assistance from the centre?

29

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Politics / Hardball

$49.8bn claim –Makarfi Nobody came from Abuja to help us in Kaduna to deal with the issues. They were only asking what we were up to and we were only informing them about our efforts. But I cannot recall myself running to Abuja begging the Federal Government to come and help me because I couldn’t control this particular issue.

They are local issues and you are the head. What the centre can do is to help in the deployment of security personnel that can help you to separate warring factions before you make the peace so that people can now live together. The responsibility squarely lies on those that govern those respective states.

There has been a consistent decline in the funds allocated for capital projects in the country's budgetary allocations. As the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, what do you think should be done to reverse the development?

Well, it is not really too bad if you have the recurrent higher than the capital expenditure.

And it also depends on the effectiveness of the recurrent expenditure because recurrent expenditure includes security. The bulk of expenditure for recurrent is security because you require huge funding when you are buying security hardware. But if you are able to secure the country, it is good. And so many other things will follow. A lot of expenses in education, health, agriculture, etc, are recurrent. If a nation must enjoy qualitative education, good healthcare and other essential social services, there is no problem at all with the huge figure in the recurrent expenditure profile. It is how well you are getting the services for the recurrent that should actually be the matter, not the quantum of money you spend on the recurrent. We all know that we are not yet there in terms of the level of quality of services we ought to be getting, looking at the huge resources the federal and state governments are spending annually.

It is a collective responsibility. It is not an issue.

In some cases, it is even better at the federal level than it is at the states. Now, as small as it is, if well spent to deliver, we will be counting on projects completed and not counting on uncompleted or on-going projects. That, in my opinion, tells us that we have to be careful on how we appropriate funds. It’s not the spread that matters, but how we apply funds to deliver goods and services on time. Government is becoming too large by the day. It wants to get involved in almost everything. It is not possible especially for the Federal Government to get involved in everything. We should be careful what we charge the Federal Government for and what we should charge the state governments for.

The same goes for the local governments. Aside from that, dwindling revenue is not because the price of crude oil has gone down or is up, but production. And we all know the factors that are inhibiting crude oil production like oil bunkering, oil spillages and other crude oil-related criminalities. Aside from that, the non-oil revenue that the agencies generate comes with some expenses. Revenue from non-oil sources even exceeds revenue appropriated by the National Assembly. So as long as we allow agencies to spend revenues generated as they like, that will not work. And it is unfortunate that the kind of legislations that established these agencies long before this democratic dispensation that we are having, are creating a lot of problems for us. So we really need to have a rethink. We need to put all revenues into one pool and determine, in a reasonable manner, how much each agency needs. In Nigeria, agencies are hardly given the latitude to spend what they think they need and then bring back the revenue funds they think they don’t need. In fact, how many agencies of government do you think will bring back to you the revenue they don’t need? These agencies, in-

Makarfi

stead, will continue to create avenues to spend.

The new Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who recently promised to reduce banks’ interest rates, retracted the promise shortly thereafter. What does this portend for the economy?

The issue of the statement made by the CBN governor talking about reduction of the interest rate could be compared with when the late Bola Ige made a statement on the improvement of power supply before he assumed office as Minister of Power and met something different on getting into the office. Also, of recent, the Chief of Defence Staff said something and had to quickly come out to say he was misquoted.

So, what these tell us is that leaders should think before they talk. They should know the facts before they make statements; especially when you are occupying a sensitive position. It is not good you say something today and tomorrow you change your position. It's good to wait a while, gather enough information and all the facts you need, so that when you speak, you only speak once and people take medium and long term decisions on the basis of what you said. Maybe that’s a baptism for him and I hope that will teach him a lesson not to talk before knowing all the facts.

Again, the CBN Governor is already having issues with operators of Bureaux de Change over the proposed increase in their capital base from N250, 000 to N35 million. What is your take on the matter?

How much forex is the CBN prepared to be selling to those who will be tying down their interest rate at N35m? Look at the opportunity cost. Except if you will be selling forex that somebody tied down at N35m and make a living. If the reason for raising the capital base is because of scarcity of forex, that means government does not have enough to sell. You should not be living for high capital because that would make the operators to make loss.

It is a plus, minus issue here, opportunity cost.

If CBN wants to qualify or wants to bring out certain policies that would qualify operators of Bureaux de Change to buy from it, there is no harm in making such a policy. If it wants to raise the capital base for those that are buying forex, it may do so but the bulk of operation of bureaux de change should not be because they

are going to buy from government. In other countries, government can sell forex to Bureaux de Change in order to regulate exchange rate through various means. But the day to day activities of the Bureaux de Change is not like that. They sell based on what they buy with the minimum capital requirement. For you to open a Bureau de Change, you should be allowed to operate and buy your forex where you can get them and sell and make a living. But if CBN is saying you need a minimum capital base of N10m or more, before it can sell, then it must sell what is commensurate with what the capital outlined. The CBN should make it an option; pay the minimum capital base if you want to buy forex from CBN or ignore the directive if you have an alternative way of sourcing forex. CBN should guarantee selling at a minimum rate of exchange. For me, a policy like that could make sense if they have much to sell but to clamp such a standard on everybody without an assurance of what they can sell, that will be commensurate with the capital you are asking the people to tie down. I think it is not just, it is not fair, it is not equitable. The House of Representatives has taken it as a motion. We will adopt a different method intervention and have discussion between the operators of the industry and the regulators so that something more workable, more humane, may emerge at the end of the day.

The court recently gave an order, stopping the House of Representatives from investigating the alleged N10 billion spent by the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke on aircraft hire. What do you think about the action of the court?

I think it was wrong for any court to stop the National Assembly from legislating or carrying out an investigation. The National Assembly cannot stop any court from trying any case before it. Equally, the court should not interfere in the operations of the National Assembly to make laws or to investigate any matter. The court can find faults at the end of the day. If a legislation is unconstitutional, the court has the power to annul such a legislation. Or if an investigation was biased, and someone proves before the court that he was not given a fair hearing, that is a post-investigative issue and not a pre-investigation matter. I think the

heads of the Judiciary and the heads of the Legislature should really talk to each other and streamline activities so that we can adopt a code of conduct that is good for the Judiciary, good for the Legislature, good for democracy and good for this country.

In the recent probe of the alleged unremitted $49.8 billion oil revenue by the Senate Committee on Finance, which you are the chairman, the report of the committee left the impression in the public domain that you exonerated the NNPC and the Minister of Petroleum of any default; would like to comment on that?

I knew l would not leave here today without you people asking me this question. I don’t want to be quoted out of context. You see, when the then Governor of CBN wrote a letter to the President, he was merely calling for reconciliation; meaning that no money was missing at all. According to the CBN’s own record, they felt that certain sums of money had not been credited to the Federation Account. The fact that the oil proceeds had not been credited to the account didn’t necessarily mean that money was missing. The former CBN Governor was right in calling for a reconciliation of account to determine if any monies were hanging in any account unremitted or they were spent or they were missing, as the case may be. Immediately, the language used by Nigerians was that money was missing even before the reconciliation.

And the first two weeks of reconciliation, even if you reconcile $49.8bn out of a total of $67bn total oil revenue, what remains and was in dispute, was the sum of $20bn. That was what our committee was asked to investigate. But since we were investigating, that reconciliation seems to have stopped to allow the investigation to take place. Since the parties have already settled on $47bn, we concentrated on finding the whereabouts of the $20bn. And for all the information made available to us, and we never had any of our public hearings in camera as some of you were there, we had evidence which was not disputed by any party that $5.25bn was subsidy for petrol. Now if money was spent as subsidy for petrol, we now looked at the authority for expenditure.

We reviewed the budget for the two years in question, the monies were appropriated by the National Assembly. So if money was appropriated by the National Assembly and it was spent, are you going to say that that money was missing? So clearly, $5.25bn was not a missing fund. It was money appropriated by the National Assembly and it was spent by NNPC as subsidy on PMS. And the major issue which was laid before us was the amount spent on subsidy for kerosene. This amounted to over $3bn. The agency responsible to certify gave us evidence to certify that the money was spent. There was nowhere to certify that that money was appropriated. So money was spent without appropriation. Our report was clear about that. You can confirm, based on evidence before us, that the subsidy on kerosene was not appropriated. Also, you cannot say it is missing money. You talk of missing money when you don’t know the whereabouts of money and you can’t find it.

But we saw that it was spent, but you can say that it was illegally spent without appropriation. That is the huge problem, if you know what we are talking about. Then, there was money from third party financing. The then CBN governor was talking about $2bn. But when we received all the submissions, the figure came to $2.4bn, not even the $2bn that you are talking about. So, you can see that we went out of our way to establish an amount higher than what was even alleged. But this third party financing was money not entirely for the Federation Account. And all he (exCBN governor) was saying, was that there was the need to determine how much was for the Federation Account and how much was for third party and also, to ensure that the one for the Federation Account came into the Federation Account.

30

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Politics / National

Northern governors should unite against Boko Haram –JNI secretary Secretary-General of Jamaatu Nasir Islam ( JNI), Dr. Khalid Aliyu, in this interview with BUHARI BELLO in Jos, speaks on the security situation in the country, and why all well-meaning Nigerians should be committed to the fight against insurgency

W

hat is your view on the current state of insecurity in Nigeria?

It is really very scary and very disturbing. It is a nightmare really. What is more disturbing and more alarming is the seeming inability of the institutions saddled with the responsibilities of checking insecurity in the country to rise to the situation. It is as if the criminals are ahead of them.

Though the security chiefs tell us that they are on ground, that they are on top of the situation but unfortunately after making such statement, the insurgents will come and perpetrate a more serious act of the criminality and the next day they will return to tell us that they are on top of the situation!.This makes it scarier because the people do not seem to have a rallying point where they can be secure.

How do you look at the faceoff between some governors and the Presidency and its impact on the polity generally?

Well, this is another dimension to the whole trouble and problems. The political class seems to be on one side of the divides and the citizens are on the other side. Fifteen years of democracy in Nigeria today and we are neither here nor there. If democracy is about bringing government closer to the people; if it is about improving quality of the lives of the people; if it is about improving education, improving security and economic as well as the wellbeing of the people, then democracy or politics is yet to achieve its objectives in the country.

But if democracy is about changing from army uniform to the civilian dress, then of course, we have done that. But if it is about those values that keep the society like education, health and infrastructures which are the dividends of democracy, then democracy is farfetched in the country. If it is just about changing the attires and we don’t see army uniforms, we don’t see the boots and the guns in the Government House, then we have not achieved democracy.

What can you say on the presence of Nigerian Army in the major streets coupled with the alleged complexity in the fight against insurgency?

Of course, these portent danger because we are currently under a siege and there is no free movement in many parts of the north.

You cannot walk or drive to any destination without fear. So, we are in a tense situation really and I think there should be more professional tactics in addressing the security situation in the country. I think security provision the world over has really developed to a level where you are being protected without really having to see people with guns, road blocks and so on scaring you. The roadblocks are everywhere yet the bad security situation persists and it is assuming a more dangerous dimension. So you wonder really what is happening.

How do you look at the reactions to the kidnapping of the Chibok school girl’s?

Well, that is the psychology of Nigerians and it is quite unfortunately. I wonder which one is more painful and dangerous between taking lives or abducting people like what happened at Chibok. How many thousands Olaoluwa of people have been killed by the insurgent

Aliyu

group? How many of them? Very recently within the period of Chibok girls’ abduction, so many communities were razed, many inhabitants were mercilessly killed and quite unfortunately nobody is talking about that.

At Yanyan in Abuja, Gamboringala, Kaduna and many parts of the country we have situations where more than 400 people were killed and nobody is talking about that. I wonder whether it is a kind of media conspiracy or something else.

This abduction and the scenario surrounding it also give you so many things to think about. When you look at those girls shown on

television, you wonder how they were able to learn Suratul Fathia and to know the religion of Islam to that level within a few days. Who bought them the Hijab and who was their tailor, and why were they not camped in a tense situation? And who is the chief or the leader of the insurgence? Is it possible for somebody to upload a 50-minute video in a remote area when you don’t have any communication network? How was he able to do that?

And why is it that whenever there is an orchestrated attack the military will move far away for some time and later return after the attack? In Buniyadi just few hour away from the Operation Mesa patrol car, about 50 pupils were killed and we had many other cases that were never heard of up till this moment. What is really happening? Why are all these things happening now?

Do you see the video clips as the elements of propaganda?

Of course, I think there are psychologist, criminologist and there are experts who I think when they analyse these clips, Nigerians will be shocked with the revelations that they may find out. We pray that such will soon be uncovered.

What is the thinking of the JNI on these happenings?

Well, JNI is still analysing because these things call for sobriety and reflection. We are looking at it with special interest and we shall not hesitate to make it known to Nigerians and the world Do you think the Boko Haram insurgents are really fighting for Islam?

Certainly not. The insurgency is their own creation while Islam is something else. Islam is there for anyone to see. The documents that talk about it like the Holy Quran and the Hadith are there in the whole world and they are about 2,000 years old, with most distinguished interpretations. It is there in the history that such things happened and insurgency is something different. So it is far from it.

What do you think is the challenge before the northern governors?

Of course, the first challenge goes to them.

I think the security situation should have engaged their attention even if other things have to be delayed in order to restore peace in the region. The whole issue requires seriousness and commitment on their part.

Do you think there is a design to divide this country?

Well, it depends on which theory you take.

If you take the security situation which the security agencies have not been able to be tackle up till now, you can say that there are signs of disintegration, which we don’t hope for. The only thing that will rekindle the hope of the people is facing the situation head-on and that can be seen from the commitment and seriousness of the people. Commitment and seriousness don’t need a coloration, music or hyperbole, but they will be seen in practical terms.

What is the task before religious leaders in the country?

As the beacons of the society, we should be able to work together and understand ourselves better. We should understand the need to unite this country and we should know that we are not in competition. We should work together and make the society better.

I pray that prophets of doom will not have their field day in their desire to see the country break. If the political class has failed, we should know that leadership is about serving the people and nothing more.

Youths urged to avoid violence ahead of 2015 Ibukun Kayode

A

s the 2015 elections draw near, Nigerian youths have been called upon to avoid electoral violence and hooliganism as they exercise their rights either as electorate or as aspirants for elective offices in the country.

The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips made the call at a oneday workshop titled: The Role of Youths in Ensuring Peaceful Election, said they should avoid being used as thugs to disrupt elections.

Represented by a Chief Magistrate, A.A. Demi-Ajayi, Justice Philips position was echoed by Major Babatunde Panox (rtd) Security Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola and a Director at the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mrs. Ijeoma Okey-Igbokwe, who represented the Resident Electoral Commissioner all of whom advised youths to embrace peace during and after the general elections.

Speaking at the event organised by the Youth of All Nations in partnership with National Orientation Agency, Congress of the Political Parties, and Federal and Lagos State Ministry of Youth Development, President of the group, Mr. Babatunde Afolabi Ifenuga, said that youth should utilize their population to influence the direction of the election in 2015.

Ifenuga said the workshop was designed to douse tension and prevent violence that is associated with election period which are largely caused by disgruntled politicians who manipulate vulnerable youths to cause confusion and make elections not free and fair.

He called on Nigerian youths to ensure active participation in politics both as aspirants for elective offices and as electorate as a way of working for the real change which the nation deserves.

In particular, the youths were urged to commence by registering and obtaining Independent Electoral Commissions of

Nigeria’s voter’s card when registration begins, because with such card they would be able to vote corrupt leaders out of office.

In his address at the occasion, National Youth Leader/Founder, of the group, Comrade Jeff Echezona Joshua, called on youths at all levels to embrace peace, harmony and be ready to take responsibility for nation building. He charged them to shun violence and other social vices that would destroy their lives.

He expressed worries over the spate at which the younger generation is being manipulated by agents of destabilization who often parade themselves as politicians or religious leaders, and urged them to make their lives count because they are important to the nation and the entire world.

Joshua bemoaned the abuse of power among the elites and the challenges confronting this nation, and urged them learn how to say no to corrupt leaders, “no to hooliganism, no to thuggery and no to electoral violence”

News Afreximbank plans €200m bridge facility for Abidjan Port p.34

NTWEEKEND ONLINE AT

www.newtelegraphonline.com/politics

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JULY 13, 2014

Market & Mall

31

Govt should stop fake products at point of entry –Igwe p.37

Business AZUBIKE NNADOZIE, ASSISTANT EDITOR, SUNDAY

azubike.nnadozie@newtelegraphonline.com

ON SUNDAY

Toyota Nigeria yet to embrace new auto policy Paul Ogbuokiri

A

t the last count, with the exception of Toyota Nigeria, new fewer that 12 auto firms have already started building their assembly plants or have committed to do so soonest since October last year when Nigeria’s new auto policy was announced by the Federal Government.

Chairman, TNL, Chief Michael Ade.Ojo, said at the unveiling of new generation RAV4 in Abuja recently that the company was thinking of opening a plant but had not taken any action in that direction.

He, however, said the actualisation of the project would depend on a number of factors, which he did not name.

He simply said, “When we get

most of the things (required), I can assure you, we will get an assembly plant in Nigeria.”

He noted that many persons had expressed the view that the time was ripe for Toyota, a consistent leader in annual new vehicle sales in the country, to set up an assembly plant to serve the local and neighbouring markets.

TNL said last year that no deci-

sion had been taken on the proposal yet.

If the management completes its thinking and starts investing, it is expected that a Toyota assembly plant in Nigeria will lead to a reduction in the prices of its products; creation of more jobs; improvement in technology; and economic development.

According to the President of Na-

Ade Ojo

tional Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Chief Eugene Nweke, if the Federal Government is serious with the policy, Toyota Nigeria might be the first big vehicles importer to start paying the 70 per cent tariff.

“That will make the price of its cars to go up since it will be paying 50 per cent higher than 20 per cent being paid before July 1,” he stated.

He insisted that there was no way the prices of cars would rise, contrary to the pledge of the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association, saying all of them will not want to invest.

He noted that they would rather want to wait to see what happens.

Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, had CONTINUED ON PAG34

INSIDE

L-R: South Africa Brand Ambassador, Dr. Zweli Mkhize; Chairman, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce (NSAAC), Mr. Folusho Philips; Guest Speaker, Deji Haastrup; and Director, NSAAC, Giwa Osagie, at the July 2014 Edition of NSAAC Breakfast Forum in Lagos …yesterday

Customs unveils new ICT infrastructure in Apapa

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he Controller General of Customs, Dr. Abdullahi Dikko Inde unveiled an ultra modern Information Communication Technology (ICT) Centre and communication tower (mast) of 160 metres height to serve Zone A of Nigeria Customs Service.

The zone comprises of all customs areas and formations in the South West geo political zone of the country.

Represented of the CG at the event, Custom Area Controller of Apapa Command, Mr. Charles Edike, said that the facility will not only boost customs revenue collection, it will also facilitate legitimate trade without compromising national security and improve on the existing customs community relations.

He said that the facility will also enhance the operational interface between the customs on one hand and other government organisation and organised private sector stakeholders on the other hand.

Government agencies like the office of the Nigeria Shippers Council are connected to the system.

It is also connected to the private sector stakeholders involved in customs clearance procedure like the commercial banks and Direct Trader Input (DTI) café operators involved in customs duty collection and documentation processing. ‘’Our ICT centre is going to complement the functions of the Customs Ruling Centre and will serve as a base for training and retraining of officers and stake-

holders. It will also replicate at the area command level some of the modern techniques in customs operations officers have learnt at the Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagalada. The customs management is keen and sincere about stamping out ignorance in the cycle of our officers and stakeholders in the national interest.’’

Edike said.

Edike further said: ‘’As a way of passing the message through the media to the public, we are training over 50 maritime journalists at the ICT Centre as pioneer trainees to give them first hand knowledge about the information they are to disseminate and get them to experience some basic theoretical and case study training about customs clearance procedures under inter-

nationally certified trainers. This will also keep them abreast of the fast evolving trend in customs modernization.’ ‘’For you all to appreciate the relevance of what we are doing here to the goals of government in the port sector which includes faster clearance of cargo, I want to inform you that the CGC is demonstrating rare commitment to training and retraining and we as beneficiaries of the capacity building drive are grateful to him and the management team of the service for investing in making us better officers. No matter how good the computers and operating systems are, we need trained people that are competent to deCONTINUED ON PAG34

CBN’s cash-lite policy’ll reduce loss of cash –Elemamba pg 35

Port concession takes centre stage as Sarumi turns 70 pg 32

SundayTransport 32

PAUL OGBUOKIRI, paulogbuokiri@gmail.com 0802-779-0557, 08037613380

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNRDAY

JULY 13, 2014

‘Innoson vehicles, symbols of Nigeria’s new auto policy’ T

Paul Ogbuokiri he Innoson brand of vehicles produced in Nnewi, Anambra State by Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited has been described as the true symbol of the re-emerging automotive industry in the country.

This was the view expressed by the Chairman of Innoson Group of Companies, Chief Innoscent Ifediaso Chukwuma, while applauding the vision of the Federal Government in introducing the Nigerian Automotive Indust r y Development Plan.

Chukwuma, who was addressing newsmen at the Nnewi plant as the auto policy formally took effect on Tuesday, July 1, stated that Innoson-branded vehicles are genuinely indigenous. He said that apart from being made in Nigeria, they bear a Nigerian name and not the monogram of any foreign auto brand.

Chukwuma said, “Innoson is the only auto brand name that you cannot get anywhere else in the world except in Nigeria. I think it is correct to say that it is the symbol of the new auto industry being driven by the auto policy that takes effect on July 1 in the country.

“In America, they are proud of their Ford and Chevrolet; in India, Tata and Maruti are respected; promoted and patronised by both the government and the citizens, because those brands are truly Indian in presence and in name; and in Malaysia, Proton which

is also indigenous to the country, is loved as the national car brand. There are many other examples.

“In the Nigerian auto industry, there is no other made-in-Nigeria vehicle that bears a local name apart from Innoson. Others are foreign brands, though made in Nigeria. If you go to Europe, America and Asia or anywhere outside this country, you won’t see any vehicle called Innoson, because the name does not exist in any other place in the world except here.

“An exception may be neighbouring countries like Ghana and Benin Re-

public, and any Innoson vehicle y o u see there is from Nnewi. So, Innoson deserves to be named the official vehicle brand for Nigeria, as is the case in Malaysia and India where the government and citizens are proud of their own brand,” he stressed.

The Innoson Group chairman recalled that he set up the plant long before the introduction of the auto policy, and against all odds, even though importation of fully built up vehicles was an easier and far more

lucrative option. He added, however, that the coming of the auto policy four years after the production lines were officially opened by President Goodluck Jonathan in Nnewi in 2010, would help the growth and development of the local industry.

“President Jonathan; the Minister of Industry, Tr a d e a n d Investment, D r .

Oluseg u n Aganga; and the F e d eral Executive Council, should be commended

by Nigerians for the policy and for resisting the pressure to stop it from taking effect on July 1. If this policy had been introduced by previous governments, by now the auto industry would have been completely transformed,” he added.

Apart from producing commercial vehicles, ranging from mini buses and high capacity mass transit models, to pick-ups, as well as refuse disposal vehicles, Innoson was the first auto maker to unveil a made-in Nigeria SUV, and has plans to diversify further into the passenger car segment with two all-new sedans due for launch soon.

IVM Fox and IVM Amazon are expected to be the fore-runners of a total of five passenger vehicles expected to roll out of the Nnewi plant before the end of the year, in response to the introduction of the automotive policy.

Auto Clinic Seat belts save lives The law requires that all vehicle occupants wear an appropriate seat belt. Wearing seat belts reduces the risk of death in motor vehicle crashes by up to 45 per cent. Seat belts prevent 99 per cent of occupants being ejected in a crash.

Passenger safety: Always wear a seat belt, even when travelling over short distances.

Fasten the lap and shoulder belt across the hips. Do not place the shoulder belt under the arm or across

the face or neck.

Check seat belts periodically to ensure proper functioning.

Child passenger safety: Securing your child properly reduces the risk of death and injury. Be responsible, buckle up your children.

Practise the following safety tips on every trip: Always buckle up your children, even for a short trip.

Use a properly installed child safety or booster seat.

Select a car seat based on your child’s age and size.

Do not travel with a child on your lap.

Sharing a seat belt with a child is dangerous.

Infants or young children should never be left unattended in a car.

Children using seat belts should sit back against the vehicle seat with knees bending comfortably over the seat edge.

What about airbags?

Airbags do not replace seat belts and having an airbag is no excuse for not wearing a seatbelt. Airbags are more effective when combined with a seat belt.

33

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Sunday Transport

Port concession takes centre stage as Sarumi turns 70 S

Paul Ogbuokiri cores of the maritime industry practitioners took turns on Monday, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos to eulogise Chief Adebayo Sarumi - the Aare Parakoyi of Ibadan land, for his contributions between 2003 and 2007 to the development of the Nigerian maritime industry.

He was praised on end, for his focused, determined and dedicated service, in the implementation of the port reforms of that period.

A colloquium packaged for the occasion, which climaxed the 70th birthday of Chief Sarumi, onetime managing director of Nigeria Shippers’ Council and MD/CEO of Nigeria Ports Authority, set the stage for a critical review of all his efforts at repositioning the sector, and the maritime industry, for the nation to begin to harness and take full advantage of the potential of the sector.

A former chairman of Nigerian Trawlers Owners Association, Mrs. Margret Onyema-Orakwusi, said that as a nation “we do not have a fishing terminal. From almost 100 fishing trawlers, we have lost our jetties, and most of us have relocated their business to other countries. And serious poaching is going on in our waters by foreign fishing companies.”

She said that when Sarumi was the managing director of NPA, he ensured that the area around Kririkiri Phase 11 was marked out as Nigeria international fishing terminal. But immediately he stepped aside, the place was put to other use by his successors, she added.

Executive Secretary/CEO of NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello, said the progress made recently by the Nigerian maritime industry is the product of Sarumi’s conscious development of an intellectual powerhouse to drive his vision of a maritime industry worthy of making life more abundant for Nigerians.

Bello said Sarumi created professional linkages that were beneficial to the industry, with a view to attracting investments to the maritime sector. It was during his time that the inland container terminals/depot (ICD) was conceptualised.

During the colloquium, anchored by an ex-Managing Director/ CEO of NPA, Alhaji Abdulsalam Mohammed, issues related to the sustainable growth of the maritime industry, were discussed and interspersed with praises on Sarumi.

Mrs. Mfon Usoro, the Secretary General of Abuja MOU and a former director general of NIMASA, said the lack of synergy between maritime relevant stakeholders had robbed the industry of the necessary legal framework. She called on all well-meaning groups in the industry to close ranks, in order to surmount the problems plaguing the industry.

Joshua Asanga, a one-time Port Manager of Apapa Port Complex and also Chief Sarumi’s PA at the

time, said the beautiful things being said about his former boss were rooted in the fact that he worked with a sense of responsibility, dedication and an iron-cast will to succeed in all his endeavours. He said Sarumi had paid his dues, and relied on long years of experience, garnered through sheer hard work and participating in the activities of several committees.

The Executive Vice-Chairman of ENL Consortium and Chairperson of STOAN, Princess (Dr.) Vicky Haastrup, urged stakeholders to jointly rise to the situation of bad roads in Apapa, which is adversely affecting businesses in the area. The terrible situation has led to loss of lives and caused much losses to businesses in Apapa. The state of the roads also has health and security implications, according to Haastrup, while appealing to

governments to come to the rescue of stakeholders and residents.

She said that for over three weeks, ships have discharged in Apapa ports complex because of the traffic congestion in Apapa.

“The situation has grave economic implications for the country, Charterers are losing money,” she said.

National President of ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said Sarumi should not think of retiring yet because his wealth of experience and networks are still needed in the industry. He congratulated him on his 70th birthday, saying that with his looks and vibrancy, he is the man to consult on issues bordering on maritime.

He promised to always knock at his door for pieces of advice to move the industry forward.

Sarumi, who was moved to tears by the encomiums, especially on

his effort at ensuring that the port concession programme, said in the first three years after he left office there were orchestrated efforts to rubbish the concession programme.

“There were petitions and was investigated several times even though the investigators found nothing on me to warrant prosecution,” he said.

He said a chunk of the eulogies showered on him should go to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who, he described as a reformer.

“The man in Ota was the Sarumi reformer. All the people around him were reformers, his becoming failed ports, adding, ministers of Finance, Transport, “These things happening today Labour and Justice were reform- are pointers to that. The governers. That was what made my task ment has to rise to the situation easy,” he said. because port business is getting He noted that four years ago he more competitive in the West Afwarned that Nigerian ports risk rican sub-region,” he said.

L-R: Dr James Galadima, Director NIMASA Institute for Maritime Studies IBBU Lapai, Dr James Galadima; Head, Public Relations NIMASA, Mr Ishichie Osamgbi; Coordinator, Nigeria Seafarers’ Development Programme, Mrs. Irene Mcfoy; Representative of DG NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka; Emir of Lapai, HRH, Alhaji Umaru Bago Tafida; Chairman Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Zaynab Kure; Committee member, Senator Gyang Pwajok and Senator Saidu Alkali when the delegation paid homage on the Emir during the oversight visit of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport to the NIMASA Institute for Maritime Studies at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai, recently.

Seme Customs generates N4.3bn in six months ... seizes N196m goods

Paul Ogbuokiri

S

eme Customs Command has announced that it collected about N4.3 billion and made 467 seizures of prohibited goods with Duty Paid Value of N196.2 million in the first half of the year.

It said that no fewer than 18 suspects were arrested over attempts to smuggle the seized goods into Nigeria.

Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Willy Egbudin, who stated this on Wednesday in Lagos listed the seized items as rice, frozen poultry products, motor vehicles, vegetable oil, second hand clothes, soap, narcotics, among others.

According to the CAC, while the seized narcotics have been transferred to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the frozen products have been destroyed.

Egbudin also said that seized artifacts with a conservative street value of over N2.8m were transferred to the National Council on Museums and Monuments during the period under review.

He said the command’s revenue collection in the first half of the year 2014 amounted to N4, 330,670,435.29, representing 2.66 per cent increase over the sum of N3, 981,596,977.52 collected in the corresponding period last year.

He said despite declining level of trade, the command would do its best to meet its revenue target for the year and if possible, surpass it.

He said the command had put appropriate measures in place to ensure a conducive environment for export. This is even as some notable firms in the country have taken advantage of this to export their products to other markets in the West African sub region.

According to him, some of the goods exported during the period include plastics, furniture, fruit drinks in retail packs, mattresses, beer, slippers among others. The Free On Board value of the goods exported during the period under review amounted to N4, 909,012,148.95, while the total amount due for the Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme is N24, 556,594.35.

He said the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report and the Vehicle Import Transit Process had eased the process of importation into Nigeria

as they feature transparency, accountability and ease of monitoring.

The VITP began at Seme border on April 23, 2014.

Also, in the first half of the year, ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme-compliant goods with a Cost, Insurance & Freight Value of N5, 397,579,789.57 were cleared through the command. While the revenue loss as a result of the concession to the scheme stood at N1, 518,193,330.43, the one per cent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme collection amounted to N37, 262,267.

The Joint Committee on Commerce like the ETLS is a trade facilitation tool as well as an economic arrangement between Nigeria and Republic of Benin. It is a bilateral agreement in which goods wholly manufactured in Republic of Benin can be imported into Nigeria without the payment of duty. As at June 30, 2014, 24 factories were listed under the scheme.

Meanwhile, Egbudin has warned the general public to beware of fraudsters purporting to act on behalf of the command and defrauding people of huge sums of money in the guise of helping them get vehicles for auction.

34

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Sunday Transport

Afreximbank plans €200m bridge facility for Abidjan Port

T

Chijioke Iremeka

he African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has arranged a €200 millionsyndicated bridge financing facility for Cote d’Ivoire’s state-owned Port Autonome d’Abidjan (PAA) to enable the company to expand facilities at the Abidjan Port in Cote d’Ivoire..

Afreximbank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extraAfrican trade, which was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors and nonAfrican investors.

According to the agreement signed by the port authority and the participating banks in Cairo and Abidjan, Afreximbank and Société Générale Cote d’Ivoire would each provide €50m, while Banque Atlantique, through its group across Africa, will participate in an amount of €100m.

Information made available by the banks showed that the

funds would be used by PAA to finance advance payment and related costs for the expansion of the Abidjan Port, including the enlargement and deepening of Vridi Canal as well as the construction of Container Terminal II and a RoRo terminal by China Harbour Engineering Company ltd.

The President of Afreximbank, Jean-Louis Ekra, after signing the agreement on behalf of the bank said, “Afreximbank is happy to be

part of this effort by PAA to adapt the infrastructure at the Abidjan Port to the new demands of global trade. By increasing the port’s handling capacity for containers, this project should enhance the position of the Abidjan Port as the gateway that connects the nearby hinterland West Africa countries to international markets.”

He noted that PAA, which began operations in 1951, following its creation in 1950, is responsible

for the management of the Port of Abidjan, saying that it is Africa’s busiest ports in terms of volume.

According to him, the Port of Abidjan serves as a major international trans-shipment and transit traffic hub through which 70 per cent of the foreign trade of hinterland countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali passes through.

He added that Banque Atlantique will serve as the local agent bank for the transaction.

GTBank adjudged Africa’s best bank

G

uaranty Trust Bank plc was recognized as the ‘Best Bank in Nigeria’ and ‘Best Bank in Africa’ at the 2014 Euromoney Awards that held in London at the Natural History Museum on Thursday, July 10, 2014.

Euromoney is a monthly financial magazine focused on business and finance covering global banking, macroeconomics and capital markets, including debt and equity. It recognizes financial institutions worldwide that have recorded sig-

nificant feats within their operating environments, continuously display innovation and record excellent financial performance year on year.

The awards recognize institutions that have demonstrated leadership, innovation, and momentum in the markets in which they operate. Euromoney combines quantitative and qualitative data to honour institutions that have brought the highest levels of service, innovation and expertise to their customers.

According to Mr. Clive Horwood, Euromoney Magazine’s Editor, “GTBank stands out this year not only because of the bank’s stellar performance in its home country, but precisely because the bank represents a new standard of local expertise in Nigeria which is successfully delivering on its regional ambitions. GTBank stands out as Euromoney’s best bank in Africa for its ability to adapt to local situations while maintaining international standards of best practice.”

Toyota Nigeria yet to embrace new auto policy C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 1

iatn a press briefing in Lagos last week said the drive for locally made vehicles was motivated by five key factors.

These are to make the country less import-dependent, boost local manufacturing activities, create employment opportunities, guard against capital flight and to make acquisition of new vehicles a reality for the average Nigerian.

New Telegraph on Sunday learnt that it was against this backdrop that the Federal Government structured the new tariff rate under the auto policy to favour auto firms which have started producing in the country, but could not meet up the demand for its products with the output from its local assembly plant.

According to Aganga, the policy, while encouraging local production of vehicles, is also to reduce the importation of used vehicles.

Aganga said, “The policy allows those companies which have keyed into the policy by investing in the establishment of assembly plants in Nigeria to help us create jobs to import the difference of what they cannot produce at 35 per cent duty.

However, for those companies that want to continue to support the economy of other countries and help them to create jobs at the expense of Nigerians and the Nigerian economy, they can import cars at 70 per cent.”

Customs unveils new ICT infrastructure in Apapa C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 1

L-R; Head, Initiatives, Regcharles Foundation, Mrs. Debola Deji-Kurunmi; former Minister of Education/Keynote Speaker, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; Group Managing Director/CEO, Regcharles Group, Mr . Peter Mbama; and Chief Executive Officer, Thistle Consulting Limited, Mrs. Ini Onuk, during Female CEOs’ Roundtable, in Lagos recently.

PHOTO:GODWIN IREKHE

Audi Centre, Diamond Bank woo customers with low interest credit

T

Paul Ogbuokiri he Audi Centre in collaboration with Diamond Bank Plc has inaugurated a flexible credit facility for discerning customers aspiring to buy or own German engineered Audi vehicles at reasonable interest rates.

Audi Centre is a subsidiary of Stallion Motors, authorised distributors of Audi range of automobiles in Nigeria.

The dealership said the initiative is synonymous with the planned Federal Government vehicle finance scheme aimed at helping prospective buyers’ source low interest credit financing.

Audi Centre head of sales and marketing, Mr. Anurag Shah, who gave this hint at the launch of the

treaty with Diamond Bank in Lagos, said the facility was firstly, intended for Audi A6 and Q7 models.

Audi is a member of the ‘German Big 3’ luxury automakers with BMW and Mercedes Benz, who are currently the three best-selling luxury automakers in the world.

Renowned for its slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’, meaning ‘Advancement through Technology,’ Shah said the scheme, which is the first of its kind, would help desiring automobile freaks discover the uniqueness and ascendency of Audi engineered automobiles.

He said, “We understand the evolving needs and preferences of our customers going by the overwhelming inquiries we have received to introduce friendly credit

schemes that could enable more customers switch to Audi engineered automobiles.”

He also stressed that the scheme would provide the best products and services to customers who want to experience Audi cuttingedge technology at attractive interest rates. Shah said beneficiaries would, in addition, get free vehicle registration, insurance and free tracking for the first year.

To access the scheme, customers are to walk into any Audi Centre in the country and indicate interest and a deal is struck within 24 hours, Shah assured.

He said, “We partnered Diamond Bank because of the flexibility of its credit facility which will allow customers experience Audi cutting edge technology without

much ado.

“We at Audi Centre are optimistic we will receive an overwhelming response to this essential campaign that promises to change the perception of automobile enthusiasts, including young patrons.”

A robust motor company, Audi has made remarkable strides in global markets, owing to high quality and emotional appeal of its products, which are renowned worldwide.

The Audi A6, for instance, has good handling in either front or all-wheel drive; yet offering all the active-safety features you would find on its luxury peers such as front and rear parking sensors, rearview camera, blind-spot monitors, a night-vision system, and a head-up display.

liver for us to achieve maximum output’’ Edike said. ‘’Let me refresh our memories on the six point agenda of my CGC which includes maximizing the potentials of the Service through capacity building; Moral rebirth for discipline and integrity in the Service, in tandem with the national current rebranding; Ensuring enhanced welfare package for officers and men of the Service and Consolidating on the current e-customs through ASYCUDA for international best practices.

Others are continued collaboration and partnering with stakeholders and international organisations; and fostering mutual understanding between the agency and the general public through coordinated public relations activities’’ he said.

According to him, the ICT facility will further boost the output of the command that has since surpassed all the teething challenges associated with the implementation of the Pre Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) as agents and importers upon lodging sincere declarations are issued the PAAR in a matter of hours.

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

JUNE 22, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

35

Business

CBN’s cash-lite policy’ll reduce loss of cash –Elemamba Nnamdi Elema mba is the Man aging Director, Chief Executive Office rs, The GreenLine Bus Company Ltd, one of the LAGBUS fr anchisee opera ti ng along Lekki-Ajah Ex pressway in La gos. In this interview with CHIJIOKE IRE MEKA, Elemamba say s Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash-l ite policy will re duce loss of cash in transport busi ness.

How would the CBN’s cash-lite policy foster development in transport business in the country, especially in Lagos, where you operate?

The CBN’s cash-lite policy will help to reduce the volume of cash loss in transport business in general and in my own business in particular. The policy will affect our business positively, especially in the area of financial management and accountability. Though, it would not see to the end of cash transactions completely but it would reduce cash handling. It’s good.

We are trying to educate the masses on the need to use card system. We don’t have a functional card payment system yet for transportation in Lagos, but with LAGBUS and other stakeholders, we are developing something that would be used around Lagos and other trans-modal means of transportation, including waterways and rail.

It should be a one-stop card, the type we see in London and Hong-Kong, where one uses one card for other means of transportation within the state. It’s ongoing; we are working with a couple of technologies, card companies and expertise to get it done.

Again, it boils down to having the telecommunications infrastructure to support the programme, bearing in mind that the BRT is a mobile transport system. Any telecom infrastructure to support this payment system has to be made more robust. We don’t have it yet but we are working with telcos to get it done.

This is not what we should abandon. It is actually what we need to improve upon and to enthrone the card system within the transport system in the light of the prevailing cash-lite policy.

Still on transportation and the real sector, how would you assess the automotive policy of the Federal Government and its implications on the economy as well as transportation?

The policy is good and it’s a step in the right direction. One thing that people are scared of is change. Nigeria has come of age, and going by the number of the vehicles we see on the roads of Lagos, there is actually no reason for vehicles not to be

assembled here in Nigeria.

Nigeria might not be the biggest market in the world but it has huge potential. Most of these automakers have plants in South Africa, why not Nigeria? Though it’s arguable that the problem with Nigerian auto plants is unavailability of infrastructure to support the auto assemblage.

Going by what this administration is doing to get things done, this is a step in the right direction. A lot of auto manufacturers are looking for local companies to partner in auto business. Some of them will emerge.

What does the suspension of the policy till January 2015 mean to you?

In the first instance, let me not pre-empt why the suspension was necessary but I think it is for the investors to put themselves together and understand the purpose of such investment because this is a capital intensive investment, especially in Nigeria.

This lull period is the time more agreements and understanding would be signed between the people involved. The cost of vehicles will also drop, I suppose, with the new policy. The 2015 new date for its continuation is just a few months from now and I think it is a step in the right direction.

Having being long in transport business, how would you assess transportation in Lagos State?

We have been in logistics business for some while now but when it comes to real transportation of moving people from one place to the other within Lagos, we are just two years.

The past years have been quite interesting. People used to think that transport business in Nigeria is for the uneducated

but I tell you that with innovation and logistics that have come into the transport system, a lot of people are coming into the business refined.

Educated people are coming in with experience from the organised private and service sectors. We have redefined transportation in Lagos. Some came in from different backgrounds but within a short while, they got good shapes.

How many of your vehicles are locally assembled?

Oh! Incidentally, we just expanded our bus fleet and we acquired 30 more brand new Ashoke buses from VON Automobile here in Lagos. So, we patronise the local assembly plants. We were there from start to finish during the assemblage and we knew what was going on. Some of our inputs were considered in the final products that we took delivery of.

So far, so good, we have been having excellent after sales service from VON. The buses are competing favourably with the imported ones on our roads.

What is the difference between what was assembled here in the country and imported ones?

Yes, I tell you there are some differences in terms of technology that are yet to be on the shelf locally, but in terms of ruggedness, the locally assembled buses are more rugged than the imported ones because the condition of our roads was factored into the production, unlike the imported ones that were built for the best road infrastructure in the world.

To that extent, the local assembly plants have really proved themselves in terms of having the capacity to stand. I’m satisfied with their services so far. And I want to

These are the investments we embark upon to develop the state’s transport system. If we are defenceless and harassed in the midst of lawless people in law enforcement agencies, investors would lose interest in putting their funds in such developmental projects in the state.

say also, that the after sales service from VON Automobiles has been wonderful and supportive. Sometimes, you don’t get such service with the imported buses. It’s good we got them here.

What have been the major challenges for your operations?

The major challenge has been poor road infrastructure, while loading points and lay by still confront our operations. Most times, when the roads are expanded, they don’t consider bus loading points.

The only place that looks as if it has a befitting loading point is CMS and few other places. These are the only places that have the capacity to keep buses in the loading point. Ajah lacks such infrastructure to support the volume of vehicles that assemble at the loading point.

We want government to consider the provision of good bus-stops and loading points as priorities. Let them invest in road infrastructure that would support the mega-city transport system. These buses are longer than normal ones and require special care.

In Lagos, we have a good relationship with the initiator of the business, the state government, to improve the transport system in the state. It’s been good. They came from government’s angle and we came from the private business angle to make it more profitable.

As a franchisee, how friendly is the tariff system or royalty paid to the state government for your operations?

There is no way we will not complain about the tariff system. It’s normal all over the world. We still want lower royalties. It’s our opinion that the royalties and other charges paid to the government should be deployed to improving road infrastructure, and with that, nobody complains.

We want good bus-stops, road lay-bys and loading points at strategic locations.

If we have them in place, it doesn’t matter whether we pay high tariffs or not. The truth is that government has to spend money to do these things. Loading points in Ajah constitute a serious problem.

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3 6

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Business

Success Nuggets

R

Unleash your potential

Julian Atufunwa S only) (08032810713 SM

eading a book by Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon few days back, he said and I quote, “The human brain has fourteen billion cells and if used to the maximum could contain and retain all the knowledge of humanity from the beginning of the world to the present and still have room left.” Wow! Those words got me thinking. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

This man couldn’t be lying because he has opened and performed surgeries on the human brain, so he knows.

1. I shared these insight with my friends and one of them said, “Julian, didn’t God say let us make man in our own image and likeness? Amazingly, we are gods.” Another of my friends said, “Didn’t the holy book say, we are fearfully and wonderfully made? Isn’t it a fact that each if us is enclosed with great talents and potentials that could make a difference in our lives, organisation, country and the world at large. Come to think of it: anyone can attain a life of significance and fruitfulness? I mean anyone? I wish we all could come to the realisation of this fact that if one person can achieve success we all can if we dare.

If only 160 million people in a country like ours could strive to develop their potential, Nigeria would be a paradise.

Researching on these facts about talents/ potential, I found out that talents should not be defined only by abilities to excite an audience. Talents have much more significance and broader sense.

I learnt that showing kindness to people is is possible and impossible even when it’s a talent: not really so. Our belief system shapes our * Bestowing compassion on weak or mean thoughts, actions and feelings. people Before attempting anything, if you believe * Giving unconditional love to those who it will be successful, it will. Belief gives us don’t love you access to our inner resource and enables us * Being friendly especially to those who are to overcome challenges in every area of our shy or closed off lives. We wrongly believe that events and * Demonstrating leadership by example environment shape our lives. The truth is, * Caring for the sick, sad or downtrodden it is our belief as to what those events mean * An ability to verbalise feelings to others that shapes us our own interpretation to our * Creativity on bringing people together to environment. A person from a wicked enshare meaningful experience vironment can choose to be a gentleman or * Courage in facing adversity lady. It’s never the environment. It’s not the * Speaking publicly and inspiring large events of our lives but the interpretations we group of people (ct brown.hubspages.com) give to life events, according to our belief.

Steps to unleash your potential Come to think of it, if clean spring water is 1. Self Image - Changing an organisation, running out from a rock and three persons country or the world begins with a simple step are asked to draw water with their containof changing ourselves. We can do anything ers, if by any means the first person’s bottle beyond the person inside. It is needful to or container has sand and particles inside it understand that you are as good as anybody. when he draws, what kind of water will he Your true value is not outside but inside. get? Unclean water.

Build your self-esteem, develop a sense of If the second person’s container or bottle being loved and accepted. There is one who was used for urine and was not washed, if cares and loves you so much as the one that he should draw water, what type of water made you. will he get? Of course, 2. Our belief system unclean water, having – You are what you urine taste.

Build your self-esteem, think you are. What If the last person has a develop a sense of being our belief system clean bottle and draws tells us how things water, what type of waloved and accepted are, what we can and ter do you think he will can’t do, tells us what get? Clean water. The

first two persons were unable to get clean water not because the source was dirty, but their very approach, their belief. You see things and people the way you are, what do we do? Clean up disempowering belief and live a life of significance. Unleashing your potential begins with having empowering beliefs.

3. Creating a compelling future: Without a compelling future, it will be difficult for anyone to develop a strong drive to achieve success. Look around, everything your eyes can see was first an imagination in the mind of someone before it became a reality.

4. Ability to take action: You will never discover the immense resources deposited inside you if you don’t take action. You can become whatever you want, if you are willing to work at it. Nothing good comes on a platter. There is always a price to pay. If you want knowledge (everyone needs it), go for it. Knowledge is power, knowledge makes you special. Know a little about everything.

It helps us overcome obstacles and make better decisions.

It is not too late to acquire that skill, to get that degree, to learn that trade, to lend a helping hand. Find out what works and work on it.

Do you have Success Nuggets to share?

Send your contributions and passport photograph to sundayletters@newtelegraphonline.com Your article should not be more than 500 words.

CBN’s cash-lite policy’ll reduce loss of cash –Elemamba C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 5

A good loading point is the one that can contain over 100 buses loading to different parts of the state.

How reliable is LAGBUS along Ajah axis?

It’s very reliable. If you are waiting for vehicles along the Lekki corridor, in less than five minutes you would see about four of those red BRT buses on that corridor. We need to do that to help our business and people.

Our plan is to expand our bus fleet to 100 this year and we are working towards that.

What other services does The GreenLine Transport offer to the masses apart from lifting commuters?

We are into a couple of things, but we started as a logistics company. Now, we are installing panels and working on bus platform advertisement.

Recently, we installed television screens in all our buses to entertain our passengers and serve as a means of advertisement for local companies. They can advertise their businesses and products in the bus to the seated passengers.

We have also installed advert panels, similar to the ones we see on buses in London, instead of having paper wrap on our buses.

At night, the visibility would glow and people would see the products.

With the recent attack on BRT buses by angry soldiers, what message would you want to pass across to Nigerians?

In the light of the recent development, I would like to encourage fellow citizens, who are law enforcement agencies, especially the military personnel to be law abiding. We are all working for the good purpose of developing the country.

There have been different classes of challenges between BRT operators and the military, especially at the lower level, and also, between the drivers and law enforcement officers at the lower offices. Burning BRT buses for any reason shouldn’t happen. There are better ways of settling issues.

These are the investments we embark upon to develop the state’s transport system. If we are defenceless and harassed in the midst of lawless people in law enforcement agencies, investors would lose interest in putting their funds in such developmental projects in the state.

We really need to work together and make investment in the state grow. I’m not exonerating anybody, for I know that there are also miscreants among the drivers too, but we have better ways of complaints and settlement of issues instead of one taking laws into one’s hands.

L-R: Africa Marketing Director, GlaxoSmithKline, Lampe Omoyele; Director, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Emeka Oparah; and Director, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Toyin Ojudun, at the Customer Service Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CUSPA) debate held in Lagos…on Thursday.

MTN boosts young entrepreneurs with Link Forum Azubike Nnadozie

L

eading telecommunication company, MTN Nigeria, has provided a life-changing and career- transforming platform for budding entrepreneurs in Port Harcourt.

Through its empowerment partnership initiative, MTN Link Forum, the company recently brought successful business icons and over 300 young business owners together to interact and exchange Business ideas.

Speakers at the event identified lack of capital and lack of information as major hindrances to the development of SMEs in Nigeria, noting that information was key

to survival in today’s business environment.

The MTN Link Forum is a platform designed to create an avenue for young entrepreneurs to learn from the experience of successful business men so that they can make informed decisions as they set out to establish and grow grow their businesses Notable business icons such as CEO, Quantum Business School, Port Harcourt, Mr. Victor Itayo; CEO Swanu Creation, Mrs Chinwe Endora; and MD Jumia Nigeria, Dr. Jonathan Doerr, explained in practical terms, the various strategies and winning principles for growing successful SMEs and converting them into

global businesses.

While speaking at the event, Itayo observed that “with the right structures in place, SMEs in Nigeria can contribute meaningfully to the country’s GDP just like in China and India, where their SMEs contribute about 40 to 50 per cent to their GDPs respectively” Government needs to put the right structures ranging from constant power supply to, adequate financing through loans and grants and a more favorable business environment in place, for SMEs to thrive in Nigeria. This would make the sector contribute meaningfully to the nation’s GDP as it is the case in China and India.”

MARKETS&MALLS

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JULY 13, 2014

Tel: 08027790557, 08037613380

Govt should stop fake products at point of entry –Igwe In this interview, Chief Uche Igwe, Chairman, General Electrical Dealers Association, Alaba International Market, Lagos tells PAUL OGBUOKIRI that government should be blamed for the thriving business of piracy in the country Human traffic in this market is quite heavy. What is attracting people to this place?

As a big market that deals virtually in everything, you would expect people to come here. This market is the largest electronics market in Africa and comprises all the ethnic groups in Nigeria. Here in the market, there are sections that deal in electrical and electronics appliances and plants. There is the Alaba Rago section where the Hausas sell their cattle and goats. So it is a big place where you have big players conducting their business in a peaceful atmosphere.

How is the market organised?

To ensure that the market is well organised, we have a central body called Council of Sections, of which I am the chairman. The council comprises the leaders of the unions in Alaba and it is the highest decision-making body in the market.

We also have small units that do not have representation in the council. We still accommodate and protect them under the council’s security arrangement.

Alaba market appears to have gained notoriety for piracy and fake products.

Why is this so?

That is an erroneous notion. Alaba is not a market for pirates or fake products.

There are no factories in Alaba where pirated products are produced. Is it Alaba traders that bring those pirated goods through the borders to Nigeria? How can you crucify a trader who bought goods he wants to sell and does not know whether it is a pirated product or not? Who are those people loading and bringing the containers from the borders? I think the blame for the influx of fake goods and pirated products in the market should go to the government. What is the Standards Organisation of Nigeria doing to stop those goods from coming into Nigeria?

Are you saying there are no pirated fake products in Alaba market?

There are fake and pirated products everywhere in Nigeria. The truth is that the blame should be directed to the government and its agents that allow all those

things to infiltrate the markets in Nigeria. The traders do not even know which one is fake or pirated because they don’t have the equipment to know which one is fake. Therefore, SON should do their work by preventing fake products from finding their way into Nigeria.

Does that mean a customer is left to his fate in Alaba when he buys fake or pirated products?

No, we recognise the right of customers.

That is why we have unions in Alaba. If a customer buys a fake product and complains about it, the union will intervene if the matter comes to it. Usually, the trader who sold the fake product to the customer will be penalised for doing so.

What would you say is the challenge of doing business here in Alaba?

Our greatest challenge is bad roads and traffic. Though the traffic police are trying their best to make the only road, that is Ojo road, passable, the whole thing is compounded because of bad roads. You may not believe it, but it is a known fact that the five major roads leading to Alaba International Market are made of planks.

The only good road we have is in Volks.

The other roads leading to Lagos-Badagry Expressway are made of planks. It really affects traffic along Ojo road on a daily basis

and the government seems to be helpless because of the tolls some people collect there. If those roads are put in shape, there will be more business in Alaba market, which means more money for government.

What of the security?

There is much improvement in the area of security. I want to use this opportunity to thank the Lagos State Government for deploying an Armoured Personnel Carrier at Alaba. Also the police are doing their best.

Markets &malls

Lagos Assembly intervenes in Alaba, LG dispute

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he Lagos State House of Assembly has intervened in the dispute between the traders at the Alaba International Market and the Ojo Local Government Area over revenue collected in the market by the council.

Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji had set up an ad-hoc committee led by the Chairman, House Committee on Local Administration and Chieftaincy Affairs, Moshood Olanrewaju Oshun, to look into the issue and report to the House. This was after the market association representing electronics traders in the market had petitioned the House over controversy resulting from revenue derivable from the market.

In the petition, the association claimed that the categorisation of markets in Lagos for ‘stallage collection’ is based on geographical location and not on name, in this case, the name - International - given to the market by the traders.

According to the petitioners, the local government was indiscriminately imposing levies which includes fumigation of warehouses/ parking stores to the tune of N150,000 on the traders.

They also stressed that the council collected tolls from importers on every container brought into the market.

The traders said, “It is regrettable that we generate over 60 per cent of internal

revenue of the local government but have not benefited anything from them.”

For his part, Chairman of Ojo Local Government, Prince Yinka Durosinmi, explained that as one of the largest, the market falls under ‘Grade A’, which led to the payment of N6,500.

He alleged that the leadership of the traders closed down the market and instructed his colleagues not to respect the chairmanship of the local government.

“We are not dragging issues with the association but we have been collecting N6, 500 which other sections are paying apart from the electronics section that refused to comply,” Du-

rosinmi said.

Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Moshood Oshun, urged the two parties to maintain the peace while giving the assurance that the House would decide on the issue without fear or favour.

One of the members of the committee, Segun Olulade, appealed to the council chairman to provide necessary infrastructural amenities in the market in order to restore the cordial relationship between them.

The committee therefore resolved to call all the heads of associations in the market and the council chairman for another meeting to resolve the issue.

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Equities market halts bullish run

T

he Nigerian stock market’s WoW positive run was halted this week, as the index depreciated by 0.46% to end on 42,832.85Pts. With this, YtD return settles at 3.64%. Volume and value traded for the week increased by 16.25% and 18.93% respectively, while market capitalization dipped by 0.46%.

The best performers for the week included FO, NPFMCRFBK, ASHAKACEM, TRANSCORP and DNMEYER with gains of 16.98%, 16.67%, 12.24%, 10.69% and 8.62% respectively, whilst AIRSERVICE,CUTIX, NEIMETH, CUSTODYINS and FIDSON were the worst performers, declining by -8.98%,-8.63%, -8.33%,7.94% and-7.69% respectively.

Though we envisaged the influx of Q2 numbers from companies within the financial services and consumer goods space during the week, only a few were released including; CONTINSURE (Revenue growth; 25.87%, PAT growth; 1.18%), UPL (Revenue growth; 5.43%, PAT growth; -10.27%) and NPFMCRFBK (Revenue growth; 20.41%, PAT growth; 33.93%).

We analyse the performance of market on a sector by sector basis in the rest of this report.

Banking Sector: Returns up 0.59% WtD The banking sector finished upbeat this week, with 7 stocks appreciating against 6 that declined, while FIDELITYBK and UNITYBNK traded flat. This brings the sector’s return as measured by the MERI-BNK index to 1.29% Ytd. The top gainers in the week were WEMABANK (3.16%), FBNH (2.72%), and GUARANTY (1.25%), while the top decliners were FCMB (4.82%), DIAMONDBK (2.50%), and SKYEBANK (2.10%).

Thirteen Nigerian banks were ranked amongst the top 1,000 lenders in the world, with only UNITYBNK and WEMABANK left off the list. The list of banks were led by ZENITHBNK, GUARANTY, and FBNH which ranked positions 293, 415, and 424 respectively.

As earnings season has yet to fully kick off as was expected, we are not bullish on the sector’s return potential in the coming week as we expect that position taking will calm down prior to release of new results.

Consumer Goods Sector: VITAFOAM JUMP 6.83% WoW Activities on the consumer goods stocks mirrored the recent trend as investors’ sentiment continued to favour the major players within the sector. The NGSEFB10 which tracks the performance of the top ten capitalized stocks in the sector stayed upbeat, with a 0.55% WoW return.

VITAFOAM topped the sector performance chart with a 6.83% WoW appreciation, although, the overall performance was driven by gains from sector heavy weights including GUINNESS, NESTLE, PZ and NB which returned of 5.54%, 1.83% 0.55% and 0.54% in that order. The likes of INTBREW (0.34 %) and HONYFLOUR (4.15 %) and NASCON (2.61%) were other gainers for the week. In contrast, UNILEVER, DANSUGAR, and DANGFLOUR were drags on the sector index with losses of 6.36%, 2.15% and 01.34% respectively.

Our expectation for the coming week is positive, as we expect investors to continue to strategically take position ahead of Q2:2014 numbers, as some of the companies in the sector with good dividend payout history (GUINESS and INTBREW) are expected to release the full year results soon.

Insurance Sector: CUSTODYINS finally succumbs The insurance sector witnessed some sell down this week which caused a decline of 2.06% to the MERI-INS index level, which was in contrast to the significant 4.96% surge in the preceding week.

There was a switch in performance for some counters in the sector this week, as gainers and losers in the previous week switched positions

…as NSEASI dipped 0.46%

in this week. Turning out as the sector’s highest gainer, ROYALEX which dipped 5.66% last week recorded a significant 8.00% return this week, while AIICO which declined 7.14% in the previous week closed 5.13% up.

The release of FY2013 results by Continental Re-insurance Plc in which the company recorded 25.87% and 1.18% growths in its top and bottom line, and proposed dividend (11k/ share) favoured the counter, as position taking precipitated a significant price appreciation of 4.59% during the week.

After seven consecutive weeks of significant gains, CUSTODYINS tumbled by 7.94% this week to peg its YtD return at 78.37%. The stock remains of the year’s highest gainers, trailing only FO on the NSE. Other laggards were MANSARD (-6.67%) and NEM (-2.41%).

The sector’s YtD return of 11.19% is second only to the oil and gas sector, and we are optimistic of more position taking in the sector before the year ends, driven by our expectation of more positive earnings results from the sector’s companies.

Agric Sector: PRESCO drives Sector’s 1.55% gain Against our expectation of a quiet trading week on PRESCO, the stock posted a solitary 2.86% gain (on Tuesday), on weaker traded volumes (22.60% lower than the previous week) to close the week at NGN38.06. OKOMUOIL however, remained flat (in line with our expectations) at NGN33.00, while LIVESTOCK shed 0.65% to close at NGN3.05 as volume traded increased 58.34% over the previous week. FTNCOCOA has been sanctioned to pay a fine of NGN7million for failure to render their 2012 and 2013 FY results to the exchange as at when due. The company however posted the results last week.

Whilst we still await H1:2014 numbers for the counters in the sector, technical indicators suggest that PRESCO may trade down in the coming week. Positive result expectations may however sustain the stock at its current level.

OKOMUOIL will most likely trade flat in the coming week, unless sentiments turn out stronger than in the previous week. We also have positive expectations for the company’s Q2:2014 result. LIVESTOCK currently trades far ahead of its fundamentally justified price even though it appears to have found a support level at around NGN3.00. For the week, the stock may continue to trade around that level even though expectations are slightly biased upwards.

Oil and Gas Sector: MRS joins ETERNA on PPPRA exclusion list The Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has released the list of companies allowed to import petroleum products for the third quarter. Owing to the agency’s plan to clamp down on false subsidy claims, the agency further pruned the number of importers of petroleum products from 40 ( in Q2:2014) to 27.

The major omission from the list was MRS Oil, which was hitherto included during the second quarter allocation. The implication of this development is that for the company to maintain its fuel marketing business for the

current financial quarter, it will have to go to the secondary market – a situation which will exert significant pressure on the company’s earnings. ETERNA remained on the exclusion list, as has been the case for the company since the subsidy allegation of 2012.

MRS shares closed flat at NGN63.18 for the week while ETERNA shed 3.26% to close at NGN4.45. We maintain our position that MRS is overvalued at current market price, and that the shares of ETERNA are fully valued. FO and CONOIL were the only gainers in the sector this week, returning 19.98% and 0.31% to close at NGN234.06 and NGN65.60 respectively. SEPLAT was the penultimate loser declining by 2.50% to close at NGN702.00, while OANDO, MOBIL and TOTAL shed 1.79%, 0.04% and 0.04% respectively. TOTAL and MOBIL remain our top picks in the sector. Both companies were among the larger volumes winners on the PPPRA list.

Health Sector: YtD return swings positive Investors’ sentiment has not favoured the healthcare sector since the beginning of the year despite the resurgence in the equities market a few months ago. During this week however, significant position taking increased the MERI-HEALTH index level by 2.87% WoW to swing YtD return to the positive region (2.76%). MAYBAKER, which declined in price in the previous week, witnessed some level of renewed interest from investors as position taking played out to bring a price appreciation of 5.99% on the stock. The sector’s most capitalized stock (GLAXOSMITH) also consolidated on its positive performance in the previous week to close 1.47% higher.

FIDSON witnessed the highest price depreciation (-7.69%), which may not be unconnected to profit taking as the company closes its books for dividend payment today. Profit

taking also featured in NEIMETH which fell by 8.33% after recording a gain of 4.76% in the preceding week.

Based on our fundamental prices, we expect FIDSON to bounce back from the loss and GLAXOSMITH to consolidate on its performance in the coming week.

Industrial Goods Sector: Investors cash out gains though still awaiting Q2:2014 Numbers The industrial goods sector lost 3.02% as measured by our MERI-IND index. The cement giant, DANGCEM was responsible for the loss as the counter closed the week 3.60% lower, which we attribute to profit taking.

Lafarge WAPCO held its Annual General Meeting on June 9th 2014 with the company’s shareholders approving the proposed consolidation of its Nigerian and South African businesses, as well as the increase in its authorized capital to NGN5bn. The stock appreciated marginally in the week by 0.93%.

However, investors bought in to ASHAKACEM possibly to benefit from consolidation as the stock advanced 12.21% WoW. CAP partly regained the loss of the previous week to close 1.3% up at NGN39. BERGER and PAINTCOM traded flat for the week. We expect positive trading in the coming week, which will likely be driven by expectations of, and subsequent release of impressive Q2:2014 results.

Services Sector: Upward trend continues The services sector sustained the positive mood in the market with 6 stocks recording price gains against four price decliners. The MERISER index advanced by 6.07% to drive returns to 9.13% Ytd, largely as a result of positive investors’ sentiments on TRANSCORP and RTBRISCOE. TRANSCORP continued on its upward trend for the second consecutive week, as the stock gained 10.69% to close at NGN5.80 (highest since September 2007). Other advancers this week included LEARNAFRICA (7.10% to close at NGN1.66), RTBRISCOE (6.54% to close at NGN1.14), ABCTRANS (5.88% to close at NGN0.9) and NAHCO (2.89% to close at NGN4.99).

CAVERTON’s 4-week positive run came to a halt as the stock shed 4.85% on Friday to bring its Ytd to -31.89%. Also, AIRSERVICE shed -8.98% by close of trading to further drag its price down to NGN2.33, representing a 30.31% decline in value since the beginning of the year. Other price losers included IKEJAHOTEL (5.00%) and UPL (-5.16%) We see the positive mood in the market sustained in the coming weeks driven by expectations of impressive half year results.

South-East

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

JULY 13, 2014

Ndigbo originated from Egypt, says Nri monarch

As the origin of the Igbo race continues to be shrouded in myth and sometimes controversy , the traditional ruler of Nri kingdom (believed to be the ancestral home of Ndigbo) in Anambra State, His Majesty, Eze Obidiegwu Onyesoh, MFR, in this interview with TONY OKAFOR traces the origin of Ndigbo to Egypt. He also spoke on other important issues about the Igbo race.

H

is Royal Majesty, how would you trace the origin of Ndigbo?

Nri came from Egypt about two centuries ago and the father of Nri was called Gad. Gad was the son of Jacob while Jacob was the son of Isaac and Isaac was the son of Abraham. The family tree of Nri is traced from the origin of Abraham and Abraham was the favourite child of God. At that time Egypt was regarded as the capital of the whole world and the entire Igbo race lived in Egypt. While they were there, the man called Eri, the progenitor of Ndigbo, also lived there and was the special adviser on religious matters to the fifth dynasty of Pharaohs of Egypt. He was responsible for everything concerning religion and Pharaoh could not take any decision without consulting Eri. It was in those days in Egypt that Eri determined who was going to be the next Pharaoh.

And by their law, there was a deity called Emem. For anything to happen during the time, the man called Eri, in his capacity as the religious adviser to Pharaoh of Egypt, was responsible. He was also responsible for the coronation of Pharaohs of Egypt because the system was, before coronation of the Pharaoh of Egypt, you must undergo certain processes.

So Eri was in charge.

The Pharaoh of Egypt of the fifth dynasty recognised the protection and powers of Eri when he made him the conscience of Egypt. Now Eri needed people to help him and he recruited people called devotees. These devotees were all appointed by him but he had to do something to really find their own loyalty. Therefore, he initiated them into Ozorship. This Ozorship was to find a means that anybody who would be associated with him should work with him and be loyal to the cause.

This brought about the existence of ‘Atani’, which means tying a rope to the ankle of all their members that had the Ozo title. And by so doing, gave them power of authority to tackle issues on his behalf. This power of authority which Eri gave to his devotees was known as Ozo title and Ofo. Some of the sons of Abraham found their own tribes as time went on and later got to the 12 tribes of Israel. Among those children of Abraham, one of them became the founder of the Jewish religion -Judaism.

During this era, there were some people who could not love themselves anymore because that time, the Pharaoh that knew Moses was no longer there. And equally the Pharaoh that knew Eri was no longer there, he now faced the Hebrew population and some of them declared themselves Jewish and hatred started from there.

What happened next?

Interestingly, you should know that Abraham was the founder of the Islamic religion and Isaac became the founder of the religion

Eze Obidiegwu Onyesoh, traditional ruler of Nri kigdom

that later turned into Christianity. However, when the punishment and wickedness became so much, they called God that they wanted to be free from slavery. Moses went up the mountain and God asked him to go and deliver the people of Israel. Jacob was the Israel. Jacob wrestled with one of the angels and the angel told Jacob that from now, you are Israel. So, Israel - the children of Jacob - were subjected to slavery and they prayed to God. God answered their prayer and then, there was an exodus. They left Egypt and these children of Eri, Gad were part of the exodus.

They arrived at a big sea and when Moses struck the water, the sea divided into two and they were able to pass through. Though, there was a calamity as the Pharaoh of Egypt at the time used his chariot to chase them so as to take them back. You know fully well that God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land. When they came to River Jordan, that was where Moses handed the covenant over to Joshua.

Now, the responsibility of guiding the Israelites was then on Joshua. That covenant placed in the River Jordan was very significant because God told Joshua to remove 12 stones from that river and those 12 stones represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

Now we are talking about the 12 tribes, we are talking about the tribe of Eri because Gad was the tribe that begat Eri. After suffering, some of them went back to Egypt and they were so tempted by the difficult position those

Islamic Jihadists pulled on them. The children of Eri refused to be converted to Islam and they ran away from Egypt to Nnubia and to other places. Each area they went, these jihadists kept on conquering the places.

Nnubia was another parallel empire to Egypt as they had Nnubian Pharaohs and Egyptian Pharaohs that fought several wars.

After the wars, Nnubia became extinct and later turned to the present Sudan nation.

That was the area where Eri and his devotees stayed and after the fall of Nnubia, they had to take off again and started moving down south, looking at a place where those jihadists won’t attack them. They became refugees and the children of Eri later arrived at a placed called Jutkom, southern part of Kaduna but presently in Taraba State.

Again, the jihadists visited them and conquered the place and they kept moving towards the Nile basin. They preferred moving on the river basin where they could always get food and water.

They later arrived at the first confluence of River Niger and Benue and wanted to see whether they could live there, but the jihadists came and conquered the place.

In their movement towards the southern side, they arrived at another confluence. This confluence was the tributary of River Niger and Benue known as ‘Ezu na Omambala’.

When Eri and his devotees arrived at this place, dressed in Usman Dan fodio kind of regalia and were so tired, they tried to settle

there. Though this area was every small and there were no commercial activities there, they decided to stay there. But they did not settle at the front water because of their previous experiences of attacks. They moved five miles inside the region of the confluence and settled in the interior. They were only four in number and they cleared a small space and started life there. They named the place Eriaka, meaning the home of Eri. Eri begat children there and assimilated the people living around despite their civilised exposure.

Already, the first question posed to Eri by the people living there was: “Who are you?”

Actually, there was difficulty in language but when the question was thrown, Eri answered them, ‘We are Igbos’.

Was that the origin of Igbo language?

That was the first pronouncement of Igbo language. So the other people being the fact that they could not understand each other, despite that Igbo in Hebrew language means stranger. So, they started exchanging that word and called the people he met there ‘Igbos’. Now, Eri addressed the people there as the ‘Igbos’ and that became the common language.

According to anthropological reports, it says that this language ‘Igbo’ means ‘people of the bush’. So, Igbo language belongs to nobody. It was the people there that were able to advocate Igbo and that is the reason why you don’t see this language outside Igbo environment CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

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South-East

Ndigbo originated from Egypt, says Nri monarch C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 9

because it didn’t come from anywhere except only in that place.

Now that Eri, a minority among the people wanted to assimilate with the people by marriage, he got married to their two daughters.

The first daughter was named Nnemaku and the other was the mother of Oboli, the founder of Igala kingdom. The first wife begat five children for him and the first born was called Menes. Menes later took a title and became Nri. The second son was called Onogu and the founder of Igbariam. The third son was Ogbodudu, founder of Amanuke. The last son was called Agulu and he remained there and became Aguleri. Eri had a daughter called Iguedo who procreated.

However, the second wife of Eri gave birth to Oboli. This man was a giant and great warrior.

The last son of Eri, Agulu, remained by the seaside because he was a fisherman. Ogbodudu travelled to Amanuke where he discovered fertile soil and he remained there as a farmer.

Onogu moved to an area he liked and stayed where he discovered Igbariam.

The first child, Eri, remained in his father’s house until he had a vision and was called to serve God in their own way. Nri was an incarnate to his grandfather, Eri, so whatever Eri did at the time he was the religious adviser to the Pharaoh, was what his son, ‘Nri-reincarnated’ started doing. Of course, you should know that the policies of the old generation relied on reincarnation.

So, Nri was the reincarnate of Eri, and the functions which their grandfather performed came back to him. While his siblings all left to their respective farming positions, he remained in his father’s compound.

After a while, he left because he had a call to perform the roles of his grandfather. His first port of call was at a place called Ugbene.

Ugbene is a waterlogged area in Awka North Local Government Area. He administered the people he met there and people followed him around.

Nri founded Ugbene and the place belongs to Nri. Also, any place he went, he would institute a market name he so much cherished and loved called ‘Afor’.

After he had established that area and people started being aware about religion, though, their kind of religion was the worship of the ‘Sun god’. It was a popular religion in Egypt in those days and all Egyptian pharaohs were pharaohs of the Sun god.

Therefore, Eri established his religion but then he would not implement the rudiments of that religion because he was a minority, trying to assimilate the people.

He could not pass that Jewish religion to them and left Ugbene to visit his brother at Amanuke. When he met his brother at Amanuke, he hadn’t the intention to stay there in as much as he had a portion of land there. He equally named the market there as ‘Afor’ and till today, it is known as ‘Afor Nri’ as well as at Ugbene.

Some of his devotees settled at Amanuke, particularly when he visited his brother. Still searching for where to settle permanently at the upland, he arrived a place at Enugwu Ukwu called Nkpume-Onyiri-enyi, where Radio Nigeria and NTA are sited presently at Enugwu-Ukwu. Earlier before that time, the place was not known as Enugwu-Ukwu but Isi-Onye and people were many when he visited the place only to know him.

He also performed the role of high priest there and established another area somewhere at Isionye. The place wasn’t good for them because Mkpume-Onyiri-enyi and Mkpume Akpi were filled with scorpions and his devotees didn’t like the place. They were so bitten by scorpions and poisonous snakes, besides

Entrance gate to Eze Nri Obidiegwu's Palace

there was no water to drink there. While they were standing on the high peak, they looked down and found water.

While he was searching for a marine area, his devotees/servants could not contain the thirst and they became desolate.

And while they were standing on the high peak of the valley, they looked down and found water.

They went down and drank the water after which he decided to go nearer to that water (stream). They believed if there was water, it means there would be people around there.

As a high priest, he must talk to them about this religion and had so much power even to perform miracles.

He then left Mkpume-Onyiri-enyi, now called Enugwu-Ukwu and started descending towards Nkwo Enugwu-Ukwu to that area where Ide Girls secondary school, EnugwuUkwu is currently situated. When he looked further, he saw a large area of table land and admired the place; he pronounced the newfoundland as Agukwu. Since then, this place bears the name Agukwu and people usually call us Agukwu-Nri. When he found this place, he decided that was the right time to remain at a place and administer his religion and look after his people.

He then finally settled down with his family.

That is the story of Nri, the first son of Eri, Eri the son of Gad and Gad the son of Jacob.

When he arrived here, such a man with that kind of spirit, people came to him from various places and lived with him and later left. Some travelled to other areas and found communities.

So today, about 180 communities could trace their origin to Nri and the civilisation of Nri spread around. He founded the Ozo title just like his father did; he spoke about anything that had to do with fairness and justice. Everywhere he founded was on behalf of his grandfather and they called themselves, Igbo.

You said there are about 180 communities that can trace their origin to Nri today. Could one of them be Aguleri or Aguleri-Otu and some others who are claiming the originality of Igbo in Igbo land?

To start with, Aguleri, the last born of Eri remained very close to the water front there and Aguleri cannot claim that because he has a senior brother who was Nri. He cannot claim to be above his senior brother, Nri, so Aguleri cannot also claim that Nri came from Aguleri.

Nri came from a place called Eriaka and for now, Eriaka has gone into extinction because the main man left Eriaka.

In those days, when a child grows, he would

leave his father’s house and go for hunting.

Anthropologists deposited what they found in Igbo Land in Enugu Archives. In 1937, W. Jeffrey made an intelligent report of the origin of Igbo and of course, you know when these white men visit anywhere, they must firstly study the character of the people and send the report back to their place. So this anthropologist was sent by the British government to come and see the Igbo race and this is the report.

Why does the traditional ruler of Nri Kingdom go to Aguleri for purification before his coronation?

Well, you got it all wrong. Eze Nri doesn’t go to Aguleri to be crowned or purified. You can still remember that Moses transferred authority to Joshua in River Jordan and he divided the water. After the transfer of authority, he set up a covenant. Eze Nri, as part of the tradition, after crowning him and other things perfected, must go to that water. We don’t have any other water divided into two; only that one of them could be found at Lokoja, the confluence between River Niger and River Benue.

The place is too far for us and the closest one to us is the tributary river of Niger and Benue known as Ezu and Omambala. So, they have two rivers there, now it is at that river where the covenant must be taken. That covenant will be what we know as ‘Udu-Eze’.

What we do there is that a diver will go down right inside the river and collect ‘Uloo’ (clay) that will be used in moulding ‘UduEze’. It would be a vessel with which the Eze Nri would only drink from. You cannot drink from any other thing except from that UduEze, which is now that covenant between Ndigbo.

So, any person telling you that Eze-Nri must go to Aguleri for any other thing is lying. Apart from the distance, one could also go to the converging place between Niger and Benue to perform the rite instead of going to Aguleri.

But it is very far to do so. What I am saying is that you must collect this clay where two rivers converge and the closest one for us here is that Ezu and Omambala which we call ‘Agba-na-abo’. We didn’t call it Aguleri.

They are just formulating this thing. We call it ‘Agba-na-abo’ (confluence of two rivers) and that is where the thing for preparing Udu-Eze must be got from and the Eze must only bath from that water. So, the kinds of all manner of propaganda you can now hear are all tissues of lies. We even have evidence as the processes are properly documented since 26 years ago.

There are some other communities like Igbo-Ukwu, Ora-Eri and Enugwu-Ukwu

laying claim to the custodianship of Igbo values. In your own point of view, what actually is the link up of these towns?

Let me start with Igbo-Ukwu; the town has no claim at all. Nri and Igbo-Ukwu have no relationship except for the fact of Ora-eri being one of the children of Eri. Ora-Eri was the son of Ogbuodudu in Amanuke who in the year 1043 came all the way to this place to visit his uncle. His uncle told him that he should move up to five kilometers upwards as he requested for a place to domicile. And he moved five kilometres upward and settled with the people there. From there, he begat a child and he committed one of these things people in those days never liked and he banished him.

He went to a place called Ora-eri and his father instructed that he could only answer Ora-eri and nothing more. This was because he performed something which was contrary to the tradition of Nri and he was banished for life.

Besides, his wife had a baby before he also banished her and she left and went to a place known as Aguata. Aguata became their children and the first son was named Ora-eri just like the father.

And Ora-eri, in actual fact, being one of the sons of Nri performed everything that Nri did in coronation; even the Eze of Ora-Eri is known as Eze Nri Ora-eri. It was around early 1940s that Igbo-Ukwu invaded Ora-eri because it was a small community. Igbo-ukwu, which was larger than Ora-eri, took most of their lands and that has made Ora-eri to lack space for lands.

In their first invasion, Igbo-Ukwu conquered Ora-eri and took most of their properties. And there was the second invasion, but when Oraeri had an inkling about it, they had to bury every important laurel of their king under the ground so that Igbo-Ukwu warriors won’t see them.

They were invaded the first time and the second time, they didn’t want them to touch any part of their Eze because by so doing, that would be the end of their tradition and civilisation. After a while, Igbo-Ukwu occupied Ora-eri and if you go down, 70 per cent plots of lands belonging to Ora-eri were taken by them.

In fact, whatever you see in Igbo-Ukwu today initially belonged to Ora-eri. When the white anthropologists came, a man called Alexander was digging the ground in order to build a house, and he struck some implements buried underground.

A lot of people who were there looked at the implements and they appeared strange to them. They had to call the white anthropologists and they excavated the materials and joined them together, including this Udu-Eze we are talking about. The anthropologists in 1964 declared openly and boldly to everybody that whatever we found here, they belong to Nri. In 1994, we conferred a chieftaincy title on one of the white anthropologists, Thurston Shaw, a lecturer at the University of Ibadan.

Also, Igboukwu conferred another title on the anthropologist and at the event, the then president general of Igbo Ukwu was directed

by Thurston Shaw that the relics discovered by them belong to Nri. They are all aware of this, unless they really wish to play politics.

Wherever you discover that anything is where you will name that discovery. For instance, Igbo-Ukwu excavation of the relics and popularly called Igbo-Ukwu discovery, this doesn’t mean it is their culture because we don’t have any cultural infinity with them.

The same thing with Aguleri, Nri has no similar culture with Aguleri. Since the beginning of Aguleri, it has had no traditional institution. And the Aguleri-otu was given an autonomous community under the Mbadinuju administration which was nullified by the fiat of Mbadinuju’s successor, Dr. Chris Ngige.

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Abuja Beats

Abuja Beats

Abuja residents bemoan sale of porn movies R

Amadi Nnamdi esidents of the Federal Capital Territory have expressed worry at the rate at which pornographic materials have continued to spread across the city without any check by the appropriate authorities.

This is coming on the heels of a recent declaration by the Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board that it is set to burn about N10 million worth of pornographic and unwholesome movies seized within FCT and environs during targeted operations between January and June this year.

According to the statement signed by the spokesman of NFVCB, Mr. Caesar Kagho, the operation covered Gwagwalada, Karu, Kubwa, Wuse market and Airport Road during which over two million films were seized. Out of these, 60 per cent were pornographic materials while 40 per cent were uncensored, unwholesome and pirated items.

Kagho further said NFVCB is currently working with the Federal Ministry of Environment to secure a dumpsite to burn the seized films.

This clampdown has further brought to limelight the earlier complaints of parents about the rate at which pornographic movies are publicly hawked around the city and its environs.

While condemning what she described as the nonchalant attitude of government towards this ugly trend, a secondary school teacher, Mrs. Evelyn Okwute, urged government to take urgent action to curb the trend.

She also lamented that the Internet had worsened the situation.

“Our government should do something about this. Pornography is now cheaply available in the open market, and the Internet is not really helping matters. Some

injury to the dignity of Seized illegal and pirated DVD movies its participants, includpiled up in an NFVCB facility in Abuja ing the actors, vendors and public since each becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others.”

He said Bridge Life Foundation, an NGO in the forefront of youth development advocacy in Nigeria, has frequently condemned social vices like pornography that hamper the psychological, spiritual and emotional development of youths in Nigeria.

Speaking to New Telegraph on Sunday, the NGO’s President and Founder, Ms. Bridget Azenda, attributed the high rate of youth indulgence in pornography to the lack of parental guidance, peer influence, youthful exuberance and lust. students even go online where there are While proffering solutions to the ugly thousands of free porn sites to download trend Alabi urged the authorities to preillicit videos and pictures. Please, there vent the production and distribution of should be some kind of restrictions. It is pornographic materials in whatever form. immoral, parents should also monitor the As for individuals suffering from such addiction, he advised them to approach the activities of their children,” she said.

A clergyman, Rev. Fr. Samuel Alabi, ex- Catholic Support Group for Sexual Addicpressed shock at the ugly trend, describing tions Recovery. pornography as “an act that demeans the “It is a group that gives opportunity for dignity of the human person and should be these people to share ideas with others avoided in every form.” who suffer from the same addiction and He added, “It is an offence against chastity also learn from those who have overcome as it perverts the conjugal act. It does grave such weakness in life,” he advised.

Miss FCT Niger Delta floats NGO for elderly people Philip Nyam

T

he reigning Miss FCT Niger Delta 2014, Esther Tokoni, has floated a pet project tagged ‘Elderly Care Initiative’, to cater for the elderly and destitute in the society.

The beauty queen who stated this in a chat with New Telegraph on Sunday in Abuja explained that “the whole idea involves a campaign for the elderly folks.”

A graduate of International Relations from the North American University, United States, she said her decision to initiate such an NGO was to give hope to the elderly in the society.

According to her, she was touched by the deplorable manner aged people were being treated in most parts of the country.

Tokoni noted that in other parts of the world, elderly people were entitled to some form of social security, lamenting that such a programme was largely non-existent in Nigeria.

“It has always been part of me to respect

elders and I found it nauseating seeing elderly and aged people being maltreated by their relations simply because they are no longer strong.

“I studied abroad and I see how the government put in place various programmes to positively engage elderly people. It is unfortunate that we do not even have hospices in Nigeria. There are just a handful of them.

“It was on the strength of this belief that I set out to do something that would alleviate the suffering of the elderly in our society. I believe by the grace of God, I will succeed in this venture. I believe it is laudable and doable.

“We want to campaign for walk ways for the elderly when they want to go for a walk.

We will also campaign for the construction of shop entrances on the streets so that those who find it difficult to climb can easily can easily walk into shops to do their shopping,” she said.

Tokoni emerged Miss FCT Niger Delta in May this year and would reign for one year.

Man arrested for wife’s assault on police woman Kenneth Tyohemba

A

house wife living in Jikwoyi, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja simply identified as Tessy, last Tuesday landed her husband in police net due to her inability to control her anger.

Tessy, it was gathered, slapped a female police officer who came to arrest her over a misunderstanding with her neighbour.

Eyewitness told New Telegraph on Sunday that the lady, in her 30s, had a disagreement with the neighbor identified as Mama Nkechi.

But efforts by those around the two feuding women to resolve their misunderstanding proved abortive as Mama Nkechi went to a nearby police station to report the matter.

Mama Nkechi, however, came back with a female police officer to invite Tessy to the police station, but she resisted arrest.

Tessy allegedly slapped the female police officer, who insisted on a forced arrest.

Tension heightened as the assaulted police officer returned to the station for reinforcement and returned with policemen in a Toyota Hilux van to take the offender away by force.

The woman still refused to surrender as she jumped the fence and fled the house when she saw the policemen coming after her.

She also got wounded in the process but escaped arrest.

The policemen who said it was an embarrassment to the Nigeria Police for an officer to be beaten on duty and picked her husband instead.

“Oga, produce your wife or we arrest you instead,” said the leader of the team.

The husband could not produce the wife and was subsequently arrested and detained at Jikwoyi Police Station.

Okada riders flood Nyanya, Karu Amadi Nnamdi

T

he ban on the operation of commercial motorcyclists also known as Okada within Abuja metropolis by the Federal Capital Territory Administration has led to the invasion of the operators to various sub-urban areas the city.

Karu and Nyanya communities of Abuja Municipal Area Council are some of the major ‘beneficiaries’ of what can best be described as urban to rural migration of okada riders.

The presence of these operators in these highly populated areas is encouraged by the low cost of living there.

They have therefore found a place where they can rest their heads, successfully ply their business and make sustainable income without running into trouble with the government.

However, many residents of these satellite towns have lamented the reckless nature of the Okada riders and resultant accidents.

Some of the riders were even accused of operating under the influence of alcohol while some of them disobey traffic rules.

Interestingly, some residents of the area such as traders at Karu and Nyanya markets see the riders as an indispensable means of transportation as they facilitate the easy movement of people and goods.

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Abuja Beats

FCT rail’ll reduce traffic jams - Kalu The Public Relations Officer, Development Control, Federal Capital Development Authority, Mr. Kalu Emetu, in an interview with OBINNA ODOH discusses the FCT Rail Project Can you tells what the rail project is all about and what it is set to achieve?

Well, as we know, one of the cardinal points of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda is to revitalise the rail system, improve the transport sector and make the movement of people and goods from one end to the other easier.

The present administration has since inception made a frantic effort and set up a pragmatic mechanism that has within the shortest period revolutionised the rail system which had been a moribund for decades.

You know that successive administrations had made efforts in one way or the other to arrest the problems encountered in the transport sector by providing one form of mass transit or the other. But the ephemeral nature of these approaches could not allow these efforts to last long.

But this administration has taken the bull by the horn as you can see that a lot has been done in respect to railway revitalisation. If you go round Abuja, you can see work going on in earnest in the rail terminals.

What is so special about FCT Railway that much has been said about it? May we know the areas it will cover?

As the nation’s capital, it is germane and sacrosanct that a railway system should be provided in FCT to ease and enhance transport as can be seen in other developed and developing countries of the world. Railway system in Abuja will not only provide affordable transport system but will drastically reduce the difficulties of unavailability of suitable transport system. This rail transport system when completed will reduce long hold up and scarcity of vehicles experienced in FCT now. It will cover all the area councils in FCT. The essence is to allow for easy movement of people and goods from one end to another.

What can your assessment of successes recorded in this project be?

Above average a lot has been done. At least over fifty percent of the work has been achieve and work is still going on.

The project seems to be slow, what can you say in this respect?

As we know, railway project is capitalintensive and require huge amount of money. But the loan collected by the Nigerian government from China to fund rail project shows that the project will be completed in no distant time.

When do we hope to see the completion?

According to the Federal Governments in the agreement paper with the Chinese government, it will be completed in 2015.

With the level of work achieved so far I believe 2915 benchmark is feasible.

Don’t you think that such transport system as this is long overdue?

Better to be late than never. If we condemn the project because we believe it is coming late, what can we say to previous administrations that spent five years, eightyears and 11 years etc and yet could not attempt it? We should as a matter of sincerity learn to appreciate when an ad-

or notice. We give at least three weeks’ notice before demolition.

Could you elaborate on this because critics say that demolition in Abuja is a deliberate action by government to frustrate masses in FCT. Some trace this to various places demolished which are still abandoned. What do you have to say?

It is very wrong for people to imagine such an ill thought. No government can exist without the masses and as a result can never punish its citizens; how much more this administration that is good with good intentions. This is the negative impression people always have about government and it is very unfortunate and uncalled for.

Has compensation started?

Yes, when you are sure of yourself and have original documents come to compensation and resettlement unit and get yours.

Mr. Emetu

ministration is doing well and also criticize when on the contrary.

In some of the area councils of FCT, for instance, Kuje Area Council we saw even some licensed and government approved structures being demolished. Does it mean that such vital project as this were not captured in the Abuja Master Plan?

Though this question seems ambiguous but the truth is Abuja Master Plan envisioned that there is going to be rail in the future. So that is why all the structures and projects which were wrongly allocated by FCDA within the rail corridor are being compensated because they were allocated and built in error. Compensation package is provided by government for the genuinely licensed properties.

Do you consider at all the pain and embarrassment you inflict on people when you demolish their houses?

Whenever government is set to embark on a project their interest and concern are the wellbeing of the generality of people and not some selected individuals. Government’s concern is to alleviate the plight of the people and provide them with the necessary amenities. So FCT being the hub of the nation where all the activities of the nation pivoting around and considering population explosion experienced in the city it is therefore sacrosanct to embark on rail transport system to reduce future adverse suffering for the residents. If such a transport system as this is not provided in FCT, in the near future, movement in Abuja will be bridled by unusual traffic.

We are meticulous here in Abuja to control illegal structures and projects to avoid repeating what we experienced in Lagos our former capital that led to the transfer to Abuja.

How does FCDA intend to do this without hurting the indigenes?

Their case is different. We don’t compensate when their properties are demolished but relocate them to a well-built place to avoid inconvenience. For visitors / residents, when hit with demolition, they could always go home and re-organise and come back later but indigenes have no other place to run to.

How do you capture all the affected people for compensation?

What we normally do is to advise all the people with genuine documents to forward them to our office for inspection.

When that is done, we refer them to a department in our office called resettlement and compensation. This department handles compensation and resettlement and when it is ascertained that your plots and building are legally approved we don’t hesitate or delay in compensation. When we talk about papers we refer to title papers and, building approval. When they are seen as genuine documents, certainly compensation cannot be denied.

People are of the opinion that task force groups are hasty in carrying out demolition even when a project is not done immediately. What is your take on that?

Well, the task force is not in a haste to demolish but if we wait for the contractor to get to a particular spot where tracks will be laid before the demolition of structures, how do we think that the contractor will find it easy? The inter-ministerial exercise provides that when the contractors are working the relevant agencies should provide a necessary platform for the smooth running of the project. To be frank with you, we don’t just come and start demolition without pre-information

Some say that preferential treatment is the order of compensation. Is it true that influential persons are considered first?

That is the negative impression I said earlier that people have about government and I urge us to abhor such misconception. They are differentiating between the rich and poor, but what I have to say to them in that respect is if you have your genuine documents you are sure to be compensated without delay. How are we sure that people putting up these allegations are not those who got their plots allocation from local chiefs or from illegal authorities?

But if the critics are sure of what they are saying, what stops them from going to court to seek redress? In our country we have a lot of human rights organisations that champion the course of the common man. By the common man, I mean the poor.

Can you give examples of those compensated?

You want me to start calling names, No the only thing we assure you is we have not disappointed and delayed people or institutions with genuine documents.

Do you have a monitoring team that checks the excesses of task force members?

Yes, we have district site officers who work with them and our public relations office is there to monitor their movement.

Finally, we also have the management team which goes from one point to another to check how work is being done. The functions of these groups are to maintain public rights and prevent the violation of such. They also check information and allegations levelled against us and provide the management with the necessary ideas on how to solve them.

What do we hope to see when the project is completed?

You will see the smooth movement of people and goods from one end of FCT to another. Also, the reduction if not total eradication of long traffic will be achieved. The rail when functioning will put a lot of vehicles off Abuja roads and the scarcity of transport in Abuja will be solved.

What is your advice to Abuja residents?

Play by the rules and help us put Abuja in the right developmental perspective in accordance with the master plan. Secondly, we urge the media to provide the public with all the necessary information and enlightenment that will help us succeed in making FCT a better place to be and which also can help us compete with other developed cities of the world.

Finally, we advise the public to shun all forms of illegal acquisition of land/plots from local chiefs. It is only the Minister of FCT on behalf of the President who is empowered by the law to allocate plots and land in Abuja metropolis.

n a workplace environment, your wardrobe is a sign of your professionalism and is sometimes used to gauge your level of competence. Your co-workers and clients should feel comfortable with your appearance.

I

Vanessa Okwara

Therefore, when putting together your work wardrobe, your region, climate, industry, and nature of job should be taken into consideration.

For instance, a customer care officer in a telecom industry will dress differently from an investment banker.

In some companies, suits and blazers

are compulsory five days of the week.

While in others, you can look less serious in gowns, corporate shirts, trousers, blouses and skirts. In some other jobs, you can go completely casual in jeans. All these depend, however, on the nature of your job and the position you occupy in the company.

Dressing to fit into your company’s code shows that you are a team player and are concerned about the image you and your company present to clients. So as a general rule, try to fit into your company’s dress code and bring in some individuality in your dressing.

This you achieve quality of clothing,

personal style and the right accessories to compliment your overall ensemble.

Note, however, that no matter where you work, it is not appropriate to wear tight or extremely short clothing to work. This is especially important for women, who may be judged more by their clothing. The workplace is where

you spend a better part your day, so make sure you dress well to boost your confidence, acceptance and general demeanor. This will definitely help keep you in the right frame of mind to deliver high quality work and be recognised as the efficient professional you are.

for the job you want

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Body&Soul

‘Manscape’ to get preppy masculine look

Vanessa Okwara

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ome ladies might get attracted to a man with hairy chest, side burns or even hairs adorning muscular arms, but it is a definite turn off when the hair looks unkempt. If you are a hairy guy, chances are that you have hairs on most part of your body and even sprouting in the nose and ear tips.

It is time to shave off these unsightly hairs as part of your grooming routine.

Trimming the hair on the chest, back, and nether regions is known today as ‘manscaping’ or ‘body

grooming’. Some guys may fancy a little stubble on their cheeks; some even nurture their moustache to certain length as a matter of style or for other reasons.

There is nothing wrong with growing a moustache but you must make an effort to keep it tidy all the time. The sight of long hair sprouting from the ear or neck hair going into the collar of the shirt is never appealing. Ensure you scrape them off on a regular basis. This is something you should put into consideration as you go into a barbers shop.

You should not only

think of carving out a sleek moustache from your bears or getting a smooth hair cut; shaving off unsightly hairs from the ear, nose or neck should also be made an important grooming priority. This is something your barber can help you take care of while giving you a haircut.

Hair on the armpits and private part should also be a concern to the man.

Overgrown hair in the armpit and private parts breed body odour since hairs have a way of trapping dirt in them. Guys, it is a must to make sure that the hair grown in the covered part

of our body is constantly shaved and kept smooth as often as possible. Also, use deodorant to keep body odour at bay in these covered parts of the body.

You might decide not to go completely smooth shaven but a little trimming here and there will surely help you look clean and masculine.

Taking care of your overall hair helps give you a suave appearance that can only be credited to polished, cultured and well-groomed men.

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GLOBAL fashion

Sherri Hill’s glitz designs at Miami Fashion Week 2014 Vanessa Okwara

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iami Fashion Week 2014 which held recently started off at the Miami Beach Convention Centre with grand runways, red carpets, pop-up boutiques and VIP lounges. It has become the biggest Latin American and International Fashion Festival in the United States.

This year’s Fashion Week had an array of top fashion names such as Custo Barcelona, Julian Chang, Claudia Bertolero and Sherri Hill; and models from renowned agencies like Wilhemina and Ford showcasing lovely designs on the

runway.

In this edition, we bring you the mouthwatering evening gowns from renowned designer Sherri Hill. The designs were complete perfection as always and Miss Universe 2014, Gabriela Isler, walked the runway in a fabulous sparkling red for Hill’s collection looking like the radiant queen she is.

Hill’s designs follow an absolute contemporary and glamorous look for today’s women. They are chic, stylish and downright gorgeous.

Some were long gown defining the curves and posture of a female body, having slits in the middle or at the sides. Others were long

gowns with flares embellished beautifully with fine material showing off the royal look that Hill provides to every one of her pieces.

Hill is known for her creativity in prom dresses and evening gowns giving each piece a look of glamour and radiance.

Sherri Hill has now become a Hollywood’s top designer for young stars like Selena Gomez, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Bella Throne. Previously, Hill showcased her spring 2013 collection at New York Fashion Week with Kendall and Kylie Jenner and Miss Universe 2008, Dayana Mendoza, walking on the runway.

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Body&Soul

with

Wole Adepoju 08085003746

woleadepoju@yahoo.com

About Ita-Giwa Biodun Akinlade daughter’s wedding set to dump APC G

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ember of the House of Representatives from Ogun State, Abiodun Isiak Akinlade, in his bid to run in the next governorship election in Ogun State, may have perfected plans to dump the All Progressives Congress. He is said to be planning to move back to the Peoples Democratic Party, where he feels he can actualise his ambition.

Akinlade is billed to make his formal declaration in a matter of days.

Sources, however, revealed that Akinlade’s plan may not play out as expected because a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has started work towards contesting the next governorship election. Dimeji, some days ago, held a meeting with some stakeholders at Ilaro and it is believed to be the beginning of his consultation. It is said that the fact that Dimeji has a bigger image and is more popular, will pick the PDP ticket. On the other hand, Akinlade, , who is the chairman, House Committee on Technology, is said to have been able to garner the support of PDP stalwarts like former Ogun PDP chairman, Chief Joju Fadairo, and a few others.

Another feather to Alex Akinyele’s cap

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ndo State-born former Chairman of the National Sport Commission, High Chief Alex Akinyele, comfortably appears to many as a stylish man with peculiar antecedents. No doubt, he has a penchant for foreign women, whom he has been married to at different times. His good looks and enviable dress sense also put him ahead as a stylish man.

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his tale of the man at the forefront of the opposition to the government of the day, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his sister in-law, Munirat Folasade Tinubu, has continued to be of

Better days for Bukola Olopade

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he dude who goes by the aforementioned name could be said to have existed as an integral part of the immediate government in Ogun State led by Otunba Gbenga Daniel. Bukola Olopade a.k.a Ozogula, who held sway as the Commissioner for Youth and Sport, wielded so much power in the government that his counterparts and other government officials revered him. He was said to have maintained a special pact with the former governor.

Like other persons that took part in that government, Olopade looked for greener pastures and toyed with the idea of going to the House of Representatives. But

What many would have noticed about this ex-Customs officer in recent times is that he has withdrawn into his shell and lives a quiet life. But going by information made available to Celeb Lounge, it can easily be said that the man still has a lot of goodwill that is working in his favour.

Recently, the Lobosin of Ondo Kingdom was decorated as a red cap chief by the Igbo community in Lagos.

Where Asiwaju Tinubu deserts, sister in-law dwells

interest to those who are in the know because of its nature. It’s no news that Tinubu and Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, are two parallel lines that don’t meet.

However, it will interest you to know that Folashade, the wife of a former Head of Service in Lagos State during Tinubu’s tenure, Alhaji Rafiu Tinubu, is a Senior Special Assistant on Human Resources to Mimiko.

Although Folashade Tinubu, a lawyer and native of Owo, is eligible to hold her current post, what baffles most people is how she manages to dwell where his brother in-law deserted.

racefully ageing powerful South-South politician, Senator Florence Ita- Giwa, may have sent a signal to the high society where she belongs that she will be throwing a mother of all parties, come September 20. That is the day her adorable daughter, Koko, will be quitting spinsterhood to join her lover in holy matrimony. Although information as regards how and where the event will hold is still being kept a secret, the mood that comes with the signal says the event is going to be about the who is who in the society.

Mother of the bride-to-be, who was a Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, aside being influential in the political arena, is a force to reckon with in high society.

Her 21-year-old daughter, who is a graduate of University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom, will be sealing her relationship with Chimaobi Shawcross Obioha Jnr. She and Chimaobi have been an item for well over one year and marriage tales trailed them until a wedding date was finally announced by the mother of the bride-to-be not recently.

he realised his chances were slim because he was said to have stepped on toes while in office. So, he jettisoned the idea and went underground. Gist available to Celeb Lounge has it that Bukola has since charted another course that is yielding result. He’s said to have been made a sport consultant in faraway Bayelsa and the ‘dividend’ of the job is said to be different exotic wonders on wheels he cruises around whenever he’s in Abeokuta. Sources further revealed that Bukola is on the verge of completing his country home located behind the house of the Alake of Egba, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, at Ibara G.R.A, Abeokuta.

Ifeanyi Uba’s unending ordeal

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t would be recalled how Capital Oil boss, Ifeanyi Ubah, gradually gained acceptance and visibility on the national stage after years of building his business empire. The same way he gradually came into national consciousness, as it is, appears to be the way he’s inching into oblivion because his days of trouble look far from ending.

The Anambra Stateborn rich dude, who was heading to the apex of his career as an oil and gas magnate, got fascinated by political power and decided to run for governor of his home state,

Anambra. His chances looked bright initially because of the support he was gathering until the real gladiators showed up and he was shoved aside to battle the financial crisis that had reared its ugly head. Fresh feelers from reliable sources revealed that the money bag is still very much enmeshed in the crisis with the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, which is still holding sway at his Capital Oil base. In the same vein, some of his personal belongings, among which is his private jet, are said to have also been taken over by AMCON.

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Body&Soul

THINKING ALOUD

paulhelenproductions@yahoo.com; 08072709777

Ese Falae embraces life again

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fter taking up an appointment as the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s cabinet, Deji Falae, the first son of South–West political top shot, Chief Olu Falae, had lived peacefully and quietly until death suddenly crept in and snatched him from the loving arms of his wife.

He was one of those who died in the Associated Airlines plane crash on October 3, 2013 at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

There’s no doubt that the untimely death of Deji will always make the hearts of his people, especially, the mother of his three kids, Eseh, weak. However, the usual saying that time heals wounds may be working out for the widow of late Deji, Eseh. Sources revealed that almost one year after the demise of Deji, Eseh is said to be gradually coming to terms with the reality that her hubby is gone.

Just like the father of the

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Time to quit that marriage

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deceased, Chief Falae, who has since returned to politics by joining others to resuscitate the defunct Social Democratic Party,

beautiful Eseh is also said to have moved on with life along with her children at their Dolphin Estate, Lagos home.

Olu Agunloye changes gear koko, Ondo Stateborn, Dr. Olu Agunloye, belongs to the league of influential and crowd pulling politicians in the Sunshine State. His influence could be said to have worked for him when he was made a federal minister ahead of several interested and eligible politicians in the state at the time. As it is known that it is in-

with Helen Paul

terest that rules the political world, Agunloye has moved from one party to the other in the last few years.

Based on interest, Agunloye dumped the Peoples Democratic Party for Labour Party a few years back to actualise his dream of becoming a senator. But he could not achieve his desire, as his targeted ticket

was conceded to Senator Ajayi Borrofice. As a result of this, he cross to the All Progressives Congress, where he had earnestly started to prepare grounds for his governorship ambition. This was also thwarted as Olu Akeredolu (SAN) was favoured with the ticket by the party leaders. At this point, Agunloye moved his structure back to Labour Party to join forces with Governor Mimiko, who was seeking a second term against the myths of the Asiwaju Bola Tinubuled APC that was bent on taking over the state. The result of the election was what has made Mimiko retain his office and Agunloye remained in the boat of the winning team.

Going by all that has happened and the sacrifice made by Agunloye, speculation has started making the rounds that the former minister may emerge as Mimiko’s successor. But the calculation, Celeb Lounge learnt, is far from that as Agunloye is said to have signified his interest to run for the Senate again. What we cannot tell is if the party has agreed to compensate him with the ticket.

lot has been said about marriage. to my friend, Linda (not real name).

And it has also been defined in a Things continued to get worse to the variety of ways. To some, it is for extent that he was beating her at the better for worse, while others describe slightest provocation, almost every day.

But because Linda is a Christian, she it as the only institution where you receive a certificate before graduation. was advised by her pastor to keep prayYes, the latter is true, depending on the ing that normalcy would return. Yes, it ‘door ’ through which you enter. Your is true that our faith in God should be certificate could be pregnancy or the strong, but I wasn’t comfortable with legally stamped certificate. It depends. the fact that the pastor in question failed Anyway, that is not what I’m here to to act further by counselling the couple talk about. Whichever way you enter, to examine the real cause (or causes, as you deserve to be happy with your part- the case may be) of the crisis rocking ner and union. the marriage. Instead, he told the bride If you ask me, marriage is not a do-or- to keep praying. die affair. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not I don’t want to bore you with many against people getting married (because events that took place between the couI’m legally married). The point I’m try- ple, but the truth is that as we speak, ing to make is that some marriages are Linda is partially blind –no thanks to not worth it, and the bitter but true ad- the ‘Tyson-like’ punches she received vice a lady in such a union can get is to from her supposed husband during one of their unnecessary domestic combats. call it quits.

There are certain things that should not I have an advice for men who are very be compromised in a marriage. As much good at beating their wives. Instead of as this could sound odd to some fanat- wasting those ‘killer punches’ on your ics, it is the simple truth. How do you wife, why not register at a boxing acadexplain a situation where your spouse emy where you can be trained to fight turns you to a punching bag? Will you professionally and at the same time laugh to the bank? continue to endure You honestly don’t the barbaric act till I have an advice for it claims your life have to waste your men who are very good or you call it quits energy on that defenceless woman honourably? at beating their wives.

Domestic viobecause you stand lence is a serious isto gain nothing Instead of wasting those sue that shouldn’t from pummelling ‘killer punches’ on your be handled with her. The truth is levity. I don’t want that most wifewife, why not register to mention names beaters are the here, but we have ones who mostly at a boxing academy seen cases where fail to challenge where you can be trained domestic violence their fellow men has led to avoidwhen it is necesto fight professionally able deaths. Yes, it sary. So please, is the dream of evreserve that enerand at the same time gy for more posiery lady to be marlaugh to the bank? You ried, but should it tive things. Your be in exchange for mates are making honestly don’t have to money fighting on her life? Definitely the rings, not with NO! waste your energy on Marriage or relatheir wives in the that defenceless woman tionship should be bedroom. A word built on friendship. is enough for the because you stand to gain Of course, quarrels wise. nothing from pummelling and arguments are I know that many inevitable, but my ladies reading this her dear friends, the piece are victims of various degrees of moment it metamorphoses into redomestic violence peated physical assault, it’s time to say in their relationship or marriage. I’m goodbye before you pay dearly for it not telling you not to be submissive with your life or terminal injuries. I’m to your partner, the point I’m trying not encouraging divorce, but if it ap- to make here is that for every problem pears as the only option that will keep you encounter in your marriage, there must be a solution. Active and practiyou alive, so be it.

There is this friend of mine who got cal counselling can help a lot. It is only married to a guy she had been dating when the counselling and your prayers from the university. It would be an un- cannot work the magic that you need to derstatement if I describe the guy as a think twice. wolf in the skin of a sheep. When he There are many factors that prevent was dating my friend, they seemed marriages from being successful in Nilike a perfect duo, but the friendship geria, and if these factors can be well between them vanished abruptly after handled by couples, their union will stand the test of time. their elaborate wedding.

The wedding day was the last time Next week, I will talk about some of true friendship existed between my the things that don’t make most marfriend and her husband. Almost imme- riages work, and as well proffer some diately after the wedding, Chuks (not solutions. real name) started behaving strangely See you next week.

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Body&Soul

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

DIY on the GO

Vegetables in flower vase

Cultivating vegetable garden at home

Pumpkin planted in wooden bed

Abimbola Sodeke

W Vegetables in basket

Vegetables planted in kegs

Pepper plant

hen thinking of starting a mini vegetable garden, there are certain factors you need to consider.

These include space, (where to plant), when to plant and how to plant.

However, starting a mini vegetable garden is no easy task, but don’t worry, DIY will help you out.

If you have a little space with a fertilized soil at your backyard or a corner of your house, then you are lucky. But if you don’t have a space to make garden, get a big keg, cut it into two rectangular sizes with hot knife, fill it with loamy soil and if you are not sure of the soil, use a wet sand and add manure.

However, there is a limit to the vegetables you can plant in a keg or a wooden bed. These are pumpkin seed (ugu seed), water leaf, curry leaf, spinach seed (grain), pepper, tomatoes and ewedu.

Get the vegetable seeds and sticks, depending on the method of planting.

• Pumpkin seed (Ugu seed) Before planting, wash and sun dry the seed before burying it under the soil. Do not forget to lead the leaf to a stick when growing so that it will grow around it.

• Water leaf Plant the seeds or sticks. You can get the seeds from overgrown water leaf plant but its easier to plant the sticks.

• Curry leaf The stem should be planted. It grows in warm environment. Water the plant regularly to enable it grow fast.

• Spinach Plant the seed. It grows best in cool weather. When planted in the right environment, it grows whether watered or not.

• Pepper and tomato After washing your pepper or tomatoes, pour the water containing some seeds in your garden. Note that anywhere water containing pepper or tomato seed is poured, it will germinate if the environment is right.

• Ewedu leaf Before planting the seed, tie in a piece of cloth then boil or dip in hot water and sun dry before planting.

A vegetable garden will not only enhance the beauty of your compound, it will reduce your spending on vegetables.

Note: Vegetables planted in a kegs, wooden bed, baskets or flower vase should be trimmed regularly in order to keep your compound tidy.

Curry leaf

Tomatoes plant

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

49

Wine & Dine

Body&Soul

Protection for your Wines

Ibukunoluwa Kayode

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hink of the remarkable wines you have left behind because you feared breakage or spillage. Wine lovers and connoisseurs who know the value of a world class vintage and desire to take along some wine to share and impress friends for that memorable refreshment

cannot forget a wine carrier.

In recent times, wine carrier cases are flooding local Nigerian markets, unlike before, when you have to worry about keeping your wine safe on the move.

The wine carrier is carefully built to keep wine in place for convenient mobility without any breakage or spillage. The indigenous wine carrier will allow you

transport your bottles securely in an indestructible hard shell case with closed cell foam, safely maintaining placement temperature for

six to eight hours.

Convenient and light, wine carrier can fit for both formal and informal outings; ranging from picnics to beach parties. Also, this carrier can serve travellers who

choose to fly with his or her personal tasty wine for refreshment with a complete protection safely stowed below in a hard durable carrying case. These carriers are not only suitable for air travelers alone but also land and sea travelers can as well enjoy the durability of this

flexible riage. c a r These carriers come in different forms like bags and boxes, and in different sizes.

They can easily be bought from sophisticated wine outlets and supermarkets across Nigeria at affordable price.

Oha/Ora Soup with swallow of choice Biwom Iklaki

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igeria is no longer in the World Cup and several husbands have relaxed (somewhat) their holds on the remote controls. Now that most wives are no longer in danger of having their heads bitten off for passing in front of the television set, it’s time to cook something heavy for him again.

Moving away from the light meals and finger foods of the past couple of weeks, let’s get back to feeding our households with something ‘proper naija’.

Oha/ora is an indigenous Nigerian soup with origins from the Igbo of South East Nigeria.

INGREDIENTS Oha leaves 7 medium-sized cocoyam Meat (chicken, assorted, beef, goat meat, turkey) Dry fish 2 stock cubes 2 cups Crayfish A handful of Uziza leaves (optional) Stock fish 1 cup palm oil Salt and fresh pepper to taste PREPARATION Peel and wash the cocoyam with water and cook until it is soft then pound with a mortar and pestle until the paste is smooth.

Pound the crayfish and pepper, wash the dry fish with warm water.

Wash and chop uziza leaves, wash and shred oha/

ora leaves with your fingers (it is believed that if you use a knife to chop the oha/ora leaves, it will make the soup bitter or spoil the taste of the soup).

Spice and parboil meat and stock fish, allow to cook until tender.

Add more water then add red oil (palm oil), ground crayfish, maggi, salt and pepper to taste. Stir and allow to boil for 5 minutes.

Add the pounded cocoyam, stir to get rid of any lumps. Allow to cook for about 7 minutes, then add uziza leaves, cook for two minutes and add oha/ora leaves. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes and sweetheart, your oha/ora soup is done!

Serve with eba, fufu, wheat or pounded yam.

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Body&Soul

Wellies for the rain Biwom Iklaki

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he rains are the perfect weather for layering the kids up. It can be very daunting getting the kids the right kind of games in the rainy season, but with the right clothes and shoes, they can still get their fun on.

Who remembers how

much fun they had while dancing or just plain running around in the rain? It was awesome! These are some of the few activities likely to be preserved for all time.

Anyway, as fun as dancing in the rain is, one can catch their death of cold without the right gear. You need to dress the kids in at least two separate clothes to make it happen. Then of course let’s not forget the chic wellies.

They are rubber boots that are well over the ankles to

prevent water or rain from getting to the feet. So your kids can dance in the rain and stay warm, dry and chic!

Wellies are some of the funnest kids accessories available. The designers play with the styles, colours and characters on them.

They are available for both boys and girls, even adults.

Why not get a few pairs for all of you, so the next time it rains you all can dance in the rain rather than sulk indoors!

Roving worshipper Sermon Excelling in his father’s fields Dominate your p.52 world! p.57

Sermon Don’t worry p55

TAI ANYANWU, titus.anyanwu@newtelegraphonline.com titusanyanwu.2012@gmail.com 0706 438 0029

NTWEEKEND ONLINE AT

www.newtelegraphonline.com/faith

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51

Faith ON SUNDAY

Assemblies of God ministers pray over leadership crisis O

Tai Anyanwu ver 5,000 pastors in the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria converged on its Opkoto Prayer Camp in Ebonyi State, to seek for God’s intervention in the leadership crisis in the church.

New Telegraph on Sunday gathered that last week’s four-day prayer and fasting progamme, which was attended by a past General Superintendent, Rev. Charles Osueke; renowned evangelist, Rev. Uma Ukpai; and executive members of the church included a fast and prayers.

Our correspondent learnt that the church had to resort to this avenue to seek a lasting solution to the problem.

Our correspondent, who was at the prayer summit, reports that also at gathering were District Superintendents, Sectional Leaders, Unit Heads, and Pastors.

Speaking at the opening the programme, Ukpai warned the ministers and stakeholders in AG to be careful about their conduct, pointing out that God’s wrath would fall on those who do otherwise.

In his own message on the last day of the summit, Osueke said the politicians in Assemblies of God Church were responsible for the current crisis because they failed to consult God. “We need to know what is at stake in this matter. As I was prostrate, asking God, ‘What is happening? Are you involved?’ God made it clear, to me last week that He was involved in what is going on.

“God said, ‘You are looking for a revival. If not for this crisis would you have imagined what you are hearing today?”

Osueke stressed that the first time he heard about the crisis within the leadership of AG, he developed a headache.

According to Osueke, AG ministers must recognise and uphold the three-fold ministry which he described as worshipping and doing the work of evangelism, giving Christian education and raising souls for Christ.

“The moment we stop addressing these areas and fail to dress our structure, we are no longer relevant,” he said.

He recalled that before he left office as GS, he had told the ministers that they could improve on the

Assemblies of God ministers during the summit

packaging of the church but not its content without derailing.

He added, “God is interested in whatever the ministers and the church are doing. God is also involved in whatever we are doing as a church; and He is interested in who does what. I have to let the church of God know that this church is His own.”

He therefore urged the ministers to give God His rightful place in the church for all to be well.

He warned the minsters that God is personally interested in the affairs of the church.

“If the church does not meet the purpose for which God instituted it, it will cease to be relevant; and God will act against those who miss the goal,” he declared.

Before he concluded the message, Osueke said the Assemblies of God remained the only church in Nigeria that could tell its leader that he had erred.

His words: “I don’t know how many churches in Nigeria that can tell their leader that he is wrong.

Assemblies of God is still the only church that can do that. That is what our constitution provides for because every one of us is under a constitution.

“And so we were able to tell him (Rev. Paul Emeka), you are wrong in this area. If he had admitted his wrong, we have a way of waiving some of these disciplinary measures. So we insist that he should

recognise the authority of the church over him.

“And to those that are watching this crisis and seeing the negative side, there is another way to

look at it. This is the only way to go about it. We tell those people that are watching us to be praying for us rather than to write off the church because we expect a

big revival at the end of the tunnel. We are coming back in a very big way,” he stated.

Attempts to obtain comments from the suspended GS proved abortive as he did not pick calls to his phone.

However, when our correspondent contacted his media manager, Rev. Jeff Ramsey, he initially declined to speak.

Prodded for comments, he expressed displeasure with New Telegraph on Sunday’s report of July 6, 2014, which said the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had ordered the Enugu State Police Command to shut Assemblies of God Secretariat in Enugu to avert further crisis.

Ramsey said, “How can you publish a thing that is false and now they started putting pressure on the police to close the church?

“You went and published what was not right and now you are telling me to ask the man (Emeka) to give you audience so that he can tell that what you reported was correct. Is that what you want?

“No; we are not in for that kind of thing, Sir. I don’t think we have time for that kind of thing, Sir. A lot CO NTINUED F R O M PAGE 53

Why we held prayer summit -Ex-GS Osueke The former General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Church, Rev (Dr.) Charles Osueke, sheds light on the crisis rocking the church in this interview with TAI ANYANWU

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Could you introduce yourself to our readers? es. I am Rev. Charles Osueke, the retired General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Church Nigeria. I left office over three years ago.

How many years did you reign as General Superintendent?

I was General Superintendent of AG precisely for 22 years and seven months. I was in office from May 1987 to December 2010.

you retired?

Well, I have been very busy with gospel work. I have been preaching. Before I was elected as the General Superintendent, my primary ministry was that of an evangelist, revivalist and by the grace of God the people still recognise me as one. While not in office as the General Superintendent, I got back to that ministry again. Our people keep inviting me for revival meetings. In fact, right from this place, I will be rushing to Umuahia tomorrow.

What have you been doing since

Are you saying that you are an

independent evangelist now and not a founder of your own church?

Noooo. I am not doing that. Of course my membership is still with Assemblies of God but they no longer control my movement.

I am available to any group that needs me, provided I have the time in my calendar.

How do you feel about the crisis in AG today?

It is very disturbing really. I believe that our founding fathers in their wildest imagination never CONTINUED F R OM PAGE 53

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Roving Worshipper

Interview

Excelling in his father’s fields Some of the clerics

‘H

Tai Anyanwu ere comes the Commander-in-Chief’, a collection of columns

by Gabriel Akinadewo, is an eloquent testimony to the writing prowess of the author. But before you say ...oh! They are blowing their own trumpet; we are talking about New Telegraph’s Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief here. This is rather about you discovering the prolific writer in his other capacity as a cleric. Roving Worshipper did last Sunday; and thought it wise that our readers should meet the MD who takes after his father, His Most Eminence, Archbishop I.M. Akinadewo, and he is excelling in the Time for prayer fields of journalism and ministering at the altar of God. The day was July 6, and Roving Worshipper had arrived at Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide in Oke-Ira, Ogba, Lagos. The parish is the Lagos District headquarters of the church.

While welcoming Roving Worshipper, the Minister in charge of the parish, Superintendent James Akinadewo, younger brother of New Telegraph’s MD, explained; “Today, we are in the Lagos District Headquarters.

“Many of our members are coming from the branches because today is a day of celebration, a day of praise, thanksgiving, appreciating God. That is what we are here to do today, to the glory of God. “The event is marked yearly in this parish, to thank God for His faithfulness and for what He is doing in the ministry, blessing lives and doing great things for us”, he Dancing for the Lord added.

Roving Worshipper had wanted to grab a quick interview to be able to sneak out to cover another assignment for that same day. But just as the interview was ending, the younger Akinadewo said: “Your MD is coming here today.”

From that moment, it was obvious that the other assignment was written off. I took a seat near the walkway and I was on the watch-out for the MD’s arrival. From time to time, I took a backward glance, expecting him to walk through the main entrance.

The worship session had reached a crescendo and right there at the centre of the pulpit, a tall bespectacled minister adorned in sky blue and white flowing gown danced among other similarly dressed ministers.

The minister, who made a circular move- The choristers PHOTOS: SULEIMAN HUSAINI ment as he danced his heart out like the Biblical King David, had this familiar look When he picked up his Bible, reached out read for us Job 1:6 and 7,” he stated with and gap teeth. for his staff as many white garment pastors practised gestures.

“Is this my MD”? I asked nobody in par- do and began to preach, it was obvious that Then a voice from the congregation read, ticular. But then, a little boy dancing beside the son had taken after his father. He had “Now there was a day when the sons (anme supplied the answer: “He is our Senior actually fit into his father’s other vocation. gels) of God came to present themselves Pastor from the headquarters church.” At Taking his text from the book of Job 1: 6 before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary) that point, it occurred to me that the familiar and 7, his message titled ‘Heaven on Earth,’ also came among them. And the Lord said minister was indeed my MD. He occupied harped on the need for Christians to obey to Satan from where did you come?” the highest chair on the altar. the word of God strictly so that God can “What did he (Satan) say,” the preacher The church was filled to capacity. Under save them from the snares of the devil and asked? “Then, Satan answered the Lord? the canopies outside were also some mem- grant them real success on earth.

‘From going to and fro on the earth and bers and visitors. Many clerics from other He explained that in the world, two forces, from walking up and down on it.” churches also attended the ceremony. The the power of God and the power of the devil Explaining the portion with the skill of a publisher of OYes Magazine, Azu Arinze, struggle for control over the lives of human teacher of the word, Gabriel Akinadewo, was also present and stayed till the end of beings. a Senior Superintendent of the church, the service.

“In Job 1, the devil was so active that he pointed out that if anyone was not careful, When it was prayer time, he skillfully led went to God when He was having a meeting they would fall into the devil’s snare and be the church in prayers after which a mem- with His angels. Devil came and sat down. ruined. This, he added, was because Satan ber of the congregation also threw up some And God looked at him and said, ‘Devil, walks about all over the world looking for prayer points. where are you coming from?’ Let somebody whom to destroy.

Anyanwu

Arinze

“But the Lord said something in the Bible.

The moment you are with God, you will have joy; but the moment you are with devil, your sorrows will be multiplied. It is very clear,” Akinadewo emphasised.

“So you have to choose today. It is either you are on the side of God or on the side of the devil. You cannot sit on the fence in this matter,” he asserted.

Pressing further, the preacher counselled that once someone had decided to be with God, 100 per cent loyalty must be given to God. He insisted that it would not be 99 per cent or 98 per cent.

“If it is 98 per cent, you are gone already.

Your loyalty must be 100 per cent,” he stated, noting that the problem with many Christians is that they have become too used to God. “We don’t respect God. I beg you, after this preaching today, be serious with God. If you like kill cow, God will not eat it; but if He asks you to do something, and you do it, God will defend you,” Akinadewo declared.

Delving deeper into the scriptures, he said: “And you have the devil behind you.

The moment you follow the devil, your life will be filled with sorrows.”

At this point, he said someone should read Psalm 16:4 and as it is in many C&S churches, about five members started reading at the same time but the remaining four left the reading for the most senior. The passage reads: ‘Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god; their drink offerings of blood will I not offer or take their names upon my lips’.

Akinadewo continued: “You have heard, sorrow is with the devil. Joy is with God. If you obey His word, you will be on the side of God. If you joke with His words, you have your portion on the side of Satan. Read the Bible; all the people that hastened after another god, their sorrows were in multiples. God says, ‘Don’t follow him’; the moment you follow him your problems will be multiplied.

“But God is very faithful; He protects and cares for all who trust in Him. See what he says in Psalm 110: 1 and 2, ‘The Lord (God) says to my Lord (the Messiah), Sit down at my right hand, until I make your adversaries your footstool.

“The Lord will send forth from Zion the sceptre of your strength; rule, then in the midst of your foes.”

He affirmed, “Anywhere you are, whether in Lagos, in the plane, water, okada, in anything you do, be at the right hand of God. He said in verse 2, “The Lord will send forth from Zion the sceptre of your strength; rule, then in the midst of your foes.” That is whom He is to all who obey His words.”

It was a glorious Founder’s Anniversary, as could be seen on the faces of members of the congregation.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Interview

Why we held prayer summit -Ex-GS Osueke CON TINUED FR O M PAGE 51

envisaged anything like this. Not just our founding fathers, even when I was leaving office a little over three years ago I never envisaged that this type of thing would happen in our lifetime. But then, it is one of those things. So we see it as one of those things that have come to pass. We are looking forward to a big revival coming.

There might be some people who feel there is a kind of personality clash or gang-up against Rev. (Prof.) Paul Emeka, the now suspended General Superintendent of AG. What do you have to say about this?

No; for sure, there is nothing like a gang-up and there is no personality clash. You see, I am an insider. I know what has been going on. The real issue is that of who submits to the other. Is it the church that will submit to its chief servant, who the General Superintendent is? Or is it the chief servant that will submit to the church? You see, Assemblies of God does not have person that is referred to as the owner of the church. We don’t have anything like a president/founder. In Assemblies of God, we operate what is called field democracy. In other words, we practise democracy under God, guided by the word of God and by the Spirit of God. So, the problem that our former General Superintendent really has today is that he has found it difficult to operate within the ambit of the system that produced him. So that the system that produced him is democratic but then he wants to be above that very constitution; and that has not gone down well with some of the people particularly the people that were with him in the Executive Committee (EC). For instance and just to illustrate this, you will always hear him talk about an illegal EC. Nobody can understand what that illegal EC means. They were 16 people elected by the General Council in session. He was elected as the General Superintendent; another person was elected as the Assistant General Superintendent; the General Secretary; the General Treasurer; and then 12 others. They were all elected. And then he was supposed to be first among equals. That’s what our constitution provides, but he sees all the 15 others as illegal. So I don’t know how one will be authentic and the other 15 will be illegal. That shows you how he sees it. In other words, he sees himself as a personification of Assemblies of God. The Assemblies of God does not have provision for any position like that. If he would recognise the right, the legitimacy of these other people to work with him, who are there to help in decision making, there would be no problem. But he sees himself above those people that were elected to work with him.

That is the problem and you know these other people are all elected like him. He didn’t appoint them, not even his assistant; they were elected in their individual merit. Now he is seeing himself as the only legitimate officer of the council, and eh, it is a mockery of what our constitution is all about.

What specifically made the General Committee, of which you are a member, to suspend Rev (Prof.) Emeka as General Superintendent and dismiss him in the ministry?

In the first place, there is this problem. We learnt that some people, who are prominent members of the church, complained about his lifestyle, the way he has been operating.

So the Executive Committee said let us invite these people, let us listen to them shed light on what they are saying; and then we will correct them where they are wrong; and where the administration has gone wrong we will beg them. But he said no... he can’t talk with ordinary members and he began to call them names. In fact, he dismissed all of them as rouges and the church can’t understand that.

So the church, by the church now I mean the EC, insisted that natural justice requires that we invite them, hear from them and correct them where they went wrong and he said

‘no’. So that was where this whole thing started. So they gave him a deadline to respond, but he refused.

The EC now saw that they thought of setting up a panel, he said ‘no’; that he, as the head of the church, nobody can set a panel over him.

Then our constitution provides for a General Committee to handle matters that the EC cannot settle. So the church said let us now go to the General Committee. When I was the General Superintendent for 22 and half years, I had General Committee twice a year.

When he heard of the General Committee, he began to say that they wanted to set up a team that would overthrow him. He then threw his weight against the General Committee. I went from place to place telling the people not to go to the General Committee and this is something provided for in the constitution.

How will you fight against the constitution that produced you? Even those of us who are retired officers and Executive Committee members, when we decided to hold a meeting to see if we can take a decision either for or against what the EC was doing, he wrote a letter ordering that we should not meet without clearance from him. That was the point that everybody thought that this thing is becoming another thing. We thought that we are in a free society and we are stakeholders in AG and now you tell us that we don’t have a say in something that we are stakeholders in. But we went ahead anyway and held our meeting and at the very meeting

we decided that we would endorse the call for the General Committee. We invited him to the General Committee; but he still insisted on not coming. This is a meeting he is supposed to chair, he refused to come. And that is autocratic tendency of dictating for everybody and that is against our constitution. Our constitution advocates for a servant leader, not an autocratic leader. So we say finally and also there was this suit that he instituted i n court; when these people saw it that all these things are against our constitution, the General Committee said he was going to be suspended like every other minster of the Assemblies of God, like any other member of Assemblies of God. A decision was taken to suspend him; it was at the very point he broke loose and began to fight everybody.

Apart from your involvement in the General Committee, did you as a father make any effort to correct him?

Oh, yes. I did go to the EC, spent two and half hours with them, talking about some of these issues but I saw something like trouble brewing. So I talked to them all, not just him.

But then when the Ambassadors wrote passing this note of no confidence and then he started to write and go to places talking.

I called him on phone three good times. He did not pick my calls; I sent somebody to tell

him that I wanted to talk to him. He said he would come but didn’t come. After three four days, I drove to his house and said let us talk and save the church from impending embarrassment. Finally, he came and for one hour we talked. I told him how this matter could be resolved that if he wants me to assist, let’s call these people and resolve the matter. But he said ‘no’; that they should prostrate and apologise to him. I asked him where in natural justice does such a thing happen? They complained about you, you have not proved them wrong and you are asking them to come and bow. That it is not possible. He continued to talk, we couldn’t agree. Even after his suspension, we have talked two times and I told him to submit to the authority of the church. And then allow the authority of the church to help you out of this situation, he is finding it difficult to submit. That is why I said, the real issues is who submits to the other. And if he will submit to the authority of the church, we will even join forces with him to plead and one way or the other, the matter will be resolved. But then he did not submit to the authority of the church.

And is this why you are here at the national prayer summit?

O yes. I have been looking forward to it.

There was a time I thought I would ask the leaders if they would summon a prayer meeting, but then the leaders called for prayers in the churches. But I think with the way things are going, I really believe that prayer will give us the answer. Although in their consultation, they also met with Rev Umar Ukpai, who was of that same opinion; and we talked about it and the EC decided to have this prayer fellowship. I believe that this step is the best option of all the steps taken to resolve

Assemblies of God ministers pray over leadership crisis CO N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E 5 1

of people have already known what happened, and we don’t have time for that again,” he

said.

It was, however, learnt that some selected workers were allowed access to the secretariat daily, contrary to the IG’s order.

Rev. and Rev. (Mrs.) Osueke at the summit

When contacted to explain why the IG’s order had yet to be fully carried out, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACp Frank Mba, referred our correspondent to

FACES AT THE EVENT

A cross-section of District Superintendents at the summit

Juliana Rhoda Maruko (Nee Nwoji), surviving member of AG founding family (third from left); Pastor Favour Okoroafor (right); and other members of the founding family

AG National Treasurer, Rev. Vincent Alaje; and wife, Rev. (Mrs ) Alaje

the Enugu State Police Command, The command’s spokesman, DSP Ebere Amaraizu, said he needed time to clarify the said

Evang. Uma Ukpai

Acting General Superintent, Chidi Okoroafor (centre), wife and other EC members

AG National Secretary, Rev. Ikoni; and wife Rev. (Mrs.) Ikoni

54

Faith

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

The miracle The Voice of Dominion power of love! (2) by

L

Bishop David Oyedepo

Phone: 7747546-8; E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

ast week, I told you that love is our connectivity to divinity, which confers dominion on our lives. Love for God is the master key to a supernatural walk. Apart from that, I showed you things that qualify you for divine encounters. Also, I showed you the three categories of love recognised in the scriptures.

This week, I will show you three vital forces of life and proofs of being in love.

Three Vital Forces Of Life There are three vital forces that rule life. They are faith, vision and love, but the greatest of these is love. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (1 Corinthians 13:13).

These are the three vital forces that define the quality of any man’s destiny. Hope means vision, but the Bible says, the greatest of these is love. Vision works by faith, and faith works by love.

When a person’s love for God grad-

uates into marriage, such a person becomes a first lady of the kingdom of God, enthroned to command the supernatural — a spouse of the King of Kings.

Every genuine lover of God is entitled to His unending visitations. As long as your love is in place, your fellowship with God remains intact. An encounter with the love of God, as a way of life, is the greatest spiritual experience anyone can ever have.

Proofs of Being in Love • You will love His Word: If you are actually in love with God, you will be in love with His Word (Psalm 119:97100).

• You will love His house: I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord (Psalm 122:1).

• You will obey Him: Obedience is one of the vital proofs of true love. If you are not walking in obedience, you are not in love. Every time your obedience becomes questionable, your love is questionable (1 John 5:3).

What love does is to celebrate obedience (John 14:21).

• You will take delight in speaking of Him: You speak of Him to everyone who cares to hear. Love becomes like fire shut up in your bones — you can’t hold it. You can’t love Him and not take delight in speaking of Him at any given opportunity.

Please, get in love with Christ.

Get your love for Christ empowered, and seek revelations that will turn you into an addicted lover. Nobody ever loses out with God; you are always in the winning team with God. The midst of the year Although the month of June has come and gone, June and July are the most sensitive months of this year. God has special packages for His people in the middle of the year.

All we need is to be awake and sensitive, so we can encounter God’s presence.

I am speaking to you as a prophet, and by the raw Word of the Lord that came

to me concerning the season that we are in. God has His wonder agenda for the midst of the year (Habakkuk 3:2-3).

Though June is gone, endeavour to make this July the most spiritual season of your life.

This is the season of greater glory. The Bible says: The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former... (Haggai 2:9). This is a season of divine appearance of God to His people, which will change everyone’s story.

However, you must pass the love test, in order to take delivery of these packages. Also, expect supernatural change of stories, as you engage heartily in soul-winning this season. I pray that the wonders of the midst of the year will answer for you this season, in the name of Jesus!

Friend, the power and grace to love God is the preserve of those born again. You are born again by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. You can do so now if you haven’t

been, as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. I can’t help myself. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. From today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I know I am a child of God.” I will continue this teaching next week. The Exceeding Grace of God shall be your portion this year, in the name of Jesus!

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books — Born To Win and Walking In The Miraculous.

I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners.

We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. respectively.

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.

Take action!

O

ne powerful secret of successful people is that they take action.

No one will honour you despite your colourful destiny except you take action. No matter your intention, when action is lacking, it will only result in detention and frustration.

Action is the noun form of ‘act’; which could mean ‘to do something to change a situation’. You cannot afford to be motionless because success is not for the hopeful and the game of life is for actors.

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:17 (NIV) Success in life is neither for theorists nor talkers but actors. Action delayed today will only make you groan in pain and anguish tomorrow. Dream is cheap but you need to work out that dream and bring it to reality so that men will pay for it. God cannot bless the

folding of your hands rather the labour of your hands. The only way to make your dreams come true is first to wake up.

“He becomes poor who works with a slack and idle hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Proverbs 10:4 (AMP) The government has no plan for you; do something with your goal and dream. Revisit that aspiration and revelation you have received, it is more than enough for you to start and become great. The Bible says the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord, endeavour to take that step of boldness. You have slept long enough and work cannot locate you from your house so you need to go out and work.

Stop The Endless Wait!

You have listened to the story of others; this is the year men will pay attention to you. When will you proffer solutions to the cry of men around you? You are still

young; therefore, you must fight for your space in destiny. It might prove tough though but you must act all the same. If Deborah, being a woman, had a vision and pursued it by acting, then what excuse do you have? Success is for goal getters and not goal cheerers.

“It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.” Lamentations 3:27 (MSG) There is an idea God has given you to make men smile; why are you retreating in the face of adversity? You need to fight for your space in destiny. You must take action like Peter who worked on the word ‘come’, but not on water, but in the face of a stormy gale. There is hardly any man who took a step of faith and became disgraced. You must not end like your parents, your life must be better than theirs. If Toyota Corporation can make improvement on its products, you also need to improve on yourself.

God will only bless the work of your hands. Remove your mind from fruitless efforts and concentrate on working out your greatness.

Go Forward “The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward!” Exodus 14:15(AMP) Just like God instructed the Israelites, you must go forward.

As you do, that seeming red sea will part, that mountain will give

way. If you do not make attempt to move forward, you cannot defeat that ‘failure’. David got to the throne by working, while his brothers kept wasting even with their broad chests. This is the year God will give you your space, but you need to take action, start working. You have been hiding, now is the time to take a leap of faith. Right from your mother’s womb you have been succeeding, so why do you want to chicken out at this crucial time of your life? This year you will survive again.

Take a step and take advantage of the situation around to step up.

Laban used Jacob until his eyes opened and he lamented, ‘when will I prepare for my home’? You can do all things if you are ready.

Start now, disregard the opinions of men. If that company should fold up, what will you be left with? It is time for you to launch out in faith.

“We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.” John 9:4 (NLT) How many times have you tried and failed? You need to try again because the only thing that beats failure is trial. You are not yet a failure until you stop trying. Let go of the fear of failure and begin your quest for success. Even your helper wants to see that you have something to offer. You cannot win the prize of life except you

fight. In the boxing ring of life, while you are receiving blows from your opponent, your opponent is also getting tired. Knock down is not knockout; even when this happens, you still can call for a rematch.

If there could be hope for a tree that is cut down, how much more you who iares created in the image of God Himself? I see God turn your head into an idea generator and this year you will receive divine speed and your star will shine forth in Jesus name. Stop procrastinating and take a bold step of faith. The next generation will hear about you in Jesus name.

PRAYER POINTS * Oh Lord, help me not to waste my destiny! * I receive strength to fulfill my assignment; I will not die on the way! * As I carry a step of faith, I am a success and nothing can stop me! * My Father, you promised not to forsake me. As I take each step, turn my spiritual and physical effort to success! …in Jesus name I know you have been blessed.

Write and share your testimonies, comments, etc.

You can also listen to my messages on our podcast at www. thehebrewsng.com/podcast.

Rev’d Femi Akinola – The Hebrews International, Lekki, Lagos

ADVERTISE YOUR CHURCH EVENTS, SPECIAL PROGRAMMES, CONVENTIONS AND OTHER CHURCH ACTIVITIES ON THESE PAGES. CONTACT: TAI ON 07064380029

55

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

MYSTERY OF ANXIETY with

Bishop John Ogbansie gbe

I

n God’s storehouse, many things are packed and gathered up, waiting for you to open your mouth and ask.

This is the propelling force behind the divine licence and authorisation to ask, which stated thus: “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8 Go ahead and apply these fundamental keys and I assure you that as you do so, your worries shall be over.

The Word of God also declares, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer and while they

Tel:08033416327

are yet speaking, I will hear.”

Isaiah 65:24. By the reality of this scripture, all your problems shall come to pass. Your affliction, sicknesses and frustrations shall come to pass.

Your expected miracles shall come to manifestation.

“Before you call I will answer” shows a divine correspondence and deep relationship with God. These are the things incidental to divine intimacy with God. God in His omnipotent and omniscient nature knows all your problems before you present them. God anticipates your prayer before you open your mouth to pray.

God, in advance, prepares the solutions to those problems before they come; such that before

Don’t Worry you open your mouth to call on Him, He will pre-empt you with the very answer you need.

The father of the prodigal son waited so long for the time when his son would return and ask for his forgiveness. He made up his mind in advance, and said to himself: “As soon as he opens his mouth to ask for my forgiveness, I will forgive him.” And while he is yet afar off, I will run to him and receive him. This is also God’s resolution, in respect of your pleas and supplications. Indeed, these are high expressions of God’s readiness to hear His children.

There are no ears readier than God’s ears to hear the prayers of His children. To this end, therefore, the Word of God declares: “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”

Fruit of the womb (3) W There is bound to be solution hatever is the source and nature of the problem you have with the fruit of the womb - there is always a button to press to find a solution, and to have a baby. If you cannot get it naturally and normally like all others, you can have it medically.

If there is no way at all for you to get a baby, you can have it by a miracle. When the baby is from God Himself, it is a miracle. When it is from the devil, spiritual house or occult, it is magic. I am sure and confident as I write this that you will have your baby, at least, by a miracle!

There is always a way out. You are not alone in this battle. Hence, the Bible says: Be sober; be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world (1 Peter 5:8-9).

God has also stated in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that on temptation, no problem, no affliction, no condition is peculiar to you, but is common to man, all over the world.

A woman came to my office for counselling, prayers and deliverance. When I asked her about the problem that brought her, she wept for about five minutes – stating that her problems were so great and numerous as cannot be stated. I pleaded with her to state them; and I told her that there was no problem she would tell me that I had not heard from over 500 persons. When she finally told me, I discovered that it was a problem ‘common to man’ and ‘the same affliction that are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world’. in fact, I had heard of such a case from over 500 different persons!

The same day, another woman came to the office and did the same thing, weeping for a long time. I

also told her that her problem was common to man and not strange.

That I had heard of it from over 500 persons. When she finally narrated her case, I confirmed that I had heard such from over 500 persons. I then called in the first woman and the second woman. I then called in the women to re-narrate their problems to the hearing of each other. When they finished, I told them that I would like them to exchange their problems. Both shouted in disagreement. In fact each of them was ready to own and not to exchange their problems.

Brethren, when you hear the problems of others you will thank God that you can bear yours. Like the Bible says, you will agree that: “…God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will escape that ye may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Your problem is below your capacity because God is faithful.

He allowed the one you can bear, which others may not be able to bear, to come your way! The good news now is that He (God) has provided the solution. There is a button He will press now, and the miracle will be experienced.

Endeavour to appreciate the concept of Jesus saying “I am the Door,” and “I am the Way.” You are walled in with high and hard bricks – a prison yard. When Jesus leans upon any part of the wall/ blockade, a Door opens for you, a way (out) opens for you. So it is in every condition, and in every situation. Jesus never fails to be the Door of Escape, a Way of Escape.

Well, it might sound as a theory or just a good idea to you but I know that this is something you will experience. I know the answer to the question Job asked: whose spirit was come from (or was expressed through) thee? (Job 26:40).

It is the Holy Spirit that writes this book and this section through me.

All you need to do is “trust and obey.” Trust God for the miracles

and obey and cooperate with Him, then you will experience Jesus as the only Door or Way out of your present and future problems.

You may feel that your glory had departed. Perhaps, your case may be similar as stated below: And he named the child Ichabod, saying the glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and because of Her father-in-law and her husband. (1 Samuel 4:21) As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from birth, and from the womb and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them… Give them, O Lord; what will thou give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.” (Hosea 9:22, 14).

What in fact, may make God’s glory to depart from a man may not be what will make the glory to depart from you or another person. It is a truism that when God’s glory departed from Ephraim, there was a problem of conception; her women could not take in! There were persons who had never taken in.

Departure of God’s glory or the glory of a woman could, but not always, cause miscarriage. Some persons may have problem at childbirth. So some could even deliver the children and be bereaved (of them) later in life. Some people may have miscarrying wombs. That is if the curse is from God. Yet God, however, has not cursed you!

Has He? Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. (Galatians 3:13).

The only person cursed is: Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully…

(Jeremiah 48:10) Are you a hypocrite? Are you playing God 419? Have you been pretending to work for God when,

Matthew 6:8.

Surely, God knows what you need. He has also differentiated what you need from what you want. The problem with many people is the confusion of mixing up what they need and what they want. God responds to our needs automatically, but gives us what we want in accordance with His will and divine appointed time. For instance, some people want to put up a three-storey building or a duplex overnight, while God knows that they only need a three-bedroom apartment, to settle their accommodation necessity.

The Lord Jesus Christ instructed us not to be like the Gentiles or unbelievers who want everything all at once, and are ready to grab it either by hook or crook. In pursuance of what they want, they join occult groups, gangs of fraud-

Faith

sters, kidnappers or armed robbers. They get what they want quickly, and die quickly.

Indeed, God cares. He knows our innermost needs and heart beats. To this end, the Word of God declares, “For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all point tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrew 4:15.

He knows about that delayed marriage and delayed pregnancy. He knows about the conspiracy to displace you. He knows about your fears and failures. He knows also about that disappointment. As you pray and call on God, He shall intervene for you and give you a divine turn around in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

WORD OF LIFE by

Bishop Moses Kat tey Tel: 08087707486, Email: moseskattey@yahoo.co.uk

in fact, you are not? If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our trespasses and cleanse us from our sins. (1 John 1:8). He, the Lord says: He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whose confesseth and forsaketh then shall have mercy (miracle) (Proverbs 28:13). These scriptures show that even if you think the glory of God has departed from you, there is still a way out - confess and forsake, and the glory of God and your own glory will come back to you, and you will definitely have your miracle.

Some women have medical problems - may be problems of fallopian tube(s), defective or absence of wombs, fibroids, etc. Believe what I say now: God, despite all these identified problems had given children to women! Why? The greater and the more complex the problem, the sweeter, the more powerful is the testimony!

The more testimonies …! And it shall turn to you for a testimony (Luke 21:13). The complexity of your problem is to add pepper and salt to your testimony – making it very powerful and more glorious. The problem may manifest in low sperm count of the men. It may manifest in lack of erection.

Yet, however it manifests, God has blessed people with children who even had all these problems!

You need to be very patient (see Chapter 6: All That Night). While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22).

I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then is neither he that planted anything, neither he that watereth; but God giveth the increase (1 Corinthians

3:6,7).

Planting and reaping The baby is rightly called ‘the fruit of the womb’. Something must be planted for harvesting.

God has pledged to ensure that as long as this earth remains, there must be a season to plant and a season to harvest.

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly (or nothing) shall reap also sparingly (or nothing) and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6).

As far as fruit of the womb is concerned, there must be its own seed time and harvest time. For a woman the seedtime is her ovulation period. There are about three or four days in a month when the husband can have intercourse with the wife and she will take in. If husband and wife meet at any other time it is just for personal satisfaction, and not for a baby. These other three or four days in a month are very critical for those looking for children from God. These three or four days are called ovulation or fertility period. A couple came for deliverance, they were ministered to and asked to come back whether the woman sees her menses or not. She saw her menses and came. We prayed for her again. She came back the following month reporting that she had seen her menses. I became worried and asked the husband if they met during the ovulation period. He then explained that by the calculation of ovulation period, that period coincided with the time when the wife suffered pains from pile. He narrated that the sight of the wife wriggling in pains made him not to have intercourse with her then.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Faith

Misunderstanding the acts of God

THE ORACLES OF GOD by

Frank Oboden Olomukoro

W

frankolomukoro@yahoo.com, 07033621866

e are living in a period when the prophecies of the scripture are being fulfilled very rapidly. The times are exciting to those who know the biblical signs and prophecies of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is particularly sobering to see these prophecies unfolding right before our very eyes.

Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you. As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. I Peter 3: 15-16. Apostle Peter recognized and respected the grace of God on Apostle Paul, the abundance of the revelation given to him II Cor 12:6-7. But it is not so with others, who wrestled his teachings considering them hard to be understood, they in the process blasphemed God to their own destruction . For most Christians, once they do not comprehend any scriptural teaching intellectually, they brand it false. While others consider any biblical teaching heretic if it does not come from their revered Pastor, or Overseer and from their church domain. To others who are prone to church creed and traditions into which they are born and bound dismisses any scriptural truth as a wind of false doctrine. Whilst sectarian theological and seminarian teaching is a brick wall to certificated bible

college Pastors and ministers to God’s revelative truth. So, why will God not be misunderstood by the unlearned and unstable who debate the revealed truth of God and resist it as in the times of the Apostles.

The fact remains that many professing Christians and church leaders live in the assumption that once in Christ they know it all from now to eternity, so that even if God is doing a new thing by fulfilling prophetic promises they turn it down and like the Pharisees in Matthew 23:13 whom Jesus indicted and lamented “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: (from knowing the truth) for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Pastors are a huge barrier to their truth seeking member ’s.

They are like spiritual colonial masters, they deprive their members from sniffing the fragrance of truth let alone allow them to embrace same. Because of their colonial mentality, they want to perpetuate the souls of their church members to their creeds, their dogmas and traditions of the church thus stopping them from being liberated by truth. John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. Every scriptural truth is treated with suspicion by some pastors. This dangerous trend is characteristic of blind leaders who ultimately will lead their blind members into the pit of destruction as Jesus

would warn in Matthew 15:14.

This is a wakeup call and shout to all brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus expecting the coming of Christ that this sermons are not intended to offend but rather to warn and persuade men as Paul would say in 2 Cor. 5:11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, and Peter in 2 Peter 3:11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.

When the prophet to the Gentiles in our generation came on the scene, the same as the midnight prophet to give the mid-night cry, thoroughly vindicated by God through supernatural signs and wonders, the children of this world, as Jesus would say (Luke 16:8) are wiser in their generation than the children of the kingdom, applauded the supernatural manifestations, took the photograph of the pillar of fire taken in Houston Texas USA in 1950 and placed it in the United States Hall of fame as an unusual feat. It is a witness against this generation whether they believe this acts of God or not.

But foremost Pentecostal leaders and teachers were very critical of this humble servant of God, William Marrion Branham. The respected Kenneth Hagin, the father of modern faith wrote thus “William Marrion Branham”, the father of the healing revival had to be removed from the

Godly children- A must! (2)

I

n a society such as ours, where morals and standards are lacking, there is a dire need to raise a crop of children who will raise the bar, setting a standard for the next generation to follow. Moral decadence is the order of the day and children are being taught corruption and immorality at a young age.

Since the government’s efforts at eradicating corruption are not yielding much result, the onus is on us parents to raise Godly children in a society where standards are lacking. In order not to have a breakdown of the society, we need to uphold the values that bind us together as a nation, (if any!) This is therefore a clarion call to all parents and intending parents to arise and make a change, to avoid a collapse of our system. You see, evil thrives when the righteous people keep silent. Therefore wake up! Be proactive, shun evil and expose it anywhere it rears its ugly face, do something and let your name go down in the records as a way maker and a change agent. Do something!

Societal vices are not a happen-

stance, they occur due to a lack of definite efforts by parents, stakeholders and the government concerning morals and values.

There should be a specified code of conduct or guidelines guiding the operations of an organisation or indeed, a country. When this is not the case, chaos and disorganisation with the attendant vices will definitely be on the rampage.

A child is an adult in the making, time being the disparity factor. We should, therefore, pay adequate attention to the children of today, since they are our hope for a brighter future. Any society which neglects its cradle will definitely be in a sorry state in the not too distant future.

The church has a great role to play in the moral upbringing of our children. Since the Bible says in Matthew 5:14,16 that we are the light of the world and are to shine for all the world to see, the church or the believers should be role models, shunning corruption in its entirety.

We are not to join in the extortions, bribery, malpractices, late coming, lack of integrity and the like. There should be a clear-cut

difference between the child of a believer and other children.

Many factors contribute to the raising of a Godly child but these can be summarised as follows:1. Teach your child the way of the Lord 2. Nurture your child 3. Expose your child to the right learning environment 4. Create a conducive atmosphere for your child at home 5. Surround your child with love 6. Allow your child to be himself or herself by expressing himself or herself 7. Discipline your child in love, showing him the right alternative 8. Teach them values like truth, honesty,fairness, justice, equity, integrity etc These factors mentioned above do not form a comprehensive list, as many other factors may contribute to the overall wellbeing of a child. Some of these were mentioned in the first part of this article titled ‘Raising Godly children’. In that article some factors mentioned were: 1. Be patient

earth because of his disobedience to his call and the creation of doctrinal confusion “except from Robert Liardon’s God’s Generals”. Like most other Pentecostal leader, Kenneth Hagin applauded God for the extraordinary supernatural healing revivals but saw differently when the revealed truth and mysteries hidden in ages past were been preached. Herein did Kenneth Hagin misunderstood the acts of God. I suppose too that Jesus Christ created doctrinal confusion after preaching that the Jews must eat His flesh and drink His blood to obtain eternal life in John 6:48 – 66. Church members left church and walked no more with Him. In John 8:51 – 59; they attempted to stone Jesus when He told the Jews” Before Abraham was, I am”. They misunderstood Him as the Jehovah God that visited Abraham with two other angels in .Genesis 18.

They showed their scriptural ignorance . This unstable and unlearned state led them to taking rash decisions and actions against His teachings because it was at variance to their denominational traditions, creed,and dogma. Many are in the same spiritual mould today. You may be the one.

Robert Liardon, the author of God’s Generals (why they succeeded and why some failed, page 331), was very intelligent in the compilation of his book. But he erred at the point where he remarked on the ministry of William Marrion Branham when he said,

“He began teaching from his visions rather than from the word of God. Not called to be a teacher, Branham began to veer off in extreme directions regarding his interpretation of truth. Disturbing doctrines were taught and emphasized throughout the remainder of his ministry”. Robert is another obvious example of misunderstanding the acts of God. Like Paul and our Lord Jesus Christ, dispensational Prophets operates all five fold ministerial gifts. Branham was called to be a teacher, to reveal the truth of God’s mysteries as revealed to the Apostles and prophets – Revelation 10:7. The teaching of the word is the core reason why he was sent to this generation. God showed His supernatural works through his evangelical ministry. As an apostle too, he sets in order all erroneous teachings that the Apostate denominational churches had taught over the ages from 325AD. The original bible truth and doctrines will certainly be disturbing because its interpretation will be contrary to creeds and church traditions. Let me close with Paul’s statement in 1Corinthians 14:37 – 38 “If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”

POWER IN THE WORD with

Banke David

Tel: 08034156014 2. Have quality time with your kids 3. Lead by example 4. Correct in Love 5. Pray for and with your children 6. Inculcate a set of required skills in your kids 7. Disciplining your kid which is also mentioned in this article.

A Godly child, who is well brought-up in the right environment, receiving adequate doses of love and being corrected promptly, will turn out right.

Proverbs 22:6 says it all. Train up a child in the way of the Lord and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

A trained child will shun societal vices and peer pressure, choosing to remain in the right paths that were taught him as

a child. When the training and correction of wrong in a child is not done early enough, it becomes more difficult. As the saying goes, it is easier to train a child than to bend an adult.

This is because the character has already been formed in the adult and may not be easily changed.

Humans resist change, so let’s do it while they’re still mouldable and malleable as kids. May God strengthen you in Jesus name and give you the wisdom to achieve set results in your children, Amen.

Your children will stand out in their generation in Jesus name.

They will be role models, leading the way for others to follow!

Amen.

Banke David writes from Aba in Abia state, Nigeria

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Faith

Dominate your world

Y

ou see Joshua and Caleb were in exactly the same circumstances with the other 10 spies. They went to the land together; saw the resources in the land together and the people that dwelt there together. But the difference was as a result of what they chose to do with the word of God that they had heard.

Are you ready to believe God for this promise today, as Joshua and Caleb did? The Bible says of Joshua and Caleb that they had a different spirit – the spirit of victory. So it is not the circumstances, but the spirit with which you face it. Caleb stilled the people and said, “We are able to take the land, not by our own power or by our might but by the spirit of God. We walk in the strength and power of God when we obey His word.”

Finally, let us look at the life of the first Adam and our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam.

God created Adam and gave him dominion over everything

he had created. God also gave him (Adam) His word – “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shall not eat of it...” Genesis 2:17. The serpent came to counter that which God had spoken. Adam was then faced with a choice of whether to obey the word of God or to succumb to the lies and deceit of the devil – he chose to disobey God and plunged humanity into bondage.

The devil also came to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter four exactly the same way he tempted Adam and Eve. But rather than fall to Satan’s temptation, the Lord Jesus Christ chose to obey the Word of God. Whereas Adam fell, Christ triumphed over the devil because he (Christ) chose to do what the Word of God says. Folks, our destiny as it were, is in our own hands!

Every man that is in the world faces all sorts of pressures daily.

Nobody is insulated from pressure from the devil, but the dif-

Word of FAITH byby Apostle Clement Apostle Clement Ogbonna Ogbonna apostleofgraceinwof2010@gmail com, apostleofgraceinwo clementogbonnaya2007@yahoo.com Tel: 08036774737 .

T

o this end, if you want to succeed in life, take note of the following instructions: Do not reveal your secret plans to a woman. If you do, she will unveil them and betray you.

Do not have sex with a woman who is not your wife. If you do, you will tarnish your image. If a woman comes to seduce you, rebuke her; open rebuke is better than secret love.” Do not let a strange woman overshadow you and seduce you. If you allow her, she will despise you, and your future will be in danger. Heaven, of course, will record it against you.

Remember Jezebel and do not forget Eve. Do not always sit closer to woman who puts on a ‘mini-skirt’ so that she will not seduce you through her half-nakedness. Flee from a woman who always discusses with you through gestures.

It is a seduction technique. It is a satanic way of initiation, seduction and lustful desires. Remember Jezebel and do not forget Eve. Do not laugh too much with a woman. If you do, she will see your 32 teeth and read the desires of your heart. Be careful in all you do with women.

Do not sleep with a woman who is not your wife. Do not impregnate a woman who is not your wife. If you do and she commits abortion, heaven will record it against you and Satan will accuse you before God so that your success will be withheld. The wages of sin is death and destruction.

Do not visit a woman regularly or accept gifts from her constantly.

Also, do not give a woman gifts always so that she will not think that you are her husband-to-be if you are unmarried and conceive sin in

her heart against you. If you are married, she will think that you are her lover. This thought stops the move of God in the spirit. Be careful in your relationship with women.

Also, do not walk on the way with a woman that is half-naked.

This is because, if you do, she will attract the attention of the public and disgrace you. This may hinder your success-link with anyone who sees you.

Do not make it a habitual action or a point of duty to always pray and preach with a particular woman. The devil is deceitful and the mind is always deceitful.

Be careful if you want to be successful. The devil may use her to lead you astray. Remember that no amount of soap can clean the thought of any sin you commit. God can forgive you when you sin; man can as well forgive you, but your mind cannot forget it even if it forgives you. Meanwhile, this does not mean that you should hate women. Love them but do not allow them to take you to the ‘house of doom’. I’m not antagonistic to the freedom of women. My earnest desire is to instruct man and make him stand against certain abnormalities that fight against his success in life.

It is unfair and partial for man to love a woman and yet criticise her outside his meeting point with her.

Do no tell a woman who does not know anything about love that you love her. If you do, she will fear you and despise you.

Remember that a successful man is not only the person who has big wealth. A successful person is that person who has big wealth, great influence, self-discipline and

ference is in our commitment or otherwise to the Word of God. God has sentenced us to eternal victory for as long as we obey and continue in His Word.

God created man to have dominion over the rest of the created world. But the sad thing is that many, even among God’s children, are being ruled and dominated by life’s circumstances and situations. I am trusting God that at the end of this article, God will empower you to rise up and take charge of your life because of the seed of greatness deposited in you.

You will begin to dominate your world in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Bible says in the book of Genesis, “And God said let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over all the fishes of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,” Genesis 1:26.

The Seeds of by Greatness Apostle Clement by Ogbonna Bishop Lawrence Osagie apostleofgraceinwo

Tel: 08063250667, mail:powerlineministries@mail.com, www.powerlineministriesinc.org

There might be ugly creeping creatures, creeping around your marriages and businesses but you are going to rise up and step on their heads and they will be destroyed in the name of Jesus. Until you get angry and say like the prodigal son, I must arise today and get out of this place where God is not glorifying my life, I must arise and take my position in God, nothing will change. In the book of Matthew11:12, the Bible says, “From the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and only the violent taketh it by force.” People sit down in church and allow everything to be thrown at them.

They do religious things, talk and go away, expecting to be success-

ful, expecting to be great. That is a lie and things will not change until you rise up personally. Whatever is creeping around you is not of God and therefore you must step upon them instantly. In Genesis 1:27, the Bible says, “And God created man, in the image of God created him, male and female created he them.” Therefore, whatever God has blessed, no man can curse. I am blessed and the devil cannot curse me. I am not going to wait to be told who I am; I look in the mirror of the Word of God and accept what God says about me. The scripture says that God has blessed me and I will not accept poverty in the face of God’s blessing nor sickness or lack in the place of blessings.

Beware of women (3)

much respect. God says, “I wish above all things that you prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers.” So, a successful person is expected to prosper in every aspect of life.

Do not always visit a woman regularly at night. If you do, her friends will suspect your mission and her enemies will criticise you and even plan evil against you.

More so, you will lose your integrity and honour.

Do not be over familiar with a woman. If you do, she will know all about you and replace her respect for you with another thing.

Remember that over familiarity reduces respect, and loss of respect leads to the fall of a person.

Do not kiss a woman in public even if she is your wife. If you do, it means that you lack discipline and your ways can be hindered.

Do not allow a woman to deceive you with her sweet words. If you do, the devil will overtake you and bring your downfall. Flee like Joseph in the Bible that your ways may be long. It is noted that the four things that can kill a man and deprive him of success in life, ensnare him and set him off-balance are love of money, love of power, pride of life and love of women.

Also, if you want to succeed in life, do not reveal all your secrets to a woman, no matter who she may be. Women have an unsteady tongue, even if she is your wife.

Remember that it is always good for a man to hide certain things from a woman (even your wife) for certain reasons. In fact, you can tell the condition of a man or a husband at home by the way his wife behaves. And to survive in life, a man should have faith only in himself and in his God, the creator and not in a woman. Some women are unworthy. They need the Holy Spirit to break their hearts, recreate them and purify them for God’s use. God is willing to use and bless everybody on earth but some of us have stopped this move of God. However, there are some women

that can be trusted in matters of secrecy.

Do not allow a particular woman to always come close to you. If you do, people will suspect you and she might become the physical devil against your soul and your success in life.

Do not always be emotional or be carried away by the love of a woman. It is satanic and dangerous and is capable of causing your downfall.

Do not ask a woman for her love.

If you do, it will not speak well of you. Do not do it for it will lead to your downfall. It is written that: When a woman is too beautiful, She will deceive you. When a Woman is too ugly, you willnot like her. When a woman is too intelligent, she will Despise you. When a woman is Too foolish, she will annoy you.

When a woman is too kind, she Will become everybody’s lover When a woman is too wicked, Then you will see hell. When a Woman is speechless, she invites The devil.

When a woman is too Friendly, she builds enmity Against people.

When a woman Is too poor, she gossips, criticises, Curses people.

Men who want to succeed in life or maintain whatever success they have should study women to show themselves approved, workmen who do not fulfill the laws of the flesh but rightly honour God in order to reach the peak of success. Any man who does not allow women to control him will live long and prosper in wealth, in good health and in his soul. Devilish love of women is the root of all evil, failure, discomfort, disharmony and death. We should take note of this because the days are evil. It is high time we learnt certain little things that matter.

When a woman tells you that she loves you, think about it. It might be that she wants to get something good from you after which she will abandon you (cupboard type of love). Remember Delilah, Jezebel and Portipha’s wife. Do not forget Eve.

Do not tell a woman how much money you have. If you do, she will start demanding ‘heaven and earth’ from you until you are perpetually poor. It is one of the hindrances of success in life. Take note of that. “He that has ears let him hear what the spirit of truth tells him.” If you want to be successful in life, fear some women for they are incontestably beautiful and desirable, bewitching people they have captured. The love of some women grows when there are riches. When riches fly away, a man gets the worst treatment of his life from the adulterous woman.

Remember Job’s wife and do not forget Delilah.

Do not accept any expensive joke from a woman. If you do, it will reduce your personality. And never have you associated yourself with a lazy woman for she will make you feel pity for her. Remember, there should be no sentiments in business if you want to be successful.

Do not tell a woman that you will marry her when you are not serious about it. If you do, she will rely on you for wellbeing and stand as a ‘watch dog’ over your daily activities. Do not engage yourself to any woman when you are not serious.

Do not associate yourself with a naughty woman. If you do, she will blackmail you, tarnish your image and ruin your future. Remember that evil communication corrupts good manners. Avoid the devil, resist a naught woman, a disobedient woman and she will flee from you. Do not forget Lot’s wife. A man who wants to succeed in life does not keep a relationship with any person who will not help him achieve his aims in life. Success in life is a subject to a person’s relationship with God and man.

If you want to be successful in life as a man, do not allow a woman gossip to you or castigate anybody before you. If you do she will castigate you before others.

And do not marry a woman who talks too much.

58

JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Sport

2014 FIFA World Cup Finals Update

Muller: I have never lost against Messi

G

ermany superstar, Thomas Muller, has disclosed that he has never lost a major game playing against Argentina Lionel Messi in both club and national team.

Muller warned Germany fans not to expect today’s Final match against Argentina to be as easy as their semi-final win over Brazil. The 24-year-old was joint-top scorer and named Best Young Player at the 2010 World Cup and he has made another major contribution this time around, scoring five goals to help Germany through to final.

One of those goals came in the astonishing 7-1 thrashing of the host nation in the last four, but he insists nobody in the Germany camp is getting carried away by that result.

“I don’t know what kind of a game it will be today, but I don’t expect it to be 5-0 at half-time,” the Bayern Munich forward said at a press conference. “That would be nice, but it’s probably going to be tight like it was against Algeria or France.”

Germany led Brazil 5-0 at the break with many members of Joachim Low’s team admitting they had to pinch themselves to see if it was really true. “It was about not trying to humiliate our opponents or showboating,” he said. “We wanted to carry on playing normal football and not get arrogant, but that’s quite normal - it was the players’ initiative.”

As a result, Muller says Germany were able to “concentrate on preserving energy and avoiding injuries” in the second 45 minutes against Brazil, a game that was also played 24 hours before Argentina’s 120-minute encounter with Holland, which was decided by penalties. Germany could therefore be fresher on Sunday, but the real difference in the eyes of captain Philipp Lahm is likely to be their experience.

I don’t know what kind of a game it will be, but I don’t expect it to be 5-0 at half-time.

“Experience is important,” said the 30-year-old, who has lifted eight trophies for Bayern Munich in the past two years. “I think if you look at club level, many of us have already been involved in big games.

Whether they were positive or negative is not important, but we all have experience in a Champions League final, DFB-Pokal final, or whatever. “We’re always playing at the very top level and when you go through our squad, you’ll see we’ve all got that experience and it’s certainly an advantage for us.”

Lahm is therefore also very confident that he will be lifting a trophy into the air for the

Aguero: Argentina ready to give everything

A

rgentina striker, Sergio Aguero, said while his side have reached their FIFA World Cup goal, they will “give everything” in today’s final.

Aguero echoed the words of coach Alejandro Sabella and team-mate Maxi Rodriguez when he insisted the South Americans’ goal was simply to get past the quarter-final stage.

And although they have advanced to their first final in 24 years - playing Germany at the Estadio do Maracana - Argentina continue to acknowledge they have exceeded expectations in Brazil.

“We always give everything to give no more,” said Aguero, who scored the third penalty in their 4-2 shootout win over the Netherlands in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

“Hopefully on Sunday we can give the best.

“Germany will also be concerned about us.

“Our objective was to move past the quarter-finals. Now that we are in the end we will

do everything to win.

“We are in the final for something, it is no accident.

“What they say outsiders do not give importance.”

Midfielder Maxi Rodriguez said he and his team-mates can win the FIFA World Cup if they play well against the rampant Germans, who embarrassed Brazil 7-1 in the semis.

“If we are right, we can win it all,” Rodriguez said...If we do well, we can beat anyone.” “(Being) world champion is the dream of all Argentines.”

Rodriguez churned out their quarter-final mantra, but said he was still eyeing off fulfilling a dream for his homeland.

“The most important of this group was to have passed the barrier of the quarter-finals,” he said.

“There are very nice feelings about what is happening in Argentina. It is everyone’s dream.”

ninth time since August 2012 on Sunday, and he already has plans for afterwards. “I think I’ll just have an early night,” he said.

“By that, I mean in the early hours.”

Should Germany triumph in Rio, they will return to Germany for a reception in Berlin on Tuesday, along the so-called fan mile linking the Brandenburg Gate and the Siegessaule. “We’re very grateful for the support of our fans,” said the national team’s

Germany have same spirit as in 1990, says Beckenbauer

F

ranz Beckenbauer sees similarities between the current Germany side and the one he guided to FIFA World Cup glory in 1990.

Germany will contest their eighth World Cup final when they take on Argentina at the Maracana today.

The clash will see Germany and Argentina face off in the tournament showpiece for the third time.

Beckenbauer was coach for each of the previous meetings, overseeing an agonising 3-2 defeat in 1986 before leading his team to revenge four years later with a 1-0 success.

Germany’s run to the final this year saw them grind out tight victories against Algeria and France before Brazil fell victim to a scintillating display of attacking football in a last-four tie that the hosts lost 7-1.

The 68-year-old Beckenbauer has been impressed with Germany’s performances in South America, and believes there are parallels between Joachim Low’s men and the team he led to victory 24 years ago.

“The parallels with 1990 jump right out at the eye,” Beckenbauer said. “Not only on the pitch but off it.

“I think about how our reserve players at that time in the tight matches against Czechoslovakia and England in the quarterfinals and semi-finals jumped and ran onto the field, to embrace the guys there.

Neymar backs Argentina for title

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razilian star, Neymar, has openly declared his full support for Argentina as he wants the fellow South American country to win the 2014 World Cup title as it is customary when the continent host the biggest sporting fiesta on planet earth.

Neymar noted that he wants Lionel Messi to lead fierce rivals Argentina to victory over Germany.

The Barcelona star who missed Brazil’s 7-1 humiliation against Germany through injury, told a press conference he wanted

Messi and Argentina to win the title.

“Messi’s history in the sport is so important, he has won a lot of trophies and I will be cheering for him,” said Neymar, a team-mate of Messi’s at Barcelona. “He is a friend, he is my team-mate and I wish him luck.”

Messi’s history in the sport is so important, he has won a lot of trophies and I will be cheering for him.

Neymar’s support of Messi, and by extension Argentina, is unlikely to be shared by

general manager Oliver Bierhoff.

“In the past, we’d been faced with the question of how we would celebrate with our fans. After the 2006 World Cup, we did that after finishing third. In 2008, after coming second at the European Championships.

This time, we’ve decided only to celebrate together with our fans if we win the title, and we are absolutely adamant that we will do it.”

many of his compatriots. The South American nations are sworn footballing enemies, and Argentina’s advance to the final rubbed salt into Brazilian wounds still fresh from Tuesday’s record defeat to Germany.

“The nightmare continues,” a Brazilian newspaper commented glumly after Argentina booked their place in the final by beating the Netherlands on Wednesday.

As many as 100,000 Argentine fans are expected to descend on Rio for the final, the climax of a month-long footballing fiesta.

“You see this quite clearly again now. I mention the example of Per Mertesacker, who had always played from the start and was suddenly returned to the bench against France.

How great he has behaved in this role.

“That shows how strong this team is.”

Beckenbauer feels Germany are favourites for the final, citing their extra day of rest as a key factor, together with the likely support of Brazilian fans.

“When looking at the situation, all the advantages are in Germany’s favour,” he added.

“We had, in contrast to Argentina, one more day’s rest and did not go into the extra-time and penalties in the semi-finals.

“In addition, our team is on top form and can be even better.

“I cannot imagine that the Brazilian spectators will support the Argentines in today’s game. This is a home game (for Germany) in the Maracana.”

25,000 soldiers, police to secure final match More than 25,000 soldiers and police, the biggest security detail in Brazil’s history, will be deployed around Rio de Janeiro to control today’s World Cup final between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana Stadium.

Jose Mariano Beltrane, security secretary for the state of Rio de Janeiro, said there will be 9,300 Brazilian defense forces and at least 10,000 military police.

“This will be the biggest security operation that the city or country has ever seen,” Beltrane said. “We need to ensure that this event goes off like all the other games in the World Cup.” Asked about the large numbers, Beltrane said they were justified and also pointed out the increase in tourists and the presence of heads of state at the final.

“I prefer to have a great number of men rather than to be caught by surprise,” he said.

Beltrane gave no figures about levels of policing at previous matches at the Maracana.

About 75,000 are expected to attend the final

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

Sport

2014 FIFA World Cup Finals Update

Messi’s date with history T hroughout this World Cup, nay throughout his career, Lionel Messi has been forced to deal with comparisons to Diego Maradona. Today, just like his famous forefather, Messi will captain Argentina in a World Cup final against Germany. 1986. 1990. 2014. It’s all just a case of history repeating.

Lionel Messi has arguably his final chance to make history in today’s World Cup Final and elevate himself up to the top tier alongside Pele and Diego Maradona.

Messi will represent Argentina’s best hope of lifting the trophy for the first time since 1986, when the player he has been compared with for so many years, Maradona, stunned the world.

If he wants to ensure those comparisons with Maradona are justified, Messi must seize his chance on the grandest stage of all and produce a world-class performance.

At times in this tournament he has been excellent, but there have been other games where he was very rarely seen.

He will be 31 by the time of the next World Cup and this could be his last, and best, chance to prove he deserves to be mentioned as one of the greatest ever players.

For many years there have been accusations that he has failed to reproduce his magnificent club form for his country. He has played in a sensational Barcelona team

including the likes of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, and having him among those players has been the icing on the cake.

But there has always been a lingering sense that he has struggled to transfer those performances when he pulls on the Argentina jersey, playing in what is essentially a functional side.

He barely touched the ball in the Holland penalty area in the entire 120 minutes of the semi-final, and teams have doubled up against him, so he has struggled in the latter stages.

Yet consider those performances Maradona produced against Belgium and England in 1986, when he had opponents tight on him but would still swat them away, beat four or five players and go on to score.

Messi has struggled when teams have concentrated so much on stopping him, and it will be the same against Germany, when he will be under incredible pressure to deliver.

For Argentina, however, the chance for redemption and revenge. La Albiceleste have been knocked out by Germany at three of the last six World Cups, but they must now take on a team at the irresistible peak of its powers. Messi might be a magician, but on Sunday he may well be forced into revealing his most eye-catching trick yet. The whole of Brazil is urging him to fail.

Argentina, Germany have rich World Cup history

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iego Maradona was reportedly so struck by stage fright that he called for his mother’s help as Argentina players sat in silence in their changing room before the 1986 World Cup final against West Germany.

But it was Maradona who provided the moment of brilliance that decided the game and gave Argentina its second title before 114,800 fans at the Azteca stadium in Mex-

German Chancellor Merkel to watch final

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erman Chancellor Angela Merkel will watch the national team’s bid to win the World Cup for a fourth time.

President Joachim Gauck confirmed he would also join Merkel in Rio de Janeiro today for the tournament’s final match.

Merkel, a keen soccer fan, watched every goal in Tuesday’s match against Brazil, her spokesperson said. German media have hailed the result as a sensation and a miracle.

Germany will face either Argentina or the Netherlands, who play each other in the second semifinal on Wednesday.

“I agree with world opinion that it was a very good game ... I think it almost deserves to be called historic,” said Merkel at a news conference in Berlin, adding that she wished the team “a lot of strength and concentration the task at hand”.

The game, which saw Germany score five of its goals within just 18 sizzling minutes, broke a number of records.

According to broadcaster ZDF, the game topped TV ratings with 32.57 million viewers - about 40 per cent of the population, not taking into account large public viewings. On Twitter, 35.6 million tweets were posted during the match, making it the most tweeted sports game in the social media site’s history.

Merkel attended Germany’s first match in the Cup against Portugal and cheered the team on to a 4-0 win. Images of Merkel at the game went viral online, including one of her posing with shirtless German players in the team’s dressing room.

Another image of Merkel, 59, with hands

raised in the air, cheering on the team has become an Internet “meme”, with the chancellor photoshopped as Rio’s “Christ the Redeemer” statue.

Merkel, Europe’s most powerful political leader, has also been a popular subject of “selfies” with players, including striker Lukas Podolski and midfielder Julian Draxler.

German football fans had mixed opinions about seeing their nation’s leader in such images online.

“It’s a good PR strategy, I think a lot of people might like it,” said 33-year-old Berliner Christian Meyer. “She should do her job instead and not use footballers to improve her image.”

ico City. Four years later, Maradona was in tears as the Germans lifted the title in Rome’s Olympic stadium.

Argentina and Germany have a long and emotional World Cup rivalry involving some of the best players to grace the game. When they face each other again on Sunday in Rio De Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, it will be the third World Cup final between the teams - something no other two nations have accomplished.

The 1986 and 1990 finals are still two of the most talked about games in football history.

In 1986, Maradona was at the summit of his career and scored all four of Argentina’s goals in the quarterfinals and semifinals - including the “hand of God” against England. Franz Beckenbauer was in charge of Germany in his first major tournament as coach.

Germany’s camp was in disarray, and goalkeeper Uli Stein was sent home for insulting Beckenbauer. Journalists shared a hotel with the players and their nightly escapades became tabloid lore.

But the Germans plodded on and beat France 2-0 in the semifinals, even though the Michel Platini-led French team had been widely expected to face Argentina in the final.

And so, in the noon-time heat of the awe-inspiring Azteca, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Maradona led their sides out. The Germany captain was playing injured throughout the tournament and had not scored.

Jose Luis Brown’s header and Jorge Valdano’s goal on a counterattack gave Argentina a 2-0 lead and Maradona’s team appeared to be cruising. Then the Germans struck back.

Rummenigge and substitute Rudi Voeller scored from Andreas Brehme’s free kicks and suddenly it was 2-2 with eight minutes to play.

Maradona had been marked by Lothar Matthaeus, who did a good job throughout the match. But with the Germans trying to use the momentum and grab the winner, the ball took a weird bounce in midfield and Maradona sent Jorge Burruchaga racing with a deft left-foot flick. Burruchaga beat the offside trap and Argentina had the title.

Years later, Valdano told Germany’s Spiegel magazine that Maradona was so nervous before the final that he called for his mother, Tota. “’Tota, come and help me, I am afraid, you must help me,’” Valdano described the scene as Maradona broke the pre-match silence in the dressing room.

Four years after that game, Beckenbauer became the first man to win the World Cup as both player and coach.

Germany dominated the final, outshooting Argentina 23-1 but the South Americans held on despite having two men sent off, Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti, a first for a World Cup final.

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Not the Brazil you know Adekunle Salami

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Sao Paulo

n almost every sector in Nigeria, you can evaluate how well things are working in the country. I am used to sports and I realised that some countries that were same level with the country in terms of skills and standard are now among the best in the world.

Jamaica, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Great Britain were at a time the same level with Nigeria in athletics especially the sprints, but today, Jamaicans are ruling the world while the other three have athletes that are among the best in the world. Such is the case of Nigeria and Brazil in global sphere. The two countries are regarded as third world countries. I grew up to know that for sure South American countries are as poor as most under developed African countries. Up till early 90s, Brazil was struggling and seriously underdeveloped but towards year 2000, development started rapidly in the country with seriousness in all areas and the country has been transformed.

Brazil is so big. It is the fifth biggest country in the world and one wonders how the government of the country has been coping to provide social amenities for the citizenry. With a population of about 210million people, Brazil is the most populated country in Latin America. Life expectancy in Brazil is 71.3 years for men and 78.5 years for women. On the average, it is estimated that both men and women will live longer than 80 years The Brazilian economy is characterized by moderately free market.

The South American country has one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world with an average annual GDP growth rate of over five per cent. The economy has also benefited from recent rise in the sale of luxury cars especially BMW and Audi.

Brazil has successfully transitioned from importing almost 80 per cent of its total oil consumption in the 1970s to becoming virtually energy independent. For now, the country is also a leader in renewable energy. About half of Brazil’s energy comes from renewable sources. Common sugarcane is working like magic for Brazilians.

This is because they are utilising it in other vital area to boost the general economy of the country. If a country is solid in energy, other things are likely to fall in place.

Sugarcane provides more than 15 percent of the country’s total energy needs.

The exchange rate is a very big challenge to visitors especially those from Africa and other parts where American dollars is very much higher than their country’s currency. One American dollar is exchange for two Brazilian Reais.

This is an indication of how strong the economy of Brazil is over the years. About 12 years ago, the Reais was said to be 4.8 to $1 but gradually it’s now R2 to $1. Shortly before the World Cup, the rate was $1 to R1.8.

Despite this challenge, things are

generally working well here in Brazil based on experience in the past one month. Electricity is stable despite the big nature of the country and its heavy consumption due to population. Brazil is the 10th largest energy consuming country in the world and number one in Latin America. Distribution is not centralised. Big states like Sao Paulo, Rio, Salvador and Brasilia are independent in many areas including energy and telecoms.

Our correspondent observed that in some of the states in Brazil, solar energy is being used to power electricity either as a back-up source.

It has been working for the small states and the big ones while the centre also distributes electricity to some states directly. The privatisation of the sector assisted in making the companies involved to generate and transmit effectively.

There are no generators here for domestic or official use in any way.

Mike Richards, a Nigeria who has spent 10 years in Brazil said; “The light has not blinked once since entered this country. It is not an issue here. The states have their own and the federal also supply some small states. Many things including cars are dependent on electricity and if it stops by just two minutes the economy could be heavily affected.”

Many of the commercial buses are powered by electricity while some small cars also use electricity. The metro line is working also on electricity. Despite the huge consumption, the people of Brazil have no problem of electricity.

Telecommunications are also privatised. TIM and Oi are some of the privately owned outfits providing service in Brazil but the code to call in or out differs. Brasilia is the capital and the code is different from other states. Anyone that uses a SIM Card bought in another state in Brasilia will be paying heavily.

“It is a way of generating revenue by the states. Any SIM can work everywhere but the charges differ.

It is advisable you buy a SIM card as you enter another state. The network in Brazil is such that you will want to stay where you are if possible forever,” Oman, a telecoms official explained.

There is a rule in Brazil that every building must have wi fi. It is a law. The hotels here have wi fi everywhere. Before a building is completed, the owner must provide proof that the place has wi fi connection. Some of the big buses running inter-state transport service here also have wi fi facilities.

Hotel in Brazil is a big business.

There are many hotels all over the place. In small cities, there are also good ones they call ‘Motel’ but are could be rated as three-star hotel. The Tourism potential is the country is hugely dependent on the beaches in the country. In Sao Paulo, there is Santos beach and in Rio there is Copa Cabana, known all over the world as a relaxation centre. The hotels are complementary to Brazil’s Tourism.

On transportation, the road network is fantastic in Brazil. The Sao Paulo to Campinas road has

Brasilia Shopping Mall

Sao Paulo Carnival

Museu Paulista, Sao Paulo

Night view of Sao Paulo

12 lanes each. It is so wide and yet there is speed limit every vehicle driver must adhere to. There are bridges at every junction linking a major city or place just to avoid traffic. The cause of traffic in big cities like Sao Paulo is the traffic light regulating the movements of vehicles.

The metro line is doing well in every state in the country but Brazil is yet to have inter-state metro.

The buses and airlines are the ones taking people from one state to the other. In Sao Paulo there are three metro lines. The Blue, Red and Yello likes respectively. With the map as your guide, the metro can take you to any destination within Sao Paulo but you might be changing lanes from one colour to the other as you move on.

Crime rate in Brazil is high and so the cities are being heavily policed. You see police vehicles everywhere and the officials also moving round especially in trouble spots like Republican area of Sao Paulo. Major crimes here are drugs and credit card scam. There is no much of cash stealing or bank robbery because of the effective cashless policy in place. People go about making purchases with credit cards. You can also buy one month card for metro line while taxis and buses also accept card for payment of fares.

The people here believe there are so many things left undone by the government. There are slumps yet to be developed but they also agree that welfare is being taken care of. For example, medical fa-

cilities are for all. When a woman gives birth, the husband will not make any payment, rather they go back home with gift items from the government. A non-indigene child born in Brazil gets instant international passport while an infant in the country will grow to six year before getting a Brazilian passport.

Generally, President Dilma Rouseff, has done well for Brazilians in the past three years and the forthcoming election in October could swing in her favour. Brazil is not the third world country we hear about, here is a big country that is in competition with the top countries in the world. Perhaps until you experience Brazil, you might not know that it is not the same country you read or hear about decades ago as a develop-

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Sport / News

Omeruo happy at Middlesborough

S

uper Eagles reliable defender, Kenneth Omeruo, has said that he is happy at English Championship side, Middlesborough, and he would most definitely continue playing in the club at least for the new seaso.

Omeruo was loaned out to

Omeruo

FMCG Games: Unilever beat Dufil Prima 1-0

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asiu Emida powered home a header in the 11th minute to confirm Unilever as the champions of the 2014 FMCG Games football event.

It was a game of two halves as Unilever dominated the first half, while defending champions, Dufil, took over proceedings after the break. Both teams showed what a final should be, playing with great energy and total attack.

Unilever started with intensity and fast-paced brand of football and were rewarded with an early goal when Wasiu rose to power home a header inside the six yard box. After the goal, Unilever continued to dominate, dictating play with so much skill to the admiration of spectators. Dufil however came close to leveling scores but were denied by their opponent’s goalkeeper just before the break.

After the break, the Indomie boys took the game to their opponents in search of an equalizer. They almost got it but wasted a one-onone opportunity. As the game progressed. The Omo boys decided to sit back and soak up the pressure while their opponents fought tooth and nail just to level scores.

The best chance however fell at the feet of Olabisi Babatunde who wasted what would have been a great come back for the Indomie Warriors Goal scorer Wasiu said: “We are very happy that all the efforts we put into this competition finally paid off. Credit must also go to our opponents for giving us a good fight.”

Abiola Ogunleye, Change Manager Unilever, said she is a fulfilled person as the team put in a lot into preparing for the tournament and to win the cup is just phenomenal.

She also gave kudos to MediaVision Limited for organising what she described as a fantastic competition.

In the third-place match, Isah Kazeem’s 2nd minute goal was all Nestle needed to win the bronze at the expense of PZ Cussons.

Boro last season by Chelsea, and had a successful stay at the Riverside Stadium, where he formed a good partnership with England Under-21 defender Ben Gibson.

Having recently returned from the World Cup in Brazil, Omeruo is now focused on his club career. And with Middleborough manager Aitor Karanka reportedly having made an approach to Chelsea for the Nigerian centre-back’s services, the 20-year-old is more than happy to join up with the second tier club.

“My time at Middlesbrough was one of the best experiences I’ve had in football and I enjoyed every moment of my time at the club,” Omeruo told The FA website.

“I believe that with hard work and the determination that’s within the squad, Boro will reach the play-offs and get promoted next season.”

The young Super Eagles defender is particularly looking forward to teaming up with Gibson again.

“Gibbo is someone that works hard and learns every day. He doesn’t think about how old he is, he’s a fighter and we worked well together. I learnt a lot from him whilst I was at the Riverside and together we had a good partnership.”

Germany players, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels celebrate against Brazil

Nigeria World Cup Fan Village saga: Omo-Agege wants Mbanefo probed

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he President of Za Entertainment, Mr. Azania OmoAgege, whose company officially partnered with the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) to run the Nigeria Fan Village in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup finals, has called on the federal government to set up a probe to look into the activi-

ties of the project which he alleged was botched by the NTDC Director General, Sally Mbanefo.

Omo-Agege disclosed that, the NTDC boss instead of ensuring that the N59million project aimed to create awareness for Nigerians in that part of the world and also set up meeting point for the country’s nationals visiting Brazil was

Onazi delighted with smooth recovery

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uper Eagles sensational midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, is delighted over the good progress he’s making as he begins full rehabilitation from the injury he sustained courtesy of a late tackle

by Blaise Matuidi during France’s win over the Super Eagles in the round of 16.

Now Onazi has revealed he is making good progress in his native Nigeria and he is not far off a return.

“I am improving a lot and I am delighted to be making significant progress with my recovery. I have started running and although I still have little pains in my leg, I am happy with my progress.

“With this injury, though, you need to be careful by not setting a time scale on a return, so I will wait until I am fully fit before touching the ball again.”

Despite the devastating heartbreak he suffered at the tournament, the 21-year-old insists Brazil 2014 was a positive experience.

He added: “Even though we didn’t end the tournament as we would have loved to, we can only take the positives out of the experience as it will help the country in future tournaments,” said Onazi.

“Nobody gave us a chance to come out of our group but we did and felt we could have done more.

We should be pleased at least to have given the fans something to cheer about in terms of our performance; hopefully it will serve as a springboard to improve further.”

The Eagles reached the second round of the World Cup in Brazil for only the third time in their history, having also done so in 1994 and 1998.

Meanwhile, the National Sports Commission (NSC) is desperate to halt the crisis blighting the country’s football.

On Wednesday FIFA suspended Nigeria from all international football amid allegations of government

interference in its football federation.

The most immediate effect is that Nigeria will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which starts on August 5 - should the suspension not be lifted by 15 July.

Onazi

reduced to a comic gathering by Mbanefo whose duty it was to ensure the smooth operation of what should have been a home for Nigerians at that part of the world.

“It is a shame to see the Director General reduce the 30-day project to a one-day ceremony hosted in a small room instead of the agreed open air arena that should have housed 1000 participants’ daily for 30 days.

“She made a sudden turn around against earlier agreement as stipulated in the Memorandum of Understanding she signed with us. In readiness for the Fan Village, we had entered into contract negotiations with service providers in Brazil and monies had been paid for these, only for the NTDC boss to change the whole setting. Now, we are in huge debt and there is the need to fulfill payments already made in advance of running the Fan Village.”

Omo-Agege revealed that, Sally Mbanefo in an attempt to destroy the evidence of legal partnership with the NTDC, attempted to tear the copy of the signed MOU in Brazil, but he managed to salvage the document.

“We are not ready to make trouble with anyone, what we want is a probe that we believe strongly would help expose any shady deals and it would also help us get funds to pay all those that were contracted to work at the Fan Village and had gone ahead with preliminary works to ensure the smooth running of the village,” Azania Omo-Agege who is also a board member of the Nigeria Boxing Federation, NBF, said.

It was also learnt that the head of the project unit of the NTDC that was supposed to be in charge of projects like the Fan’s Village, Fatima Obadakin has been queried on the allegation that she was the one who hired Azania Omo-Agege, the President of Za Entertainment whom the DG said has become a threat to her life.

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JULY 13, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

News

Clerics oppose plot to impeach Nyako

…He must go, PDP insists Ibrahim Abdul

C Yola

hristian and Muslim leaders in Adamawa State have opposed the impeachment plot against Governor Murtala Nyako and his deputy Bala James Ngillari over allegations ranging from diversion of fund to gross misconduct.

The religion leaders sued for peace between the warring factions in the state just as it called on the two sides to sheath their swords for the peace being enjoyed in the state to prevail.

In a press release signed by the Chairman Council of Pastors in the state Rev. Dr. Victor Ordinan, the group noted that it was disturbed by the impeachment process initiated by the Adamawa State House of Assembly against both the governor and his deputy.

While the body accepted that impeachment is a constitutional matter as enshrined in section 188 of the 1999 constitution as amended, it pleaded with the House of Assembly to save the state from plunging into anarchy which may follow the impeachment.

“That is why as a people we must unite so that together we can avert the severe consequences of

impeaching the number one and two citizens of our state at the same time.

Because we know the consequences and cannot sit back to watch them befall us,” the release said.

Also reacting, Adamawa State chapter of Muslim Council, called for dialogue in resolving the problem between the state Legislature and Executive in the interest of peace and unity of the state.

Speaking on the outcome of the council meeting in Yola, one of the Clerics who is also the National Chairman of Jamaatul Izalatul Bidiah WA Iquamatus Sunna (JIBWIS) Shiekh Bala Lau said the council was concerned by the development and wanted the matter to be resolved amicably.

“Our state is under emergency rule and this face-off between the legislatures and executive is further heating the system and creating tens ion in the state. We are against the proposed removal of the governor and his deputy as such action could led to more crisis in the state,” Lau said.

Lau said the council had been trying to reach out to the parties concerned to see reason and sheathe their swords particularly at this period of Ramadan, adding that if necessary clerics and traditional rul-

...Panel concludes public hearing

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he Seven-man panel investigating the allegation of gross misconduct leveled against Gov Murtala Nyako and his Deputy, Mr Bala Ngilari, by the state House of Assembly has concluded its public sitting.

The panel which commenced sitting on Friday rounded up on Saturday with only the complainant (Adamawa Assembly) making an appearance against the respondents who failed to appear during the two consecutive sittings.

The panel after waiting in vain for representatives of the governor and deputy governor, watched a video clip tendered as exhibit and also cross-examined the

only witnessed presented by the House, Mr. Wafarninyi Theman.

Counsels to the House at the Saturday sitting, Barr Hussaini Maidawa and Barr Leonard Nzadon, who led Theman in evidence concluded their respective presentations by urging the panel to take their applications against the governor and deputy governor as a proven case of the allegations raised against them.

In his response, the chairman of the panel, Mallam Buba Kaigama, said the panel would take its time to go over the presentations and other evidences provided by the assembly objectively and come out with its position in a later date.

ers in the state were ready to mediate in resolving the matter.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders that have

backed the impeachment has threatened to sanction any lawmaker in the state assembly who retraces his steps in the impeachment process.

The spokesman of the PDP Elders and stakeholder’s forum Dr. Umar Ardo in a telephone interview said that the impeachment process is a PDP affair and any lawmakers of the party who retrace his step will be sanctioned.

“The impeachment of Nyako and his Deputy is PDP a PDP affair, we have got to a level that none of our 20 lawmakers who earlier signed the impeachment notice will be allowed to withdraw.

Any PDP lawmaker that

retraces his steps seized to be member of PDP,” Ardo stated.

When asked to comment on the reconciliatory move between the lawmakers and governor Nyako, Dr Ardo argued that the lawmakers decision inferior to the party’s decision.

According to him the party was not aware of any meeting held by Nyako and the lawmakers stressing that even if there is such a meeting, the lawmakers need to take directive from the party.

L-R: Ogun State PDP governorship aspirant, Hon. Abiodun Akinlade; Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose; and Chairman, PDP South-West Mobilisation Committee, Chief Kasumu Buruji, after Akinlade’s defection at the Zonal Sensitisation mega rally of the party in Abeokuta …recently

... Lawmakers’ deal with Nyako a ruse, says Hong Andrew Iro Okungbowa he purported peace deal between Governor Murtala Nyako and the members of the House of Assembly over his impeachment move has been described as a ruse and ‘blatant lies’ fed to the media and public by loyalists of the governor to mislead the people.

In a telephone interview with the New Telegraph, on Sunday Dr. Idi Hong, a former Minister of State for Tourism, stated categorically that there was never a meeting between the governor and the lawmakers as widely reported by the media.

The purported deal, which has led to the swearing in of administrators of local government councils, the appointment of the PDP state chapter secretary, Mr. Peneas Elisha, as Special Senior Adviser on Government Affairs among others, Hong said was misleading and calculated attempts by Governor Nyako and his ‘boys’ to divert attention of the public from the real issue.

According to Hong who is a staunch PDP member in the state and very close to

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members of the assembly, said he has spoken with virtually all the house members and other stakeholders in the state on the deal since the media report broke and none of them confirmed such a meeting taking place in either Abuja as reported or even in the state.

He said the governor swearing in administrators or ap-

pointing the state PDP chapter secretary is only begging the issue because such move has not addressed the issue of maladministration, misapplication and embezzlement of public funds among others that are levied against the governor and his deputy.

Hong also declared that it is untrue that the panel has not been able to sit because

of lack of venue. He said the panel has had several meetings in the state since it was set up unhindered. He further counselled that it is in the interest of the governor and his deputy to face the panel and answer the charges brought against them instead of trying to ‘buy’ over the media by causing false reports to be published.

Bureau De Change operator jailed over $50, 000 fraud Emmanuel Onani

A

Kano State High Court presided over by Justice Faruk Lawal, has sentenced a Bureau the Change operator, Auwalu Ibrahim, to one year imprisonment, with an option of N100, 000 fine.

A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, said the commission had on January 16, preferred a twocount charge of criminal breach of trust and issuance of dud cheque, against the

convict in the ancient city.

According to the statement, “Auwal Ibrahim as manager of Dan Wali Bureau de Change, allegedly converted to his personal use the sum of $50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) he obtained from one Musa Rabiu, for the purpose of selling same and returning the proceeds plus profit in Naira to his victim.”

One of the charges reads: “That you Auwal Ibrahim being the Manager of Dan Wali Bureau de Change sometime in August 2012,

in Kano within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Justice of Kano state collected the sum of $50,000.00 from Indo Kyaftin Bureau de Change for the purpose of giving them Naira equivalent of N7, 900,000.00 but instead, converted same to your personal use and thereby committed an offence punishable under 309 of the Penal Code.”

Justice Faruk Lawan ordered that the sentence run concurrently, having been sentenced to six months in each of the aforestated charges.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JULY 13, 2014

News

CIAPS launches Soyinka Arts Exhibition, opens art entry

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Chijioke Iremeka agos-based Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies(CIAPS) is launching its 2014 Arts Festival with an Arts Exhibitiondedicated to the life and works of the writer and playwright, Prof. WoleSoyinka, who turns 80 today.

The event, ‘WS in Arts’, slated for September 2014, will take place at CIAPS and will feature artists and students of Arts from Nigeria and other African as well as European countries.

Exhibiting artists will be

selected by an international panel of critics, academics, artists, gallery managers and art lovers.

Interested artists have till 30 August to submit their works.

It showcases their paintings, drawings, sculptures and photography among others with themes from books, poems, plays and essays of Soyinka. The exhibition is managed by scholars and students of CIAPS as part of their professional training.

In a statement released

by Olabisi Ojora and Cornelia Oseghale, both students of Journalism, the Centre’s Director, Prof.

Anthony Kila, stated, “The aims of the exhibition are to let literature meet visual arts for the benefit of the general public and to let CIAPS graduands put into practice the skills and knowledge they have acquired in their professional programmes.”

The exhibition is treated as a project and is managed by a selected team of students of project management led by Oreoluwa George, Nnennaya Uku, Faith Oki, Chukwuebuka Etumadu and Leye Fashipe.

It will also be an opportunity for talented emerging artists to showcase

their work in an international context.

CIAPS is the first paperless institution in Africa and it is currently running career oriented programmes aimed at getting graduates into jobs in their chosen professions.

The main areas of study are in Journalism, Business Administration, Banking and Finance , Office management , Education and Project Management.

Talented artists and other art lovers interested in participating in the project can contact the Centre for further enquiries, by visiting the centre website: www.ciaps.org

'Aturu was a thoroughbred patriot’

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leading human rights group in Nigeria, the Committee for Democracy and Rights of the People (CDRP) has commiserated with the legal profession in general, the civil society movement and the entire family of Bamidele Aturu in particular over the sudden and tragic death of one of the finest brain and mildest strategist at the bar, Barrister Bamidele Aturu.

In a statement issued by Acting National Coordinator of the organisation, Comrade Saka Wahee, it described Aturu as an accomplished lawyer, unrepentant human right activist, versatile rule of law advocate and

most importantly thoroughbred patriot.

Comrade Saka recalled that the various landmark cases Aturu had won in defence of the ordinary people as well as his usual participation in the condemnation of violation of human rights both locally and internationally will continue to engrave his name in the heart of generations yet unborn.

The organisation urged the entire legal industry to take solace in the fact that Aturu lived a fulfilled life and prayed to Almighty God to give the family the fortitude to bear the unquantifiable lost.

Cement standardisation Reps are anti-people – Group

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Biyi Adegoroye notable pressure group, Alliance Against Monopoly, has flayed the House of Representatives for its ‘antipeople stance,’ as manifested in its adoption of contradictory Ad-Hoc Committee report on investigation on the composition and pigmentation of cement in the country.

The group said that by adopting the committee report, the House had tacitly supported the much criticised cement standardisation policy enunciated by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), insisting that a more people-friendly House of Representatives would have jettisoned the “patently wrong-headed recommendations which run contrary to public good”.

In a release jointly signed by its President, Chief Ike Omife, and the SecretaryGeneral Dr. John Ikegbunam, the group noted that the findings and conclusion of the House committee report were at variance with the submissions of most of the experts who testified on oath during the public session. It wondered how the committee arrived at a conclusion that defied logic in a matter in which empirical facts were furnished by both experts and industry practitioners.

The group noted that the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has in its presentation by its President, Mr..

Kashim A. Ali submitted that “there was no scientific proof of the contribution of cements to incidences of collapsed buildings in the country”.

COREN had observed that SON, which is the regulatory agency for setting standard for cement in Nigeria, did not have a competent laboratory for determining cement quality. It therefore condemned the recent release on categorisation of cement in the country by SON noting that SON’s board as presently constituted lacked the technical competence to embark on such activity”.

Buttressing the COREN argument, the Institute of Building through its President Tunde Lasabi noted that “experience throughout the world has shown very clearly that cement quality is not the source of building collapse. Rather, the root cause is most frequent related to poor construction practices and emphasized the need for training and re-training programmes for block makers and cement users in all part of the country as is being done by some cement manufacturers.

The Alliance Against Monopoly noted that the Nigerian Institute of Architects led by Tonye Beaide, its President, had observed that “Cement remains the cornerstone of the Country’s development taking full cognizance of the quantum of work pending in housing and infrastructural development”.

L-R: Guest Speaker, Mr. Craig Smith; Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega; President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Mrs. Bunmi Oke; Vice-President, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu and Chairman, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, at the International Seminar on Political Advertising, Perception Building and Voter Education, in Abuja…on Friday

Eight orphaned pupils finish from school Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

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he joy of eight children who have been inmates of an orphanage established in Umuagbedo-Agu, a remote community in IgboEze North Council Area, Enugu State, by Anambra State-born Stigmatist, Rev. Sister Martina Oforka, knew no bounds on Friday, as they moved up the ladder at their Divine Wounds Schools in the community.

One of them, Johnpaul Okonkwo, 13, who hails from Imo State was said to have been picked up as an abandoned baby in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He wore his graduation gown on Friday, having concluded his primary education as the school celebrated the orphans.

Another of the children identified as two-year-old Chidera was said to have been abandoned by her mentally challenged mother. She graduated from the nursery one section of the school and for those who knew her life history, she was the cynosure of all eyes.

Speaking to New Telegraph on Sunday on the import of the occasion graced by a huge crowd of pilgrims and natives, the proprietress of the school who also runs the Divine

Wounds Apostolate, said it has been a fulfilling experiencing picking up abandoned babies, orphans and the less-privileged and working to nurture them to greatness.

She explained that there are over 70 inmates of her orphanage while the group of schools comprising nursery, primary and secondary sections have a population of over 200 pupils and students.

According to the Stigmatist, who hails from Oraifite in Anambra State, among the inmates of her orphanage are children whose mothers had attempted to abort their pregnancies before she was alerted and

succeeded in stalling their planned action.

She said, "Inmates in this category would be handed over to their mothers after they would have been educated to enable them to effectively grapple with the larger society, irrespective of the circumstances of their births."

She called on governments at all levels, especially in Enugu State, to come to the aid of the school in the provision of infrastructure. She explained that the curriculum of the school emphasises skills acquisition in view of the social realities staring the orphans in the face after graduation.

SPORT Muller : I have never lost against Messi }60

Faith

w w w. new tel eg rap ho nl i ne. co m

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. – Buddha

VOL. 1 NO. 145

SUNDAY, jULY 13, 2014

N150

Why we held prayer summit – Ex-Assemblies of God GS, Osueke

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100 years after; the north-south gulf widens

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f the National Conference organized by the Goodluck Jonathan government has proved and or achieved anything, it is that the gulf between the North and the South is widening by the day and at an alarming rate.

Before the amalgamation of the southern and the northern protectorates in 1914, there was no country called Nigeria. As recorded by my good old friend, the late Prof Omo Omoruyi, there was a colony of Lagos, ceded to the British Crown in 1861 through a highly fraudulent treaty. It was ruled by Governors responsible to the Colonial Office based in Sierra Leone (1866-1874) and Gold Coast (1874-1886). There was also the Oil Rivers Protectorate, renamed Niger Coast Protectorate in 1895 and ruled by Consul with headquarters in Calabar. We also had the Niger territories which were ruled between 1886 and 1899 by agents of the Royal Niger Company and were responsible to its Board of Directors in London. This territory corresponds to the present day Northern Nigeria.

Frederick D. Lugard had paid his first visit to Nigeria shortly after the Berlin Conference of 1884 to organize on behalf of the Royal Niger Company troops which were later used to intimidate, subjugate and exact treaties from the Chiefs of the North. Much later as a Brigadier-General, he was appointed the first High Commissioner of the Niger Territories of the Royal Niger Company to be called Northern Nigeria with effect from January 1, 1900.

This was the day the term Nigeria was first used in official communication. It would appear that the term was meant to refer to the North of Nigeria and later the other two governments were renamed Southern Nigeria and Lagos.

They were merged to form Southern Nigeria in 1906. From 1906, Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria were technically two autonomous entities responsible separately to the Colonial Office.

Credit for what is Nigeria of today must be given to Lord Lugard who conceived and designed it between1900 and 1912. By 1912 when Lugard emerged on the southern scene there was something called Northern Nigeria (which was over 14 years old) in the minds of the traditional rulers and of the traditional elites in the North. On the other hand, there was nothing called Southern Nigeria in the minds of the traditional rulers and of the educated elites in various parts of the South. The various groups in the South were treaty-based states who related to Britain independently.

Nigeria is a materialization of the dream of Frederick D. Lugard. He saw the opportunity of a great country emerging here and campaigned energetically to be given the assignment of incorporating the various units in the south and its people into a unified North. Somehow, that did not work out.

He had to first create a southern Nigeria belatedly (almost twenty years after Northern Nigeria was in existence) and then try to forge a marriage between the two strange partners.

He succeeded in 1914 when there was an amalgamation of the North and the South to produce Nigeria. But the balloon he floated was almost shot down in 1953 when at the House of Represen-

Azikiwe

Bello

tatives meeting in Lagos, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto canvassing the northern position hauled a javelin at it saying “the mistake of 1914 has come to light and I should like to say no further.”

The Sardauna was justifiably provoked by the actions of the southern politicians. The disparate groups put together by Lugard had different visions about the road ahead for Nigeria. On the issue of independence for example, Southern politicians wanted independence instantly while those from the North advocated a more cautious approach.

In parliament, issues were joined; still to their credit, the firebrand radicals from the south and the amiable conservatives of the north were able to reach a compromise. They resolved that if any issue of national significance was to be debated, it should first be discussed by the three leading parties - NPC, NCNC and the AG in camera.

It was, therefore, a big surprise to the Sardauna as leader of the NPC when he got into parliament on that day to find before him a motion slated to be moved

MAMA LASISI

Awolowo

by Chief Anthony Enahoro - demanding that Nigeria should be declared an independent state immediately. Enahoro of the AG was supported by his party leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the leader of the NCNC, Dr Namdi Azikiwe.

The duo stood up and delivered long speeches in flowering Queens English in support of Enahoro. When it came to the Sardauna, he could not stand the perfidy. He delivered what he described in his autobiography - My Life – as the shortest but most important speech of his political life; “the mistake of 1914 has come to light.”

The impact of that speech was electric in parliament. Southern politicians reacted by booing the Sardauna. Outside parliament, the Sardauna and his fellow northern delegates were heckled and subjected to all forms of indignities by a crowd which had apparently been organized by southern politicians. The unruly crowd followed them to their hotel and then to the railway station on their way back to the north. Sir Ahmadu, scion of Othman Dan Fodio (founder of the Sokoto Caliphate) and a proud Prince whose number one ambition was

to emerge the Sultan of Sokoto felt hurt.

He wrote in his book that the disrespectful crowd followed them at every railway station until they reached Ilorin in northern Nigeria. In hurt anger, he described Lagos as a town of “hooligans” and when he had the opportunity to move there as the first leader of an independent Nigeria, he rejected the honour, preferring to delegate his deputy Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to take it up.

As I watch proceedings at the National Conference in Abuja today, our lack of progress in fulfilling the Lugardian dream of a great country stares me in the face. One hundred years after Lugard tried to close the gap between the north and the south, we are today widening the gulf on almost every issue.

But is the problem of Nigeria north vs south or south vs north? No. To me, it is simply and squarely - as Chinua Achebe put it - a problem of bad leadership which is found both in the north and south in abundant quantity. That the proceedings of the National Conference have gone this way is a clear indication of just how badly we have been led over the years and are still being led today.

As a northerner, I am particularly mad with some of our governors who continue to pay lip service to the crucial issue of educating the younger generation.

My heart sinks whenever I see a horde of northern teenagers who should be in school, begging along the streets in the name of almajeri. We cannot catch up with the south when their children are going to school and ours are on the streets begging. The biggest security nightmare of Nigeria today is the almajeri system, which throws up millions of unskilled youth in our system with a half-baked understanding of Islam.

When Boko Haram started, we northern Christians thought we were the targets of hatred and elimination. Now they are gunning down even Emirs on the streets. And our governors in the north are there living lavishly while primary education, which is the constitutional responsibility of states has been comprehensively ignored.

Even in some northern states where there is no almajeri system, the issue of educating the youth is being treated with criminal negligence. Take Benue state for where primary schools have been closed for the past nine months, for instance.

What reason can the state government give for embarking on this profound act of irresponsibility?

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By Aliu Eroje