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YOU LIED OJUKWU’S aide TACKLES GOWON

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BOKO HARAM: NIGERIA, CHAD HEAD FOR SHOWDOWN }8

How could Gowon say the civil war was caused

by Ojukwu’s ambition?

That is a callous statement Nwobosi

GOWON

Tambuwal no threat to our ambition, say Buhari, Atiku Onwuka Nzeshi ABUJA

MY GREATEST WISH IS TO MAKE HEAVEN - TUFACE }17

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he purported entry of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal into the presidential race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress

appears not to have ruffled any feathers in the party as pundits had predicted before now. If anything, the two main contenders for the party’s presidential ticket, Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, have received it with cautious optimism that it would make the race

more interesting .

Tambuwal, who has been hobnobbing with the APC since he became Speaker three and a half years ago, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, and formally joined the APC on November 28, a decision that had led to a lot of controversies and

permutations about his political future. At the point of defection, Tambuwal was believed to be heading for Sokoto to contest the governorship seat but with the purchase of forms for an APC presidential ticket last Thursday, Tambuwal has again left everyone guessing which

direction he would be heading to in 2015.

Sunday New Telegraph investigations revealed that the drama over the purchase of expression of interest and nomination forms on his behalf by some members of CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Elumelu, Ibeto, Udofia, Peters join club of Africa’s dollar billionaires

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SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Contents | 16.11.14 BODY & SOUL

Tourism potentials abound in Nigeria

Jamaica-born Managing Director, Cross River State Tourism Bureau Michael Williams, says he is bringing the life blood of tourism in the Caribbeans to Cross River State

}18

POLITICS

Landmines ahead of 2015 elections Terrorism, shoddy distribution of PVCs and other factors may necessitate postponement of elections in some states

}31

BUSINESS

Mix bag of mass transit schemes Before and after independence in 1960, the public transport scheme in Nigeria was orderly and well organised. Ever since, efforts at organising a durable mass transit bus system in Nigeria have failed

}23

FAITH

Day Nigerians honoured Bakare Human rights activist and Pastor of Latter Rain Church, Lagos, Tunde Bakare, says his destiny is intertwined with that of Nigeria

}51

SPORT

Falilat Ogunkoya: Married female athletes are better Olympic silver medallist, Falilat Ogunkoya, is convinced that female athletes who are married do a lot better in international championships than those who are single

}60

Editorial

F

The illiteracy scourge

ifty- four per cent of Nigerians are illiterate, Professor Oladipo Fashina, a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), said recently. Speaking at the opening of the National Education Summit with theme “Toward a System of Education for Liberation in Nigeria,” held in Abuja, Fashina noted that only 15 per cent of Nigerians have managed a higher education in the last 54 years. “The present crisis in education is an offshoot of the neo-liberal misdirection which Nigerian people did not choose,” Fashina said. “Our rulers still insist in the main that the solution to the crisis in education lies with flooding the country with private schools, universities and commercialised education to operate in acceptance with market rules. This explains why public expenditure on education has never gone anywhere near the UNESCO prescription that each country should expend, at least, 26 per cent of its national budget on education”.

Fashina also noted that for effective national development in the education sector, it must be re-conceptualised in a manner that would make it capable of performing its transformative functions for the nation at large. The former ASUU leader said the summit would help in charting a new course for educational delivery and eventually liberate the country’s ailing education system. “We are expected to come up with viable proposals the acceptance and execution of which will bring about a reengineering and liberation of the education sector,” Fashina reiterated.

Nigeria remains an ever-interesting country. All across the nation, the echo of accumulated challenges reverberates at highly resounding decibels, yet no one is paying attention, and when attention is given, it is usually for the wrong cause. One of such areas where attention is poor is the education sector at all levels. Unfortunately, this has had multiple deleterious consequences on the other sectors in the country.

It is important to point out that, governments at all levels are saddled with the responsibility of regulating the sector. This entails good policy formulation, establishment and enforcement of standards, as well as day-to-day operations of governmentowned institutions. On the overall, governments at all levels are inconsistent and have poorly managed the education sectors over the years.

For many years now, the Nigerian education sector has witnessed an immense infiltration in form of privatisation. Some

years back, Nigeria as a whole could not boast of 20 private institutions but today, that is the average number of institutions per street in Nigeria. The good news is that education has been made more accessible to most, if not all but not affordable in equal measures. Mention must also be made of the fact that school enrolment hit the roof, and the standards hit the ground.

Moreover, unlike the educational institutions of the ‘80s and early ‘90s where standards were appreciable, substantial and competitive, Nigeria now parade institutions whose standards are substandard. The worm first ate into the primary schools with the introduction of several ‘international’ private nursery and primary schools. The proprietors transformed education into marketing, maximizing profits without being checked by the regulatory bodies.

Nowadays, dilapidated buildings now house primary schools, and such schools are adequately registered and present students for government-organized examinations where half-baked products are transferred to the secondary schools.

Furthermore, like the primary schools, the number of secondary schools in Nigeria is alarming; government cannot even say categorically how many secondary schools we currently have. The enrolment criteria are not clear-cut and well defined; and the quality of education in a lot of them, have not only nose-dived but have even stagnated. The demarcation between the rich and poor is well pronounced in the schools their wards attend. And the government by its actions and policies have complicated matters.

Regrettably, we do not have a minimum acceptable standard for our secondary schools and colleges. Virtually all sorts of buildings− flats, duplexes, bungalows, partitioned warehouses, even factories and uncompleted buildings− have metamorphosed into colleges where anyone can teach. The students are managed like failed banks and prepared, half-baked of course, for various examinations.

To make matters worse, university education in the country has gradually lost its quality owing to government’s inability to enforce standards. There is currently a gradual evolution of private universities in order to admit more students that are usually left out by government universities.

Major inter-state roads are been lined by private universities charging exorbitant fees.

In various states, the universities are admitting students and flaunting NUC approval.

There is no check in place to moderate quality of education in the country.

Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief n Eric Osagie Deputy Managing Directors n Gabriel Akinadewo

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

Managing Editor n Suleiman Uba Gaya

Editor, Daily n Yemi Ajayi

Editor, Saturday n Laurence Ani

Editor, Sunday n Emeka Madunagu

Deputy Editor, Sunday n Juliet Bumah

Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz

Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins

Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam

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Head, Graphics n Timothy Akinleye

Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

Telegraph Adam&Eve

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SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Ojukwu’s ex-aide replies Gowon Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

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iafran war veteran, Col. Emmanuel Nwobosi (retd), a close ally of late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has challenged former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd), over his recent comments on Nigeria’s nationhood and the civil war.

In an interview with Sunday New Telegraph in Enugu, Nwobosi said Gowon’s failure to stop the killings of Ndigbo in 1966, despite assurances given to OdumegwuOjukwu, led to the declaration of the Republic of Biafra and the civil war.

He described the former head of state’s assertion in a recent interview with The Guardian that he does not believe in Igbo nationality as a ‘callous disposition.’

Nwobosi, now 76, played an active role in Nigeria’s first military coup on January 15, 1966, when he was a major in the Nigerian Army.

He told our correspondent that as the man who presided over a decision to take the war to the people of the defunct Biafra, Gowon had no moral standing to speak on ethnic nationalism in the country.

Nwobosi, who was quite angry as he spoke, accused Gowon of taking the war to the Biafrans who had opted to stay on their own following repeated pogroms that were gradually driving them towards annihilation.

He said, “What struck me was that it is over two weeks since Gen. Gowon made that callous statement all in the name of one Nigeria and nobody has cared to counter him. I am baffled. The civil war was brought on us.

It wasn’t anything we prepared for and we

lNortherners forced civil war on Ndigbo lIgbo leaders to meet Jonathan on restructuring were just out from incarceration following the military coup, the war was looming and we had to get into it almost bare-handed.”

He also responded to Gowon’s allusion in the interview to how he countered Igbo military officers like Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna whenever they spoke about longing for an independent Igbo nation; due to his belief in one Nigeria.

But Nwobosi accused him of insincerity and deliberate act of denigrating ethnic nationalism, which he said was still relevant in Nigeria, decades after the war.

He recalled that before Ojukwu’s declaration of Biafra, deliberate killings targeted at the Igbo in the North had taken the country by storm. Nwobosi said that during one of the pogroms, Igbo people ran to Enugu and other parts of the defunct Eastern Region.

He recalled that Ojukwu, having obtained assurances from Gowon and other Northern leaders, persuaded the fleeing Ndigbo to return to their bases in the North. He lamented that the killings occurred again, prompting further bad blood that put a question mark on the unity Gowon was propounding.

He also recalled how the first military coup he co-sponsored and executed along with the other young military officers took the nation by surprise but maintained that “we had our aim and it could be seen that the country was drifting and it was drifting in the worst state.”

Nwobosi, who is still nursing a spinal injury he sustained during the civil war, disagreed with Gowon’s insinuation that the

war was unnecessary.

“It would not have been necessary if the right things were done at the right time. But if you ask somebody whether he was right to defend himself, then, I can answer you on that. We were right to defend ourselves.

Even if it comes again tomorrow, we would be right in defending ourselves.

“There is an Igbo adage which says it is only a tree that would know it is going to be cut down or destroyed and would not move or run away but a human being would not hear that it is going to be destroyed, killed, annihilated and still stand by without reacting.

“And I would give you a few examples.

This had happened earlier in Nigeria’s history at that time when the Igbos where massacred in Kano. Then, it spread through other parts of the Northern Region. That was long before the civil war,” he explained.

The war veteran said he grew up in Northern Nigeria in view of his father’s profession as a male nurse and that he had many friends and other acquaintances in that part of the country.

He lamented that “it was disheartening to see my own people being killed like rabbits in the north.” He said this was what compelled the South-East to secede.

Meanwhile, 82 Igbo leaders of thought led by elder statesman and constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, have mapped out plans to meet President Goodluck Jonathan soon for the realisation of the restructuring of the country into six zones.

He said this is in view of the import of eth-

nic nationalism in fostering the country’s unity.

The group’s deputy secretary, Elliot Uko, told our correspondent in Enugu that the meeting would focus on how to foster Nigeria’s unity. He maintained that the group would not join in the clamour for Igbo presidency since it remained a nonpartisan body.

He explained that the Igbo Leaders of Thought is made up of 83 members of which 47 members are professors and he hinted the group would press for the nation to embrace a six-regional structure to truly catalyse Nigeria’s unity.

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SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

The Sunday Magazine

Elumelu, Ibeto, Udofia, Peters join Africa’s dollar billionaires’ club

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Chijioke Iremeka he number of Nigerians on the ‘Ventures Africa Rich List’ has continued to swell, especially as four more Nigerians with a total sum of $9 billion assets recently joined the league of Africa’s billionaires club.

This inroad into the club brings the total number of Nigerians on the list to 23, giving Nigeria the largest concentration of dollar billionaires in Africa, of which the Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote is at the top of the list with assets running into $25.7 billion.

The new entrants, according to wealth research by the business journal, are Cletus Ibeto from Anambra State, who is the founder of multi-faceted Ibeto Group of Companies ($3.7 billion); an oil magnate Benedict Peters ($2.7 billion); philanthropist and Chairman, UBA Plc and Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu ($1.6 billion); and Canada-based oil trader, Akanimo Udofia ($1 billion).

Surprisingly, it was recorded that the main source of their wealth is the country’s abundant oil resources. According to the Ventures Africa Rich List, almost 40 per cent of Nigeria’s dollar billionaires’ wealth is tied to the country’s oil and gas industry.

However, Nigeria’s domination of the rich list also extends past contributing the highest number of individuals. The collective wealth of Nigerians on the list is $77.7 billion, representing 48 per cent of the total Rich List wealth, almost as much as the other countries combined.

Dangote, the founder of Africa’s largest industrial conglomerate, Dangote Group, also remains the continent’s richest man.

His net worth has grown to $25.7 billion, a 21 per cent rise from $20.2 billion in 2013.

Nigeria’s Folorunsho Alakija, who is the fourth on the list, is Africa’s richest woman, and the richest black woman in the world with assets worth of $7.3 billion; trumping long time title holder, Oprah Winfrey.

Also, Nigerian, Igho Sanomi, shares the position of Africa’s youngest billionaire with Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania’s richest man. At 39, Igho Sanomi, the founder of oil conglomerate Taleveras Group, is worth $1.3 billion.

The report says Ibeto grew from an apprentice in a spare parts shop to the owner of the largest conglomerate in Eastern Nigeria. His debut as the 11th richest person sees him ranked higher than popular Nigerian billionaires like Jim Ovia and Oba Otudeko.

Nothing announces the arrival of Benedict Peters like his $2.56 billion acquisition of a prolific oil block from Shell Nigeria, except, of course, his first ever ranking on the Ventures Africa’s Rich List.

After decades of labouring in the oil and gas business, Benedict Peters is now reaping the fruits of his labour. His Aiteo group is one of the fastest growing local players in Nigeria’s upstream and downstream oil sectors.

Although Tony Elumelu is just entering the African dollar billionaires club, he has been a major player in Nigeria’s financial industry.

A serial investor and businessman, Tony is the chairman of UBA Group, one of Africa’s most successful banks; Heirs Holdings, an investment company; and Transnational Corporation (TRANSCORP Plc), a conglomerate with investments in

Dangote

Adenuga

Elumelu

Jim Ovia

Theophilus Danjuma

Dr ABC Orjiako

Folorunsho Alakija

Ibeto

Folawiyo

The new entrants, according to wealth research by the business journal, are Cletus Ibeto from Anambra State, who is the founder of multi-faceted Ibeto Group of Companies ($3.7 billion); an oil magnate Benedict Peters ($2.7 billion); philanthropist and Chairman, UBA Plc and Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu ($1.6 billion); and Canada-based oil trader, Akanimo Udofia ($1 billion) hospitality, oil, agriculture, and logistics.

Elumelu is also a renowned philanthropist as his Tony Elumelu Foundation sponsors several charity efforts in Nigeria and across the continent while

his Africapitalism Institute studies the rise of capitalism in Africa.

Akanimo Udofia may be based in Toronto, Canada, but that hasn’t stopped his Desicon Group, an engineering, procure-

ment and construction services company, from becoming one of the major servicers of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. However, the growth of Udofia‘s business empire is just starting, as the Ventures Africa Rich List reveals that the best times are still to come for the company.

Other Nigerians on the rich list are Otunba Mike Adenuga ($8bn); Prince Arthur Eze ($5.8bn); Gilbert Chagoury ($4.3bn); Jim Ovia ($2.3bn); Theophilus Danjuma ($1.8bn); Abdulsamad Rabiu ($1.5bn); Dr. ABC Orjiakor ($1.2bn); Bode Akindele ($1.2bn); and Emmanuel Ojei ($1.2bn).

Others are OB Lulu-Briggs ($1.1bn); Olorogun Michael Ibru ($1.1bn); Sani Bello ($1bn); Tunde Folawiyo ($1bn); and Aminu Dantata ($1bn).

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SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Boko Haram: Nigeria, Chad head for showdown Onwuka Nzeshi, Emmanuel Onani and Isa Abdulwahab

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igeria and Chad may be heading for a diplomatic showdown over indications that Boko Haram are receiving huge supply of arms from the northeastern neighbour of Africa’s largest economy.

Indications emerged recently that a number of gunrunners had been arrested by Cameroonian authorities with huge cache of arms heading from Chad to Boko Haram insurgents.

Cameroonian police and Customs recently dismantled a network of arms dealers based in a Chadian border town, Kousseri, who had been supplying weapons to Boko Haram.

The joint operation led to several arrests after the Cameroonian officials turned down a 2.5 million FCFA bribe.

There were also indications that some government officials and clerics living close to Chad’s border with Nigeria had joined the terror group, due to inducements from its commanders.

This discovery adds to the recent phoney ceasefire deal which Chadian President, Idris Deby, reportedly packaged between Nigeria and Boko Haram.

The fake peace deal, which led to the Nigerian military high command ordering troops to stop hostilities against Boko Haram, led to deadly consequences as the terrorists attacked some villages in Borno and Adamawa states in NorthEast Nigeria within hours of the announcement of the ceasefire.

These developments are said to have perplexed Nigeria’s political and military leaders. They are now said

to be considering various options to counter the threat posed by Chad’s seeming connivance with Boko Haram.

Intelligence sources said the recent arrests had confirmed suspicions that Chad was secretly aiding the insurgents.

Attempts to obtain comments from the Presidency, the Defence Headquarters and the Nigeria Police failed as several calls and text messages to their spokespersons did not yield.

When Sunday New Telegraph visited the Embassy of Chad at 53, Mississippi Street, Maitama, Abuja to obtain a reaction to the development, it met a brick wall. Two uniformed policemen and another security man in plain clothes at the gate said there was no embassy official in the compound as they had all closed for the day.

They also declined to provide the telephone contacts of any of the diplomats.

The Nigeria Customs Service denied knowledge of the arrest of gun runners

by Cameronian Customs officials.

Its spokesperson, Wale Adeniyi, told Sunday New Telegraph in Abuja that no such report has been brought to his attention.

Adeniyi said the Nigeria Customs was part of the Joint Task Force set up in the North East to check mate the activities of insurgents in the area.

“The officers are deployed to JTF to undergo special training before they are dispatched to border control exercises. When they finish, we withdraw the batch and replace it with another one.

Right now, some customs officers are undergoing training in our school at Basawa near Zaria,” said Adeniyi.

Group flays attack on Elechi Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

A

political group known as Ebonyi South Consultative Forum yesterday expressed dismay over the level of falsehood being peddled by some notable politicians from the Southern part of the state against Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State.

The group however appealed to Elechi to ignore the ‘evil’ machinations, false accusations and mudslinging of his detractors and enemies of progress who had bent to tarnish the image of the governor and the state.

In a statement signed by the forum’s Secretary, Uwadiegwu Anoke, and made available to Sunday

New Telegraph, the group frowned on the level of betrayal by politicians who were major beneficiaries of Elechi-led administration.

The forum which is a body charged with the actualisation of Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu’s governorship ambition said the group of politicians have turned to bit the finger that fed them and have the erroneous belief that good relationship can only exist when they harvest and reap on the fertile ground of one political position or another.

It reads: “While we condemn this attitude of such politicians who seek only their selfish interests, the forum therefore commends the good leadership qualities of Chief Martin Elechi”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also denied knowledge of the development and referred us to the Defence Headquarters, Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Immigration Service.

Director, Public Communications, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry, Mr. Ogbole Amedu Ode, said he was not aware of any such incident.

According to him, the Nigeria Customs and Immigration Services were in a better position to know be-

cause they have operatives at the borders.

“We only get to know such things if these agencies notify us and they only notify us when an incident is likely to affect our relationship with another country. Though I have been away; I am just coming back from an official engagement in New York, but I can tell you that I have not heard any such thing,” Ode said.

Meanwhile, Cameroonian investigative journalist, Chief Bisong Etabohen, re-

ported on Twitter yesterday that his nation foiled an attempt by Boko Haram fighters fleeing Mubi in Nigeria to infiltrate a border town, Fotokol.

He stated that few days after the Nigerian army routed the sect from Adamawa State’s second largest city, they had attempted to gain a foothold on the Cameroonian border town but were repelled. He said they used 120mm guns to fire rockets into the border town on Thursday night but

were resisted by the Cameroonian army.

The insurgents tried a second attack yesterday morning, firing five rockets into Fotokol from Gambaru. One of the rockets hit a Peugeot 504 car while another landed in Gadumba Quarters in Fotokol.

Eighteen suspected Boko Haram members were arrested in Fotokol yesterday by the Rapid Intervention Battalion of the Cameroon army.

L-R: Legal Adviser, Tafawa Balewa Square Management Board, Olutoyin Bolaji; Director, Legal Services, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Uju Aisha Hassan Baba; Minister, Dr. Olusegun Aganga and Managing Director, Infrastructure Bank, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, after the signing of an MoU on the development of the National Trade and International Business Centre in Abuja recently

‘Tambuwal no threat to our ambition’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

the House of Representatives may be a gimmick to test the ground and feel the pulse of the presidential candidates who are already in the race.

The Buhari Campaign Organisation on Friday described the entry of Tambuwal into the race as a welcome development.

Former governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a chieftain of the APC, Comrade Osita Okechukwu, told our correspondent that the APC would be the greatest beneficiary of Tambuwal’s new ambition as the mobilisation of the electorate would be wider, more robust and penetrating. According to him, Tambuwal is highly welcome into the presidential race, adding that this is why the constitution of the party was amended penultimate week, to accommodate in less than one hour, any person who joins APC. “On his chances, one cannot hazard a guess,

as Tambuwal unlike Buhari or Atiku had never contested a national election. He only contested in a federal constituency and had never tested his popularity in Kano, Akure or Enugu.

“All one knows is that his entry will neither diminish nor cut off the celestial bond between GMB and the masses and the middle class of our dear country. The masses and middle class had renewed at every election GMB’s 12 million Vote Bank. Therefore, the contest at the end of the day is between President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari,” Okechukwu said.

Similarly, the Atiku Campaign Organisation said it was not disturbed about Tambuwal joining the race as it would not subtract from the chances of the former vice president.

Mr. Paul Ibe, a media aide to Atiku, said Tambuwal was welcome to the race, which he said has been very competitive and promises to be more inter-

esting as the presidential primaries and national convention draw near.

The party, Ibe said, is parading a lot of good materials and none of them can be taken for granted in the race. He however said if the APC was prepared to wrestle power from the PDP, it has to go to battle with its best general and one who has got the requisite experience to do the job.

“We are only concerned about our own candidate; we are not in a position to stop anybody from coming into the race. If anybody thinks he has anything to offer, like Atiku has been telling Nigerians, we would not in any way be jittery.

“Instead, it strengthens our position because before now there had been places where we tried to make inroads and people were not favourably disposed to even hear our message probably because of insinuations that a definite position had been taken on who will have the presidential ticket of the APC. “So now, the field has

been thrown open, it makes it easier for us to go back to those places and win them to our side. We have been consistent with our message. What are we saying? We are saying that this country is in dire need of leadership and the Turakin Adamawa towers over every other person in the race today in terms of experience, managerial capacity and otherwise . Apart from that, he remains a bridge builder being somebody who is committed to the unity and stability of Nigeria. He is a successful businessman who has created a lot of jobs for Nigerians in various sectors.

“These are the things that matter at a time when our country is in dire straits and at the crossroads. We need a leader and should be one who understands this country.

Somebody who can sit at table with people of diverse backgrounds and be able to get them to work for the common good of Nigeria,” Ibe said.

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2014

News

Mercedes to rename car brands

M

ercedes-Benz is changing the way it identifies its cars and light trucks as it prepares to launch 30 models, including 11 all-new vehicles, by 2020.

In addition to new models, Mercedes said it would also introduce new body variants and drive systems, Autonews reports.

“This results in an increasingly complex situation when it comes to naming the models,” a statement by the company said.

Mercedes joins Infiniti and Cadillac among luxury brands changing the way they name their vehicles.

The new nameplates will begin appearing next year when Mercedes will launch redesigned or freshened versions of all of its crossovers and SUVs. Some dealers have said the

proliferation of models has posed marketing challenges and caused confusion among consumers, especially when companies have adopted alphanumeric names.

Head of Mercedes Brand Marketing Communication, Jens Thiemer, in a statement said, “After more than 20 years of continuity involving some of the most recognised and successful product names in the world, we are now making our system of vehicle nomenclature even more understandable.

“The new nomenclature is a simpler, more transparent and more logical system for the designations of our model series, with the aim of providing clear orientation for our customers.

“Mercedes will have five core models: A, B, C, E and S. All crossovers will have a GL in their name in a tribute to the

legendary G-Class and the letter that follows will indicate the vehicle’s size, similar to the way the company has differentiated its sedans through the years.”

According to the statement, the renamed crossover lineup is given as follows: the compact GLA keeps its name and is short for the GL A class, the compact GLK is renamed GLC for the GL C class, the midsize M class becomes the GLE for the GL E class and the all-new midsize coupe based on the current ML becomes the GLE coupe. While the G remains the same, the full-size GL becomes the GLS for the GL S class.

According to the report, the company’s four-door passenger cars with coupe-like styling would all have CL as the first two letters in their names and the third letter would refer to the size related to the core models. The cars include the

compact CLA and the larger CLS sedans.

Beginning in 2016, Mercedes said the SL designation would be used on two-door roadsters and the third letter would indicate the size. The SLK would be renamed SLC while the SL name won’t change “in recognition of its iconic status,” the company said.

Furthermore, engines, other than gasoline-powered, also would get new designations with a single lower-case letter on the trunk lid: c for compressed natural gas, currently called Natural Gas Drive, d for diesel, replacing BlueTEC and CDI, e for electric and replacing Plug-in Hybrid BlueTEC Plugin Hybrid and Electric Drive.

Others are f for fuel cell, currently F-Cell and h for hybrid, currently Hybrid and BlueTEC Hybrid.

Army Logistics College students on study visit to Ondo

S

tudents of the Nigerian Army College of Logistics will arrive Akure, the Ondo State Capital today (Sunday) on a five-day industrial study visit to the state.

According to the details of the visit released by the state’s Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, yesterday, the study team will during their five-day study, visit the medical village in Ondo , Agric Village and independent power, Ore, Agro Business city , Epe and Idanre resort and habitat.

As part of their study visit, the team will visit mega schools in Akure and Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba, Akoko, while there will be presentations for the visitors on 3i’s Community development and people oriented health care programme of the government.

The team will also visit the Akure Mother and Child hospital and the Isinkan Neighborhood market as well as the Automart .

The college had through a letter informing of its desire to visit the state with its students said Ondo was chosen for the visit because it was identified as one of the state’s taking giant strides in the field of industrialisation, physical growth and human capacity development in the country.

The college stated its belief that the visit will broaden the horizon of participants.

Part of the study include comprehensive study of Industrial development in the state, natural resources and their impacts on the development of Ondo, contributions of relevant organisations to the development and human resources development policies and achievements in the state among others.

The Nigerian Army college of LogisBodies of victims tics is the foremost logistics training of Synagogue institution in the Nigerian Army.

Church collapsed It was established in the year 2002 to building being train middle cadre officers of the milievacuated at tary and parliamentary organisations.

Mainland HospiThe training centres on the planning tal Yaba, Lagos and execution of logistics support for to South Africa… military operations including internal yesterday. security, using modern management concepts and techniques.

PHOTO: TONY The students are also taken on indusEGUAYE AND trial study visits to key military units, GODWIN IREKHE government establishments and reputable companies within and outside the country to en to enhance their studies.

ISPs failed to warn on UK soldier killer’s messages - Report

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nternet service providers did not raise the alarm about extreme messages posted by one of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby in the six months before his death, it has been revealed.

The companies - who have come under intense pressure to do more to help police and the security services - failed to inform authorities about material posted by Michael Adebolajo before the attack he carried out with Michael Adebowale, Daily Mail reports.

It meant MI5 missed internet messages that could have alerted them to the threat posed by the murderers.

A long-awaited report by

Parliament’s intelligence watchdog is expected to say Adebolajo was posting extremist material on social media sites in the months leading up to the attack.

The messages would have been sufficiently serious to justify the security services – who had had Adebolajo on their radar for eight

years – putting him under more detailed surveillance.

But officers found out about them only after the sickening murder of the 25-year-old soldier outside Woolwich Barracks in May last year.

The Intelligence and Security Committee report is also expected to highlight a failed attempt by MI5 to recruit Adebolajo as a source – but, crucially, it will say that officials could not have prevented the attack on the day.

The findings, due to be made public by the end of this month, come at a time of heightened concern about use of the internet and social media by would-

be terrorists.

Earlier this month, the head of GCHQ accused firms such as Twitter and Facebook of turning into ‘the command and control networks of choice’ for terrorists.

Robert Hannigan said some U.S-based tech firms were in denial about the misuse of their services by fanatics who could use them to facilitate mass murder.

The ISC report is expected to say that Adebolajo had been known to MI5 for eight years.

He was a regular member of a small group of fanatics closely linked to the extremist preacher Anjem

Choudary.

He was also pictured in violent scenes during a protest outside the Old Bailey in 2006 and spent three months in prison in 2008 for assault.

The key incident came when he was stopped in Kenya where he had been caught trying to join the al-Shabaab terrorist group.

He appeared in court in Kenya but was not charged and returned home. His then-lawyer claimed he was freed on the recommendation of the British High Commission and avoided a formal deportation.

Adebolajo told the Old Bailey there was ‘more to

the story’.

The report is expected to say the security services tried to recruit him as an informant but he rejected their approaches.

Officials argue that trying to recruit terror suspects and extremists is a vital part of MI5’s work and that not every attempt will succeed.

They also point out that, with several thousand Islamists on MI5’s radar, they are forced to prioritise on the basis of available intelligence.

In a speech last year, director general Andrew Parker said it was impossible to stop all terrorist attacks.

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SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Parents withdraw wards from Kaduna boarding schools T

… groups fault govt’s inaction Tobi Fabiyi

Ibraheem Musa,

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Kaduna

ollowing recent attacks on schools in the northern part of the country, there are indications that many parents have started withdrawing their children from boarding schools in Kaduna State in order to save their lives.

This move is coming despite the fact that no security advice has emerged from the security agencies in that regard.

The spate of attacks re-

corded in schools in the region has also affected adversely, the enrolment of students in boarding schools, Sunday New Telegraph has learnt.

Speaking to our correspondent yesterday, Malam Jibrin Zakirai who runs a non-profit organisation named ‘’Back to School Programme,’’ said that most parents prefer to register their children in day secondary schools.

Zakirai told Sunday New Telegraph that parents have been withdrawing their children from boarding

houses since the insurgents began attacking schools in the North-East zone.

A teacher at the Federal Government College, Kaduna who does not want to be named, said that the school authorities have taken extra measure to check visitors into the school. He said that visitors are made to park outside the school premises.

According to him, each time there is an attack in neighbouring states, teachers receive a barrage of calls from parents who act as their children’s guardians

to inquire about their safety. ‘’The students themselves are gripped with fear and anxiety whenever reports of such attacks reach them’’, he added.

A parent named Malam Zakari Musa, however, said that he was not bothered by the attacks as he has allowed his two daughters to continue in the boarding house at the Federal Government Girls College, Zaria, in spite of the agitations from his wife to relocate them to another school in Kaduna where the family lives.

wo child’s right groups have decried the killing of 47 students in Yobe State, by a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber and faulted government’s incapacity to protect the lives of students in their schools.

United Kingdom-based Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) and Nigerian organisation, the Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE), described the November 10 cold-blooded murder of students at their school assembly as ‘one massacre too many of defenceless and hapless Nigerian children.’

“Our organisations express deep shock and unreservedly condemn the cold-blooded murder of innocent children at Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary School, Potiskum, Yobe State, North-East Nigeria

on Monday 10 November 2015.

This is one massacre of defenseless children too many and the Nigerian government must rise to the occasion in performing its constitutional duty of ensuring full protection for its citizens, especially the very vulnerable, including school children, who have a fundamental right to acquiring education without violence, and these constitutional rights must be upheld by all.”

Debbie Ariyo (OBE), Chief Executive of AFRUCA UK, wondered what became of the highly publicised Safer School Initiative launched at the UK House of Commons by Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Ngozi OkonjoIweala, Nigeria’s Finance Minister, on July 2, 2014 and why school children would be exposed to harm when the government responsible for their security has no adequate safeguard structure in place.

Fire guts Fed Poly Ado Ekiti Adesina Wahab, Ado-Ekiti

T Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido (left), receiving former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at Dutse International Airport…yesterday

We will unmask Aderiye’s killers -Fayose Adesina Wahab, Ado-Ekiti

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kiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has said those who killed former State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Chief Omolafe Aderiye, will not go unpunished.

He said his administration will collaborate with security agencies to fish out the killers wherever they may be.

Speaking at the funeral service for Aderiye at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Okesa, Ado-Ekiti at the weekend, the governor noted that several attempts had been made on his life before his killers succeeded on Thursday, September 25, 2014.

The governor, who promised to support the family of the late union leader and extend to them what should have accrued to the deceased, volunteered to secure job for any of his unemployed children.

He charged the widows

and children of the diseased to be united and be one another’s keeper, as he charged members of the society to always do their best to better the lots of others, while they live as death is the end of all mortals.

In his sermon, the Diocesan Bishop of Anglican Church in Ekiti, Rt Rev. C.T. Omotunde, reminded the congregation that death is a debt that must be paid by all mortals, saying no one would take anything with him after death except his salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He charged children of the deceased to make Christ their anchor, noting that their late father had a strong faith in God and was always at his duty post as an usher in the church.

The Deputy Governor, Dr Kolapo Olusola, other top government functionaries, members of the drivers union, family members and well-wishers graced the funeral service.

Ita Enang commeded over water project Tobi Fabiyi

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n education support group, the Ibom Brainwaves, has commended the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East in the National Assembly, Senator Ita Enang, for facilitating the sitting of a water project at the University of Uyo. The project was in fulfillment of his promised made during the Special Stakeholders Forum in September last year.

In a special interaction with the media, the National Convener of Ibom Brainwaves, Comrade Ifiok Umoh, recalled that Senator Enang promised at the University of Uyo Stakeholders Forum to use his good office, political goodwill and extensive legislative influence to get the University listed as one of the beneficiaries of the Federal Government Water Project.

The group’s commendation of Enang, who is the Chairman Senate Commit-

tee on Rules and Business was sequel to the recent visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Water Resources to the University of Uyo as part of their oversight functions.

The Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Hon. Lassun Yussuf, accompanied by the General Manager, Cross River Basin Development Authority, Engr.

Mfon Taiwo Eno-obong Essien, declared that it was one of the best things to happen to the university.

The Ibom Brainwaves also commended the various contributions of other Akwa Ibom sons and daughters to the cause of the University of Uyo. They include Senator Helen Esuene, Mr. Ekpo Nta, the Chairman of ICPC, Elder Efiok Archibong of Trufaith Company, Sir (Dr) Valentine Attah, Dr. (Mrs.) Glory Edet, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Akwa Ibom State, and Professor Ini Udoka.

he School of Engineering Complex of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti was on Friday night gutted by fire.

The fire which was first noticed at about 11 pm completely raised the office complex housing the Office of the Dean of the School of Engineering and other adjoining offices including those of the Departmental Heads of Mechanical, Civil, Electrical/ Electronics and Agricultural Engineering and a large classroom.

It took the combined efforts of the men of the Ekiti State Fire Service, the Polytechnic Fire Service team, security officials and students to prevent the fire from spreading to other facilities in the school.

Commenting on the inci-

dent, the Rector of the Institution, Dr. Taiwo Akande, who also participated in the efforts to put the ravaging fire under control for about four hours along with the members of the Governing Council, as well as some top officials of the polytechnic, described it as a disaster of monumental proportions, with so many sensitive and un-replaceable documents and materials ranging from computer systems, furniture items, office cabinets and the building complex.

She narrated that an emergency meeting of the Governing Council was in session around 11:05 pm when some students raised the alarm about the fire and to which everybody concerned responded promptly making necessary contact to persons and organisations that could assist in putting out the fire.

FCMB VP loses mother Death has occurred of Ezinne Mama Bertha Onuhunma Aliliele, mother of Sir Chime Aliliele, a Vice President and Zonal Head of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), a matriarch of the Aliliele clan of Ife, Ezinihitte Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State. She was 95 years old.

Mama Bertha Aliliele was a great leader of women in the Anglican Diocese of Mbaise where she received several awards and recognitions for exemplary leadership and godliness.

She passed on peacefully in a Specialist Hospital in

Owerri, the Imo state capital, on Wednesday 15th, October 2014, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and daughters in-law.

She is survived by four children amongst who are Mr. K. C. Aliliele the immediate past Education Secretary of Ezinihitte LGA and Sir Chime Aliliele, a Vice President and Zonal Head of First City Monument Bank (FCMB).

She will be buried on Friday December 5, 2015 at the grounds of the Cathedral Church of St Michael and All Angels, Ife, Ezinihitte Mbaise.

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SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Synagogue : Lagos releases 66 corpses to South Africa Appolonia Adeyemi

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Pedestrans and motorists wading through Toyin Street in Ikeja, Lagos, after a downpour…yesterday.

PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

2015: Plateau elders reject Jang’s choice Buhari Bello, Musa Pam, Jos

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overnor Jonah Jang’s anointed successor in 2015, Senator Nyam Pwajok, has been rejected by elders in Plateau State.

They also criticised the governor over the plan by both politicians to swap seats after the elections.

Senator Gyang Pwajok, who currently represents Plateau Northern Senatorial District in the Senate, is said to have been chosen by Jang against the wishes of the elders in the state in an arrangement that would see him (Jang) take over Pwajok’s seat in the senate.

Some of the elders strongly opposed to the political arrangements in the state condemned what they called “political fraud” Among those who moved against the governor’s move are Senator Venmark Dang, Second Republic governor, Fidelis N Tapgun, former governor, Senator Joshua Dariye, Mrs. Pauline Tallen and Mr. Jimmy Jetto .

In an exclusive interview with Sunday New Telegraph over the develop-

ment in Jos, Chetto, who is also a governorship aspirant, said the planned arrangement is causing bad blood across the three senatorial zones in the state.

The elders who cut across all the political parties expressed their disgust over the move and warned the ruling party of the dangers such imposition could cause.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Qua’an Pan Local Government of the state, Hon Theophilus Dakas-Chan, has led his people on a protest to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Jos, over the poor distribution of Permanent Voters Vards (PVCs).

Dakas-Chan said: “The protest became necessary to defend people of the local government from being disenfranchised in 2015 general elections” The council chairman was accompanied on the protest by members of the executive council, the legislative council as well as the traditional council of the local government. The protesters were received by the state INEC resident commissioner Hon Habu Zarma.

While ventilating their anger over the exercise, Dakas–Chan reiterated that the people of the local government had overwhelmed him with complaints about their inability to get their permanent cards or be captured in the continuous voters registration exercise, leaving him no option than to lead them to the commission’s office.

“The continuous registration of voters is not working in my local government; it was successful only in one ward out of the 11 wards in the local government. The computers brought for the exercise are old and not functional, the batteries are weak, the scanners are not working, in shot it was total failure in our local government” He added: “The way the exercise is going on here, if government insists on conducting the exercise in six days, 90 per cent of eligible voters in the council will be disenfranchised.

Government must extend the period of the exercise by at least two weeks and better computers should be brought to make the exercise successful.

“There are over 200,000

eligible voters in the local government and so far, one quarter of these people have not been captured and if nothing is done, these people will not be able to exercise their franchise in the general election, that is our fear.

“Hundreds of youths who were not eligible to vote in 2011 are now eligible this year, but unfortunately all efforts to capture them in this exercise is failing and they are so worried” INEC commissioner, Habu Zarma, while responding to their complaints appealed to people of Qua’an Pan local government, saying government will ensure every eligible voters in the country is captured.

Zarma said, “INEC will look at the complaints and take appropriate measures to address the challenges. But as for the demand for extension of period fixed for the exercise, I will have to report back to the Federal Government, that one is beyond me. I can only convey your demands to the appropriate quarters” He advised the people to remain law abiding and cooperate with INEC staff during the exercise.

Blackout in Kano as fire guts 150MVA transformer Johnchuks Onuanyim, Abuja

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esidents of Kumbotso in Kano city, in Kano State, are currently suffering from poor electricity supply as a result of a fire incident that gutted a 150 MVA, 330/132/33KV and other equipment in the state.

According to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the incident has led to an acute power supply in the area.

Explaining the incident

in a statement, the TCN General Manager Public Affairs, Mr. Seun Olagunju said, “one of the four 150MVA power transformers in the substation caught fire after an explosive sound was heard at the switchyard. The fire, which destroyed one out of the four 150MVA power transformers in the substation was eventually put off by the Kano state fire service.

“During the fire, oil from the burnt 150MVA transformer, spilled into the

cable trench connecting two other transformers in the substation, causing the burning of the cables. The fire however did not affect the transformers themselves. The fourth 150MVA power transformer in the sub-station, was not affected in any way by the fire and has since been restored

by TCN’s engineers”.

On steps taken to repair the damaged equipment and ensure the situation was remedied within the next few weeks, TCN stated that it is presently

sourcing materials from its stores for the replacement of the burnt control cables to the two (2) healthy 150MVA power transformers that were not affected by the fire, so that it can quickly restore transmission of electricity through them.

It stated, “Investigations are al so ongoing by the company’s engineers to determine the extent of damage to the burnt 150MVA power transformer, so that plans can be put in place for its immediate repair.

he bodies of 66 victims of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed building, were yesterday moved out of Mainland, Yaba and Isolo General Hospitals, for their onward trip to South Africa.

The bodies were seen being loaded into three refrigerated trucks, also known as mobile mortuaries from where they would be delivered into the aircraft that would fly them to their destination in South Africa.

The Chief Medical Examiner in Lagos State, Prof.

Oladapo Obafunwa said that over 80 bodies including victims from Nigeria, Togo and neighbouring countries were identified through the process of DNA matching.

Obafunwa, who is also a professor of Forensic Pathology, Lagos State University, College of Medicine, Ikeja disclosed that 66 of the victims identified were South Africans.

“We have been working from about midnight when

the South Africans arrived and from the airport we came down to the hospital to look at the bodies that we have identified.

“So far, from Yaba Mortuary, we have been able to identify 40 South Africans and their bodies have been appropriately labeled having been identified and moved into refrigerated trucks.

“My other colleague who led the other team of South Africans to Isolo mortuary, where they have also loaded 26 identified South Africans,” he said.

As at the time this report was filed, the examiner said that if within one or two hours more, the laboratory issued all results, there was possibility some more victims might be added.

“Otherwise, for now we have a total of 66 South Africans identified to be moved to South Africa later tonight,” he said.

The six-storey building belonging to SCOAN still under construction collapsed in Ikotun, Lagos killing over 100 people.

Fayose clocks 54, promises better, greater Ekiti Adesina Wahab, Ado-Ekiti

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kiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, on yesterday pledged to re-dedicate himself to the service of the people of the state, saying God has given him a rare opportunity to lead his people for the second time.

Speaking at a private ceremony to mark his 54th birthday in Ado-Ekiti, the governor also prayed that God would give him the needed wisdom, patience, strength and courage to lead the state to the Promised Land.

According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, the governor also solicited the support of all and sundry for him to realise the dream of a better and greater Ekiti during his tenure.

“I am very grateful to God for the opportunity given me to lead Ekiti State for the second time. It is a rare chance. I am using this opportunity to let the people of Ekiti know that I am ready to even dedicate myself more to the service of my people.

“Though the challenges we met when we came on board few weeks ago are enormous. The financial state of Ekiti is parlous.

However, we are not going to relent in the pursue of excellence and welfare of our people.

“I am calling on the people of Ekiti State to give maximum support to the administration. The terrain is not strange to us. God who saw us through during our first tenure is going to be our support again.

“I want to let the people of the state know that the challenges we face now are not insurmountable. By God’s grace, I promise to leave Ekiti State better than I met it. The expectations of the people will be met.

“I only want to appeal to the opposition to note and know that we have no other state apart from Ekiti and we should not pull down one another in the bid to occupy political office,” he said.

Fayose again used the occasion to appreciate his wife, Feyisetan, who he said was divinely created by God for him.

Quoting from the book of Proverbs, Fayose said he who finds a wife, finds favour from God, explained further that he was able to overcome the problems of the last eight years because he was blessed with a good wife.

He prayed that God should bless his wife abundantly. Fayose also acknowledged the support given to him by his children, the siblings, friends and others, praying that God would continue to uphold them all.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

OPINION Maduekwe’s senile recantation

Tony Obadasha

erontologists strongly believe that the two greatest challenges of senility are forgetfulness (amnesia) and descent to geriatric behavioural manifestations. This explains the emotive outburst of Ojo Maduekwe over a mutual discussion at the London Heathrow Airport between him, as Foreign Affairs Minister, and the former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu. I empathise with Maduekwe who is in his late 70s over his inevitable inability to recollect exactly verbal exchanges made just a few years back. The conversation focused on Kalu’s calamitous choice of his successor, Theodore Ahamefula Orji, despite multifarious oppositional forces, including this same Maduekwe at the time. Kalu’s inexplicable insistence on his ultimate nemesis and his manipulatively ingenious inauguration of T. A. Orji in Lagos instead of Umuahia - to shield him from the rampaging EFCC - remain subjects of future sociological investigations.

On October 31, 2014, Maduekwe took a half-page advertorial in THISDAY, obviously paid for by the Abia State Government, on grounds of the advertiser’s legendary inability to keep the wolf from the door, to shamelessly deny the discussions he held some time ago with Kalu.

Such nonsensical rebuttals are not strange in Nigeria’s murky politics, with a disposition for stomach infrastructure. It is easy for Maduekwe to recant because, obviously, there is no documentation or tape recording of the discussion between him and Kalu. So, in the circumstance and in the current Project Dismantle Kalu by Umuahia, anything will suffice to cut him to size. And with willing and ever-ready horses of bankruptcy and bellicosity, such tasks become as easy as the reality of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term unstoppable victory.

If I may ask, had Kalu wanted to lie, the only possible name to invoke would be Ojo Maduekwe? Come on, let’s wear our thinking caps. The last name Kalu would employ, assuming there was need for such immaturity and impropriety, would be that of Ojo Maduekwe essentially because of Maduekwe’s instability - a weakness that is captured in the next paragraph. Kalu could not have been under any compulsion to drop names as there was absolutely no need for that. He is merely giving a rendition of his selfless service to the people of Abia State for eight years. The good thing to note here is that most of the accounts of his stewardship, unknown to his detractors, were fully documented and archived.

Anyone who reads them will acknowledge the painstaking depth of issues highlighted.

Is it not amazing that a man like Maduekwe who staunchly and vehemently supported the crusade for the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s perpetuity in office is now a champion in the Peoples Democratic Party and one of the socalled PDP stalwarts in Abia State? In sane societies where one’s antecedents count in national matters, a person like Maduekwe who participated in the Abuja rally for Abacha would have been consigned to old people’s home, especially when it is realised that all his life he had depended on various governments for sustenance and survival! Why on earth will a man with such a pedigree be pontificating where people with impeccable character choose the path of responsibility and respect for their old age instead of being sent on vicious errands by young men in power.

It will never be well with hunger that makes a man do just any dirty job for a governor in return for life-support peanuts. No matter the level of poverty, a man approaching the octogenarian age should comport himself and carry on with some measure of dignity.

With no government job again, Maduekwe is hapless and needs handouts from Gov. Orji.

Another misfortune of Maduekwe is that all his life, right from when he was living in Ikeja, Lagos, he has never paid house rent as other people had always picked up such bills!

His law background does not translate to any professional distinction as he had never won any landmark case unlike his contemporaries. Even his younger colleagues have earned SAN title while he is contented with being a loafer in the corridors of power most times.

Maduekwe remains the worst Foreign Minister Nigeria has ever had! And to worsen matters, after his fleeting stint in charge of our external relations, Maduekwe agreed to serve as an ambassador in a country as small as Ogun State because ‘man must chop’ in government circles at all costs, no matter the indignity associated with such absence of self-respect! If I were Maduekwe I should be so ashamed of myself that I will let sleeping dogs lie. Since in any survivalist environment oddities take place, do we, seriously speaking, need to blame this ‘government’s perpetual child’ who cannot live outside the coffers of official treasuries?

It is interesting to note that most of his mates who were called to the Bar with him have won landmark cases and contributed to the law corpus. Meanwhile, the local champion from Asaga, Ohafia in Abia State, is at best an off-and-on lawyer in government service

- whether military or civilian administration it does not matter as there are no scruples being loyal to the two extremities.

Gov. Orji must be given kudos for his rehabilitative latitude which has guaranteed daily living for the select ‘elders’ backing him and of course ‘The Patriots’ whose ad hoc mandate is to futilely diminish and deconstruct irrepressible Kalu. The only drawback is that money meant for the development of the most backward state in the world is diverted to reward loyalists who orchestrate phantom legacies of Gov. Orji. Do you blame them really in the wake of strangulating poverty? But there should be decorum with Maduekwetype of interjection.

With this kind of volte-face by Maduekwe, Kalu should acquire microchips or multifunctional electronic devices like special pens and wrist-watches so that when dealing with feeble characters like Maduekwe he would generate recorded information in case of denials in the future; on account of perfidy and cowardice by his detractors and their outgoing benefactor.

Maduekwe also ignorantly referred to Kalu’s ‘Leadership Series’ in Saturday Sun as ‘purported.’ I just hope this government pikin understands the meaning of that word.

If he is mischievously applying it wrongly to mean that the articles are not from Kalu’s fountain of knowledge, then there is need for a psychotic test for this Asaga fellow.

With Gov. Orji’s commendable (excuse the pun!) superfluous beneficence to ragamuffins, it would have been foolhardiness on Maduekwe’s part not to publicly disown Kalu since he has nothing to lose keeping mum while the trite advertorial in question with his name and signature would enhance his monthly stipend from Government House, Umuahia! To that extent, Maduekwe’s disavowals make great sense.

According to Maduekwe in the clownish advertorial, his greatest political achievement in life was “dismantling PPA and ensuring Gov. Orji’s return to the PDP.” As far as Maduekwe is concerned, he succeeded in routing Kalu’s political dynasty with that usual, common defection accomplishment. A little

It is interesting to note that most of his mates who were called to the Bar with him have won landmark cases

mind will always be. “There were certain assurances I personally gave Chief T. A. Orji about Orji Uzor Kalu to smoothen the former’s return to PDP which I need not disclose here.” If this bloke is not a cowardly gossip, let him be courageous and manly enough to reveal his machinations in expectation of patronage which is what is happening now.

As an aside, dear reader, you could see the malicious contempt for irredeemably rebellious (to paraphrase Maduekwe) Kalu who he disrespectfully addresses without any title even if “Mr.”, but his benefactor is consistently “Chief”!

Yet another extract from Maduekwe: “Suffice it to say, (sic) that we of old Abia PDP, (sic) owe Governor T. A. Orji a duty to continue to support him and his administration. It is a matter of honour and principle.” Maduekwe should be ashamed of himself for this wildcat brazenness. It is this brainless support that has left Abia in ruins while hungry elders like Maduekwe, the so-called patriots and other nondescript accessories to the rape of Abia that has left the state in unparalleled ruin and has earned it the worst state in the world.

How on earth can Ojo Maduekwe, a notorious Abacha apologist who took part in the one-million-man national tragedy of incomparable magnitude in the FCT, be thoughtlessly ascribing “honour and principle” to himself? Do we still have psychoanalysts in this country? This Gov. Orji’s accomplice in the ruination of Abia needs to have his brain and psychological state examined.

And now the last excerpt from the puerile and invidious advertorial: “His (Kalu) recent tirade against me, which I know will not be his last, does not require the dignity of a response.” How can it be the last after wilfully touching the tiger’s tail? If you do not have a skeleton in your cupboard, you will not be afraid of reactions. Only the guilty are always afraid! Let me assure this Abacha man that there would be more reactions not from Kalu, perhaps, but other Nigerians and Britons who know you more than yourself!

Red Skelton’s memorable passage is good for Maduekwe as he takes his rantings to 80: “I don’t let old age bother me. There are three signs of old age. Loss of memory - I forget the other two!” This rationalises Maduekwe’s senility and selfish jettisoning of Kalu who cannot butter his bread (and possibly had never!) unlike his successor, most especially now! Who do you believe his word: Kalu or Maduekwe? You already know my unassailable position.

•Prof. Obadasha teaches at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State

2014 World Quality Day and Nigerian economy (I) Mazi Colman Obasi

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very year, the World set aside November 13, to celebrate - Quality. The purpose of the World Quality Day is to promote awareness of quality around the world and encourage development and prosperity of persons, organizations and nations. This year event is holding on Thursday, November 13, 2014 with the theme: BUILDING A QUALITY WORLD TOGETHER. What has world quality day got to do with Nigeria, its citizens and economy?

Quality is important to our everyday life – from ensuring that the baby in the womb is delivered safely and in good health. That the food we eat would not make us ill. The doctors in our hospitals are well trained, and the medicines we take are safe, the education our children receive if substandard affects our ability as a nation for global competition, to making sure that products and services

imported into our country is well designed and produced and that they meet international standards. When quality works, we take it for granted. It is only when it fails, that we truly realise its value. In other clime quality is a way of life. In advertising sector, for instance, it is said that the best way to kill a bad product is to advertise it. But in Nigeria the reverse is the case!

To deliver quality products and services in any society, the government must be involved in collaboration with the private sector. Every organization and business

There is really nowhere for businesses to hide these days. Quality failure is no longer acceptable

must understand that international quality standards are the foundation for long term strategy for survival and sustainability in this competitive world. Quality creates and maintains value for nations, industries (suppliers) and customers. Quality competency certification is required worldwide to examine individual knowledge, skills, personal attributes and qualifications specific to the scheme and or scope of certification.

That is why Asians and their products are everywhere in the world, highly skilled personnel earning good money that are repatriated home for the development of their countries. ISO describe China as the “world workshop” not because of cheap labour, but because Chines produces quality products and services that fits its purpose.

In its broadest sense, quality is defined as degree of excellence: the extent to which something is fit for its purpose. Quality is defined by the customer and different cus-

tomers may have different requirements from a product or service. As a professional discipline, and body of knowledge, service or product and occupation, quality involves working to make an organization, a product or a service increasingly fit for the customer’s satisfaction, the print and electronic media inclusive. It is contents quality and delivery that attracts newspaper readers, radio listeners and TV viewers and ipso-facto advertisements.

Neglecting quality has damage the brand’s reputation of our country and our economy.

Quality management impacts everyone in the society, education and workplaces, the family and the entire economy. Quality profession is the most important and critical occupation than any other professional callings in the world. The success and failure of any other occupation is depended how you apply quality knowledge and skills into it, and not your educational qualifications.

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2014

11

Opinion

Abimbola Adelakun’s poverty of logic Ndifreke Ufot

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overnor Godswill Obot Akpabio certainly lives by the philosophy in Sir Winston S. Churchill, the late British statesman’s and wartime Prime Minister’s quip: “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” I believe that’s why he remains focused and undistracted by the few vocal pessimists who are hell-bent on running him down.

It was that Churchill’s profound statement that came to my mind as I read through the warped logic of Abimbola Adelakun in her piece, ‘Governor money-miss-road’, on the back-page of The Punch of Thursday, November 13, 2014. The article made me believe that, yes, there is an orchestrated pattern of conspiracy against the person of Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, all designed to denigrate and vilify the unsurpassed performer and beloved governor of my state. That article, I must say, came as a logical follow-up to an earlier editorial in the same Punch newspaper the previous day with the ignorant headline, ‘Probing deadly Stadium Stampede in Uyo.’ I say ignorant because there was not a single casualty from the so-called stampede where I was physically present yet they went ahead to concoct one. Or how else can one explain the quick-march sequence in which Punch steered its smear campaign against my beloved governor in less than 24 hours.

A few hatchet writers have been recruited and initiated to do the dirty bidding of their pay masters. The contract is simple: do everything possible to rubbish Akpabio’s unrivaled achievements, in the hope of tarnishing the impeccable image of the governor and diminishing the popularity of his party, the PDP in the state. Regrettably, The Punch has lent its faculties to oil and execute this plot with the Adelakuns of this world as intellectual thugs and undertakers primed to attack a good man Chief Akpabio, and every of his good deeds.

These mischief makers are perpetually on the prowl, so eager to heckle, harass and run down Governor Akpabio. How come such people are consumed by so much hatred they conveniently turn a blind eye to the countless remarkable achievements of Godswill Akpabio? How can these people so conveniently pretend to be deaf to all the applause, the standing ovations and endorsements that greet this enigmatic leader’s every move, every great accomplishment? How come these pliant instruments of hate and agents of mendacity never see anything good in even the best among us?

In a nation of mediocrity and self-doubt, a star arose from the rainforest of Annang land and in less than a decade and in the most uncommon way transformed a hitherto demure Akwa Ibom State to the next great destination in Africa and one lowlevel columnist sits down somewhere to dismiss it as nothing?

Let me put it this way: it’s outrageous logic for Abimbola Adelakun to dismiss the imperishable legacies of Akpabio as merely the works of ‘Governor money-miss-road.’

To reflect on Adelakun’s revisionist views on Akpabio’s projects, let me quote the imperishable line from Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet:”What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” Call him whatever name, the truth is that of 100AbimbolaAdelakun cannot by name calling diminish the stature, fame and excellence that are associated with Governor Akpabio the world over

(A Review of the Back Page Column of Punch Newspaper of Thursday, November 13, 2014 titled “Governor Money Miss Road”

“For Adelakun, the commendation of the Akwa Ibom populace, the State House of Assembly, countless statesmen and institutions about the judicious use/application of resources in transforming the once backwater state to a model state in the country doesn’t count” We know Adelakun’s type. Nothing is good except it is done by them or in their part of the country. Is she saying three African leaders--President Goodluck Jonathan, President John Mahama of Ghana and Alassane Quattara of Cote d’Ivorie--were all naïve in considering the commissioning of Akwa Ibom International Stadium, the Nest of Champions, worthy of their precious time and presence? She tags the Stadium a “white elephant” project and a “misplaced priority.” Really? How on earth is a modern stadium in a premiership league and championship football playing country white elephant?

She wonders what economic value the stadium would bring to the state. In one breath she correctly cites Governor Akpabio’s allusion to “...the earnings of sporting stars like boxer Floyd Mayweather, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and tennis star Serena Williams,” but sarcastically queries his audacious hint “that Nigeria deserves some share of the money(circulating in sports).”

Besides her incorrect assertion that, the Lagos and Abuja stadia are lying waste, in spite of the fact that, tens of thousands of fans and sports lovers troop to those stadia anytime one sport activity or the other is hosted there. If the stadia in Lagos and Abuja are idle, are the ones in Ibadan, Enugu, Calabar, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and others also idle? No; because there are sporting activities in those ones almost every other day. She should go study the politics of sports and know why the Lagos stadia are idle. Is she aware that AkwaIbom has an active football team playing in the Nigerian premier league? I find it curious that the hack writer is unable to fathom the limitless opportunities for socio-economic development the presence of the stadium would provide for Akwa Ibom people in particular and Nigeria at large.

Adelakun needs to be informed that all the hotels and guest houses in Uyo and several adjoining satellite towns were fully booked by guests. She needs to know that the flurry of ancillary and complementary businesses, commerce, trade and other money-making initiatives that were ignited by that historic outing injected tens of millions of Naira into the state’s economy.

Nobody needs rocket science to know that such periodic inflow into the state’s economy is a massive growth stimulator. Again, her argument that the Tropicana Entertain-

ment Centre is not viable for Akwa Ibom shows her ignorance and bias. If she must know, over 3,000 people throng the Tropicana daily to see movies and enjoy other recreational facilities there. That number will triple once the shopping malls and other structures come into full use.

That accommodation and other hospitality facilities were overstretched because of mere stadium inauguration was an eye opener to what to expect in future, when AkwaIbom begins to host tournaments.

Adelakun must learn that we are planning ahead. In addition to the Tropicana, another four-star hotel is currently nearing completion at IkotEkpene. These are all designed to make our state ever ready to absorb the traffic of tourists, holiday-makers, businessmen/women on seminar/workshop trips down here. In the last six years, our state has emerged as the destination for every major conference and seminar by big-time organizations. This will only increase, to the chagrin of the opposition and arm-chair critics. Therefore, comparing the Tropicana to the Tinapa in Calabar is flawed as both projects are conceptually different. Even the subsidy on entertainment provided by the state government is still in tandem with the administration’s determination to make life generally easy for the people.

Adelakun must understand how the global village works, and the direction to which it is headed is obviously beyond the comprehension of an armchair columnist.

Her attempt to pooh-pooh the envisioned Snow Village by Governor Akpabio is shortsighted. From the inception of his administration, Akpabio has always said his mission is to transform Akwa Ibom from a pedestrian state to a choice tourist destination and a new business hub. Dubai, which receives over 30 million visitors annually, was built on the power of incredible imaginations and dreams, which transformed a desolate desert patch-land to the world’s biggest tourist resort.

However, Adelakun has nothing to fear.

Akwa Ibom has not entered into any contract for the development of a Snow Valley. Our governor was merely thinking aloud and giving us a clue into the Akwa Ibom of his fecund imagination and futuristic dreams.

One gets more ‘amused’ by Adelakun confusion and self-contradiction. Trying hard to validate her illogical branding Akpabio a spendthrift, she wrote: “The trouble with the likes of Akpabio, really, is that they are afflicted with the Udoji syndrome – so much money, practically non-existent development ideas.” My question is: what exactly is development toAdelakun, if the stadium of the class of “Nest of Champions” isn’t one? Is the construction of over 1, 900 kilometres of road and 38 bridges linking the entire state to the capital not development? Is the construction of an international airport, which has become the 4th busiest in the country not development? If the construction of a referral hospital where open heart surgeries will be performed is not development, what will Adelakun call the facility at Ibaka Deep Seaport that has started attracting world class companies such as the largest gas processing plant at Uquo in Esit Eket; the concentric flyovers that dot our state capital and the underground pipe-jacking

technology aimed at controlling erosion and the first of its type in Africa?

It is a pity that Adelakun who claims to know Akwa Ibom state very well is shamefully unaware of the free and compulsory education for all residents and citizens of Akwa Ibom state (Primary to senior secondary school), first of its kind e-Library to complement and boost the humungous investment in education, free medicare for pregnant women, nursing mothers, children and the aged. That is also about subsidizing costs for the people, which the hired writer has issues with. She is perhaps unaware that the administration has executed and delivered over 5,000 projects including classroom blocks, 95 per cent rural electrification coverage of the State, cottage hospitals, water projects etc, spread across all 329 wards in the 31 council areas in the last seven years.

For Adelakun, the commendation of the Akwa Ibom populace, the State House of Assembly, countless statesmen and institutions about the judicious use/application of resources in transforming the once backwater state to a model state in the country doesn’t count. To her, these assessments are stupid and misplaced. If all these visible achievements highlighted herein, which are but a tip of the iceberg, amount to nothing, I have a poser for her. Which is her state of origin? From her name she is obviously from the South-West. I would challenge this cynical writer to tell us what development strides have been recorded in her home state and compare same with those of Akwa Ibom within the same period under assessment. I can even grant her the bonus of adding many years before the Akpabio era and let’s see all it adds up to. The fact is,AbimbolaAdelakun is your typical armchair critic whose sadism with the pen is evident. She, like those enemies of Akwa Ibom state, who are jealous of our unprecedented leaps, has vowed to neither see anything good nor celebrate the success story of my great state with us.

It is shocking that critics like Adelakun in our nation, which so desperately yearns for development, now resort to throwing stones and antagonizing a man (Akpabio) whose uncommon passion for speedy development has seen him embark on equally uncommon projects and set the pace for the others to follow. I want to announce to Adelakun and her pay masters that, she is taking an overdose of panadol for a non-existent headache. She has no business shedding her tears on behalf of Akwa Ibom people. After all, we are not complaining, but appreciative of Chief Akpabio’s uncommon transformation.

We, the overwhelming majority of Akwa Ibom people are very pleased and proud of the exploits of our governor. She earns my open invitation to visit Akwa Ibom State and find out for herself from the masses and good people of the state, how satisfied and happy we are to give thumbs up to this rare leader who is a gift to our state. We, the people of Akwa Ibom State whole-heartedly embrace the progressive and revolutionary leap that our leader has brought to us.

It took the courage of leaders like Lee Kuan Yew and Kemal Atarturk of Singapore and Turkey respectively to take uncommon steps, which were criticized at the inception. They met stiff opposition from detractors who thought they were mad. But they were great men who saw well beyond their age and today, history celebrates them just as we celebrate Governor Akpabio.

Ndifreke Ufot is a public affairs analyst and writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

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SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Moment

L-R: National Vice Chairman (North-East), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Alhaji Abubakar Adamu; National Vice Chairman, (South-West), Alhaji Tayo Sowunmi; National Legal Adviser, Mr. Ifeanyi Mbaeri and Anambra State Central Senatorial aspirant, Chief Victor Umeh, at a screening in Awka… on Friday

L –R: Minister of Land and Housing, Mrs. Okon Etim Eyenkayi ; Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga , Chairman, Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu and Chairman, Innocent Motors Company, Mr. Innocent Chukuma, at the inaugural meeting of the Presidential Job Board, in Abuja …on Friday. PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

L-R: Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa; President/Chairman of Council, Nigeran-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Prince Adeyemi Adefulu; British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock; and former Head of the Interim National Government, Dr. Ernest Shonekan, at the NBCC/UKTI Centenary celebration in Lagos…recently. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

L-R: Superintendent Evangelist Michael Ayeni; Superintendent Evangelist Lucky Omereye; Superintendent Evangelist Fela Olujimi; Rev. V.A. Lawal; Most Superintendent J.A. Zangonde; Most Superintendent Jeff Oyetunji and Superintendent Evangelist J.A. Adetunji, at the Adult Harvest Thanksgiving service of Celestial Church of Christ, Mushin, Lagos…recently

L-R: Senior Vice President, Heavy Industries, Africa France Cooperation, Dr. Ini Urua; Country Director, African Development Bank Group, Mr. Ousmane Dore; Chief Executive Officer, Preston Consult, Dr. Tochukwu Nwachikwu and Minister of National Planning Commission, Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, at the Public Policy Conference on Developing Africa Through Innovative Infrastructure Financing, in Abuja… on Friday. PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

L-R: Strategic Partner, Addidas, Mr, Kunle Oyegade; Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr. Wahid Enitan Oshodi and Permanent Secretary , Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr. Suiedo Oluseyi, at the 2014 Nigerian Sports Award in Lagos…on Thursday.

L-R: Divisional Head, Transaction Banking, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, Mrs. Rolayo Akhigbe; Head, Research and Insight FCMB, Mrs. Yemisi Faleye and Deputy Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Egboma Oni, at the Customers Forum on International Trade Business organised

by FCMB in Aba, Abia State

L-R: Pastor Muyiwa Phillips; Mother Celestial Toyin Amajie and Special Guest, Mr. Bolaji Ogunade, at the Adult Harvest Thanksgiving service of Celestial Church of Christ, Mushin, Lagos…recently

13

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

News

Why I joined Goodluck campaign -Yobo Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

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ormer captain of the Super Eagles, Joseph Yobo said his decision to join in the campaign for the reelection of President Goodluck in 2015 was because of the visible achievements recorded by the Federal Government in the past three and half years.

Yobo, who briefed journalists in Abuja yesterday, noted that there are so many achievements of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led government that many Nigerian, especially the youth were not aware of.

The football legend who was named Brand Ambassador for the PDP Ward 2 Ward Initiative, a political interest group said he has accepted the task to carry the transformation agenda of the Federal Government to the grassroots.

He however, denied that he has abandoned his professional career for the campaign but said he is committed to sustainable democracy and peaceful co-existence of Nigerians.

Yobe observed that the youth and community empowerment programmes created by the group was aimed at eradicating poverty and empowering Nigerian youths to be self employed.

Trinity House honours Monroe

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t was a time of sober reflection, hymns and songs of praise as Trinity House, Lagos held a Night of Tributes dedicated to Dr. Myles Monroe and his wife, Ruth who died in a plane crash on Sunday November 9th, 2014 in the Bahamas on their way to a crusade.

According to the Senior Pastor of the Church, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, this was one of the ways the seaside Church honoured a great friend of over 20 years who was scheduled to be at the church in Lagos in December this year.

The Night of Tribute also featured some Bible readings by members of Trinity House and video clips of the last interview held by the life coach and pastor of the Bahamas Faith Ministries International in Kenya.

Ighodalo in his tribute noted that “we lost one of the most dynamic men in the world, a man who influenced so many people by his sermons, books and lifestyle”, and prayed that the Lord would strengthen his children, the church and those that he influenced.

‘Alao-Akala never called for Oyo PDP exco dissolution’ Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

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gainst the backdrop of reports that former Oyo State governor Adebayo Alao-Akala called for dissolution of the executive of the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a group, ‘Team Akala’ has said that the report was a fallacy.

The group, according to a statement signed by its Co-

ordinator, Prince Niran Adeyoju and made available to Sunday New Telegraph yesterday, the allegation was an attempt by desperate politicians to misinform the public with the aim of scuttling his second term gubernatorial aspiration.

A Federal High Court in Abuja according to some national dailies was reported to have halted an attempt to dissolve the state executive of the party elected on March 17, 2012.

The court had granted the relief of Mr. Solomon Ogunjimi, the Vice-Chairman of the party, who sought to halt such action by the court.

He said: ”There was no time our principal clamoured for such dissolution, but rather appealed for the harmonization of the executive of the party executives.

“The appeal was made to integrate the parallel executive members into the main fold of the party in the inter-

est of the party”, the release said.

It added that the decision was jointly taken by some of the leaders in the state including Oloye Jumoke Akinjide, the Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory to foster unity in the party.

“Alao- Akala cannot be blackmailed. He remains a strong pillar in the party.

If Alao-Akala had been against the executive, he would have approached

the court but as a leader, he appreciates the Taiwo- led administration. He had also been supporting the progress of the party and picked the party expression of interest,’’ the release said.

The group nevertheless noted that it was disheartening that some people who had worked against the party in the past by jettisoning party discipline and loyalty could want to reap from where they did not sow.

14

News

D

elta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has charged governorship aspirants in the state to desist from divisive actions that are capable of causing a breach of the peace in the state and urged them to be faithful citizens.

He gave the warning in Asaba, at the swearing-in ceremony of the elected Chairmen of Ndokwa East and Ethiope East Local Government Areas, Mrs. Nkechi Chukwurah and Mrs. Faith Majemite respectively.

Uduaghan, who frowned at the attitude of some of the aspirants, stated that he was not afraid of any

SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Uduaghan warns guber aspirants against gang-up gang-up against him but, insisted that in the interest of the state, they should speak the truth.

“Those who are aspiring to be governor should stop creating trouble. I have tried to be fair to all in our journey towards 2015. Two weeks ago, during the Ward

Congresses, I had meetings with the governorship aspirants, every aspirant and every leader contributed to the emergence of the delegates through a consensus list, which they signed and they all applauded the free and fair nature of the congress that brought up the

delegates list.

“This, the panel took to Abuja and some aspirants while collecting or submitting their forms even went on television to commend the process. So, where is this opposition coming from? Tell your friends who are aspirants to take it

easy, Delta State belongs to all of us; they should stop creating problems and they should retrace their steps so that they can land safely and get to their destinations.”

Uduaghan, who congratulated the chairmen that were sworn-in for winning in the councils elections, observed that they were successful because, they did not create the problem that prolonged their electoral process.

He said: “Your elections have proven that women

can be elected into office, women should be elected and they should put themselves forward to be elected.

Today, we have four elected chairmen of councils and so many vice-chairmen who are women.”

Responding on behalf of the newly sworn in chairmen, Majemite thanked Uduaghan and members of the Peoples Democratic Party, for making it possible for them to be elected and assured that they will not let the people down.

Atiku lauds infrastructural development in Ogun

F L-R: Chairman, Governing Board, National Teachers Institute, Alhaji Ali Sa’ad Birnin Kudu; Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris; Kaduna State Governor, Mukhtar Yero and Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, at the third Convocation of National Teachers Institute, Kaduna …yesterday

Youths burn district head’s office over Imam’s suspension Ibrahim Abdul Yola

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undreds of youths protesting the removal the Chief Imam of the Jimeta Juma’at Mosque, in Yola, Adamawa State, Mallam Sufiyanu Adamu, over the weekend, burnt down the office of the District Head of Jimeta, Alhaji Ibrahim Inuwa BabaParis.

The angry youths insisted that they would not accept the removal of Adamu by the district head simply because the former criticised the handling of the prevailing security situation by government.

Adamu, who last week in his sermon was said to have criticised government for its handling of the insecurity in the country, with particularly reference to the destructive activities of Boko Haram insurgents, during a special prayer session for peace, drew the ire of the Baba-Paris who decided to suspend him.

Trouble started when

worshippers who trooped to the mosque this Friday learnt that the Imam could not show up because he had been suspended by the district head.

Some youths who were among the Islamic faithful got agitated at headed towards the District Head’s office, setting it ablaze and were about heading for his private residence when they were prevented by security agents and some opinion

leaders who pleaded with them.

“We will no longer condone injustice by leaders who think we must not express ourselves in the face of injustice. Why should the district head feel offended because the Imam spoke the mind of the majority as far as this insecurity of this state is concern,” one of the protesters, Bello Sufi, said.

Efforts to get the district head’s reaction to the devel-

opment did not yield results as he was said to have been rushed by security agents to an unknown destination for safety.

When contacted, the Adamawa State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Othman Abubakar, confirmed the incident, but said he was yet to get details of what actually happened. Abubakar however said that the situation was now under control.

Akpabio appoints new SSG

Tony Anichebe Uyo

G

overnor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, has announced the appointment of Mr. Nkereuwem Ekanem, the immediate past Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works, as the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government.

He replaces Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, who resigned his appointment last month to contest for the

governorship position on the platform of PDP in the state.

Nkereuwem, who is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and a holder of Master of Science degree in Engineering from United Kingdom, hails from Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of the state.

Akpabio, who announced this at appointment Saturday at the St. John Chaplaincy at Government House, Uyo during the Government House Prayer meeting,

said the new SSG would be sworn-in this week.

He said there had been a series of promotions in the state as reflection of presence of God in all affairs, including the successful commissioning of life-touching projects.

He described the inauguration of Akwa Ibom State International Stadium, Uyo as a spectacular sight, adding that God was at work at the ceremony which was attended by three Presidents of West African states.

ormer Vice President and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said that the physical infrastructural development in Ogun State is phenomenal.

He noted that the Ogun State has drastically changed from what it used to be years back when he began his civil service career in the there.

Abubakar, who was speaking in Abeokuta when he called on the Governor Ibikunle Amosun in his Oke-Mosan office, expressed optimism that the unprecedented transformation in the state is typical of all the APCcontrolled states, which he stated, suggests that the party is made up of visionary and proven leaders with integrity, who keep to their promises.

“If you go to all the APC

states, you will see the physical development going on there. The APC leaders do whatever they promise the people, unlike the Peoples Democratic Party governments, which are known for their propaganda. They say things they would not do.”

Amosun, while receiving Abubakar, noted that serving the people conscientiously is his ideology and apparently a quality that is typical of APC leaders.

The governor promised to continue to serve the people more to justify the mandate given him.

Abubakar was in company of the Director General, Atiku Campaign Organization, Professor Babalola Borishade, Senator Mohammed Ohiare, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe, Professor Maxwell Gidado and some other prominent politicians.

Group seeks greater US action against insurgents Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

A

n umbrella body of Nigerian Christians in the United States of America has pleaded for greater intervention by the US government in checkmating activities of Boko Haram in the country.

A statement by the group said while the current faceoff between Nigeria and the USA over the latter’s refusal to go beyond certain limits in assisting Nigeria in dealing with the spate of insurgency may be defensible, the reality of the spate of destruction being carried out by the group requires more serious attention from the international community.

The statement signed

by Pastor Laolu Akande, reads: “We have followed the exchange between the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye and the US State Department on the issue of whether or not the US have rendered its utmost help to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.

The statement acknowledged that the US government had been one of the leading supporters of Nigeria on the war on terror by designating Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, (FTO), but insisted that the American government should go beyond that to take serious actions against the insurgents as it is doing in other countries.

15

Fashion

Rock your Polkas 22-43

Bed, Work & Life

Moment of decision 20

Body Soul SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Tuface Idibia

I’m a TV addict

16

SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

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Contents 16.11.2014 COVER

People always laugh at me because I’m very slim and I say that I love food. I work out a lot and I eat in moderation and I just like good food

-Michael D. Williams

} 18-19

BEAUTY

Most women get their toenails done for cosmetic reasons, but there are numerous health benefits associated with pedicures

} 21

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FASHION

Polkas are definitely versatile as they easily adapt to any look you want to pull off. They are great as casuals and on the red carpet in a fab manner

The difference b e t w e e n wearing your shirt tucked-in and wearing it un-tucked is quite striking

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Vanessa Okwara (Correspondent) Wole Adepoju

} 22&43

Biwom Iklaki (Correspondent) Ugochukwu Nnakwe (Graphics)

MY PASSION I like good things no doubt but I am not crazy over jewels and all other fashion stuff. I am not a fashion fanatic

Edwin Usoboh (Graphics) +234 (0) 811 675 9770, +234 (0) 701 110 1014 julietbumah@gmail.com julietbumah@newtelegraphonline.com

Associates

BED, WORK & LIFE A few minutes later, the doctor calls Dave into his office. He looks intently at him for a few minutes and thrusts some papers towards him.

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Body&Soul

I’m a TV addict -Tuface Idibia Singer, songwriter and record producer, Innocent Ujah Idibia better known by his stage name Tuface Idibia, is one of the most decorated and successful artistes in Africa. He has received one MTV Europe Music Award, one World Music Award, four Channel O Music Video awards and many other nominations. He spoke to VANESSA OKWARA on how he has stayed relevant in the Nigeria entertainment industry

Looking at your career, you’ve come a long way.

You have changed your name from Tuface to Tubaba. Why is that?

Well, I cannot turn away from Tuface. That one is inevitable. I just wanted to re-band my name to reflect my African background. Tuface was beginning to sound too western to my ears, so I wanted to come down to my African roots. It’s my way of going to another level and phase in my music career. Definitely, my sound is going to confirm it. The new sounds that are going to be coming out from me will definitely be African.

What do you say to the youths who admire and want to be like you?

I hope it is the good side of me they want to emulate. This is because there are some rugged sides of me that I will not encourage any young man to follow. They should just allow me to carry my own cross on that side.

On the serious side, I will encourage them to know that music is a challenging business. If it is possible, you can do it hand in hand if you don’t let things get into your head too much and avoid distraction. I wouldn’t advise anybody to stop school because of a music career.

You have stayed relevant in the industry. How have you managed to do this?

For me, it is all about the music. I am not afraid to experiment on some sounds. I like being bold enough to do things that are not the common sounds you hear every time.

You are already on top of your game. What other things do you have in stock for the future?

For me, I just want to live a very peaceful and content life. I am going to do music for a long time. But definitely I am still going do other businesses. Anything that I feel comfortable doing, I will go into it. I wouldn’t say I want to be rich as the likes of Dangote, but I want to be able to provide for my family.

What is your take on your colleagues who have taken to politics?

They are authentic Nigerians and they have a right to contest and to serve their country in any capacity.

You recently signed up for no violence to vote.

Do you have a voter’s card?

The last time the exercise was held, I was not in Nigeria, but this time around, I will definitely get one.

Are you interested in coming out to contest in the nearest future?

For now, I’m not interested in vying for office. I

and can’t do without?

I like good things no doubt but I am not crazy over jewels and all other fashion stuff. I am not a fashion fanatic. If I am to choose between buying a diamond chain and a land, I will definitely go for the land.

With the money you make in your music career, how are you investing?

I will answer this question in an open-ended manner. Apart from music, I am into entertain-

am only interested in the process and for us to have a peaceful election. I am interested in encouraging young Nigerians to get involved. I am interested in telling those who have good intentions for this country to be courageous and stand up to their right to contest.

Your all-time hit was African Queen. Are we going to see another great hit like that coming

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What happens with this kind of music is that, it is you the artiste that used your hand to set yourself up. Every song I do, people will always compare it with African Queen. That is always the problem when you have a multi-hit song. People are even expecting that perhaps in your next song, you will even have angels singing along with you.

So the standard is already nd c

hain

and after that translate it into sound. With time, I create the beats and song together and then go to the studio to program the beats.

If you were not doing music, what other career would you have chosen?

I would have been a goal keeper. I love football but I am not a fanatic. It took me so long before I choose a club but now I am a Chelsea fan.

What is your passion?

My passion has always been music. There is nothing in this life that I am really crazy about except music.

What would you say marriage has done for you?

I’ll say it has made me to calm down a little. Some kin waka wey I do before, I no fit do am again. It has also helped to balance my life and make me to be more focused.

As are a married man, how do you handle female fans and their attractions?

I just greet them from a distance. I’m on ‘Hello’ basis with them. For the persistent ones, I will gently tell them that whatever they are looking for

high and you are left to break your own record.

Describe your style?

My fashion style is simple. I am not really a fashionista, so I just like to keep my look just plain and simple. I like the black colour a lot.

You will see me in a lot of black outfits most of the time.

What are the fashion items you like so much

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ment business such as 960 Music Group, Hypertek Digital and Entertainment Company. I am into a little bit of real estate.

I am also into the hospitality business such clubs and hotels. The one that takes a lot of my time is the Hypertek side of the business.

How do you get your muse?

My inspiration comes from things that happen around me, life in general.

Sometimes, I just wake up and a song will be ringing in my head. Sometimes, I just write it as a poem

from me will not be possible.

How do you relax?

I used to read books a lot. I love reading John Grisham books and encyclopedias, but lately, I have taken a love to movies, Television, Discovery Channel, Crime and investigation. I am simply a TV addict. I get inspiration from watching them.

What’s your greatest heart desire?

I would be very happy if they could just show me or assure me that my name is in the book of life.

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SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

I’m passionate about food and Managing Director, Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Michael D. Williams, is a Jamaican-born Briton with vast experience in marketing, branding, advertising and hospitality. He talks about tourism in Cross River State and the Calabar Carnival with BIWOM IKLAKI How did you become Managing Director of Cross River Tourism Bureau?

I was invited here in 2007 and I saw the potential for tourism in Cross River State, the beauty of the destination in its very raw state and what could be done to develop it to what people would travel from anywhere for. My authority comes from the fact that I am from somewhere else. I am not selling Nigeria because I am a Nigerian, but because I came and saw the beauty, the order and I thought as a consultant, I could do more here than go where it is already developed and they had all the answers.

How do your background and place of birth influence your job?

I am from Jamaica, and tourism is the life blood of the Caribbean, and a strong feature of the economies there. So I knew instantly that it is very possible to develop an economy out of tourism in Nigeria simply because I had seen it done in another set of developing countries in the Caribbean where, in some cases, it is the money earner. Tourism to many Caribbean islands is the same as oil to Nigeria. In fact, it is the number one foreign exchange earner for Jamaica and a huge employer of labour.

Has this always been your dream career?

I got to tourism by way of having a marketing background. I used to have an advertising agency in London and I moved into consulting on tourism projects, starting with Jamaica. I was also a director of the London Nottinghill Carnival, and that was what led me to Cross River. I was invited as the director of that carnival to come and see this carnival here in Calabar.

What is it about Cross River State that makes you passionate about it?

I simply see what it could be. You see all of its fantastic beauty and so many things that are undeveloped and you think to yourself, if only we could develop and realise its potential. I share the governor’s vision; we don’t have oil, so how do you develop the economy in a sense that you take advantage of what you already have? We have the friendliness and the warmth of the people, a beautiful terrain, and it’s already the cleanest and greenest part of Nigeria. So what is left is just to create activities and attractions for people to come and visit. A couple of things make it challenging; one is that Nigeria is not the friendliest place for foreign visitors, it’s hard to get a visa and it’s a very costly exercise. Second, the image of the country is not visitorfriendly. We can’t issue our own visas or make it easy to come. Now with the Nigerian visitors, (the people we should concentrate on because they already live in Nigeria) is that the culture is not one of a people regularly taking holidays.

What are the things you are putting in place towards fixing the visa problem, as well as getting the people more aware of the destination?

There is not much we can do about the visa situation. What we can do is that at every opportunity we interact with our colleagues at the federal level, we bring up the conversation. We are always reassured that something is being done. But I don’t think much is being done. I realise that with all the concentration on tourism that Nigeria has, (Nigeria gets plenty of business visitors and people coming here for contracts or meetings and so on) more should be done. We often implore the President and minister in charge, whenever we can, to make it easy for people to come.

The infrastructure in Nigeria is not so encouraging

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Body&Soul

customer service –Michael D. Williams tourism-wise. How have you been able to manage this in Cross River State?

We are at the mercy of the federal structure. When we talk about infrastructure, three things stand out. Like the highway that goes from Calabar to Obudu, that’s a federal road which we do our best for.

But it’s a federal road and we don’t have the resources to keep it in the condition that it should be in; showing that there is a lot of neglect. Then of course, when you talk about things like the airport, even though they have upgraded it recently, none of the airports is up to international standard. Our dream is that people should fly straight into Calabar from wherever they are coming. We are in discussions with one carrier that’s thinking of basing itself in Calabar and flying around the region.

Investors basically make an area grow.

Is this the case in Cross River State and if it is, who are your biggest investors?

And what is the largest amount any given investor has brought to the state?

Our largest investor till date I believe is General Electric. It’s been all over the media that it’s a $1 billion investment.

They are thinking of building a sizable manufacturing facility here. Once they are firmly established, their people, customers and suppliers would be travelling in and out of Calabar. Already, one of our hotels is making an investment that would allow them receive some of those visitors.

How do the governor and the first lady feature and support Cross River State tourism?

Well, our governor and our first lady, like all of us senior people, we all sell Cross River at every opportunity we get.

He is the kind of governor that when people see how he conducts himself and how he governs, they are encouraged to come and visit Cross River simply because they’ve seen it as one the few states with order and continuity. For example, you talked about investment, having a governor who continued with the programmes and initiatives of his predecessor may seem normal, but in Nigeria it’s not very normal.

You have bagged many awards for tourism. Tell us about them.

We are grateful for the awards that we get for being a tourism state. At the same time, we are not misled by the awards because we know in a country where the standard of tourism is not high; we are the best of what is available in Nigeria.

How does the hype of tourism and all of the socio-economic advancements of tourism in Cross River State affect the common man on the street like, say Obudu?

Most of the visitors to Cross River come through Calabar, so it wouldn’t be especially in Obudu. It should be about how it affects the common man in Cross River. With more people staying in hotels, people eating in restaurants, taking taxis, right down to someone selling recharge cards and making more money in a week than they make in several months of the year. Similarly, when we have the Calabar festival and carnival, many people who sell in markets take shops in the festival village which lasts for the whole of December. Many were making in that month more than what they would account for in several months of the year.

Is Tinapa functioning at full capacity?

No it’s not functioning at full capacity.

What I can say is that the governor was determined to make Tinapa work so he tried a lot of different things. The latest we’ve come to understand is that it’s been sold to AMCON, the same company that owns Arik, Aero and some of the banks previously sold, if you remember.

So was it mentioned in the deal a bench mark or time frame of what can be archived in a certain period of time?

No. When I sell you a house and you say you are going to spend a lot of money fixing it up, I cannot dictate to you what to do with it. I haven’t seen the plan so I don’t know how long it will take.

So we are in November, we all know and look forward to the carnival in December. Do you think the insecurity in the country will affect the celebration?

Well, we are probably aware that there has been insecurity in Nigeria for some time, it’s not new. It doesn’t really have to affect us because we have always been security conscious. We are always looking out for the safety of everybody attending our events and we will continue to be vigilant.

How would you advise other states to step away and look inward to find something that can generate and contribute to their local economies?

Well, I would say a lot to those that have tourism potential, and I think a lot of them do have it. Some of those states that have the most potential unfortunately are troubled areas right now as you know, but there is a lot of potential in all those areas. I am sure that in the course of 10 years, we will actually have a Nigeria that is attractive to Nigerians themselves and to people outside Nigeria coming to visit. That’s what I’ll say: to see that the people at that level, governors can actually forge a meaningful partnership with the Federal Government to come up with a plan to develop tourist sites around the different states.

For some, it’s about agriculture. Agriculture has a huge gap in Nigeria called value-added products. I find it distressing that Nigeria produces cocoa, I can’t take Nigerian chocolate to my friends abroad. But when coming back to Nigeria, I would buy Swiss chocolate for my Nigerian friends and colleagues at the office, and we all know that Switzerland doesn’t produce cocoa, right? So we send the cocoa raw to other countries cheap, and they produce a very expensive product and sell it back to us. I don’t know if that makes sense to anybody.

Isn’t that what is happening with our oil too?

Yeah, it’s the same thing, the value added is the way you develop your economy. Nigerian palm oil should be pushed forward as it’s healthier than vegetable oil for example. If you look into any supermarket now you will see very nicely packaged vegetable oil, olive oil, canola oil, and there is no nicely packaged palm oil. If you want your palm oil, you go out to the market and buy it in a plastic bottle. Does that make sense to you?

What are you most passionate about?

Your hobbies?

One of the things I like doing is watching movies, so the governor gave me a dream project a couple of years ago to complete an abandoned cinema we had at the marina resort in Calabar. I took up the project, it was fantastic in a way, but I had a lot of challenges but we completed it, and now we have a full screen cinema

that is a sort of digital 3D. The facility in Calabar is right on the water and as far as I know it’s the only cinema in the world with the view of a river. Absolutely beautiful, so you can watch a movie, go upstairs to the café and also go to the balcony and look at the river. That is one of the things I like to do; watch movies.

Now I don’t have to go to Lagos to watch movies, I can watch them in Calabar.

Do you do up-to-date movies of both international and homegrown productions?

Well I do everything, and am pleased to tell you that the movies shown in Calabar are on the same day they are released in London and New York. We show Nollywood movies, Bollywood movies. The operator that we work with somehow makes sure that when they release the movie, it is the same release date all around the world. And by the way, one other thing I enjoy is eating, I love food. People always laugh at me because I’m very slim and I say that I love food. I work out a lot and I eat in moderation, it’s not like a lot of food, I just like good food. So I’m very passionate about where I go to eat out in Calabar.

I’m always calling the restaurant manager and giving them either a tip or a little advice to help improve what they are doing. I am also very passionate about customer service. Healthy living is also important to me, so most mornings, from 6:30am, I would be working out: running hills or working out in the gym and eating healthily. I am a vegetarian well…am not a vegetarian any more now I am in Nigeria so I have to eat fish and seafood but I don’t eat meat.

So what is style to you?

Style to me is all about being comfortable and being appropriately dressed for the occasion. So you know everybody would have their own sense of style but I think it’s important that you are dressed appropriately so that means, if it’s a black-tie occasion, you know what to wear, if it’s office you know what to wear.

But I’m sure you see it in Nigeria that people get it confused, of course, even the young men in my organisation. I quietly counsel them, on you know, wear-

ing socks if you are wearing a suit. Not to wear a strip tie with a strip shirt. The ladies I think are more style conscious and they do everything to look nice.

We cannot end this chat without mentioning the women in Calabar. Is it a myth that they are capable of stealing husbands?

Well, they are very beautiful, hospitable people who are nice and warm.

They were given (in the old days) some form of training in the ‘fattening room,’ some age-old secrets for care of the home, cooking, and their husbands. It is an integral part of their culture so I am sure it must have some sort of impact on their lives.

Are you married? Tell us how you met your wife and balance work and family?

She is a lawyer. We met in London when she came to my agency for marketing advice and was a friend of one of our employees. It is not easy because she lives in London so there is a lot of travelling back and forth.

Do they also come to visit you in Nigeria?

Not yet, but we meet halfway – literally. So, we see my sister who lives in Toronto, then we meet in Jamaica to relax and see other family members. It’s much closer for her. …and your kids?

We do not have any, so that makes it easier. Plus, I am used to having family scattered all over the place – London, Kingston, and Toronto.

20

SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

with

Juliet Bumah +234 81 1 675 9770

julietbumah@gmail.com

D

ave has been out of town for a week. He was in London for business. It was a successful trip.

All through his stay there and the journey home, he had thought of Kathryn.

He wants her. No matter what she has done in the past, he loves her.

His parents are vacationing in New York and will be back in a week’s time.

He has spoken to them about her and they are ecstatic.

It is a heartwarming news to them, especially his mother who has been praying so hard for her son to get a wife.

“So I’ll soon have a daughter in-law?

So I’ll soon hold my grandchild? So it’s going to happen in my lifetime? Thank you Lord! Thank you my son,” his mother had said over and over when they spoke on the phone.

She wants the ceremony to be done immediately.

“Christmas is around the corner. It’ll be better if we plan it around then,” she had said.

His father had congratulated him and asked of the lady’s parents.

“She’s an orphan,” Dave had told his father.

“Oh, so sad to hear that. But not to worry, tell her she’s got parents now.

Your mother will be there for her. She has no problem. We’ll do everything to make her enjoy our family,” Dave’s father had said.

They discussed some more about Kathryn’s people. His parents wanted to know everything. Dave told them all he wanted them to know.

That was 10 days ago, before he travelled.

He has spoken to Kathryn everyday.

The last two days, Kathryn had not been too lively when they spoke on the phone. He hopes it has nothing to do with that man that keeps calling her on the phone...Ben...yes Ben. Kathryn has assured him that Ben is ‘just a friend’. He hopes so. He glances at his timepiece. The plane should touch down in an hour’s time. He can’t wait to see Kathryn. They have to thrash the issue of that guy. Kathryn must stop seeing that guy. ***** Ben is distraught. Why is Kathryn taking so long to talk to him? Why is she not telling him everything? Why keep him in suspense?

He needs to tell his mom about her but first, he needs to have a heart to heart with Kathryn. They need to know where they stand in this relationship.

He picks his phone and dials her number.

“Kathryn, we need to see. You see, few men will love you the way I do. I love your maturity. Where most women would deride me, you gave me hope, you made me have confidence in myself. No woman had seen my shame and treated me with respect. You did. I realise that you are that one woman created for me, to make me happy,” he says.

“My dear Ben, I want you to understand that marriage is not what you get into hurriedly. So many things are involved. You need to be sure of your feelings. In the heat of passion, lust is mistaken for love. We are no kids, let’s mull over this so we don’t make a mistake,” she tells him.

“How long will it take you to decide?

As for me, I have done all the thinking I could on this matter and came to the conclusion that what I feel for you is

Moment of decision

true love,” he says.

“I will call you when I’m done thinking. Relax dear,” she says.

“When are you visiting? Or I should come over?” Ben asks.

“No, not yet. I need enough time to think about your proposal...let’s talk later,” she says.

She’s really feeling so sick. She needs to see the doctor. The last time she came down with malaria, she spent some days in the hospital. She hopes this won’t be that bad. She’ll see the doctor first thing in the morning.

She forces herself into the kitchen.

She is expecting Dave. He’s been away for a week and is returning today.

He likes unripe plantain porridge. She is preparing it for him.

She really has to choose between these two guys in her life. There’s no point wasting their time...and hers too. They are both so nice to her. Ben will make a good husband, her spirit tells her so... and he loves her. But does she want to spend the rest of her life with him? Having gone through different men during the course of her job, she has developed special liking for ‘huge men’, the size some women describe as abnormal. If she can’t have a nine-footer or more, she should settle for something close to

what she’s used to. Can she live and be satisfied with a peen that will only give her an ‘appetizer’ effect? What will she do after he has whetted her appetite?

Keep a nine-footer outside to clean up?

No! Once she’s married, she has closed shop.

If she has waited this long to settle down, then she should marry well.

She loves Dave but can they live together happily? One problem though, she needs to know his marital status.

He needs to tell her the truth because she is sure he is hiding something from her. When he comes later today, they will have to thrash that issue and put it to rest.

Her heart flutters. What if he is married? Can she play second fiddle? She shudders. After what her mom passed through, it would be suicidal for her to walk into a polygamous home with her eyes open.

Gawd! She feels so sick.

Immediately she’s done with the cooking, she lies on the divan and switched on the television. In no time, she drifts off to sleep. **** She wakes with a start. Her head aches. She feels so hot. She tries to get up but can’t. Her strength ebbs away.

She is alarmed. Then, she realises that her phone is ringing. She manages to pick it.

“Darling, talk to your security men.

I’m at your gate. Your intercom isn’t going through,” Dave tells her.

She manages to talk to the security men. Then, she pushes herself up, staggers to the door and turns the lock. Her strength fails her and she crumbles to the floor.

Few minutes later, the doorbell rings.

Kathryn hits the door weakly and hopes Dave will turn the doorknob. She can barely talk.

After thumbing the doorbell few more times, Dave tries the door and it opens.

As he pushes the door open, he beholds Kathryn lying on the floor.

“My wife, what’s the problem?

OMG!,” he exclaims as he feels her body temperature.

He helps her to the car and rushes her to the first hospital he came across within her estate.

Three hours later, she is stable.

“Thank you love,” she says weakly.

“My pleasure, my dear wife. Just get well quickly for me,” he says. He sits on the edge of the bed and watches as the intravenous fluid hung above her head drips slowly into her system.

After a while, the doctor, a wiry old man, comes in to check on her.

“She’ll be alright. She’s stable now. We gave her something to bring down her temperature. We are running a check on her though. The result will be out in a couple of minutes, then we’ll know the next line of treatment,” he says kindly.

“Thanks doctor,” Dave says.

“Your wife?” the doctor asks him.

“Yes,” Dave replies.

“She’s a fine woman. She’ll be alright,” the doctor says and walks out of the room moments later.

Kathryn is sleeping. Dave watches her.

He bends and brushes his lip on hers.

Funny. He had been tired after his journey and had wanted to just eat and rest in Kathryn’s place. He had taken his luggage home, showered and gone over to Kathryn’s because he had missed her so much and wanted to be with her. He smiles.

What if he didn’t get to her house on time? Really, he won’t allow her to stay in that house alone again. He doesn’t want to think what could have happened if he didn’t get there on time.

Kathryn turns, opens her eyes and smiles at him.

He leans forward and kisses her.

“I love you. Get well. I want to take you home,” he says.

She smiles again, too weak to talk. ***** A few minutes later, the doctor calls Dave into his office. He looks intently at him for a few minutes and thrusts some papers towards him.

“That’s the test result,” he says with a grim face.

Dave’s heart flutters... ******* What news could the doctor have for Dave and Kathryn? Let’s find out next Sunday.

Send your observations to the email above.

21

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

&

Body&Soul

Pamper your feet for healthy living Vanessa Okwara

P

olished toes look great when peeping out of open toe footwear, but a pedicure can do more than just make your feet look beautiful. A common misconception is that pedicures are a luxury. They are actually a necessary component of a healthy regime for your feet. Taking care of your feet and getting regular pedicures can act as a preventive measure against future foot problems. A pedicure makes you feel pampered and well cared for. It also makes you feel clean and energized.

Most women get their toenails done for cosmetic and therapeutic reasons, but there is also numerous health benefits associated with pedicures. They help to prevent nail diseases and disorders like ingrown toenails and onychorrhexis (longitudinal ridging of the nail). In addition, reflexology, a specific type of foot massage, can be used as a form of pain management.

Soaking and washing your feet at home will give your feet that smooth feel you can get at any spa. Simply follow these steps to get a clean, healthy and pretty pedicure at a leisurely pace in front of your favourite television program.

• Gather all the materials you need -nail polish remover, a large bowl or foot bath filled with water and bubble bath, cuticle oil, exfoliating foot scrub, bath towel, hand towel, foot callus file, nail clipper, fine grit

nail file; foot lotion, cotton pads, base coat, your chosen nail polish colour and top coat.

Then, choose a comfortable area of your home.

• Start off pampering your feet by filling a basin with warm water. Add two tablespoons of olive oil. You can also lace your water with few drops of rosemary or eucalyptus oil. If you don’t have any of the above, cut one lemon into slices and add them to the basin and soak your feet for about 15 minutes. A foot soak is more than an excuse to relax. It softens calluses, so they’re easier to remove.

• A pedicure is not complete without a good exfoliating scrub. Scour away dirt and grime on your foot with a good foot scrub brush. This is necessary because the feet can often be overlooked during a daily shower.

• Regardless of your choice of scrub, make sure to give yourself a great lower leg/foot massage while exfoliating the skin. Not only does it feel great, but it helps circulation and aids in getting rid of dead skin cells.

• Rinse your feet, then rub in a dollop of moisturizing foot cream, using it to massage your feet at the same time. Use your thumb to knead along the center of your foot, concentrating on tense muscles.

• Remove cuticles and file your nails to desired shape.

• Choose the nail polish of your choice for a pretty finish and make those nails glitter with a top coat.

Body&Soul

22

Mix and match Polka with stripes

Polka and peplum top go well together

SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Wear Polka dot with animal print

Match Polka dot with solid colours

43

23

SundayBusiness SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Public Finance Experts caution CBN on SDF policy p.24

Transport Vehicle purchase scheme to start Q2 2015-Jalal p.25

Interview Many Nigerian artistes don’t honour contracts - Ope Banwo p.27

Housing Property boom: Developers in fierce war for subscribers p.28

News Morning fresh: PZ Cussons promises cleaner kitchens p.29

Paul Ogbuokiri Head, Business paulogbuokiri@newtelegraph online.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Mixed bag of mass transit schemes

B

Paul Ogbuokiri

efore and after independence in 1960, the public bus transport scheme was orderly, peaceful and properly organised.

Records at the Lagos Island Library, Lagos State, indicate that those who were living in Lagos at that time could point to Zarpas, Benson, Oshinowo Transport Services and the LMTS (Lagos Municipal Transport Service) which provided reliable urban bus services for the residents. They were sometimes complemented by ‘Molue’ buses – 911 Mercedes Benz trucks constructed into big buses for the movement of people, even though not as comfortable as the LMTS’ Benson buses.

As time went on, these buses were nowhere to be found. They reduced in number, as minibuses or ‘Danfo’ and others gradually came into the scene.

Then in 1977, the Lagos State Government established Lagos State Transport Corporation (LSTC) with over 600 luxury buses operating in the Lagos metropolis. Unfortunately, LSTC failed and was closed down by a former military administrator of the state, Col. Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

When Sir Michael Otedola came in as elected civilian governor of Lagos State, he introduced Jubilee Transport Service, which was shortlived and suffered a similar fate like LSTC. In 1988, the Babangida Administration increased the price of petrol. This led to mass protests. In order to cushion the effect of the price rise, the government put in place the Federal Urban Mass Transit System, in which some buses were distributed to private operators. But this project also failed as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners complained that the 26-seater mini buses were too expensive while cost of maintenance seemed high for the operators to cope with.

These buses frequently broke down, which led to the failure of the scheme, even as many of them were later abandoned.

The Nigeria Labour Congress set up its own mass transit bus company with its share of the Babangida buses. But the company equally failed.

After all these failures, which adversely affected public transport in Lagos, and created a vacuum in the system which painted and unpainted taxis and commercial motorcyclists tried to fill, the hardship of commuters in easily accessing public transportation as cheaply as possible became more profound.

National President, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Musa Isiwale, said these failures were because the private sector was not involved in the running of the business. According to him, nowhere in the world is transport business operated by the government.

“That is why we are in partnership with the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government in the operation of mass transit buses in the country,” he said.

President, National Union of Road Transport

What happened was that most of our first generation buses became aged and not roadworthy

Jonathan

Idris-Umar

Workers, Alhaji Najeem Yasin, told Sunday New Telegraph that the mass transit bus system in the country would continue to face difficulties unless road infrastructure improves and the number of buses increases.

“We are doing our best in running the buses but we need many more buses to cover the country. They state which have started mass transit bus system are not serious with institutionalizing it. It seems it is just for politics.”

The Lagos State Government launched the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) scheme in March 2008.

BRT operations at Iyana-Ejigbo, a typical BRT

terminal, begin at about 5.05 am with over 500 passengers waiting in a long queue to board the bus to Oshodi or Cele bus-stop.

Sources close to the Management of LAGBUS told Sunday New Telegraph that at the facility, only three buses are allocated to the Iyana-Ejigbo BRT terminal and each has a seating capacity of 42 passengers. There is no definite time the passengers should expect a bus to arrive. Traffic situation and the state of the buses determine whether they will come at all and or when they will arrive On Wednesday when our correspondent decided to take this bus because of this story, he waited for three hours before the bus arrived. Before then, the terminus had become rowdy and the whole vicinity occupied by the anxious by passengers who were not fewer than 2,500.

When the bus pulled at the terminal at 8.30a.m, almost all the passengers abandoned their positions on the queue to secure a place in the bus. The ensuing commotion was a graphic replay of life in Gorge Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm;’ a classic case of survival of the fittest. Everybody was pushing, dragging and struggling at the same time to enter the bus. Do you blame anybody for abandoning the orderly queue? Nobody knew when the next one would come. One of the passengers told Sunday New Telegraph that they had been at the terminal since 4a.m.

Inside the bus, half of the seats were gone.

It was dirty, rickety and stuffy, obviously begging for urgent maintenance. But that was not a headache to the over 100 of us that were able to force our way into the dingy interior of the bus. Our worry was how to get to Cele bus-stop, because by that time, the notorious Ikotun-Egbe traffic had extended to Synagogue Church of All Nations at the north end of the road.

When BRT was introduced in 2008 by the administration of Governor Babatunde Fashola, residents saw it as a new dawn for city commutes, which had not had any viable public transport system since the collapse of LSTC. The talk in town then was that our Fashola was gradually elevating Lagos to European standards. Without putting up a fight, the ‘molues’ gradually disappeared from the roads when BRT was introduced.

The new bus system, a programme actually initiated by the administration of exGovernor Bola Tinubu, began operations C ON TI N UE D ON PAGE 28

24

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SundayBusiness/Public Finance

Experts caution CBN on SDF policy “T

Chijioke Iremeka he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new policy on Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), would work wonders for Nigerian economy if the apex bank develops strong ‘will’ and show self as an industry regulator in discharge of its monetary policies without fear or contradiction of purpose,” say financial experts across the country.

The experts, who spoke to Sunday New Telegraph, in separate interviews, said the CBN’s new policy is capable of putting a damper on the accumulation of excess funds in fixed deposit accounts by banks and discount houses. They warned that the novelty policy would amount to an exercise in futility, if the prevailing interest rate of 12.0 per cent is not reduced.

In the new policy, the apex bank had pegged the maximum amount allowed in its SDF at N7.5 billion to discourage them from piling up idle funds with it. Rather, the policy pushes them to lend the excess funds to the real sector and entrepreneurs, for the purpose of business expansion and job creation, which would bolster economic development and stimulation.

In other words, the approved SDF deposits limit shall attract only a 10 per cent interest rate, below the CBN’s MPR of 12.

0 per cent, while any amount in the excess of the N7.5 billion, from this day forward; attracts a zero per cent interest.

The CBN had recently issued a circular (FMD/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/020) to all commercial banks and discount houses, titled: ‘Re: Guidelines on Accessing The CBN Standing Deposit Facility’ and signed by its Director of Financial Markets Department, E.U Ukeje, on the need for the banks and discount houses to lend to the productive sector of the economy.

The circular, which assumed immediate effect status, states, “It has been observed that banks and discount houses have preference for keeping their idle balances at the Central Bank in the SDF, thereby constraining the process of financial intermediation.

“In order to encourage the banks to increase lending to the productive sector of the economy, the guidelines for the operations of SDF is hereby reviewed as follows: “The remunerable daily placements by banks and discount houses at the SDF shall not exceed N7.5 billion. This shall be remunerated at the SDF rate of 10 per cent per annum.

“Any deposit in excess by a bank or discount houses, in excess of N7.5 billion, shall not be remunerated. These conditions are without prejudice to the subsisting MPR corridor. For the avoidance of doubt, the SDF remains operative as a monetary policy tool, but patronage at the facility shall be subject to the above modification.

“The MPR corridor remains + / - 200 basis point around the MPR. The SDF shall attract an interest rate of MPR minus 200 basis point, i.e., 10 per cent per annum up to the limit of N7.5 billion, while any deposit over and above the amount shall attract zero interest rate.”

In response to this, the Managing Partner, RichardDenning LP, Richard Chukwuocha, said the new policy is a remarkable one, but will amount to an exercise in futility if the current high interest rates of 12. 0 per cent subsists.

“If the interest remains the same, there is the likelihood that the entrepreneurs will not still go for the loans. But it’s still unknown whether there would be lower interest rate to drive this policy; else, it renders the unique policy useless, as young graduates would not still find it flashy to borrow with such high interest rates amid billion

CBN Headquaters, Abuja

Any deposit in excess by a bank or discount houses, in excess of N7.5 billion shall not be remunerated. These conditions are without prejudice to the subsisting MPR corridor

naira worth of collateral requirement,” he said.

An ex-banker and the Managing Director, Cosams Ventures, Obiora Chukwunulu, said the policy would open up the Nigerian economy for massive investments and development. It would create jobs and redefine the living standard of the people, especially the unemployed youths in the country, who are tempted to either drift to abroad or enlist in one crime or the other to survive.

He said, “The CBN’ Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had earlier said that the focus of his administration is towards job creation, and other things that he mentioned, as well as formulating people-oriented policies in the country.”

This, he noted, may help achieve the set goals and objectives, if he could show strong ‘will’ to enforce it without succumbing to threats and pressures from the banks and discount houses as was in the case of the re-introduced N65 ATM service fee.

Also, a chartered Accountant and the Managing Partner, S.I.A.O, Ituah Ighodalo, said the accessibility to entrepreneurial funds by Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) would help to stimulate economic development in the country.

Emefiele

He noted that SMEs are the major providers of jobs in the world, even more than the government, saying that in the United Kingdom, they are the major providers of jobs across the country, with government ensuring strong industry regulation.

Also, the Managing Director, Work Force Recruiting Ltd, Mrs. Adesola Adegusi, said, “Emefiele deserves a bat on the back for this new policy. Banks prefer to dump their funds with the CBN so that it would be yielding interest for them instead of lending to businessmen for the purpose of economic development.

“Idle resources had never helped any economy of the world. It’s very good. If they want, they can keep their idle resources at CBN at lower interest rate than they can get from loan seekers. This is how they will be stockpiling funds and at the end of the year,

they declare billions of naira profits, which don’t add anything to the economy.

“The idea is good. Let them lend for economic development. When people take loans, they create jobs and people will have money in their pockets to pay for goods and services. Youths and graduates would be employed, but I just hope that CBN would sustain it so that it doesn’t go the way of other policies.”

According to public financial analyst and the Managing Director, Allied Technol Systems Limited, Henry Boyo, such unused funds amount to economic waste, saying that such money has not affected lives of people in the country.

“We are talking about the billions they make and whether they are among the world top 1000 banks. But have their riches affected the economy? Have they been able to give loans for the development of the economy? What is the value of their being among the 1000 banks for the ordinary Nigerian, when we don’t feel their impact?” he queried.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Hedonmark Management Service Ltd, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, said a lot is still happening in the SMEs sector, but the problem is the CBN’s inability to enforce banks to give loans to entrepreneurs.

On its own, he noted, CBN has to re-engineer the economy to allow for low interest rates; though, there are a lot of factors that would bring this about. He added that the presidency had also commissioned N220 billion SMEs funds, geared towards making Nigeria a better economy.

Perhaps, the CBN may reduce the interest rate, when it’s done with the excess idle funds. The CBN Governor had at September’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting, frowned on banks’ fixed deposits, which built up in excess of N300 billion as at September.

25

Transport

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Vehicle purchase scheme to begin Q2 2015 -Jalal

T

Paul Ogbuokiri he Federal Government may have tacitly postponed the commencement of its proposed low interest vehicle purchase scheme, blaming the outbreak of the now contained Ebola pandemic for the delay.

Director General of National Automotive Council dropped the hint on Wednesday at a one-day sensitisation workshop it organised for auto dealers in the SouthWest.

He said though a Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed with a South African development bank, Wesbank, a subsidiary of Standard Bank, “we expect that they will come to build their bank in the country early next year.”

He said Wesbank has decades of experience in handling vehicle purchase scheme in South Africa and is also handling such schemes in many countries in that region He said the workshop for the auto dealers which will be held in all the geopolitical zones of the country, is aimed at getting the auto dealers to cue into the Federal Government’s auto policy.

He said because government intends to get the second hand auto market in Nigeria converted to new vehicles, it needs the understanding of the auto dealers, “because they are the ones who will distribute the vehicles when the local manufacturing capacity is developed.”

Jalal also said that government is licensing the auto dealers to bring sanity to the sector, as well as to usher in effective regulation in that sector.

National President Auto Dealers Association of Nigeria, Elder Benjamin Oghumu, said the association was against the policy at its inception because the necessary clarifications on how the so called made in Nigeria vehicle would be made available to the ordinary Nigerian.

“We have shifted ground on our position now but we cannot make ourselves an obstacle to Nigerians starting to drive new vehicles as it used to be in the 70’s and 80’s when we started this business.

“As it is all over the world, working people drive new cars and they don’t pay cash. There is vehicle purchase scheme that make vehicles available people on hire purchase over a period of three to

Made in Nigeria Hyundi Grand

four years. In our last meeting with NAC they assured us that they are working on that.

“We also asked them where the local auto assembly plants are. They said 23 have expressed interest while they have six on ground. But we found out that only three are manufacturing now, Innoson vehicle Manufacturing,, one in Osun State and Nissan. But you don’t see these vehicles on the street where they are displayed because these so called manufacturers are also big time sellers who sell to government. They vehicles must be displayed where the ordinary Nigerian would see it and buy,” he said.

Oghumu said that the manufacturers should leave the role of selling the vehicles to the dealers, saying the N2m price tag on the new made in Nigerian cars is outrageous for Nigerians.

He further called on government to organise the car dealers into groups for registration, for the purpose of operating as big dealers in the new auto policy.

We also asked them where the local auto assembly plants are. They said 23 have expressed interest while they have six on ground

Mrs. Kikelomo Akinsoye from the Lagos Sector Command, Federal Road Safety Commission had blamed auto dealers in the country for importing right hand vehicles into the country. She stated that those who convert such vehicles to left-hand leave them with technical deficiencies that endanger the lives of Nigerian road users.

But Oghumu said the dealers do not deserve any blame.

He called on the management of NAC to invite the Nigeria Customs Service to explain why such vehicles are still entering Nigeria.

“What we are saying is that NCS should be invited to explain why right-hand vehicles are still being cleared by the agency to enter the country, when they know that they are banned,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jalal has confirmed that six auto assembly plants are already up and running.

He also said nine plants had been set up since the auto policy was introduced and many others have expressed interest to operate in the country.

“The Ebola thing and possibly the upcoming elections are factors responsible for why some of them have not started.

Even Toyota insisted that we must have an enabling law in place. We are hopeful that the law will be in place before the end of the life of the seventh National Assembly,” he explained.

Porsche storms Los Angeles Auto Show

P

orsche AG is celebrating three world premieres this month at the Los Angeles Auto Show 2014. The sports car manufacturer is presenting two new GTS models, the 911 Carrera GTS and the Cayenne GTS, at the Porsche press conference on November 19.

Porsche is also revealing the Panamera Turbo S Executive Exclusive Series, a special edition limited to 100 units worldwide.

The four variants of the 911 Carrera GTS close the gap between the 911 Carrera S and the 911 GT3. The model, available as coupe and convertible, is equipped with rear-wheel or all-wheel

drive and develops 430 hp. The Sport Chrono package and other performance enhancing features are fitted as standard equipment. The Cayenne GTS develops 440 hp and has an especially sporty, air suspension equipped, chassis with a ride height lowered by 20 millimeters, boosting driving performance to even higher levels. The third new model at the Auto Show is the Panamera Turbo S Executive Exclusive Series which offers a particularly luxurious combination of performance and exclusivity.

Porsche is on a stable and profitable growth course in the U.S. market. In the period from January to October 2014, the

sports car manufacturer achieved a sales increase of eleven per cent over the same period last year and has delivered over 39,000 vehicles.

The United States remains the primary market for Porsche. In the U.S., the 911 scored a significant upswing with more than 8,700 vehicles delivered. One in six U.S. Porsche buyers opted for a Boxster or a Cayman.

About one in three Porsche cars sold here was a Cayenne. Panamera sales increased by eleven per cent, and the successful launch of the Macan completes Porsche’s success.

•Source:Mail online

2016 Audi for 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show

T

he upgraded 2016 Audi A6 and A7 sedans will make their U.S. debut at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Audi of America said the pair will “receive significant engine updates for 2016 that offer more power and refinement.”

The A6 gets a new 2.0-litre TFSI fourcylinder engine that generates 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. The engine is available with front-wheel drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic transmission.

Engine offerings for the A6 will also include 2.0T, 3.0T and the TDI clean diesel.

The A7 is offered with 3.0T and clean diesel TDI engines, along with high-performance S7 and RS 7 models. Horsepower has increased to 333 in the 3.0T, up 23 hp from the previous model.

Design changes to the A6 and A7 include new front and rear restyling. A new front fascia includes a new LED headlight design.

The cabin gets new colour combinations in Flint gray or Cedar brown. A new Arras red interior is optional on the S6 and S7 and includes carbon-fiber inserts.

Consumers can also expect better connectivity on both. The optional MMI navigation plus features voice control, Audi music interface and Bluetooth integration. The Audi connect system includes an integrated Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight devices.

Key rivals to the A6 include the BMW 5 Series, Cadillac CTS and Lexus GS. The A7 competes with the Maserati Ghibli, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class and Porsche Panamera.

Pricing and launch timing on the 2016 A6 and A7 were not announced.

26

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Equities market jerk up

T

he Nigerian equities market partly recovered this week, as the NSEASI gained 6.49% Week on Week (WoW).

The market gained on all trading days of the week in contrast to the massive sell offs noticed last week. Market activities were however soft compared to last week as volume traded for the week dipped by 50.54%, while market turnover appreciated by 29.84%. We are of the opinion that the increased buy sentiments during the week was largely driven by attractive prices.

We expect to see tempered activity in the coming week after the bull run of this week, as investors await the outcome of the MPC meeting scheduled for the 24th and 25th of November 2014, amidst concerns about uncertainties in the domestic and global space. Hence, we advise investors to trade cautiously, taking advantage of only unique opportunities for abnormal return that may arise.

Global market:

GDP numbers flowed in this week especially from the Euro zone which expanded by 0.2% in 2014:Q3. France’s GDP numbers came in at +0.3% (higher than expected but quite low to push the economy along the desired growth frontier), driven by government expenditure; Greece, after years of bearing a huge recessionary burden shook it off with national output increasing at 0.71% in the third quarter and 1.7% over the last 12-months; Italy’s third quarter growth rate at 0.1% lesser was broadly in line with expectation and this follows a flat growth in Q1 and contraction in Q2, thus pushing the economy on the path of recession.

Monetary accommodation continues its journey in Europe and Asia, specifically in Japan. In the record quantitative easing program which saw asset purchases hit USD709bn, the international stock markets, especially the US felt the impact of the huge fund flow. This is not unexpected given the drastic change in the policy asset mix of the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF); international stocks allocation increased from 12% (+/-5%) to 25% (+/-8%), and the benchmark changed from MSCI KOKUSAI (public equity markets in developed countries) to MSCI ACWI ex-Japan, which includes public equity markets in emerging countries but with the US accounting for nearly half of the index weight.

The week closed with oil prices dropping to its 4-year low below USD80p/b with US crude oil hitting USD74.28p/b and Brent easing to USD77.52p/b. The continued fall in prices is due to the reluctance of OPEC to cut back on production just as the US experienced shale oil boom with the consequence of increased supply. International Energy Association (IEA) is of the opinion that crude oil price reversion to previous highs might not be in the offing as they envisage a new era for the oil market. The not-too-bright outlook on oil of course has its adverse impact on the Nigerian economy; potential government budget constraint and wider fiscal deficit, little or no accretion to Excess Crude oil Account (ECA), possibility of increased borrowing and concomitant impact of crowding out of private investment, potential credit rating downgrade when placed in the context of other headwinds to the economy and a whole lot others.

Fixed Income: CBN moves to conserve reserves

The week demonstrated low liquidity as rates increased across NIBOR tenors. The Call Rate, 1M, 3M and 6M rates all surged by 1.04%, 0.38%, 0.27% and 0.32% respectively.

The Open Buy Back (OBB) and Overnight (O/V) rates also increased by 1.71% and 0.96% WoW. The demand for short term T-bills instruments increased during the week as average yield across tenor declined by 0.14% to 10.91% (vs. 11.05% in previous week). There was strong demand for 1M, 2M and 3M tenors as their yields declined by 1.45%, 0.65% and 0.57% accordingly, while the 6M, 9M

…as market liquidity wanes

in that order. While the decliners’ chart had FLOURMILL, VITAFOAM, GUINNESS, INTBREW and CHAMPION having shed 9.99%, 1.71%, 0.37%, and 6.42% respectively.

In the Conglomerates space, UACN gained 2.95% while AGLEVENT lost 9.66% WoW. We expect sector performance to continue to be driven by attractive prices given the mood in the market at the moment.

Oil and Gas: Sector closes green.

and 12M rates increased by 0.08%, 0.42% and 1.35% in that order.

Investors’ appetite for bond instruments tempered as average yield changed by +0.59% due to the re-opening of three on-therun bonds totaling NGN65bn. Also, higher spread was noticed at the long end of the yield curve.

The Naira continued to weaken against the greenback as it depreciated further by 3.26% WoW (vs. 0.09% in previous week) to peg YtD loss at -6.67%. On the back of unfavorable events in Nigeria, we opine that the strong demand for dollar might persist in the coming week.

Banking Sector: Strong rise from the depths, records 0.83% WoW

The banking sector recovered this week as most of the sector’s stock rose from the depths to record strong WoW gains. We opine that the strong performance was due to investors taking advantage of low prices to take position.

There were 13 gainers against 1 decliner, while UNITYBANK remained flat. The MERI-BANK index gained 0.83% WoW to peg the index’s YtD return at -19.68%. The top gainers for the week were UBN (15.78%), DIAMONDBNK (14.88%), and SKYEBANK (8.90%) respectively, while the only decliner for the week was GUARANTY (3.67%).

We expect the sector to remain under pressure as it is widely expected that at the next MPC meeting scheduled for Nov 2425th, there will be an increase in either CRR on public or private deposits. We believe that the market currently presents some attractive buying opportunities, even with headwinds expected. We advise that investors time the market to take advantage of a recovery.

Industrial goods sector: Cement stocks make strong showing

The industrial goods sector returned to positivity this week as the Meri-Industrial index gained 8.76% WoW. The positive mood in the sector was largely driven by bargain hunting activities on ASHAKACEM and DANGCEM. ASHAKACEM and DANGCEM partly reversed last week’s loss with price gains of 13.46% and 9.21% to close at NGN25.38 and NGN205.9. ASHAKACEM’s gaining streak waned towards the end of the week while DANGCEM recorded all its week’s gains in the last two days of trading.

WAPCO and CCNN were the other gainers for the week having appreciated in value by 4.11% and 0.36% accordingly. CUTIX (-13.55%), DNMEYER (-8.42%), PORTPAINT (-5.35%), CAP (-4.64%) and BERGER (-0.25%) however persisted in the negative zone.

We believe that the recent mood in the sector is motivated largely by the relative attractiveness of the stocks in the basket as all the major counters recorded price declines in the previous week. Though we note that most stocks are still trading below their fundamental values we envisage selling pressures in the coming week as investors embark on profit taking activities.

Consumer Good Sector: Aligns with market mood

The sector mood improved, closing at 9.83% as against previous week’s -12.65%, as bargain hunters took short positions in Stocks with attractive prices on the back of the sell offs witnessed in the preceding week .

Stocks with positive run during the week’s trading session include CADBURY, DANGSUGAR, 7UP, NASCON, and NB gaining 33.92%, 24.55%, 10.24%, 10.97% and 13.96%

In tandem with the positive market mood for the week, the oil and gas sector closed the week in the green zone as its index level inched up by 5.02% WoW as measured by MERI-OILG Index.

The gainers’ chart for the week was led

by OANDO with a substantial price appreciation of 29.8%. FO followed suit, gaining 13.77%, just as TOTAL consolidated on the previous week’s gains, by gaining 4.61%.

On the flip side, SEPLAT witnessed further sell pressure as the ticker shed 18.55% WoW. ETERNA also depreciated in price by 3.60%.

All else equal, we envisage that the momentum will be sustained in the coming week given the relatively cheap prices of the counters in the sector.

Insurance Sector: Swings in Market Direction

The sector reversed last week’s loss, gaining 3.99% WtD to drive YtD return to 15.43%.

CUSTODYINS and NEM jointly led the gainers chart for the week with 19.92% gains to peg their prices at NGN0.76 and NGN3.80 respectively. (vs. NGN0.65 and NGN3.25 in previous week). CONTINSURE, AIICO and MANSARD also posted gains of 14.12%, 2.50% and 0.33% accordingly, while all other counters traded flat.

We expect CONTINSURE and MANSARD to enjoy favourable sentiment from investor, we however preach cautious trading given the tempered mode in the market.

Healthcare Sector: Towed along with the Market

The Healthcare Sector reversed the previous week’s loss advancing by 4.02% WoW, to peg the YtD gain at -24.70%. The industry market breadth stood at 3x as three stocks advanced against one decliner. The sector’s heavy weight (GLAXOSMITH) which constitute c.70% of the sector by market capitalization returned 4% in the week. FIDSON and NEIMETH also closed in the green zone recording 13% and 1% gains respectively. On the rear, only MAYBAKER shed points dipping 5% while other counters traded flat for the week.

In subsequent weeks, we expect fluctuation in price performance of counters in the sector due to activities of bargain hunters and profit takers. However, most stocks portend good opportunity as they are trading below their fundamental prices. Also, we expect the ongoing reforms (WHO prequalification status, new distribution guideline and new healthcare bill) in the sector to drive growth and offer opportunity for astute investors to savour.

Services Sector: Hospitality Stocks drive sector gains

The services Sector closed positive with a WtD gain of 8.07% partly recovering from a decline of 11.54% in the previous week.

The Hospitality stocks gained the most with IKEJAHOTEL coming in first with 45.63%, followed closely by TRANSCORP with price appreciation of 33.77%. We note here that IKEJAHOTEL has returned 370.51% YtD On the contrary, ACADEMY declined the most by 12.90%, trailed by LEARNAFRICA, ASL, NAHCO, RT BRISCOE, CAVERTON with 9.93%, 9.29%, 5.60%, 4.17%, and 0.50% in that order while other counters traded flat.

ACADEMY PRESS PLC released its Q2:2014 result showing a turnover growth of 6.84%. Despite a decline in its Operating expenses by 15.54%, a surge in Cost of sales and Finance cost by 40.12% and 97.84% accordingly caused a decline in its Profit after tax by 59.23%.

27

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SundayBusiness/interview

Many Nigerian artistes don’t honour contracts - Ope Banwo Dr. Ope Banwo, a lawyer, entertainment entrepreneur and Netpreneur, in this interview with EDWIN USOBOH, says internet is the solution to unemployment in Nigeria

Right now in a place like Nigeria where we don’t even have spam laws yet, it is a wild-wild west where the little guy can still take down the established companies in different niches

Ope Banwo

A lot has not been heard of you in recent times. What have you been up to lately?

In the last couple of years I have focused my attention almost exclusively on providing internet-based solutions for not just Nigerians, but Africans and the world.

Are you saying that you have dumped law practice and your interest in entertainment?

Although I have a PHD in Law and have been involved in several businesses including entertainment, I consider myself a serious Netpreneur now.

Can you explain what you mean by Netpreneur?

In keeping with my focus as a solutions provider, most of my products and solutions in the last two years have been exclusively based on how internet business can be done better and more profitable not just by Nigerian businesses, but also by enterprising Nigerians. For me, the internet now represents the melting point where all businesses converge to create a new dynamic marketplace that affects every area of our life.

It is obvious that internet business is your new obsession. Is it possible for it to be generating more income when compared to law or entertainment?

It is not about which business is more important or more profitable. It is about the direction of commerce, human interaction and the future. It has become very obvious that everything is converging on the internet. I mean everything including Law; Entertainment; Business; Government; Banking; Insurance; Telecoms etc. Every sector of the economy is affected by the internet explosion.

Almost overnight, the internet has swiftly become the new marketplace and the new terrain for dissemination of information; for making sales; and for interacting with customers among others. Small companies are there.

Mega companies are there. Politicians are there. Religious leaders are there.

Virtually every business sector and every area of human interaction is online now and it does not take a

genius to understand that the new marketplace of today and of the future is the internet.

When did you realise this?

A few years ago, I realised that the next set of billionaires and millionaires are going to be created on the internet. It is strategically crucial for me to understand how it works and how I can provide different solutions to solve different problems that will naturally arise from the emergence of the internet as the new marketplace for commerce and industry What is so fascinating about this new internet marketplace?

When anything new emerges, it means new opportunities; new market dynamics and new reallocation of resources. It means new problems requiring solutions from solution providers like myself; it means a change in the old economy and method of allocating resources in the marketplace. It gives everyone a fresh opportunity to create legacy income regardless of your current status or station at birth. I am so excited that Nigeria is finally catching up to this new phenomenon because it means a whole new generation of social, economic and even political leaders will emerge. I am also excited because the internet is a leveler. It is a new playing field where the small man can still compete with the big boys. Right now in a place like Nigeria where we don’t even have spam laws yet, it is a wild-wild west where the little guy can still take down the established companies in different niches. For instance, in the old marketplace, it will take millions of naira for a new bookstore owner to compete with the big stores but with the internet all you need is a good ecommerce site and skills on how to create awareness online for your store and you can compete with the giants.

Can you be more practical in your explanation of the internet as a solution to unemployment?

I think it is a shame that our government has not yet re-

alised the vast potential of the internet in solving unemployment issues in Nigeria. Instead they are busy dumping billions of Naira into traditional initiatives that have no measurable results and which only end up enriching those who are already rich as they misuse most of the funds voted for alleviating unemployment in our country. In order to use the internet as a means for solving unemployment in Nigeria, I believe that the first thing that must be provided is a forum or portal where people can learn about internet business and acquire skills that will help them to employ themselves online; be employable worldwide as opposed to just the local environment with limited job opportunities or allow businesses to thrive online by making more sales. As long as people are ignorant about how to exploit the possibilities on the internet, they cannot take advantage of it as a solution to unemployment.

Have you proffered any solution to this problem?

To play my part in this area and also take advantage of the opportunity in the area of education on internet possibilities, I have introduced several solutions that I believe will go a long way in addressing the problems. One of the innovative solutions I have introduced is the American Internet Business School. This is like the internet business version of the Lagos Business School. The American internet business school is an online learning school that specialises in providing training and education for people on how to do business on the internet. It teaches people about how to set up their internet business for profits. It provides courses on how to make sales online regardless of the industry you are in. It also provides training in critical areas of internet business such as social media marketing; list building; freelancing; email marketing; customer service etc. This school has individual courses as well as certification courses in different niches for those who want to learn about internet business, marketing and sales at very affordable prices.

We even have some free courses available on our Error!

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What benefit does an average person stand to gain from this school?

The school is for virtually anyone interested in learning about internet business. It is useful for companies who need their technical, sales, marketing and customer service staff to know how to do what they do offline on the internet. It is useful for those who want to learn about internet business and how to use the internet for marketing; sales and branding among many other things. We have carefully assembled professional trainings in different areas of the internet that may be of interest to different sectors of the economy and different departments. We have training in Social Media Marketing; we have training in turn-key businesses that anyone can learn and use to employ themselves; we have training in sales and marketing for companies. We have training on virtually every area of business.

How expensive is the internet business school?

The American Internet Business School is actually open right now, and we are currently running a special promotion with up to 40 per cent discount for the first set of students as we go through the beta testing stages in August – October. The school will be officially launched in November when we bring in all the international directors of the school from USA; Europe and Canada to Lagos for the African Internet Business Summit, also being organised by the school in collaboration with our technical partner, Afrinet Business Solutions. We have deliberately made courses CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

28

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SundayBusiness/Housing

Property boom: Developers in fierce war for subscribers T

Chijioke Iremeka he increasing returns on investment in Nigerian real estate sector, by all indications, have renewed an aggressive and fierce marketing for landed property and completely built houses in the country, today.

A situation, which is a sharp paradigm shift in the practice in the past years, where private equity firms took over Africa’s real estate market by storm with millions of dollars in investment, especially in the commercial and hospitality sectors.

The total investment in these sectors as at 2011, according to Lamudi Nigeria, a Lagos-based real estate firm, is about $652 million and analysts believe that the Nigerian market is one of the most sought after, due to the huge returns on investments.

Sunday New Telegraph’s investigation revealed that the growing interest in the Nigerian market is also as a result of huge demand buoyed by increasing urban populations and growing purchasing power of the expanding middle class, which has resulted in the construction of numerous shopping malls and decent residential homes.

Lamudi Nigeria noted that an average of 5.7 million Nigerians are considered to spend US$10 to US$20 per day, on the average. The country also has an estimated $115 billion annual consumption figure.

This performance, it was learnt, is largely driven by the re-emergence of the Nigerian middle class and the release of initially suppressed demand for decent residential and commercial accommodation by high networth individuals, corporate organisations and key players in the retail merchandising sector.

However, while Ford and Bill Gates Foundations said there are only 14.7 million homes in Nigeria, statistics which many described as highly inadequate when compared to the size of the nation, the World Bank estimated that it would cost as much as N59.50 trillion to bridge Nigeria’s 17 million housing deficit.

Based on this investment opportunity for the country’s real estate sector, estate

developers in Nigeria have hit the streets and airwaves like bees to produce more houseowners.

Using all manner of marketing strategies, they daily strive to encourage more Nigerians to pay for land and homes on instalments. They are everywhere on the roads and streets, laying ambush at banks’ gates, waiting to share their flyers to potential customers.

They are also on the pages of newspapers, on TV, radio and on the Internet, wooing people for patronage. They are also on commercial buses, parks, offices, churches, mosques, filling stations, Quick Service Restaurants and hotels, sharing flyers.

You can find them in traffic, throwing flyers into passing cars.

They also offer juicy incentives like free sand, cement, blocks and other freebies.

According to Mr. Kayode Adeola of Sales and Craft Property, certain incentives are given to attract buyers, and many firms are offering blocks to the buyers, who acquire land for development purposes.

He said, “For us, we are currently developing Prosperity Garden Estate, Agbara; Precious Peace Estate, Korodu; and Lekki Palace Estate. We offer 100 free blocks to those who make outright payment of varying prices. But to others who spread their payment across certain months in form of instalments, they don’t not get such incentives.”

Curiously, most of the places on offer are in rural or developing areas across the country. This was something which hitherto was difficult to sell but due to the congestion in the cities and towns, many Nigerians are being forced to the suburbs and new areas.

As the marketing gets more aggressive, so does the risk increase. The titles of a number of areas on offer by these estate firms and developers are at the point of expiration and the marketers or the companies need to trade them off before they become a liability to them.

One may ask whether a parcel of land has an expiry date. Yes, it does have an expiry date, going by when the Certificate of

An Estate in Lagos

Occupancy (C of O) was secured.

By the Land Use Act of 1978, land title is held for 99 years. Thereafter, it is renewed or repurchased as in the case of Lagos State.

As obtains currently in Lagos State, if your C of O expires, you will have to re-purchase the land at the prevailing market rate for that location. This is as though one is buying a new piece of land.

Responding to a question on what it means for a piece of land to expire, a Lagos-based property agent, Mr. Wole Adebowale, said, “What this means is that, if you buy a land whose title has lasted for 60 years or 80 years, it implies that you would re-purchase it after the remaining 39 or 19 years respectively, have elapsed.”

He noted that a property owner legally has 99 years to exercise control over the land. But after 99 years, the title has to be renewed for continuous ownership of such land.

In Lagos, a businessman and governorship aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party, Kitoye Branco-Rhodes, and his family experienced such a case of title renewal.

He said, “I know what it means to renew a title in Lagos State. When my family land expired, the state government insisted that we had to re-purchase the land at the prevailing price at that location; else we lose the land. So, I know what it means. It’s not

easy to buy a piece of land and renew it within a short period of time.”

Many others in the past have gone through this rigorous exercise, spending money on processing papers and court cases to reinstate their right of ownership to certain parcels of land. These are details that land speculators and real estate marketers would not give out, when wooing customers to buy off a piece of land or structure.

Hence, it becomes important for any prospective land buyer to determine when the title of the land he is about to purchase was issued. This will save him or her from buying a parcel of land with an expired title.

The same is applicable to land and property for lease. Some parcels of land have been leased out for long and upon getting to the point of contract expiration, the owners would lease it out to another person.

The ignorant lessee wouldn’t stay till the end of the newly contracted period before the property is retrieved from him or her.

Also, while some of these property firms are in for legitimate business, few others are desperately seeking for whom to defraud.

“Many would ask you to purchase a form with a non-refundable fee of between CO NTINUED O N PAGE 29

Mixed bag of mass transit schemes CON TINUED FR O M PAGE 23

on Ikorodu Road to Race Course after a dedicated lane had been marked out on Ikorodu Road.

It was a well thought out public private partnership (PPP) venture, supported by the World Bank. It was extended to several other parts of the city later, but this time without a thought spared on the state of the roads and support infrastructure available on the Ikorodu road.

What we have today is a BRT bus system that seems to have lost its originality and is now a sad reminder of the Lagos Molues.

The air-conditioned buses are gone. The well dressed, well-mannered drivers have been replaced with unkempt, angry and hungry looking drivers. They obviously are no longer satisfied with the job. They now charge at the passengers at the slightest provocation.

With 100 passengers standing and 20 seating, our bus managed to pull to a stop at Cele bus terminal three and half hours later at 11.30a.m.

Head of Department of Sociology Lagos State University Prof. Oladayo Tokura, said

it is a shame that Nigeria which lays claim to the title of Africa’s biggest economy, cannot boast of a reliable means of mass transportation. He said Nigeria’s quest to become of the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020 will remain a mirage unless a reliable means of mass transportation is developed.

He said efforts successive governmental efforts to boost the mass transit bus system will continue to be unsuccessful unless “two things are done: the road infrastructure is developed and the buses are made locally, so that spares can easily be sourced from the manufacturers. Even a maintenance arrangement can be arranged with manufacturers during purchase to eliminate parts theft at the workshops by staffers of the transport companies.”

He urged the Lagos State Government to ensure that the roads plied by LAGBUS and BRT are in a good state. He added that the government should ensure that new buses are acquired to replace the old ones. He however said the buses become rickety very fast, saying serious attention must paid to their maintenance.

But National President of the Nigeria

Labour Congress, Comrade Abdulwahid Omar, countered assertions that the Labour Mass Transit Bus scheme failed.

“What happened was that most of our first generation buses became aged and not roadworthy. We could not keep them on the roads and endanger the lives of our people. But the 133 buses we recently received from SURE-P will on December 3, 2014 be inaugurated by the grace of God. We are going to flag them off and they will start working.”

He said the union had a lot of challenges with the Lagos State Government, “but now we have sorted out everything.”

Also, the Lagos State Commissioner of Transportation, Kayode-Opeifa, said the state government continues to take delivery of new buses to ease the transportation difficulties facing the residents.

He said the reasons why many of the BRT buses are in a poor state is as a result of the dearth of spare parts. He said the state government continues to acquire new buses to boost the BRT scheme.

He said Safest Way Transport Company in Agege and Mutual Transport Company in Ejigbo/Ikotun had acquired 10 and 30

buses respectively, alongside 50 others already bought by the state government.

Reacting to commuters’ complaints about the poor condition of BRT buses, Opeifa attributed the slow pace of maintenance work on the buses to the dearth of spare parts.

He said, “You know, we don’t manufacture buses and we don’t manufacture spares but we continue to acquire new buses.

“Besides, Safest Way Transport in Agege has just acquired 10 more buses, while Mutual Transport in Ejigbo/Ikotun has also acquired another 30 buses.

“We have a total of about 80 to 90 new buses now, which will soon be introduced.

We are also working hard with the operators to improve their capacity to fix their buses.”

He further said the state government was working hard with the owners of the buses to ensure quality services.

Opeifa further expressed the state government’s commitment to putting in place a first-class transport system in the state so as to promote the people’s socio-economic activities.

29

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SundayNews

Morning fresh: PZ Cussons promises cleaner kitchens

P

Stanley Ihedigbo Z Cussons Nigeria has unveiled a new pack for its premium brand, Morning Fresh, as it launched a new variant, Morning Fresh Antibacterial, into the market.

The new variant was unveiled with the new pack design to the journalists in Lagos recently.

According to the company, Morning Fresh is a premium brand and a recognised market leader in the dishwashing liquid market. This powerful dish washing liquid foams richly and delivers strong grease-cutting power, making it economical to use while

being gentle on the hands. Its exciting fragrance and variants eliminate cooking odours, leaving the kitchen refreshed.

Speaking on the new packaging and the new variant, the PZ Cussons Family Care, Marketing Director, Ms. Sandy Griffiths, explained that the company was committed to giving its consumers new and exciting experiences through continuous innovation that would ensure the availability of quality products.

She said Morning Fresh gives the consumers a choice and now comes in three exciting variants, Original Fresh, Zesty Lemon and the new antibacterial variant.

Explaining further on the

new variant, she described the kitchen as the heart of most homes, where a lot of activities happen.

“Bacteria survive in moist environments and the kitchen is usually the breeding ground for germs, especially around the wash area, the sink, on kitchen surfaces, sponges and wash bowls.

If you are germ-conscious and you want total assurance of a bacteria-free kitchen, the morning fresh antibacterial dish wash liquid is your best choice,” she said.

She thanked the consumers for their loyal patronage in making Morning Fresh the prime dish wash brand in Nigeria and promised that the

L – R: General Manager, Listings Sales and Retention, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mrs. Taba Peterside; Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema; Chairman, Lotus Capital, Mr. Fola Adeola and Executive Director, Business Development, NSE, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri, at the Facts Behind the Listing Ceremony of The Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos... on Friday.

brand would continue to offer superior performance.

“Superior performance is our unique proposition, superior grease-cutting is what we do best, this what we are showcasing in the new look of our label design, the power of every drop of morning fresh,” she added.

On the brand’s legacy over the past 20 years in Nigeria, the Brand Manager of Morning Fresh, Ms. Ifunanya Obiakor, said that as the leader in this category, the brand is evolving with its consumers by being innovative, setting the pace in the market and providing quality value for money spent.

“Over the years, Morning Fresh has led innovation and set trends in numerous ways with several milestones to its credit. In 2012, the brand re-launched it packaging in a trendy, easy to grip bottle with the introduction of the new zesty lemon variant.

“In 2013, the brand pioneered a massive penetration drive campaign with dish wash demonstrations and free product placements across the country, reaching over 100,000 households and in the process, brought smiles to the faces of Nigerian women across the key cities,” Obiakor added.

She further said that in January , 2014, morning fresh became the first fresh wash liquid brand in Nigeria to use Facebook as a communication medium and it now has over 100,000 fans as at October, 2014.

Many Nigerian artistes don’t honour contracts –Ope Banwo CON TINUED FR O M PAGE 27

at the school very affordable for everyone. For as little as $99 or N15, 000 or less, you can learn a skill or take relevant internet business related training at the school. There are also some free courses available for members of the public.

Away from internet issues, you used to own Stingomania which had artistes like Trybson. What happened to the label?

That is an interesting question.

The best way to answer it is to say reality was what happened.

Seriously, while I enjoyed and had fun trying to promote very green artistes and superstars, it got to a time that I felt my investment of time, money and energy was not producing the returns on investment that made it worth my while to continue on the trajectory I was going. I also realised, too late, that Nigerian artistes are not really ready for the kind of record label or management style that involves investment by the

record label in the career of an artiste in exchange for a share of artiste income down the road.

Can you be more specific, please?

Record labels’ history with their artistes has shown that investing in an artiste in Nigeria is almost a fool’s errand. It is almost as if it is in the DNA of musicians and actresses not to honour written contracts.

They are happy enough to take your investment in them as if you are their parent but when it comes to them living up to their part, they see you as a greedy oppressor. I could tell you tales that could ruin careers of some prominent actors and actresses and musicians I managed but what would be the point?

Can you mention a couple of names because it will help us understand the picture you are painting?

A Godly person only builds and does not destroy careers so I will not mention names. Suffice to say I was disappointed on many levels just like many of my predecessors in entertainment

management have been and will continue to be. So my case is not special but I did not have the energy or resources to keep going that route, so I redefined myself and my business.

The reality I had to deal with was that, with very few exceptions, most artistes in Nigeria do not honour the terms of their contract once fame comes. They would agree to anything for you to spend your money, but when it comes to the time to pay you your percentage as agreed before you started spending money, most see you as a thief trying to feed off their sweat. Before you know, it has become a public problem, with them claiming they are being exploited. They grant interviews to lie or exaggerate reality and essentially ruin your reputation if you are not careful. Most leave their benefactors once the going gets good and go out on their own after the label had sweated money and blood to help them get their talents appreciated by the public.

Are you saying artiste management is bad business?

From my experience, the only

way a record label or an investor in artiste management can get their money back is to be ready to get in the gutter with defaulting artistes and start chasing them around shows and stuff with thugs or engage them in a public fight. Unfortunately, as an attorney I can’t compete under those terms. I simply can’t see myself fighting for my money from artistes.

The only time I tried to publicly confront and deal with my erring artistes, I ended up regretting it because the mud I got on my person from them was not worth the contract I was trying to enforce. So, I simply let go.

So you agree you lost millions to Stingomania?

Basically, at some point I really had to take a hard look at myself in the mirror and accept the obvious conclusion that I was not cut out for that kind of tussle; and that the model of investing in new artistes is not the way to go in Nigeria. Like everything else, I didn’t hesitate to change direction when things were not working and I have no apologies.

Property boom CONTINUED F R OM PAGE 29

N2000 and N8, 500 for allocation of space, with a clause, ‘Land will be given if you are considered. The form does not guarantee automatic allocation of land.’

“Going by this scenario, such a ‘disclaimer’ prevents you from seeking legal redress or retrieving your registration fee.

But in reality, they are only interested in the proceeds from the sale of the forms and not the land.

“I have purchased countless forms because I was seeking to buy a parcel of land from different property agents but all to no avail. But by the grace of God, I secured one later at Mowe in Ogun State,” said Mrs. Angelina Ibemesi.

Also, Mr. Olubunmi Ashafa said, “I met with these marketers, who told me that they had an undeveloped estate, where they sell land for N800, 000 outright payment and N1 million for instalmental payment. I opted for instalmental payment, which said upon completion, I would be allotted a piece of land. Having paid up to N460, 000, the estate’s agents said there was no more land to be allotted. Getting my money back was hellish.”

Some of these are the risks facing potential property owners across the country.

Some buyers have had to pay for a particular plot of land twice and thrice in few cases, for lack of proper familiarisation of the land.

Meanwhile, more real estate developers are springing up in Nigeria due to the booming nature of the business. The catch phrase for them is to develop an estate or houses and sell upon completion.

For most individual developers, especially bankers, leasing or renting of houses is no longer in vogue because of certain issues associated with it. More importantly, most of them secure loans from banks at high interest rates to develop property and need to repay the loan almost immediately.

A bank executive (name withheld), who spoke to Sunday New Telegraph, said that real estate is the attraction in Nigeria’s economy. He added that a rich man is not the man that has one source of income but the man that has multiple streams of income.

“I work in the bank and I have access to loans. If I could get a loan from the bank that would mature in two to three years, I can put it to use and develop a property and sell, then make my profits and return the bank’s money. It’s very convenient for me and better than renting because you might not make that money within the incubating period of the loan,” he said.

A developer, Mr. Ozioma Chukunedu, said he builds and sells outright.

He said, “I’m building two houses right now - a bungalow and a storey building.

I intend to sell one and manage the other.

“Maybe after a while, I can decide on what to do with it, but for now, I would like to keep it. I have a house in Ago, Lagos and I need to renovate the house; but the last tenant has refused to go. He has stayed there for three years without paying. This is why I don’t want to rent houses to people again. I will force him out and sell that building.”

He noted that there is money in real estate, saying that for an investor to enjoy the business, one would need a good capital outlay to build a full house. He said that thereafter, one can begin to develop more property for commercial purpose.

“The Nigerian market remains attractive as there are numerous opportunities available in the sector. There are opportunities for both institutional investors and real estate developers. We have identified viable opportunities in the following segments of the market for the immediate term – hospitality, shopping malls and office blocks and serviced flats,” said Lamudi Nigeria.

30

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sunday/ Business

Between quality & time (2) Success Nuggets Victor Okwudiri 08037674300 (SMS only)

A

gainst all odds, I went ahead with the process of the book production and launch, instead of calling off the entire process with the hope of putting up a better launch.

Saturday morning, a day to the launch, I was off to the printer’s.

Something happened that morning, which I consider very instructive in subsequent project planning and management. The previous night, we had pleaded with the typist/graphics designer to oblige us his time the next morning, so we could work towards concluding the job. However, my printer thought it wise to have a spare soft copy of the work in his flash drive. That wisdom was our saving grace from God. The typist/ graphics designer disappointed us. It was the spare copy my printer saved that we used. Work continued.

I had to sit with the ‘new’ typist we got to do ‘on-screen proof-reading’ and supervision. Every seasoned author will agree that, that approach is not the best for the production of an error-free (or almost error-free) book. I, however, had to do it. Doing otherwise may have meant risking the engagement of the new typist/ graphics designer by another person,

such that when we are ready for him, he may be occupied.

I took off sometime to go sort out something at the UTC environs in Area 10, Garki. I was not yet back to the typist’s office when my printer called me to say that the entire file of the book had become corrupt. My God! What was I going to do? It was as though the world had ended. I, however, put myself together.

When I got to the typist’s office, a miracle happened. The file was miraculously retrieved. We concluded the typing, designing and correction stage. It was then time to produce the ‘demo’. At that point, it did not occur to me that I was not going to sleep on my bed that night.

Obviously, my printer under-estimated the volume of the book and the processes involved. Don’t even ask about me. I knew next to nothing about book production.

At 10pm we were still there. Midnight it was as though we were just starting. It turned out to be a book production vigil, with more hands coming on board. Through it all, I was resolute about one thing: the book launch must hold that day Sunday, 18th May, 2014. It was not out of place to be tempted to send messages calling off the launch, but how was I going to call off the launch after the massive invitations? How was I going to explain it? In any case, if I managed to explain to my expected guests, what’s the guarantee they were going to take me seriously when next I invite them for a book launch or any other function (that is, if I will even garner the moral fibre

to send any subsequent invitation)?

Calling it off was not an option for me. I was rather going to produce the book the way it was, and launch it that day than produce a ‘better book’ that may take eternity to be ready.

That was it.

Late into the night, it was time to bind the books. Just then, another setback showed up. The size of the cover was more that the volume of the book, such that if there must be a fitting, the cover has to be cut, mutilating my picture behind, as the author. What happened was that, in trying to make the most of what was left of our very limited time, my printer had to produce the cover while the book itself was still in the process. He did that because the producers of the cover were not going to be available by the time the book was ready for binding at midnight.

The ideal thing, though, would have been to produce the book before the cover, as the volume and size of the book would determine the dynamics of the cover. The ‘mistake’ was already made. The way forward was what mattered, as there was no going back on the launch of the book later that day.

We had to trim the cover, cutting off part of my ‘beautiful’ back-cover picture, after which the books were bound. It was one night to remember.

When I wanted to take ‘a little sleep’, it was without the luxury of a bed.

After all the challenges and seeming impossibility, it was a fulfilled me who carried wraps of the books, with the help of the printer, to the venue of the launch.

Influence your world The Big Picture Julian Atufunwa 08032810713 (SMS only)

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ll human beings are potential leaders, you don’t wait until you occupy a position before you become a leader. The fact remains that being in a position of authority does not even make you a leader.

Leadership is influence. Period! It is the ability to inspire and influence groups of people to achieve worthwhile goals. Whoever you are, wherever you are, an employee, a businessman, a member of a group, a parent, a student, a friend, if your life and actions inspire and influence people positively around you, then you are a leader.

Leaders are not born, they are made. Leaders are ordinary people who discover their inherent abilities and potential and are able to use them to make the world around them a better place. They take responsibility to be a guide to the ignorant. You can make a difference at the top, middle and bottom. It’s about time we stopped the blame game. We are so keen on blaming the government and people in positions of authority but neglect to make an impact in our own sphere. One person can make a difference in a family, community, religious gather-

ing, Nigeria, Africa and the world.

You can inspire the world positively; it starts with discovering why you were born, why you are here (earth) on a mission. Life will make no meaning until you realise that you are made by God and for God. You are here to perform the assignment He gave you. You can never live a life of purpose without influencing your generation. God bless your soul Dr. Myles Munroe, a leadership mentor, life coach and author, who died a week ago in a plane crash. He once said the greatest tragedy is not death, but a life without a purpose.

One person can truly make an impact but the only hindrance is your imagination and unwillingness to go the extra mile. To become an influence and inspiration you must overcome selfishness. Every one of us has an inborn capacity to be a leader, but the quickest route to becoming a leader is by solving problems.

God helps you solve your own problems first and then you help others solve theirs by what you learnt solving your own problems.

But many will do anything to avoid pains and challenges. Yet, overcoming problems builds our character and therefore makes you the leader you were made to be. Many people look at a person like Mother Theresa and assume that she was born a leader and into heroism. They claim that she was just an incredible spiritual woman and that she’s always been set apart by her commitment and selfless contribution to the poor.

While it is true that she’s a woman of extraordinary courage and compas-

sion, it is also true that Mother Theresa had some crucial moments that defined her role as one of the great contributors of our time.

Mother Theresa did not initially set out to help the poor; in fact for 20 years, she taught the wealthiest children in Calcutta, India. Every day she over looked the impoverished slums that surrounded the well to do neighbourhood in which she worked, never venturing outside her tiny sphere of influence, until one night walking down the street, she heard a woman crying out for help. It was at that moment that this dying woman fell into her arms that Mother Theresa’s life changed forever. Realising the seriousness of the woman’s condition, Mother Theresa rushed her to the hospital where she was told to sit and wait. She knew the woman would die without immediate attention so she took her to another hospital.

Again, she was told to wait. Why was this dying woman rejected? It was because of her status. She was despised because she was poor. The woman’s social caste made her less important than the others being treated.

Finally, in desperation Mother Theresa took the woman home, and later that night the woman died in her arms. That was Mother Theresa’s defining moment; the moment she swore that this would never happen again to anyone within her reach. She decided to devote her life to easing the pain of those suffering around her; that whether they lived or died, they would do so with dignity (story

by Anthony Robbins in his book titled Awaken the Giant within you).

080395121535 (SMS only)

My hunting gun is better than your tanks

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really think the guys in Nigeria’s beleaguered military high command have at last started listening to those ‘bloody civilians’ who know little or nothing about military tactics. That is a piece of good news!

Last week, I had wanted to run some sort of advisory on what our brothers and sisters in the troubled North-East should be doing in the face of challenges they face every day from Boko Haram insurgents.

But it does seem they anticipated what I had to say and I must commend them for this.

Back to the guys at the military high command, remember that two weeks ago, I had argued here that propaganda as presently used by the armed forces in the fight against Boko Haram was not working. I said in that particular article that the military should leave propaganda for the insurgents and take over the intelligence space.

In the last paragraph of the article, I stated thus: “What I expect the army to be doing is to scream in strategic silence and leave propaganda for the evil group. Fighting enemies of the country on the pages of newspapers is not the hallmark of a military that is prepared and equipped to protect and preserve the territorial integrity of the nation!”

I am commending the military because I have noticed that since then, the army has significantly slowed on propaganda and this is welcome. We want to see the military on ground. We want to hear news of their conquests. Let the terrorists win in propaganda and lose the war. That is what Nigerians want.

And this brings me to the next thing the army should do. You see, last week, we read that hunters in the troubled North-East mobilised themselves and reclaimed Mubi, a town in Adamawa State that was recently conquered and occupied by Boko Haram.

While Nigerians were celebrating this significant push back, I was busy reflecting on its significance in the fight against terror in Nigeria.

My takeout from this is that the Nigerian army will record greater successes if they bend over backwards and work with local intelligence and even manpower in the dire need to restore in totality, the territorial integrity of our dear nation that has been heavily compromised by the rampaging terrorists.

And there are very simple ways to achieve this.

If you recall, I have, in the recent past, done an article with the title, ‘The Insect that lives inside the vegetable.’ I had argued then that the bulk of the undesirable elements that perpetrate criminality in our society do not come from distant lands. They live among us.

In the same vein, those with the ground knowledge and willpower that can be harnessed to defeat terrorism are not the guys with decorated uniforms in high places. They are the people who are on the ground and who know the sources of the challenges we face.

If the army and the official intelligence community can mobilise, empower and organise them, a whole lot can be achieved.

It happened recently in Turkey and Syria where ordinary people were encouraged to take up arms against rapidly advancing ISIS and prevented them from taking a very key town on the TurkishSyrian border.

But the challenge here still remains the vestiges of institutional ego left in the military, which makes them uncomfortable when it is heard that ordinary local folks are succeeding where they had failed.

This should not be so.

Our goal as a nation is to defeat Boko Haram. It does not matter who inspires this push back. We should leave ego by the side and look at the big picture of victory. If it would take the dane guns of hunters in the North to run Boko Haram out of our cities, then that is the way to go.

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Politics SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

The Sunday Interview

Suswam: I won’t dump PDP over Senate ticket p.32-33

Interview

Taraba killings politically motivated, says Bwacha p.35

Landmines ahead of 2015 elections

The 2015 elections are under serious threat from the security challenges in the NorthEast and the nationwide condemnations which trailed the shoddy distribution of the permanent voter’s cards by the Independent National Electoral Commission and other issues. ONYEKACHI EZE and IBUKUN KAYODE examine whether these landmines are sufficient for the call for the postponement of the elections

Why I want to govern Delta State, by Ofuani p.36

Jonathan

W Biyi Adegoroye biyi.fire@yahoo.com 08033024007 © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

ith about 90 days to the general election, there is no gainsaying that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the various political parties have stepped up preparations for a hitch-free conduct of the polls in all parts of the country Early this year, INEC had released the election time table. Prominent on the list are party primaries for nomination of candidates for the elections which should be conducted between October 2 and December ending. While the first elections in the series, which are the Presidential and National Assembly, hold on February 14, 2015 the governorship and state assembly elections hold on February 28, 2015.

The commission, has since five months ago embarked on the issuance of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to the electorate who were captured during the 2011 nationwide voters registration exercise, and at the same time, have been conducting continuous voters’ registration (CVR) exercise to capture those who missed the last registration exercise and those who have attained age 18 since 2011 when the last election was conducted.

But while these exercises were underway, there

Jega

are still misgivings whether the elections would hold after all. Various developments in the polity, especially insecurity, are pointers in this direction.

Within the past few weeks, the Boko Haram terrorists group has increased its attacks on the three states in the North-East, captured about 12 local government areas.

It has also made incursions into Bauchi and Gombe states, besides Yobe, Adamawa and Borno which have become a theatre of war for over three years now. Cities like Mubi, Michika, Barma and Gwoza have become caliphates under the terrorists who last week killed 47 students in Potiskum alone. If these persist, some have argued that these landmines threaten the elections. Some have argued that there is a legal basis in the constitution for election to be postponed.

Repeating their aversion for the continued killings by the sect, Northern States Governors’ Forum last week urged President Goodluck Jonathan-led government to declare a total war to eliminate the terrorists currently ravaging the zone. Governor Babangida Aliyu, chairman of the forum, said: “Our job is complicated by the present predicaments in the country – Boko Haram, insecurity and abject poverty.

“We must, as leaders, all come together on bipartisan or non-partisan basis to encourage Mr. President and the Federal Government to declare total war and eliminate Boko Haram in our midst before the 2015 elections. They are no more terrorists but rebels, who have declared war against their country and have acquired illegal territories. We must therefore crush them,” he said.

Fear in the Senate The President of the Senate, David Mark, expressed this fear at the resumption of the National Assembly from its recess two months ago. Mark, who was contributing to the motion on insurgency in the country brought before the Senate, said the lawmakers were not comfortable with the way the insurgency was being prosecuted.

“We want a better strategy and precise statement that will give direction on how we are going to prosecute this war and end it as quickly as possible. It is not a question of election because election is not even on the table now. I would want us in the process of looking at the prayers (of the motion) take those that will assist us to prosecute this war. I agree with all of you that we are in the state of war, CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

The Sunday Interview

Suswam: I won’t dump over Senate ticket Against the background of insinuations that he may dump the Peoples Democratic Party if he is denied a ticket to the Senate, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State says he has no such plans. The two-term governor and former member of the House of Representatives, who clocked 50 yesterday, speaks on his life, career and other issues.

PHILIP NYAM reports How does it feel to be 50 in a country where life expectancy is about 45 years?

In everything, I give thanks and glory to God because Psalm 118: 23-25 says: “This is the day of the Lord; I shall rejoice and be glad in it.” I give glory to God because within a short space of 50, I have been able to be who I am today. It was only the grace of God that gave me the opportunity and privilege of being in the National Assembly for eight years and being governor for almost eight years before turning 50. There is no adjective that will qualify my gratitude to the Almighty God. I still feel as if it was yesterday.

I thank God for His mercies.

How was growing up like?

I was born into a very polygamous family; my father was a traditional ruler. I was born during the Tiv riots, the Atem Tyo in 1964. Then, the traditional rulers were the target because the feeling then was that they were supporting the NPC (Northern Peoples Congress) headed by the late Sardauna of Sokoto (Ahmadu Bello).

J.S. Tarka had the UMBC (United Middle Belt Congress). My father had more than 15 wives.

You know in a polygamous family, if your mother does not struggle, you end up in the village. I was lucky my mother was a struggling woman. I grew up basically with her picking up the bills. We were six, but two died and I am third in the line of the boys. So, I was born into a humble background. Of course, at the time, a traditional ruler was a big deal but it was just a local arrangement. So there were a lot of difficulties but my mother was able to struggle to overcome some of those hiccups and gave us education. All of us became university graduates. While I was in form two in 1978 my father passed on and the entire responsibility of raising six children was on my mother’s shoulders.

She was very industrious and was able to move us from the village to Makurdi. She was able to train us.

Fundamentally, I grew up with my grandmother but still under the same circumstances.

Suswam

What were the lessons you learnt from her?

I would say discipline, courage and commitment without necessarily being aggressive.

My mother was a very disciplined woman and that has helped me in life. You will never see me being aggressive or shouting or making a noise. I am very disciplined about things that I want to do. I also know that I am a very courageous person.

I got that from my

mother. I fear only God but I respect people.

Once I set my eyes on something, I am always focused.

What motivated you to go into politics?

Let me say that I did not like politics. My immediate older brother was the one that was into politics. But while growing up, we attended NKST Primary School, Zaki-Biam. NKST mission school was where a measure of discipline was an exercise. If you could not spell a word correctly, you were given severe punishment.

You had to be punctual in school and a lot of moral issues that we were put through helped in guiding me. From NKST Primary School, I went to St. Andrew’s Secondary School, Adikpo, also a mission school, where I did my Form One and Two before moving on to Government College, Makurdi. Government College was a unity school with a lot of discipline. From there, I went to SBS Makurdi and from there to University of Lagos. I wanted to become an economist. Right from secondary school, I was very good at some subjects like History, in which I got an A1 in my WAEC. In Literature, I had an A2; Economics I had an A3; and Geography. I was focused on being an economist but when I went to SBS, the stories about wigs and lawyers became a big attraction. So, after SBS, I came out with 10 points and I decided that I was going to be a lawyer. I applied to University of Lagos.

I hadn’t been to Lagos then, but the university was the first thing that took me to Lagos in 1986.

I was given admission.

After graduating and qualifying as a lawyer, I started practice with some senior colleague’s chambers and later joined Harris Ogbole. We were just struggling young lawyers. But we decided that we were moving to Abuja and it was while in Abuja that I started going home and I met some friends with a disposition to politics. Suddenly, (former head of state) Gen. Sani Abacha died. I was at home when he died and the young men began to meet and I was meeting with them. When they formed the Peoples Democratic Party, we began meeting as the youth wing and I found myself visiting my local government area regularly. Even at that I had no intention of running for an elective position. I just wanted to help the process and I was attending their meetings. Then people started talking about the House of Representatives. I didn’t know what it meant but I began to develop interest and all the young men were with me. I eventually became serious and was nominated and elected to the House. It was not a conscious and deliberate effort on my part.

It was circumstances that pushed me into it. I thank God that He had a different plan for me, while I was planning a different thing.

Who would you say is your role model?

Whose style of politicking attracted you?

Like I said, my immediate elder brother was the one into politics. As far as I was concerned, it was a waste of time and I was like: ‘Why can’t you do something better?’ But frankly,

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for me. If we go to the field and he defeats me, I will support him and I expect same from him. But this propaganda in the papers that the presidency and Abuja have said this and that will not work.

PDP at the time that I made up my mind to join politics, most of the people who are elders in the state were also new in the game. Senator George Akume was just coming in from the civil service; Senator Barnabas Gemade started with CNC (Congress for National Change), and Senator Iyorchia Ayu who was somebody that would be considered older in the game.

But all of them had not practised politics for more than 10 years. So, it was like a new thing that we were all coming into.

Because I wasn’t politically conscious, I wouldn’t say that there was any outstanding politician that (I took after). While a student of politics in SBS, people like Aminu Kano and Waziri Ibrahim attracted me a lot. There were prominent people that I used to listen to and what Dr. Olusola Saraki was doing in Kwara interested me a lot. I took interest in them and I eventually had to join. But my joining politics was just circumstantial.

What attracted you about these leaders?

And what about people like JS Tarka?

JS Tarka had died at this time. He died in 1980. I met these people and listened to them but I hadn’t the opportunity of meeting Tarka.

In 1980 I was still in secondary school. Look at the philosophy of Aminu Kano, somebody who believed in poor people - the Talakawas; what gave him joy was to make people happy.

For Waziri, you know that there is so much bitterness and treachery in politics and for somebody to practise politics without bitterness it was something significant. Even at our A Levels, you could see bitterness along tribal lines on issues that were trivial but for someone that was interested in power and yet do not believe in bitterness I was attracted to him. For Saraki, you know his larger than life image then as leader of the Senate. I learnt a lot from the politics of Aminu Kano because once you are with the people nothing can stop you from achieving your political goals, no matter what the elites say. Aminu Kano was one politician that believed in that and it worked for him.

Bearing the fact that you almost of the same age as Nigeria, would you say the nation has changed for good since independence?

There is a tremendous change; a positive change. The way we change is so dramatic, but we have a lot of mischievous people who want to see the negative part. As late as the 90’s, who was driving SUV cars here? Who was talking on GSM? Who were the people that had private jets? Educationally, we have progressed in a manner that is unprecedented.

Even in terms of infrastructure; as late as the 90’s, how many roads were tarred? For me, we have positively changed. As late as when I came to the National Assembly, it was a big deal for somebody to buy a Tokunboh (fairly used imported) car in Benue; it was usually announced that this young man had arrived. As late as 1999, you could count how many young men that could afford these cars. Even when I was in Lagos and we bought these cars, each time we travelled home we were like kings.

The changes are simply amazing.

When we begin to compare ourselves with developed economies, these are people who were flying aircraft in the 20’s. We are trying to compare ourselves with them and feeling that we are lagging behind. But I will say that between 1960 and now, we have changed a lot.

The only problem we have that has created a major issue in the society is corruption, because from 1960 up to the time the military took over, those people were actually determined to set Nigeria on the path of development. Unfortunately, the military came in and distorted the plan and so people began to see more reasons

in material things than working for the overall interest of the Nigerian people. It was also the military intervention and the civil war that brought armed robbery into our country. So, while there are positive changes, there are also some negative ones but on the whole I would say the positives are overwhelming.

Can you give us an insight into your family life? How did you meet your wife?

I got married in 1998. We met a year before then in Kaduna. I was in Kaduna and she was also visiting. It was in a restaurant with her friends. She had finished her national service and was working with FCDA while I was a freelance young lawyer who was all over the place. We met and started joking and I said she looked like someone that would be a good wife. Incidentally, she was in Abuja and I used to come here. The CAC had just started and we were coming to Abuja often to register companies and we were making some cash and behaving big. Then, land lines were working so we started talking on the phone and one thing led to another and we dated for a year. We got married in Ibadan. We have a son, Terna, but before then I had a relationship that did not work out and produced a son, Shima.

So, I have two big boys. She is an architect.

The issue of godfatherism is real in Nigeria. There were insinuations that there was godfather who was dictating to you and at a point you said you could take it anymore. What is your take on this?

Globally, you can’t rule out the issue of godfatherism. People give it different names in different spheres. Even for Barack Obama to have won election in the first place, there were people behind it. It is just that those people will not become visible as it is the case here.

You know once you assist the person to attain that, you have achieved your purpose.

So you allow the person to operate and guide the person from behind. But here the kind of godfathers and godmothers you have wanting to determine everything is not practicable.

My oldest son has just turned 17 and the other is 13; but sometimes when I sit down with them, they will tell me no, they can’t do that these are my children, talk less of adults. The problem here is that we don’t give space. Once you assist someone to an office, you want to determine what he does, even with his wife.

That kind of thing cannot work anywhere. I think as I exit, that is a lesson for me and that is why I have tried as much as possible to allow the situation in Benue to be free and fair so that any person who emerges can operate freely. I don’t want a situation whereby they will say this is Suswam’s boy. I don’t think that is right; our politics is developing.

Elsewhere, when people leave office, you don’t even hear about them except about their foundations and charity works. But here, people want to finish and come back and say I put this boy here and I must pull him out. So, for me, Senator Akume is my elder brother, he is my boss and we work together very closely.

He participated actively in making sure that I became governor. We parted ways politically, because there were certain tendencies that did not agree with my philosophy. We are not enemies but politically we parted ways. We still relate and I believe that there is room for us to relate more. So, like late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said, what should be permanent is the interest.

The issue of godfatherism in Nigeria is a big political problem for people wanting to remain in office when they are out of office. That can’t happen and that should not happen. I pray to God that I should not find myself in a position where I want to be in office even when I am out of office.

Suswam

People take politics in Nigeria as a means to an end, I don’t believe in that. I believe in PDP and will not change party because I want a position. If I want to leave politics, I am a professional and there is a lot that I can offer in other areas What is the relationship between you and Senator Barnabas Gemade?

Senator Gemade is a person I respect a great deal.

And as I said, when we started this politics there was a youth wing and he was a leader of the elders and eventually became the national chairman. When I became governor and he said he wanted to become senator, I supported him with all my heart. Senator Joseph Akaagerger was the senator at the time. He wanted a second term but we pulled Akaagerger out because of the respect we had for Gemade. And when he was campaigning, everywhere he went, and I say this on my honour; let him deny that he never said that he was doing it for one term. We have a tacit understanding in my senatorial zone that whichever district gets it is for eight years.

It is not written but it is a tacit understanding. I challenge Senator Gemade to deny that he did not promise to do only one term to complete the eight years that was given to them. That is why the entire elders, with no exception in Zone A, were the people who bought my nomination form; they were the people who said I should go to the Senate. The Senate is actually not supposed to go to my district; we are composed of 10 districts in my senatorial zone. But elders from that district agreed as it is the tradition and customary with the Tiv people to loan it to my own district. They know that after I have done eight years, as the case may be, they will have it back. So, what I expected from Senator Gemade as an elder statesman was to call all of us and say, look we have an understanding in our senatorial district but these four years are not enough for me; what can we do? Instead, he went about attacking me, assassinating my character and I felt that for an elder that is not right. The people decided that I should go to the Senate and the elders unanimously said I should go. They bought my form. I have nothing against Senator Gemade and I still respect him up till tomorrow as an elder statesman, but we are in a contest. Political contest is not about age; it is about whom the people want and the people want me in that zone. Based on the understanding in the senatorial zone, he should not be feeling entitled to it; there is an ‘entitled mentality.’ If something does not belong to you by the local arrangement on ground and you now feel entitled to it because you were this and that; all of us have been something.

I believe that we should go to the contest. I am not saying he should step down for me; I am not going to the President to ask Senator Gemade to step down

But we have heard that the PDP has given all senators automatic tickets…

No, no, no…the PDP is the only highly democratic party in this country. The PDP will not bring a policy that will create problems and self-implosion in the party. Even with President Goodluck Jonathan, we adopted him as our sole candidate and we want that to be our precedent. Subsequently, if there is a sitting President, he should be given the right of first refusal. We want to also extend that to governors eventually. But this thing will evolve; so it is not something you put as a law. So, no person has given any senator any automatic ticket. The party and the President feel that as we grow institutions, there are certain people that should be part of the growing of the institutions. But this is by way of appeal where it is possible and practicable. So when people begin to engage in propaganda to say that we have been given automatic tickets, that is not the way democracy is practised. There is nothing like that; no such arrangement and no such meeting has taken place and nobody has promised any person any automatic ticket anywhere. Where there is consensus and acceptance, it is possible but where people feel that they should go to the field, the party has allowed that we go to the field. The person who would have been given an automatic ticket would have been Mr. President but that wasn’t the case. What happened was that the governors met and said we will support only President Jonathan; the legislators met and said we will support only Jonathan and when the National Working Committee of the party met, they also agreed unanimously that the President should be the sole candidate of our own party. So no person should go and spread falsehood anywhere that he has been given an automatic ticket. That is not done and I do not think PDP as a democratic party will even do a thing like that.

Will you dump the PDP should the national leadership of your party prevail on you to step down for Gemade?

I don’t think that scenario will arise. But PDP is a party that I started with in 1998. I am not a flippant person. I am a very philosophical person and I believe in certain ideologies. People take politics in Nigeria as a means to an end, I don’t believe in that.

I believe in PDP and will not change party because I want a position. If I want to leave politics, I am a professional and there is a lot that I can offer in other areas. But I can assure you that the President and leadership of the party will not engage in that.

What is the relationship between you and Senate President, David Mark?

For the first time in the history of this country, the Senate president and his governor have a harmonious cordial relationship. At the ward ad hoc delegate congresses, he and I agreed on virtually everything that happened in Benue. He is far older than me, and far more experienced than I am. So, I tap a lot of wisdom from what he is doing. If I were giving him problems at home, he wouldn’t have been able to stabilise the polity. We are working in harmony.

You have been in the House for eight years and you are governor for almost eight years. Is there no other thing you can do?

That is why I am not contesting for governor; I want to go to the Senate. What we need are people who are very experienced. That is the way we can develop the country. America is not a good example but we keep citing it because our constitution is modeled after theirs. Politics is not an all-comers affair; there are families that are political and you can’t just wake up in your village and say you want to become a governor. You can’t just wake up and say: ‘I have made money from crude oil so I want to be President.’ In the US, you must be a senator, a governor or a member of the House of Representatives before becoming President. We must develop our political culture here and that is the only way we can stabilise the system. So, when you have people with my kind of experience wanting to go to the Senate, I believe that it is to add value and develop that institution and it is not for any selfish interest.

We are not saying we will entrench ourselves in the executive; we want to build these institutions. It is only in Nigeria that people go and do 419 abroad and come here to stand for election. I believe that at the age of 50, I have a lot to offer, given the experience that I have garnered over the years.

34

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politics / Analysis

Landmines ahead of 2015 elections C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 1

and what is happening now is a challenge even to our legitimacy in this chamber,” he said.

Mark’s deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, was more direct in his argument. He told his colleagues: “If we don’t resolve the problem in the North-East, we may not have elections in 2015 because Section 180(3) of the Constitution says if the country is at war, there may not be elections. Of course, the country is at war now. Democracy is being rolled back in North-East.”

As a way of prosecuting the war, the three North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have been under partial emergency rule for more than one year now, due to the activities of the outlawed extremists. But despite these efforts to put an end to the crisis, it is assuming more dangerous dimension.

The sect had abducted and held in captivity, over 200 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State for over seven months now. It claimed that it has married out the girls, and even a few ones who escaped are believed to be either pregnant and/or infected with the HIV/AIDS. It has as well annexed more than 12 local government areas from the three states and declared them Caliphates - Islamic territories.

Nangere experience Under this circumstance, INEC might find it difficult to move men and materials to these states for the conduct of elections. For instance, it took INEC nearly two years to conduct a by-election into Nangere constituency of Yobe State House of Assembly following the death of the member representing the constituency.

Adamu Degubi, the member representing the constituency was killed by gunmen in June 2012, but it was on May 28 this year that INEC was able to conduct the by-election to fill the seat, due to the fear of the terrorists.

Alhaji Muhammadu Ibn Grema, the Emir of Nangere, regretted that the people had been without a member in the House for two years, “which means that our interests have not been represented there during the period.”

Precarious enough, there were allegations that the sect members were trying to infiltrate the commission by presenting their members as ad hoc staff since no member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is willing to be engaged as INEC ad hoc worker in these states given what happened in the 2011 elections in Bauchi State.

This goes to present the insecure situation in the emergency states in the 2015 general election. INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has admitted that security is a big challenge of the commission, especially in the three states in the North-East, as it prepares to conduct next year’s general election.

“We cannot put our men and resources at risk. But we are having an inter-agencies security meetings going on frequently in this regard,” Jega said. To underscore the seriousness of the situation, INEC had already ruled out the possibility of holding election in Mubi and Madagali local government areas before the botched October 11 Adamawa governorship by-election. The two local government areas have been overran by insurgents.

INEC said people had deserted their homes to safer locations in three other local government areas of Maha, Mubi North and Mubi South as a result of attacks by insurgents on their villages. This has given rise to the emergence of a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Former acting governor of Adamawa State, Umaru Finitiri said there were over 40, 000 IDPs in the state who are now living in makeshift camps where they were catered for by officials of the National Emergence Management Agency (NEMA). NEMA also said it registered 58,000 IDPs in Borno State.

INEC is worried that the internally displaced persons may be denied the opportunity of exercising their franchise during the general election. Some of them were not even captured

Mu’azu

during the continuous voters’ registration exercise.

During the second phase of CVR exercise, INEC had appealed to the IDPs who were still living in the host communities to come out to register, so that they too could be properly catered for.

The fear of disenfranchisement in the botched Adamawa gubernatorial by-election made the IDPs in the state to visit the then acting governor, Fintiri, requesting that they should be allowed to cast their votes in Yola, the state capital.

Fintiri, while agreeing to the suggestion, noted that he would prefer that the displaced persons cast their votes in Yola since over 60 per cent of them are residents in Yola, noting that it would be less burdensome for INEC and the electorate in terms of proximity.

But in this present circumstance, some residents of the area have escaped to Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic. The question is: Would INEC also create voting centres for them in these countries? How will they be identified as Nigerians if the commission eventually decides to adopt Diasporan voting system, even though the National Assembly is yet to pass the necessary legislation on that?

INEC had earlier solicited the assistance of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution for the participation of the IDPs in the elections. Jega said this could be done by studying the peculiar circumstances of the IDPs to determine their number so as “to see how the commission could reach and register them so they can vote in the elections.”

To the All Progressives Congress (APC), the call for postponement was orchestrated by the PDP in its bid to continue to hold onto power.

APC spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed described election as the lifeblood of democracy, “the mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates. It is the only way for the citizenry to renew and refresh the governing process so they can get the most benefits out of democracy. Therefore, anyone that tries to sabotage this mechanism is aiming a dagger straight at the heart of democracy.”

The governors of the three insurgency-ridden states also kicked against the call for the postponement. In a statement, the governors asked INEC to ignore such calls but should courageously hold the elections like it was done in Afghanistan, the country also facing terrorism challenges.” Afghanistan was celebrated worldwide for liberating herself from the scourge of fear, thereby sending a strong signal that no threat would prevent them from choosing their leaders through democratic processes.” However, not without a price as over 22 people were killed in the elections.

U-turn over new polling booths Besides insurgency and the resultant problem of IDPs facing INEC, the commission had contended with controversies trailing its pro-

Odigie-Oyegun

posal to create additional 30,027 polling units.

Though it suspended the plans on Tuesday, the decision by the commission to give the North 70 per cent of the new polling units was described as illogical as it was manifestly skewed to confer advantage on the North.

INEC has dismissed the argument, describing it as full of “comedian and sentimental comments.” Kayode Idowu, Chief Press Secretary to Jega said “since the conduct of elections is crucial in our national life, we have not waived off some of these primordial and ethnic sentiments.”

PVC controversies The controversies over the distribution of PVCs across the states also pose serious challenge to the conduct of the elections. In Lagos State, over 1.4 million registered voters could not locate their names in the registers, in addition to the fact that electorate in eight local governments could not receive their cards in the state. In Enugu State, voter registers in over 62 polling units were said to have been wiped out, an action which INEC blamed on viral attack on its computers. The exercise has been postponed in Nasarawa State.

Though INEC promised and adopted remedial measures by requesting people whose names were missing in the registers to present themselves for fresh registration but the time given for such exercise and other logistical problems are hindering the process.

The other challenge is the crisis trailing the conduct of PDP ward congresses on November 2 due to the desire of the outgoing governors to impose their preferred candidates against the directive of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC). This may not have direct consequence on the conduct of the elections but the court processes thereafter are likely to overheat the polity.

Idowu said that despite the security challenges and the fact that the terrorists are often detonate their bombs at crowded areas, INEC is still working towards holding elections in the North-East. “INEC is not security agency; we are working with security agencies and we believe that before the elections there will be peace in the area,” he asserted.

Legality of postponement Reacting to the possibility of holding the elections next year in the face of the current landmines, a Lagos-based legal practitioner, Jiti Ogunye, said it is very possible to conduct the elections. He said the soldiers that were deployed to Lagos State in January 2012, during the protest against the removal of fuel subsidy or those ones mobilised to Ekiti and Osun states, should be redeployed to the North to ensure safe election.

To him, the phobia of Boko Haram shouldn’t be a pretense for not holding election anywhere in the country. According to him, “Nigerians have been tolerant enough. You

wanted a state of emergency declared it was declared, soldiers mobilised, so what else should we do? As citizens under the constitution, we are not allowed to bear arms to defend ourselves... But management of violence is still professionalised in the arms of soldiers and unfortunately, right now it appears that the duty is not well performed. We are losing territories. Boko Haram is renaming part of Nigeria, hoisting flags getting emboldened everyday by conquest and giving assurances to people not to flee anymore because they will guarantee their security.”

He said Nigerians living in that area have done everything to ensure that government protected them but they are not getting it. “If you say election should not take place, it is not just about presidential election that has the entire country. As constituencies you also have local government elections. So what will happen there? There would be no governors, State House of Assemblies and federal legislatures. This is more serious than what people just think because it also impugns on the constitutional rights of the people there to elect government of their choice,” he said.

Ogunye wants the government to live up to its responsibility of ensuring security of life and property. He urged it to spare no effort to make sure elections take place in those areas.

“It’s not just about election, you cannot safely go to school, work, go to mosque or church to freely worship and more than that which will cause internal migration,” he said.

Asked what constitutional huddles should be scaled if the elections be postponed because of insecurity, he said: “If the election cannot be held, there is a constitutional provision that says it can be postponed. But, it will be a major violation of the right of the people.

You cannot profit from your own wrong. The primary responsibility of the government is the security and welfare of the people. He said the people elected the government and they cannot discharge the primary duty of being in government, they now want to profit from that inefficiency by seeking extension of tenure through the back door by saying election should be postponed.

Ogunye said however, that “If the election should be postponed, that means the incumbent should continue. During engagement of America in World War they were having elections, as well as Britain too when they were in war. So what will then be the basis of not holding election because of Boko Haram is in the North- East?

He strongly believe that elections should hold and instead of proposing postponement of election, government should arm the people living in these communities and protect themselves from these insurgents which have consistently decimated the population, since the military have either displayed share incompetence or have failed to protect the nation’s territorial integrity.

35

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Politics / Interview

Taraba killings politically motivated, says Bwacha Senator Emmanuel Bwacha represents Taraba South and is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture. He speaks with CHUKWU DAVID on the killings in the state as well as the position of the law on the current state of health of Governor Danbaba Suntai Taraba killings politically motivated, says Sen. Bwacha Senator Emmanuel Bwacha represents Taraba South and is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture. He speaks with CHUKWU on the killings in the state as well as the position of the law on the current state of health of Governor Danbaba Suntai In recent times, your state has witnessed series of killings. Would you say that those killings were politically motivated?

I have never hidden my position on that, that the killings going on in Taraba are politically motivated because the agitation for power shift is a popular one across the state.

Some people who feel that this may thwart their ambition or their selfish interest sought to import some elements from neighbouring states that are being infested with insurgency into Taraba, particularly in the Southern part that is clamouring for power shift, so that they can create an impression that the place is not peaceful, and so they don’t deserve to govern. We know their intension; we know the purpose. They were trusting God that they would overcome, and they will not succeed by the way.

Recently, the Federal Government touted a ceasefire agreement with the Boko Haram but the sect tends to violate the so-called agreement. How do you see such agreement with a terrorist group?

Well, I will speak as a Christian. The scripture says seek peace with everybody and holiness, without which no man can see The Lord. The scripture says this in the book of Hebrews. But I think the man of the world looks at it differently. And remember also that all governments in the world, none is working for the kingdom of God. All are products of the first rebellion initiated by Nimrod against God. Now, if we are looking at it from this perspective, you say well; the standard practice in the world is that you don’t negotiate with terrorists. But these are human beings who have indicated that they want peace. And like I said, if it is a genuine peace, it should be welcome. But if it is peace intended to produce another mischief, government can now think twice about this. I am not involved in the negotiation. The people involved are better equipped with the facts of the matter, and then they will be able to say whether there was violation or not. Another school has it that the insurgents are factionalized. One faction wants the peace agreement and the other faction does not want it.

Whether it is true, to me is still at the realm of speculation because I am not involved. On the whole, we must live to seek peace especially in the world that is already running out on its own. That is my take on this.

Your State, Taraba has been in the news as a result of the political tussle between Governor, Danbaba Suntai, who has been sick and his Deputy Alhaji Garba Umar. As an insider, what is the current state of affairs of governance there?

You should know that the Governor was involved in an accident and his deputy has been there acting.

There has been speculation that efforts are being made to get the governor back on seat even when he is not fully recovered. Is this true?

I am not aware that somebody wants to get Suntai back to his seat. What I know is that the governor has been on treatment and he is recovering; God is helping him. On whether somebody wanted to get him back to his seat, that is not within my knowledge.

In the face of the continued ill health of Suntai, are there plans to make the acting governor a substantive governor?

Suntai is not incapacitated; he is sick but not incapacitated. The Constitution clearly talks of permanent incapacitation. Now, people, for whatever reason, have interpreted this that the deputy governor should become the substantive governor. This has led the deputy governor to try to even remove Suntai from office against known moral standards. I stand to differ that Suntai is not incapacitated. He is still the governor of Taraba State; and the deputy governor has been involved in a plot to remove him, and I believe he cannot because he doesn’t have the capacity from the position of law. So, Suntai is recovering.

As a lawyer by training and a lawmaker with cognate experience, is there a time limit provided, of which if a sick governor does not recover, then he can be replaced by his deputy…?

The Constitution does not foresee a situation like this. It is not there. And he is still the governor except otherwise. The truth about it is that, as a Christian, I know that God is the God of all flesh; he can decide to ensure that Suntai stands on his feet even as I am speaking with you now and walk himself to his office. So, here it does not require any hullabaloo about law. So, nothing is impossible with God. As we approach 2015, don’t you think that the deputy governor can use his power of incumbency to emerge as the next governor of Taraba?

Bwacha

Well, power of incumbency works where morality is adhered to; but where morality is thrown to the dust bin and it becomes a battle between light and darkness, I don’t see how incumbency will survive a scenario like this.

This is a person who wasn’t part of the ticket for forming government in Taraba; the governor brought him midway into his second term and decided he should be his deputy.

Two weeks after, the governor had the crash.

And shortly after that crash, the man has been involved in both overt and covert means to destroy his principal; not only to sack him but to destroy him. Now you can see why I say that it is a battle between darkness and light.

So, as long as there is one God that reigns from above, it is difficult to say darkness will prevail over light. That is the position in Taraba. So, he hasn’t the strength of incumbency because he lacks moral authority, and Taraba is filled with people who know God. So, God cannot abandon His people for an agent of principality that doesn’t know God; that preaches but doesn’t fear God. How do you see 2015 as it affects Taraba in terms of actual contenders and pretenders; and what is your ambition in 2015?

My ambition? I am running to come back to the Senate. We have presented a common candidate from the South who deserves to have the governor. The Minister of State for Niger Delta, Arc. Darius Ishaka, has resigned and he is running on our own endorsement, and we are trusting God that he will win because we are standing on the part of truth and justice.

So, we have no fear; we believe he is going to win. That is the position for now for 2015.

Some people argue that endorsement, zoning or rotation of elective offices is undemocratic. In the face of this, how would you describe your position on who becomes the next governor?

Well, if you say that zoning is undemocratic, I agree with you. I will not refuse because democracy is all about what the people say, and here when the people’s preponderance of opinion favours zoning, it becomes democratic because eventually they will win even at the ballot box. So, it depends on which perspective you are looking at zoning. If zoning is done by a few people to suit the interest of a few, it will not stand but if zoning is done by the majority who are expected to go and cast their votes, then zoning has become democratic. So, to say that zoning is undemocratic depends entirely on the angle you are coming from. In our own case, it is a very popular matter in the state. All the three senatorial districts were in agreement. If you say it is undemocratic, we will go and vote and you will see whether it is democratic or not because democracy is about number; the number of people that are going to vote.

Again, the same school of thought says that zoning breeds mediocrity in the system. What is your view on this and how do we manage the situation so that it does not flood the polity with mediocre?

Yes, I agree with you, if we place that against what federal character says, that sometimes it throws up mediocre; but here we are talking about zoning in elective offices that will be backed up by votes. If you zone and it is not popular among the people, whoever you zone will not win. So, the question of mediocre emerging does not arise. Now, when people sit together entirely and decide to elect somebody and you call him a mediocre, then you are insulting the people’s psyche. That is the decision of the people. Now, if you say federal character has produced this man, there was no input from people though the ballot box, these are two different scenarios.

Sometimes, even the federal character itself is good so as to stabilize the body polity but it CONTINUED ON PAGE 37

36

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politics / Interview

Why I want to govern Delta State, by Ofuani Chief Clement T. Ofuani was the first aspirant to formally declare his aspiration for the gubernatorial seat in Delta State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. An erstwhile Special Adviser to the President on Economic Planning and former Commissioner for Economic Planning in the state, Ofuani shares his vision with a group of journalists. ONWUKA NZESHI was there Why do you want to become the next governor of Delta State?

Let me state clearly that it is not a matter of what my desire really is. It is a matter of looking at what our society requires at this point, looking at who I am and where I am coming from. It is a matter of turning back to ask yourself what are the characteristics that you want to see in your governor, and putting them in a job box in order to tick off. You will find that you will be defining me essentially.

And I have run this by a number of people and they feel the same way, and so for me, it is really about sacrificing. If it were about my comfort and convenience, this is the last job I want to do. But the society can only be developed by people who understand what needs to be done and are ready to make the sacrifice to make these things happen. It is not going to be an easy job. Anyone that tells you it is going to be an easy job is either lying to you or is ignorant of what the job is really about.

There are many other gubernatorial aspirants in the race. Why should the electorate choose you?

If you listened to or read my declaration statement, I said that if our society wants to see change, then our processes of identifying and selecting our leaders have to be adjusted or reviewed. And what I meant is that simply looking at somebody’s curriculum vitae and saying that he is ‘ex this or ex that’ is inadequate to recommend the person for the job.

We need to be able to evaluate each person on the viability of his vision, previous performance and strength of character. We need to ask whether he is the type of person that wavers, whether he is the type of person that is easily pushed around, or is somebody who is steady, spiritually secure, psychologically ready and intellectually sound.

These are, to me, the things that we require.

Strength of character, firmness, fairness, integrity, openness, accountability, accessibility, and you can name many more of them. I have seen lots of highly intelligent people with all the good qualifications in this world get into office and into management positions and fail.

They fail because there is a character flaw that was not identified at the time he or she was being elected. So what am I bringing to the table to make the difference? That I stood up against big interests at difficult moments and made my decision and position very clear and at the end of the day, I won them over with superior arguments. Being a governor, you are going to face divergent interests and you have to make decisions at every point, one at a time. The question is, what sort of decisions are you going to be making? Are you going to be trading off the poor for the rich, or are you going to stand up to the rich in favour of the poor? These are some of the things that we need to confirm, and I know that I have that strength of character and I have demonstrated that I live my word.

We have a political culture where people vote based on primordial sentiments rather than the quality of the candidate.

How do you intend to overcome this tendency on the part of people to settle for short term benefits in electing their leaders?

I totally agree with you that there is a tendency towards being very emotional in these times when we ought to think with our heads, but end up acting our hearts. This is also not really a characteristic of our people as Afri-

cans, Deltans or Nigerians. We are a product of our historical experience. There is a tendency to feel more at home with someone who is your kith and kin. It could be either the same skin colour, which becomes a racial problem, or it could be the same language group and it becomes an ethnic problem, or it could be the same local government or senatorial district or zone. As you can see, you can basically classify them in various ways. I also know that the average human being is basically a decent being, and decency attracts people. It’s very attractive. Look at the issue of treating people with decency as I said in my declaration statement that in the course of travelling the length and breadth of Delta state, I sensed the yearning by our people to be treated with dignity but some people will not understand however, I will give you an example. When I wanted to do my declaration, I chose the venue as a hotel where people could be under a roof and where they could be calmly seated, because I realised that my declaration was not going to be heard by only the people there. They represented a sample population that needed to hear me so that it could go out to the rest of the world. I was concerned about their comfort and convenience. We said we would start by 12 noon and we did. Everybody was comfortable. Now, some others took their own declaration to the open field creating the impression that it was about the size of the crowd. They were not concerned about putting people under the harsh weather and the elements, or about the traffic congestion they caused in the town as a result of their activities. So which option demonstrated concern and respect for your dignity? It is this same thing they are doing now that they will do when they get into office. They drive along the streets and believe you should not be on the road because they are passing by. And that is the reason I think it is important for our people to judge us on how we live out our examples.

Let’s have a look at your agenda. What do you have for Deltans?

That is ultimately what it is about. One thing is to have a plan of action and another is to implement it. Nigerians have often been accused of having beautiful plans but failing in the aspect of implementation, and that is why I keep going back to the issue of strength of character. Once you have agreed that I have demonstrated in my life, both in the public and the private sector that I am a man of steel, and I can implement everything I say, then we can start talking about what I have on my agenda.

Now, I took the pains over the past three years to ponder on the problems of Deltans, and I have written copiously on most of these areas in over 30 essays on various aspects of our lives, from agriculture, to education, to industrialisation to youth unemployment and I have published them on national newspapers and they are on my website. These are the ways which you can use to evaluate me. I then put together my manifesto. It is a Three-Point Plan for the development of

Delta State.

Again, because I know that it is the job of government to provide leadership, both moral and spiritual in directing the people, I take value reorientation as key because unless we have a society that is functional instead of dysfunctional, we can’t build. So that is the first plan, changing our reward system, and changing incentives for people to do the right thing.

The second plan is business competitiveness environment. I chose this because it has already been proved that there is a direct relationship between investment flow and business competitiveness and that there is also a nexus between investment flow and job creation. It is recognition of the fact that it is the job of government to create an environment that will attract businesses to make profit and in doing so they will create jobs for our people.

The third part of my plan is security. I take the issue of security seriously because we know what is happening to us. It is a failure of the national security architecture that had prior to this period been more directed as show of force. Security was seen only in terms of armed soldiers and policemen on the streets, but now we have people other than our policemen and soldiers who have access to better and more sophisticated weapons than even our soldiers, and they are overrunning the whole place. We need a new security architecture that focuses on intelligence gathering, intelligence analysis and utilization such that crimes are actually nipped in the bud before they occur.

Then we will have a safer society. Then we will support it with food security, with plans that improve agricultural production through robust value chain development as is being implemented currently by President Goodluck Jonathanled Federal Government, and of course, support it with social security structure.

The PDP primaries are coming up by the end of

Ofuani

this month. How prepared are you and your team?

My team is very prepared. We have taken all the steps required of us, and we participated in the delegate congress which elected the three ad-hoc delegates per ward. These are the people who are going to make the decision of who the flag bearer of the state will be.

I like to believe that the delegates are very reasonable people and they know that the decision they make today will affect their children’s tomorrow, and I have already appealed to them to make these decisions with the highest sense of responsibility and not to be lured by the razzmatazz of power wielders and that of people who have excess dollars and want to continue to maintain a stranglehold over our common patrimony.

I feel confident because I believe I represent a very strong brand. In all my consultations, I have not met anyone that did not feel that I am prepared for the job and I believe that if more and more people have that belief in me, eventually our sense of decency and our sense of desire for a better society will drive them to come to my corner of the ring.

What message do you have for Deltans, to your team, to the delegates and to Nigeria?

First to my team, I’m immensely proud of what they have done. These young men and women, mostly youths, have been incredible.

They have been out on the waterways, been on the roads day and night, working the political field. I am very proud of them, and I hope that when we get there, they will become good examples of the future of our state.

To the rest of Delta, I know that you could feel that the political class has given you reasons to doubt the sincerity of people but I come to you with my public records out in the open, with my determination to serve you as your servant, as your very humble servant in the best meaning of those terms. I ask you to support me and together, we will build the Delta of our dreams

37

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Politics / Column

Scramble for umbrella at GEJ’s declaration Villa Notes emmyanule@yahoo.com

Anule Emmanuel

W

hile many would argue that poverty in real sense, is a state of the mind, others will agree too that it is indeed a physical living condition. Considering the fact that what affects the body also affects the mind, it could be said that they go hand in hand.

It is difficult to situate what played out at the Eagle Square, venue of Tuesday declaration

by President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 presidential election, within these contexts of poverty.

As early as 6am, the Eagle Square, heavily decorated and mashed in PDP colours (red, green and white) began to receive visitors of all kinds, the opulent, political heavy weights and peasants from across the country.

For majority of those who formed the cheering crowd at the ceremony, it would appear that watching and hearing the President respond with the word ‘yes’ to the clarion call to contest the 2015 polls, was only the ultimate.

But the ever busy arena was not without desperadoes, those whose sole mission to the event was to loot.

Organisers of the ceremony obviously, did not disappoint anyone since they made sure that the podium was complete and presidential in outlook. The Eagle Square venue was full to capacity.

As they sang and danced waiting in jubilation for the arrival of the President at about 11:45 am, they also waited anxiously for the close of the event. The organisers stylishly used hundreds of umbrellas to decorate the venue. Under the hot sun, the crowd waited and watched umbrellas which they could not have access to.

Speakers took turns. After the chairman of the presidential declaration committee Dr. Haliru Bello, state governors and other party chieftains, President Jonathan finally walked to the podium amid cheers at exactly 2:45pm to deliver his 45 minutes acceptance speech.

He could not proceed without calling for the observance of one minute of silence in honour of about 50 children who were killed by a sui-

T

cide bomber in Yobe State the previous day.

One aspect of his speech which lifted the spirit of the crowd was the final acceptance.

Imagine if the President had changed his mind! He said:”I Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan have accepted to re-present myself, on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party for re-election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 2015 general elections” With the speech over, the event had come to a close and so desperate youths could not even wait any longer for the President to leave the arena. It was looting time. They brought everything down- the small sized umbrellas used to decorate the square inclusive.

Interestingly, they were not alone, security

operatives including the police joined in the scramble spray for items like rugs, strips of clothes and other fitting materials. One is tempted to believe that some of these youths actually were a hired crowd as alleged by opposition critics whose sole motive at the end was a survival mission.

The bravery of the youths in realising that they would not be harassed or arrested by security operatives who after all, also joined in the looting, remains another interesting part of the drama. When next the PDP organises such a rally, especially with the campaigns ahead, they would definitely need to order for new materials. For the looters, they had achieved their aim of attending the widely publicised event.

Making the N100 notes durable

he increase in the volume of dirty and torn naira notes in circulation has been a source of great concern to many Nigerians. Customers have really been finding it difficult to get new notes especially the N20, N50 and N100 denominations from banks.

While analysts blame the Central Bank of Nigeria for the increase in the volume of dirty notes, the commercial banks are also not left out. Many believe that commercial banks attempts to avoid the payment of surcharge against unsorted dirty notes which ought to have been returned to the CBN for authentication and destruction is also to blame.

The apex bank has at different times made attempts to ensure that Nigerians access cleaner notes without much success. This desire led to the launch of the first polymer notes in (N10,

N20, N50) in 2009 by the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Even the polymer notes which replaced the paper types are said to be in no way better.

Although, they come cleaner at first print and could outlast the paper, being that the substrate (the plastic) last longer than the paper, the co-substrate (printing chemical) is discovered to have a short life span.

But on Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan supported by the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emeifele, unveiled a new N100 note to commemorate Nigeria’s amalgamation, the centenary.

According to the CBN governor, the new N100 notes has been produced with the most advanced security features of the world with design platforms to include, durability, attrac-

tiveness, cultural heritage and transformation.

Nigerians love new notes, they also like spreading new notes at festive occasions.

What is lacking in them is the maintenance culture. The level at which the dollar is preserved is quite higher than the treatment that is often given to the naira. At some point, the CBN made some attempts to stop the habit of spraying naira notes at events but did not succeed.

This is why, there is the need that rather than spend so much money moving away from paper notes to polymer and again, from polymer back to paper notes, the apex bank should evolve strategies on how best to preserve the nation’s currency in terms of its durability. One of such definitely is encouraging high acceptability and effectiveness of the cashless policy.

Bwacha: Governors are tin gods C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 5

may not necessarily be very good because of the aspect of throwing up mediocre as you said. However, in politics, the reverse is the case because everybody will have to put his consent in the ballot box. So, if you say that also produces mediocrity then you are insulting the sensibility of the people, which also is not good.

About three weeks ago the National Assembly passed the Fourth Alteration Bill to the 1999 Constitution. In the Bill, you expunged the State Independent Electoral Commission, SIEC, and voted for the autonomy of local government; what informed your decision on these issues?

I think this position was informed by the various complaints across the states that these elections being conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission are not transparent. This does not however, mean that the Independent National Electoral Commission, has the monopoly of conducting transparent elections but the fact that has been established is that any state that is in government at the level of the state you see that their elections are conducted in a way that no any party wins such election. Every means is deployed to ensure victory for the party in power at the state. Now, if you look at the national level, the scenario appears to differ. In certain places, opposition party wins election but this feat is hardly performed in any state. And so, you find that the State Independent Electoral Commission has now become like a window dressing; a moribund institution or establishment in place to serve the interest of the state alone. If you are not in accord with the state government, you will not be heard.

There are many instances that, even before elections are concluded in the state, you find results being declared. And so, it goes also to speak for the local government autonomy which we passed. We agreed that local

Bwacha

government should be granted autonomy because it gingers development at the grassroots but what obtains in the states now is a place prepared for key officials of states to promote stealing; actually stealing state resources from what they call joint account.

Joint account of local government and state has become state craft in the various states. In my own state, it is there; the person in charge, whether he is adviser, whether he is commissioner, whatever you call him, is where massive stealing is done. Everybody knows it but nobody seems to be complaining because it has become their tradition. Unfortunately, the governors may not like this because from all investigation, it appears the various state assemblies may oppose this under the tutelage of their various governors; and this is not a good development for our country. Corruption may blossom; will continue to thrive under this arrangement. Certainly, something has to be done.

There are fears that the influx of exgovernors to the Senate might lead to the emergence of certain bills which may expose their wrongs in office as governors would be frustrated. What is your reaction to this?

Well, I am indeed worried, especially for those of them that don’t have any experience about legislation, because it will kill the cognate experience required to carry on an effective legislative business. Now, the structure across the country is such that state governors have become tin gods. When they want to come to the Senate, they do it without any recourse to decorum. So, from all available records, it will be difficult to stop any governor who wants to come to the Senate, except it will take the grace of God, and that is in very few cases where we have scenario like this. However, I think as our democracy grows, we will be able to overcome it. Actually, it is a major challenge to the growth of democracy in this country. And people should pray against this, so that everybody should be able to have access to position of authority by popular voting. Generally, they will flood the Senate, and the quality of bills that may come up might also be affected like you said; you are quite correct because the entire thing will be predicated on number. So, they may now form a clique that will begin to speak, and they will be heard because they will be in majority then. This also have the potency of affecting the overall quality of legislation that will come from the National Assembly.

How can this problem be tackled?

An increased consciousness from the people; I have told you that as we grow, things will take shape and people will become more conscious, especially if development at the rural level is improved and there is better quality of life. Otherwise, where poverty is so entrenched, people can do anything for

a feed, and that is why conscience may not be there; consciousness and awareness will be hampered.

The National Assembly aimed at whittling down some of the powers of the President. For instance, you removed the President’s power of assent to any alteration bill while the House of Representatives earlier expunged the immunity clause for governors and the President if not that the Senate rejected it. Is the parliament in power tussle with the Executive, why the seeming desperation to reduce powers of the President?

I don’t think that is whittling down the power of the President because it has even been there by the way. This law has been there abi nitio, it is just trying to shorten the process because the power for any bill to sale through still lies with the National Assembly. If you take a critical examination of the process, once a bill is passed, it is sent to the President for his assent. If the President refuses to grant his assent, the National Assembly can override the President with a veto. This is the practice everywhere. Probably, the new scenario will be such that there is even no need of sending the bill at all. So, if you look at the two scenarios very critically they are still the same. I don’t see any act of desperation but probably trying to shorten the process of getting this bill passed into law without going through the bureaucracy of getting the President’s assent especially where the President is very busy. I have seen cases where there are many laws passed and they have not been able to receive his assent, not because he has chosen not to grant his assent but honestly because affairs of state have overwhelmed him, and it becomes difficult for him to give his assent to the bills. These are some of the instances but the person outside there will always try to insinuate. So, there is nothing that has to do with desperation in this.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politics / Columns

Automatic ticket: In whose interest?

From the

Red Chamber chukwudavid68@yahoo.com

Chukwu David

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he most widely accepted definition of democracy is “the government of the people by the people for the people” This arrangement is also called representative democracy.

However, it would only be good and acceptable by all if the representatives would really make all their decisions only after consultations with their constituencies. At least, the decisions should be made after having a vivid picture of the views of their constituents on a particular issue, and trying to accommodate these views as best as possible while implementing state policies, programmes and laws.

Unfortunately, majority of countries that claim to be representative democracies are not true democracies using the above definition as a model. Most of them are mere elected dictatorships. Nigeria is one of the countries that fall within this category of operating dictatorships in the name of democracy. In a true democracy, the people dictate the tune; by determining who should govern them at free and fair polls. Moreover, the elected representatives place public interest above selfish ambitions because by the above stated universal model of democracy, power belongs to the people.

The current confusion in the polity, where

No matter their course, they should always place national interest above selfish ambitions the Peoples Democratic Party, Senators are agitating for automatic ticket to return to the Red Chamber in 2015 calls to question as to whether or not the operators of this democracy are ready to allow it grow and develop. It was a big shock to Nigerians that the supposed people’s representatives would abdicate their statutory duties in order to compel government to yield to their personal ambitions.

For instance, for two consecutive days, the PDP senators decided to cause the entire Senate boycott their legislative functions as they shut down the Chambers without considering any of the items in the Order Paper, just to protest what they described as the hijack of the party structures in their various states by the state governors. This shows that they are more interested in their own welfare than the welfare of those who elected them to be their representatives.

There is no doubt that the state governors are very ambitious. The second term governors in the PDP are desperately aspiring to come to the Senate in 2015, which indicates that they want to displace the sitting senators from their various districts. Again, where the governor is not willing to come to the Senate, he still wants to use his influ-

ence to impose a candidate of his choice on the people instead of allowing the sitting senator to continue.

This anomaly in the behavioural tendencies of the governors notwithstanding, the elected representatives ought to show exemplary leadership as products and agents of democracy. They ought to say no to any suggestion tendency by other elements in the society that can retard the growth and development of democracy or truncate its existence.

Apart from being undemocratic in all fronts, automatic ticket is ridicule to democracy just as it is dangerous and inimical to its existence. When people who are seeking public office do not want to subject themselves to the acceptability test, it tends to suggest that they are not confident in themselves. It proves that they are afraid that they might be rejected and defeated at the polls by the people.

There were instances in the past, where government attempted to impose candidates on the people but because of the popularity and credibility of the people’s choice, the government candidates failed. In the past, we have witnessed situations where incumbent governors and other occupants of elective offices were defeated in free and fair elections. If the Senators are asking for automatic ticket, which is a direct attempt at negating and rubbishing democracy, it therefore means that there is no hope for its survival in Nigeria since the Legislature is what makes the deference between democracy and dictatorship.

The senators from the opposition All Progressives Congress, did not however,

hesitate to condemn the action of the PDP lawmakers. Though their position might still be part of the deceptive politics played in Nigeria but they made it clear that the decision of their colleagues was anti-people as their grievance was based purely on selfish interest.

The spokesman of the APC Senate caucus, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who reacted to the action of their PDP counterparts, berated their colleagues, saying, “If we are working for Nigeria, we should be seen to be doing so. Now that the PDP senators have problems with their party, President and governors, they are not allowing us to work.

We want to really work now but the system does not allow us”.

Nigerians have been asking one question since the problem erupted in the Senate penultimate week, “why should the people’s representatives use the welfare of the electorate to bargain for their return ticket?

Within the two days they refused to work, many bills on the Order Paper were stepped down while other critical national issues such as the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East were not attended to either by the lawmakers.

The aggrieved politicians must learn that power belongs to the people in a democracy. Therefore, no matter their course, they should always place national interest above selfish ambitions. Rather than ask for an undemocratic practice such as automatic ticket, they should call on relevant democratic institutions in the country to provide a level playing ground for all political aspirants to participate in elections and test their popularity and acceptability with the electorate.

Dangers of returning MTEF to Jonathan From the

Green Chamber ternyam@gmail.com

Philip Nyam

A

forth night ago, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmuminu Jibrin, revealed that the House was planning to return the 2015-17 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to President Goodluck Jonathan before it proceeded on break.

Although Jibrin had said that the decision to send back the MTEF/FSP was predicated on the emerging reality of the new oil price regime, it may not be totally unconnected with the current faceoff between the House and the Presidency over the withdrawal of security aides attached to Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

The MTEF statutorily precedes the presentation of the Appropriation Bill, because it is used as the basis for generating a budget proposal. The MTEF is by law supposed to be presented at least three months before the budget proposal is sent to the legislature. But this year, like in most years in the past, the document came in late in October and up till now; the National Assembly has not approved it.

In fact, debate on the document has not commenced in any of the chambers. In the House, the debate cannot start earlier than December 3, because the Lower Chamber is on break. What this means is that, the 2015 budget may be presented in early 2015. The implication is that the 2015 budget will not be passed on time,

thereby undermining government business. Everyone is aware that 2015 is an election year and some key agencies that will play strategic roles in the general elections needs appropriation to be able to discharge their functions.

But in this scenario, these agencies may not have access to the required funds when they most need it. For example, INEC, as the electoral empire, needs money to prepare early for the polls. Unlike in previous general elections, next year’s will start in February. Unfortunately, just like the legislature seems to be showing little interest in the impending budget, the executive has equally not exhibited enough desire towards presenting the budget proposal.

Why did it take the executive that long before submitting the MTEF/FSP? Perhaps, someone is not doing his job.

It is high time both the legislature and the executive closed ranks and ensure that the 2015 budget gets on stream in good time to avert any crisis of funds shortage that may negatively impact on the 2015 elections.

In the main, Tambuwal, who has been stripped of his security apparatus by the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Suleiman Abbah, has been driving around. He surprised not a few people when he drove himself to the National Assembly penultimate week. He was without any form of security, rather he was being shielded by his colleagues in the House.

Many expected the Sokoto-born lawmaker to have contracted perhaps a private security company to provide cover for him, especially with the current security challenges bedeviling the nation. He dared his detractors and has been moving freely without security. What however struck my mind is the secret behind Tambuwal’s uncommon courage and audacity to be traversing the length and breadth of the country without any security presence at

this frightening period in the history of the country.

Where does he drive the confidence?

Does it mean that the Speaker has absolute confidence in the security of the nation? As the number four man in the nation’s leadership perking order, Tambuwal has been exposed to danger with the withdrawal of his security aides. But his actions since after the incidence point to the fact that his popularity rating may be on the rise in the last few weeks. It seems even those who hated Tambuwal on account of his defection to the APC began to show empathy

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as soon as his security was withdrawn.

When he attended the public hearing organized by the House joint committee on public accounts and justice to declare the event opened on November 4, Tambuwal very much unfazed.

In spite of all this, there are indications that the PDP is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that Tambuwal loses his seat as soon as the House reconvenes.

The question is: With Tambuwal’s growing popularity, will the PDP succeed in its quest to shove him off the number four seat?

Giving teeth to RMAFC

he Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is a very powerful agency of government saddled with the responsibility of monitoring accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account. It also reviews from time to time the revenue allocation formula and principles to ensure conformity with changing realities. It is also expected to advise the Federal Government on fiscal efficiency and methods by which their revenue can be increased.

The Commission also determines the remuneration appropriate for political office holders, including the President, Vice President, governors, deputy governors, ministers, commissioners, special advisers.

It is, however, disturbing that such an important agency of government does not have the enabling legal backing to fully discharge its responsibilities. Chairman of the Commission, Engr. Elias Mbam, only last week, cried to the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, that the

Commission was a “toothless bulldog,” While on an oversight visit to the Commission, Mbang lamented that the commission was hamstrung from effectively discharging its statutory responsibilities because it lacks the power of enforcement.

This is a commission that was established since 1989 and has gone through various stages of reforms, yet no one has paid attention to this lacuna. This shows that our policy makers have not been scrupulous and conscientious enough. RMAFC was established by Decree No. 49 of 1989 as National Revenue Mobilsation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (NRMFC).

The Decree was later amended by Decree No.98 of 1993 and the Commission was re-named Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in the 1999 Constitution as one of the federal executive bodies. The ongoing amendment of the Constitution must take note of the alarm raised by Mbam so that RMAFC can be better positioned for effective discharge of its duties.

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South-East Focus

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Arthur Nzeribe: If given another chance, I’ll ensure June 12 annulment again Senator Francis Arthur Nzeribe needs no introduction in Nigeria’s politics. He has been on the scene since the Second Republic when he contested and won election in 1983 to represent Orlu Senatorial District of Imo State in the National Assembly. In 1992, he contested the presidential primaries of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) that was later cancelled. The Fourth Republic saw him serving as a senator between 1999 and 2007. His legislative exploits, notwithstanding, Nzeribe is mostly remembered as leader of the defunct Association for a Better Nigeria (ABN), which played a major role in the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. He speaks in this interview with FELIX NWANERI at his Haven of Peace country home in Oguta, Imo State on a wide range of issues, including the 1993 poll, 2015 elections and insecurity in the nation. Excerpts: How do you feel attaining and even surpassing the Biblical age of three scores and 10?

I feel 76, and you can see that yourself.

Looking back, is there anything that you would have done, especially at your younger age that you left undone?

There was nothing that I was supposed to do at any point in time that I didn’t do, and I have always justified my actions.

Does it mean that you don’t have any regrets for any of the actions you took in the past?

I don’t regret anything I have done because people in my position would think about things over and over again before doing them. And if there was anything that I thought about so well before doing it, I shouldn’t go about regretting it. I go along and suffer the consequences, if there is any negative one. That’s the way I see it.

What of your role as the leader of the defunct Association for a Better Nige-

ria (ABN), which many still blame for spearheading the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by late Chief MKO Abiola?

Those who are making reference to it are very wise men though they have forgotten that our actions were heavily supported across the country. At that time, I was deemed to be a vagabond. My colleagues and I were abused and insulted everywhere, but all of a sudden, going for election, it’s now a novelty. By the time I formed ABN, there was nothing at all of such nature; you go and burn tyres on the streets; you go and kill people and use their heads for juju, but we stood firm to say that we want this done. I believe that we got what we wanted. So, it is for you to assess our actions in your own way. For us, I got what we wanted. We said cancel the election and eventually they cancelled the election. We said don’t count the votes, but they counted the votes. So, how do you measure success? In the middle of that, I have run elections, where I adopted five different political parties, and each time I

Nzeribe

go to any political party, we win. How do you define a good politician other than the man who contests an election and wins?

Are you saying that you are proud of the annulment even when some people believe that it stopped the process of handover of power from military to the democratic government? It also led to the consequent long stay by the military in power.

Yes, I do. I am proud that we cancelled the election. I wanted the election cancelled and it was cancelled.

If you have such an opportunity again, will you take a similar action?

Ten times over if the circumstances are the same.

You were in the Senate in the Second Republic as well as in the current dispensation between 1999 and 2007. How would rate the National Assembly then and now?

It would be unfair to start criticising my

colleagues in the National Assembly. If I have anything to say about their performance, I will say it to them privately. If I have any reason to criticise them, I will go to them privately; I won’t go to the streets.

There is a general belief that Nigeria’s democracy is expensive compared to other advanced democracies across the world. There is also the belief that it is responsible for the high overhead cost which in turn leaves little or nothing for developmental projects. What do you make of this?

It depends on which aspect you are looking at. There is no way you can practise democracy anywhere in the world without spending money. Money is involved at all stages.

A lot of people had expected that you would be at the National Conference.

What stopped you from being at the discourse to contribute in charting the course for a new Nigeria?

CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

40

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

South-East Focus

‘If given another chance, I’ll ensure June 12 annulment again’ Do you see Ihedioha upstaging the incumbent governor?

It is easy. If you do a proper assessment of the capabilities of those in the race and who have been winning elections in the past, you will know whether Mr. A or B is suitable to be the governor of Imo State come 2015. We will win again if that is what you are asking me. The PDP will win Imo State in 2015.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 9

I have always been somebody who listens to the majority and plays according to the majority. As for the confab, I was not feeling too well when it was going on and I was abroad trying to get treatment. So, I cannot comment on anything that took place at the conference.

I don’t know whether you have read some of the recommendations of the confab, especially the approval for the creation of 18 new states. Do we really need more states?

Yes, we do. The South-East in particular needs an additional state so that we can be at par with other geo-political zones of the country.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has tactically endorsed President Jonathan’s re-election bid. Where do you stand on this, as some dissenting voices are saying that it was done in a hurry?

You are singing my song for me. Aga akpaya akpa (it must be discussed). When the time comes, we will talk. Right now, I can’t see how we can be more Jonathan than Jonathan himself. Before yesterday, the man had not opened his mouth to say that he wants to be president. It was only on Friday (two weeks ago) that he made it clear that he wants to run. All the statements he made in the past were playing what I call the Abacha (late Gen. Sani Abacha) game. He (Abacha) was very lucky, sitting down there and every group came to pledge their loyalty to him and offered their votes, and he said nothing. He would just put on his sun glasses and shake his head; after that the people would go away.

The five parties then all went to Abacha; where is democracy in that? And that’s what might happen to Jonathan, everybody is going there, pledging their votes; all groups and parties. We will wait and see.

But there is an argument that new states will place more financial burden on the nation.

I don’t think so. It is a national burden, and we should all share it equally. It is not good enough to say we should carry on with the current arrangement, while the injustice as a result of the imbalance in the state structure remains.

Do you see Ndigbo closing ranks on where the new state should be carved out from because there are several agitations at the moment, including that of Urashi State being championed by you?

A new state for the South-East should be the proposed Urashi State, which I am still championing.

Why do you think Urashi should be given preference ahead of others like Aba, Njaba, Adada and Etiti?

Can you skip this question, please? I am fighting for a new state and we have done the necessary presentations in Abuja.

Should I sit down here and start criticising it?

Some political leaders in the North are of the view that the cry of marginalisation should not be the basis for an additional state for the South-East. Their argument is that the zone doesn’t deserve another state given its landmass and population.

What is your take on that, and do you see a sixth state addressing the issue of marginalisation?

Yes, it will address the issue of marginalisation. Those who are saying that we don’t deserve an additional state are expressing their personal opinion, and I believe that they seized the opportunity of the confab to advance their argument. But go and read the confab report and see whether they are right or wrong. Somebody has to be right or wrong. I am right while they are wrong.

The 2015 elections are fast approaching.

What are your thoughts on the elections?

I am afraid if we can get good democracy because too many people are being vicious.

One has to be careful now that we are discussing it. So, let’s see how it goes.

Your party, the Peoples Democratic Party, has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term. What do you make of that?

Like I said before, I am a party man; I am an establishment man. You will never see me fighting the authorities. I have learnt to either go under or above in politics; never go through the middle. At 76, I must be sensible how I play my politics. It is either I go under or above; never in the middle.

How do you see the All Progressives Congress and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s challenge to your party?

That’s their entitlement; they are playing democracy.

What does the return of the Abacha kind of politics portend for Nigeria’s polity?

You said it is democracy, isn’t it? So, they are all playing it the way they understand.

That was why I told you earlier that the first thing to do as a leader is to get the people whom you are promoting to define what they want.

Nzeribe

Like I said before, I am a party man; I am an establishment man.

You will never see me fighting the authorities Are you not worried that the APC would be banking on Buhari’s popularity in the North and the support of the South-West to unseat the PDP in the forthcoming presidential election?

That is hypothetical. Let’s wait until the time comes.

A popular Islamic cleric, Sheik Abubakar Gumi, recently advised both President Jonathan and Gen. Buhari against contesting the election, saying violence will erupt whichever way the result goes.

What is your take on that?

Is that what he really said?

The advice was contained in two separate open letters he sent to the President and Gen. Buhari.

No comment because I haven’t read it.

You recently endorsed the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, to govern Imo State come 2015. Do you still maintain that position and what informed it?

Yes I do, because he is the best out of those who have been presented at the mo-

ment. Unless something comes up, I am still where I am, and that is on the side of Emeka (Ihedioha).

Was your decision informed by the clamour for zoning by the people of Owerri zone, where Ihedioha hails from?

For me, Ihedioha is the best for now.

Something may happen tomorrow. I may decide to run.

But the people of Okigwe zone are insisting that they should be allowed to complete their tenure which was cut short in 2011 by Governor Rochas Okorocha’s victory, before the governorship position goes to another zone.

I am not a believer in consensus. If you get 10 members of a consensus club, the definition of consensus will never be the same. So, where do you want to drive me into if you cannot agree among yourselves? Are we being democratic? The answer is no. If we want to be democratic, we should be ready to compete.

Don’t you see your support for Ihedioha pitching you against the people of your zone, who are insisting that the Imo governorship contest should be thrown open?

Those who are opposed to this should go to the polling booths to fight it. What do you want us to do? Is it not to make a choice, which we are making at the moment? If you don’t believe in what I am saying, then go and do your own. That is the simple thing to do.

How do you define consensus?

Agreement by the majority… Fine! And the only way to do it is to talk, isn’t it? So, we are talking.

What do you make of the security situation in the country, especially the Boko Haram insurgency, which is ravaging the North-East?

It is a child’s play if you compare what is happening in a country of over 150 million to what is going on in countries with less than 10 million population. So, don’t lose sleep over it; it is nothing.

Many Nigerians will not agree with you on this, given the level of destruction in the affected areas.

Then they should keep their disagreement. You people (media) blow this thing so much as if we are coming from the fire of hell. We are not. We are 150 million people. What do you expect; that some of us will fold our hands and go to bed? No! But I believe we will overcome it like any other country.

Are you not worried that the rising insecurity could lead to the realisation of the prediction by an American study group some years back that Nigeria will cease to exist by 2015?

Show me the report! Bring the report and we will discuss. Who has seen this report and where was it published? Nobody!

Meanwhile, people address press conferences and make references to what they have not seen.

Finally, Senator Arthur Nzeribe is mostly described in the media as a maverick politician. How did that come to be?

(Laughs) No answer.

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Education on Sunday SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014

My vision is to develop human capital – UNIABUJA VC Michael Adikwu, Professor of Pharmacy and Vice-Chancellor, University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), is deeply troubled by the homogenous nature of Nigerian universities. He spoke with OJIAKU KALU on how to ensure that the system is changed by infusing it with scholars and faculties from other continents.

Having studied your predecessor’s handover note, where do you want to start in fixing the institution?

I do not want to depend on any handover note for my activities here. I am simply going to tackle the realities on ground the best way I can. Experience has shown that most handover notes are not detailed or frank enough because nobody tells you the danger lying ahead. They usually would tell you only what they could achieve, and avoid what they could not achieve. But, I am sure you will expect that any university sited in a federal capital city like the University of Abuja, should be a model university in which you should be able to tell the people that this is what a Nigerian university should look like – especially in this era of global competitiveness. But that is missing in this environment. Also, the population of the students is too homogenous, which is a disservice to our products and the operations. You know that whenever you talk about a university, it has to be universal in content and in sight.

That means you should have people from different cultures and races to properly reflect a global body of knowledge a university stands for. For instance, one of our members of staff is currently in Ghana and has reported that there is an estimation of 5,000 American students in that country Professor Adikwu alone. Even the staffing in foreign universities is usually deliberately heterogeneous – you have an environment of people from different countries working on a particular By the time we straighten project. This is still lacking in most Nigerian universities. out our salary issues, we Of course, my primary dreams is to develop human capital, internationalise the should be able to wrap up system, and build a structure that anyone agreement with them on coming into this university in future would be proud of. These are some of my thinking that for the university. Indeed, I hope to achieve this with the cooperation of the great men and women that form the workforce of the University of Abuja. require immediate considerations.

Is this why you want to start a creativity club?

I observe on the campus, herds of cattle Yes, I am thinking of starting a creativity being herded openly amidst normal uniclub for our students, because I do know versity businesses. Why is this so?

First and foremost, they are here on purthat if you occupy students profitably, you would find out they have a lot of potential. pose. There was some hostility between While working on the STEP-B projects, I the cattle rearers and the natives around came across many of such students with here. But the government in its wisdom wonderful and great ideas that we could and quest to end the crisis, allowed the actually model to improve our economy. cattle rearers to take refuge here. We are Some are even inventors, like the student I already making some permanent arrangemet who invented a fan that turns 360 de- ment through talks with them to see where grees. You know that table fans only turn we can relocate them. And we are also 180 degrees. I came in contact with another appealing to the Federal Government to student who said he could produce elec- assist us in achieving this because cattle tricity that is not based on conservation of rearers are nomadic. It is just unfortunate energy. These to me, are crucial issues that that some of them are already settled here

geria is not comparable elsewhere. When we were in primary school in those days, some of the things that my children know today I did not know them then, and know they can operate computers with expertise.

But those days, we did not know what a computer looked like.

So, it is not the standard that is falling.

I think what is actually happening is that relatively, we are not moving as fast as the developing countries in terms of education quality and development. Their curricula are a bit ahead of ours because while their people are talking about robotics, we here can barely repair our own bicycles. In fact, today our universities manufacture virtually nothing.

Therefore, what we do under STEP-B is improving curricula, and training teachers abroad to ensure continual growth and innovation of the knowledge economy.

and I am aware that that kind of settlement poses risks to our students.

Hence, we have detailed the university’s Chief Security Officer to begin some negotiations with them toward relocating the animals from here, and the outcome of the talks so far is that they are willing to relocate if we can provide jobs for their children and such assistance, as a university I believe we can easily do. By the time we straighten out our salary issues, we should be able to wrap up agreement with them on that.

You were involved in the STEP-B Project back at UNN. What is it all about, and do you plan to carry over that responsibility here?

Yes, let me tell you that while working at STEP-B, I was the National Coordinator here in Abuja. STEP-B is a World Bankassisted project. It was devised to bridge some of the gaps in the education sector on issues like disconnects between classroom and workplace. For instance, there are skills that students do not acquire in the classroom and we wanted them to acquire some of the skills. By and large, we targeted some areas such as curriculum modification. I am one of those that have always argued that standard of education in Ni-

How do you plan to engage industry experts toward attaining synergy between the town and gown?

First of all, we begin from our immediate environment. We are already talking to the locals, including their chiefs and community leaders. While at STEP-B, we funded the university for the production of bee, the idea is to train the natives on how to make honey. We looked at the environment with a view to harnessing the natural resources to generally improve the quality of lives within the university’s host communities. That is about the best way to go about it – scouting for and leveraging on pronounced strengths and endowments, no matter where they might be identified.

For instance, we should be able to experiment with the livestock – cows and others, abounding in our host communities.

Specifically, if you go to foreign countries you realise that a cow could produce as much as 50 litres of milk a day, while in Nigeria, our cows could only produce about two to four litres. Why such a wide gap?

Prior to your assumption of office, the university workers embarked on protracted strike.

How do you intend to tackle the strike phenomenon?

What I believe is that you have to understand the viewpoint of the other person or why is he on strike?

What are his constraints?

We are already solving these issues as much as we can. Of course, those which we can solve we would solve immediately and those that are beyond us for now, we would explain and plead for the workers’ patience. The explanation is that any system that is not stable cannot get collaborations from foreign countries and organisations, and consequently will never develop.

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SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Education

Plateau lauds organisers of book fair Musa Pam, JOS

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Sir Victor Uwaifo (right) presenting a cash prize to Precious (2nd left)

Talent quest sets UNIBEN agog Eddy Uwoghiren, UNIBEN

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he maxim, “All work no play make Jack a dull boy,” last week came to the fore at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), when the students set aside academic activities despite their forthcoming second semester examination to catch fun at the maiden edition of the UNIBEN Talent Quest (UTQ).

The event was organised

by Koko News publication in collaboration with the institution’s Students’ Union.

The students were not bothered about their examination, billed for the next two weeks, as they last Saturday thronged the Akin Deko Auditorium of the university, venue for the grand finale of the event, from the two campuses of the university. Other members of the institution’s neighbouring community were also not left out.

The carnival-like event saw the contestants trooping to the auditorium with the fans, their roommates, friends, fellowship members carrying posters with the names of the contestants they were supporting.

At the entrance to the auditorium were students singing with posters with several inscriptions such as “Amanda is the one”; “Support Annabel”; and “Vote Emily as the next UNIBEN Ambassador”, among others Investigations by New Telegraph Campus revealed that more than 90 students obtained the forms to participate in various events ranging from singing, dancing, drama, acting, painting, and acrobatic display, among others.

The two-day audition, which took place at the Banquet Hall Basement of the university, was emotion laden as the panel of judges screened the contestants.

Of the 80 students who were screened on the first day of the audition, only 42 scaled the hurdles to the second stage, while on the second day, only 21 students of the 42 that scaled the first hurdles were picked.

The event, which was anchored by MC Papi, a UNIBEN artiste, was an eventful occasion with lots of music, ribcracking jokes dominating the venue.

The panel of judges comprises a Professor of Dance, Dr. Chris Ugolo; Dr. Okosodo Okomama; Mr. MacDonald Anyangbe of Silverbird TV, Benin; Lawrence Osarenkhoe, Mc Casino and Prof Sir Victor Uwaifo, who was the chief Judge.

The 21 contestants that made it to the finals trilled the audience and students who laughed uncontrollably as comedians among the contestants dished out hilarious jokes.

Mouths were agape as the audience watched with bewilderment the painting of Joseph Obinna, as he drew and painted the portrait of Sir Victor Uwaifo, the great musician in less than two minutes.

This was greeted with loud ovation by his supporters who were shouting repeatedly - “Na u go win o! This boy is good.”

Shortly after, there was pin drop silence in the hall as Garrick Graham mounted the podium to perform his show.

Garrick, whose speech was on

Abike, which he demonstrated in an emotion laden voice and translated in body language.

When it was the turn of Titilayo, who acted the role of an Olokun Priest from Ashante Kingdom, one could not distinguish her from Nollywood Actress, Patience Nzokwor, popularly referred to as Mama G. She depicted the wicked roles she (Mama G) plays in Nollywood movies.

Unfortunately, Titilayo, Garrick and Joseph could not make it among the top four artists and this generated uproar among the audience, who queried the judges’ decision.

After much deliberation, order was finally restored to the hall and the show continued with the judges calling out the top four winners.

The audience was directed to select the winner among the four contestants through voting.

At the end of the exercise and voting, 300-Level undergraduate of Adult Education and English Literature, Precious Okukusie, with stage name Mr. Play-P emerged the overall winner. He went home with N100,000, a recording deal with Lockdown Entertainment and was named UNIBEN Ambassador.

Caroline Igben, a dancer from Theatre Arts Department was the first runner up, while Emily Omili from Fine Art Department and Amanda Onoabhagbe placed third and fourth respectively.

It was jubilation galore when Sir Victor Uwiafo, popularly called Guitar Boy mounted the podium to thrill the students with his guitar playing skills.

The event was climaxed with the presentation of award to

the CEO International Initiative for Youth Inspiration and Development (IIFYIGD), Linda Iheme, and Sir Victor Uwaifo.

Declaring open the event, former Minister of Works, Mr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, expressed delight over the event, and praised the organisers of the talent hunt.

He said the University of Benin Talent Quest has become a milestone in the history of the country, as no other higher institution has come up with a similar idea aim at harnessing the talents of youths into a productive and befitting mechanism.

Ogiemwonyi recounted his undergraduate days at UNIBEN, saying the training he acquired has continued to stand him out among his contemporaries, even as he encouraged the students to hold on to the training they acquire at the institution.

According to the Editor-InChief of Koko News Publication, a 400-Level undergraduate of Medical Physiology, Daniel-Didi Uwadia, the major aim of the programme is to promote and encourage students who are exceptionally gifted in various arts.

“For many years, UNIBEN has been nurturing several talented singers, actors, dramatists, comedians and many other talented individuals who by virtue of circumstances of their position in life have not found the necessary media to actualize their talents.

Daniel-Didi hinted that the event would go a long way to increase the entrepreneurial and self-dependency skills of the students and improve their entertainment potential.

he Plateau State Government has lauded the efforts of the Rhoder Children Centre International, a non-governmental oragnisation (NGO), organisers of the first-ever Jos Book Fair in the state.

The government gave the commendation through the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Sarah Yusuf, who was the guest of honour at the two-day fair held at the National Museum, Jos, the state capital.

The theme of the book fair is: “Read a Book, Build the future.”

Mrs. Yusuf described the efforts of organisation at organising the fair as laudable and worth-while, saying: “We all know that the importance of reading cannot be over emphasised, so this kind of encouragement needs to be emulated by all and sundry so as to build a better future for our children.

Represented by one of the Directors in the ministry, Mrs. Bilkisu Abubakar, the Commissioner called on the citizens of the state to develop the culture of reading for the transformation of the society.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of the Fair, Prof. Ezekiel Best decried the near absent of reading culture in the society and called for a change of attitude towards reading.

Best, who is the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Jos, said “we must have a change of heart towards reading, if at all we want to take the nation to greater heights.”

Similarly, Prof. Timothy Oyetunde of the Faculty of Education of the same university noted that “we must catch the children young with the culture of reading if we want to build their future.”

According to him, unless parents, guardians and teachers develop the habit of reading and teaching with passion, there is no way reading culture could be inculcated in children.

Mrs. Milcher Pwajok, the Project Coordinator, explained that the idea of the fair was borne out of her concern for the children’s bad reading culture that has stagnated the society.

Grace primary school wins award

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he management, staff and pupils of Grace Primary School, Gbagada, Lagos are still savouring the school’s outstanding performance as winner of this year’s International School Award, organised by the British Council.

According to the British Council, the organisers of the annual international schools competition, for winning the award, Grace Primary School has been accredited in the league of top schools for the next three years from October 1, 2014 to August 31, 2017.

The Project Manager Schools of the British Council, Mrs. Lynda Ashaolu, on behalf of the Council congratulated the International Coordinator of the award in the school, who she said had worked hard to coordinate an impressive range of work.

Under the award, participating schools annually are expected to make series of scientific and technical presentations and the school with the best presentation becomes the winner of the award.

Describing the award as a credit to the school and the community, the British Council hinted that the scheme kite award will be sent to the international coordinator at the Grace School by e-mail. She said:

Vintage Polka dot dress with red pumps

You can wear Polka dot with floral pattern Wear large dot on small dot for an opposite statment look

Tone down bright colours with Polka monochrome

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Vanessa Okwara

olkas are one of fashion’s hottest trends. Retro polkas are back in a big way. They were a hot fashion trend back in the seventies and they are back in style, showing up on everything from scarves to skirts to iPhone cases. These days, the trend is not just for retro or vintage looks, people wear polkas in a very modern way for a look that’s both sexy and sweet.

Polkas are fanciful, girlish, and playful. Big, medium or small polkas suit everyone and look great when teamed up with other prints & patterns. Polkas are definitely versatile as they easily adapt to any look you want to pull off, from day casuals to a steamy night out with that special person or even to rock the red carpet in a fab manner.

There’s something inherently sophisticated about polkas, especially when you adorn a flirty and feminine blouse in sheer material.

But before you drape yourself in polka prints, if you are self-conscious about a particular body part, avoid wearing large polkas on that area, as this print definitely attracts attention. Polkas are extremely eyecatching, one item is enough. All the same, if you like making bold fashion statement, you can wear large dots on small dots or large dots on large dots or the opposite for a statement look.

You can also mix and match polkas with other prints such as animal, floral and other patterns.

Mixing prints can be intimidating, but Polkas and stripes are a good place to start when venturing into these unchartered fashion waters. Wear different colours and sizes of dots for a playful look. Just choose colours that blend well and you can mix and match almost any pattern.

Sometimes, polkas can be a little much.

To tone it down, pair with something classic like a boyfriend blazer and add a little edge with some platform heels.

The right accessories will either accentuate the girlishness of the dots or break up the monotony of the pattern with subtle doses of solid colour. It’s a trend that’s particularly suited to this season’s monochrome craze.

The Polka style is simply classic and feminine. Polkas are fun print; they have a way of making you look bubbly and cute. So join the fun and Rock your dots Ladies!

Rock your Polkas

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SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

Tastefully tucked-in gentlemen Vanessa Okwara

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re you preparing for a big event or going for a job interview? Do you need to look your best? Your main goal is to make a great impression.

Looking good doesn’t stop at getting well-fitting clothes. You still have to dress yourself and come out looking impeccable. The difference between wearing your shirt tucked-in and wearing it un-tucked is quite striking.

Even with no other wardrobe changes, it’s possible to appear classier with a tasteful tuck.

For those times you need to tuck your shirt in, shirttails that hang down the fly or not well tucked-in do not make you stylish; they simply show how immature you are.

Guys often ask when shirts should be tuckedin or left to fly. There are different types of shirts for guys and they come with different hemlines. Shirts that are made with a flat

bottom hem are meant to be worn un-tucked. But if the shirt has visible ‘tail’ where the hem varies in length, it should always be tucked in. Wearing a shirt with tails un-tucked is not a forbidden look, but it can have quite a juvenile outlook. However, a sloppy tuck can give you a puffylooking midsection. Don’t settle for anything but the best look for yourself.

One of the best ways to determine if you tucked your shirt in well - in addition to noting any bunching on the sides or back, is to check the alignment of the shirt’s buttons. Ideally, they should fall right above the belt buckle and zipper of your pants.

Impress someone with your impeccable sense of style today by learning ways you can tuck in your tops and come out looking like the learned gentleman.

• Undershirts: These can always be tucked, and absolutely should be if there’s any chance of them peeking out beneath

your other layers. For best results, tuck undershirts into underwear.

• Polo shirts: They have an even hem and can be worn un-tucked, but are often tucked in for a little dressier look, especially by golfers.

• Turtleneck/roll collars: When worn under a sports jacket or blazer, these are often tucked so that the belt buckle is visible. On their own, it’s better to leave them un-tucked.

• Colourful print shirts: These and any other loud-print shirts don’t get tucked in no matter what their hem looks like.

Nothing looks worse than a tucked-in vacation shirt.

• T-shirts: Opinions vary widely here. Some subcultures love the tucked T-shirt with the visible belt buckle; others will think you look like a total nerd. It depends a lot on the shirt, the belt, and the trousers, as well as your overall style. In general, don’t tuck the T-shirt unless it’s a deliberate style statement.

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Body&Soul

A

Work on being married before getting married

re you ready for marriage? I’m sure your answer will be a definite ‘YES’, especially when you look at yourself in the mirror and think you have come of age. Also, when you see your friends walk down the aisle in the arms of their lover, you get desperate and also want to get hooked up immediately.

The truth is marriage is a lot more than that. It’s a merger between two people from parallel worlds coming together to form a new world totally different from the ones they lived previously. What this means is that both parties need to make sacrifices, do lots of adjustments with time and space to accommodate each other in the world they have created.

Love indeed is a beautiful thing and the marriage platform makes it even sweeter if all the parameters that make marriage to work are adhered to. You just have to make sure you are both ready physically and mentally for the responsibilities that come with it.

The best time to work on your marriage is before it even begins. In other words, being single is just the best time to work on being the man or woman that will make a good husband or wife.

If I may ask you, what exactly do you know about marriage? Do you belong to the school of thought that believes it’s all about having sex and going to the labour room nine months after? You couldn’t be more wrong as so many people have made shipwreck of their marriage by allowing sexual fulfillment to be the base of their union.

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So I ask again, since you desire to get married, how many books on marriage have you read? Have you made a conscious effort to inquire what makes a good marriage? If you were lucky to have parents who made a good success of their marriage, have you sat down with them to find out the secret to that success? Conversely, if you witnessed a horrible marriage between your parents, have you taken out time to find out exactly what NOT TO DO? Spend time in your single-hood to fully understand what you value most and things you cannot compromise. This is because marriage is basically all about compromises. It is lack of compromises that lead to irreconcilable differences and divorce.

Approach your love life as intentionally as you do your work. Choose who and what you want in a relationship rather than just making it work with whoever chooses you.

It is important to quickly decipher who is the right partner you can make a successful married life with right from the

beginning. Attitude they say is everything and some peoples’ own just stink!

A lot of men complain about coming across a beautiful woman they instantly get attracted to and want to make their wife. Unfortunately, that thought simply flies out of the window the minute she opens her mouth or exhibits her cantankerous attitude.

Ladies listen, your beauty may attract a man into your life but it is your character that makes him want to stay by your side. Beauty fades but a good character and a positive attitude endures forever and that is what sustains a marriage.

As a man, before you even think of getting married, do you consider yourself a responsible person? Do you make long term plans about your future or do you belong to the cathedral of saint bottles? Most young men have wasted their resources at drinking parlours all in the name of being young and sowing wild oats.

Marriage comes with a lot of responsibilities for the man. You need to get trained on how to be understanding and

tolerant. Study what it takes to please a woman both in the bedroom and out of it. You must also understand the basic things women want and know how to respond to those needs such as showing affection, financial support and family commitment.

For the woman, you need to learn about the typical needs of a man and how to fulfill them. Gain understanding on things to do that will always hold the interest of your man. Men basically need a woman who will respect and submit to them, a recreational companion; a good cook; very domesticated; have a physical appearance they will always find attractive and finally give them sexual fulfillment.

Finally, get to know your good and ugly side and the values you hold in high esteem. Your values are your guiding principles. If you try to live with someone who has a different set of rules from yours, conflicts will result and it’s not going to work.

If your heart desire is to marry a good husband or wife, then begin to work at being the spouse that a good husband or wife will be attracted to. You should not desire a caring or godly person, when you have not cultivated such traits yourself.

For you to excel in marriage, you must first work on yourself to be that man or woman that will be regarded as marriage material by an equally good spouse.

Send your views to the email above!

The dance that insulted our senses and our culture

am laughing my head off right now and I invite you all to please join me in laughing. I have just seen something so comical that the laughter has erupted from my inner being. But seriously, while I am laughing, there is a part of me that is really angry. Angry at the ignorance of my people, angry at the insult on my and other local and indeed African culture at large, angry at the system that allowed it to happen.

While browsing The New telegraph on Sunday last week, I stumbled on a picture of Nigerian (I am assuming here as there was no caption) Rugby players on page 61, performing what looks like the ‘Haka’, a traditional Maori dance that has been popularised by the New Zealand Rugby teams.

In what has been hailed as one of the best introduction of culture into the sporting arena, New Zealand teams perform the haka as a challenge to the opposition. Stamping their feet, flaying their arms vigorously, contorting their face and sticking out their tongue -the athletes intimidate the opposition with a weapon that has been handed down through generations.

I respect all culture and I am an advocate of cultural education, however, I still find it laughable that Nigerian athlete will think themselves as good rugby players by performing the haka; I mean they don’t even look to be doing it correctly. The picture showed all of them in varied and differing position to indicate that they were totally out of sync with one another and my best guess, were doing it poorly. I know New Zealand is one of the top three nations (along with South Africa and Australia) in Rugby and are currently the world champions in the forms of the game, rugby league and the more popular rugby union. Therefore, the Nigerian players in the said pic-

ture must have felt they were following the template of success. Ignorantly, rather than spend their time honing their skills in the sport, the athletes spent their time learning a dance that is just suppose to give the world a glimpse into the culture of the nation. The haka is popular because New Zealanders are proud to share their cultural heritage with the world through the best means possible, sports.

And this is where my anger takes over. I am afraid there is a new form of colonialism taking place; it is called cultural imperialism. It is a condition where anything foreign culturally is considered superior to the local culture and therefore embraced without question. I will spare you the semantics; it is when my people senselessly accept anything from oversea as good. What if those guys in the picture had performed the ‘bata’

dance? It is equally vigorous, fiery and intimidating. Like the haka, bata is war oriented and associated with the deity, Sango and his thunderous temper. Now that will be original and they will surely look good performing that rather than the poor imitation that they were in the picture. Seriously, someone should advise them to stop making fool of themselves. I am not even going to go into copyright implications if the New Zealand authorities decide to take them up for infringements.

Like I pointed out during the World Cup in Brazil, Nigeria and other African teams can use sports to celebrate their cultural heritage. Ghana and Cameroun did that at the World Cup by adding African prints to their jersey. Nigeria’s youth team at the female World cup in Canada also made me proud when they sang Yoruba songs

I will not stand and see this forced down as the absolute truth. The Nigerian in the Diaspora deserves better representation from home. What we want is a Nigerian entertainment industry that truly reflects our cultural heritage and gives a true image of our homeland....it is when my people senselessly accept anything from oversea as good

as they walked onto the pitch and this took the camera away from their opponents, and forced African songs into the living rooms of homes outside the African continent.

Without realising it, those rugby players have affirmed what Fela sang about way back in 1973 in the album, Gentleman. Truly, Fela was way ahead of his time and how sad to see his message still going unheeded in this time and age. The album sleeve of that album had an ape, symbolic representation of following without question whatever comes from abroad. Seeing that picture of rugby players doing the haka, Fela’s bones must really be boiling in his grave.

RE: For our women, we must rise as one Dear Eyitayo, Well I agree wholeheartedly with you...as a woman who has fought breast cancer...I try to educate other women and young girls whenever the opportunity arises...we MUST stop buying into the idea that women must maintain beauty through so called ‘beauty’ products...the majority contain between one and five parabens which are known carcinogens CAUSING breast cancer...push up bras are sold as breast enhancers...in reality they strangle blood supply to the breasts...deodorant makes us socially acceptable...shaving our under arms is the “norm”...but applying these aluminum laden products to open skin drives this poison into our lymph...so in conclusion...I heartily recommend self exams and mammograms but also EDUCATION...lets teach our girls to respect and protect their breasts...after all...WE ONLY GET 2!

Lori Dean, Canada.

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SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

with

Wole Adepoju 07037763410

Njideka Nwosu savours marital bliss

Sunday Akere at a crossroads

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e c o m ing the Commissioner of Information in Osun State under the administration of incumbent g o v e r n o r, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, i s not surprising to those who are conversant with the antecedents of Hon. Sunday Akere. A grass roots politician and an integral part of Aregbesola’s administration, Akere is perceived as the most powerful commissioner in Osun State.

The Igbajo, Osun State-born politician, who is a graduate of food technology from the prestigious University of Ibadan, did not become a powerful person in the state overnight. His steadfastness and unflinching support for his people have paid off. Akere is the only commissioner in Osun State who lived in the state even before his appointment. His affiliation and bonding with his people are what make him the man to beat as a grass roots politician. As the publicity secretary of the then Action Congress of Nigeria in Osun State, Akere faced so much persecution as the mouthpiece of the opposition. His outspokenness and bravery were put into consideration before he was assigned his present position.

Information reaching us at the moment is that Akere has mooted the idea of gunning for a seat in the House of Representatives for Ifelodun Federal Constituency. Those that matter are said to have already conceded the ticket to the man at the centre stage anytime he’s ready to make it public.

But Akere at the moment, we learnt, is not unlikely to be at a crossroads because his principal is reported not to be favorably disposed to him leaving the cabinet now. Aregbesola, sources said, wishes his subordinate well but he’s mindful of the vacuum Akere’s absence will create in his government since the commissioner is known to be an integral part of his administration.

Ex-Honeywell boss, Oduntan, in the news

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g u n

State-born Otunba Seyi Oduntan is one man who is presently relishing the reward of his hard work and brilliance. Many years ago, grey hairspotting Otunba Seyi rose through the ranks to become the General Manager of Honeywell Group. At a 35, due to his hard

woleadepoju@yahoo.com

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or Njideka, one of the three daughters of the former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, life could not have been more beautiful.

This is especially taking into cognisance the roller coaster nature her life has since taken.

Born into a noble and wealthy background of a medical doctor father and a legal practitioner mother, she did not allow the wealth at her disposal to get into her head. This beautiful lady had pursed academic fulfillment in the medical field and did very well as a spinster.

Going into the next phase of her life at a tender age, the path of Njideka and that of another young man with a bright future crossed and today, the rest is history. This daughter of a powerful former South-South governor and the son of an Appeal Court Justice, Uzoma Nwosu Iheme, last year, were

work and exceptional brilliance, Oduntan was made the managing director of the same group. After 14 years of meritorious service, Otunba resigned to do his own thing and that led to the founding of Lanrope Group of Companies. This is a diversified group with interest in diesel and solar energy, as well as international trade and finance. Otunba has also served as chairman and director of a number of companies.

With his pedigree and everything at his disposal, it is unquestionable that he has decided to relax and enjoy all he has worked for. Otunba does not miss any opportunity to unwind. What is of interest is how he and a large number of his friends unwind. It was reliably gathered that Otunba and his friends, every Wednesday, gather at a joint in Ikeja where they wine and dine for the better hours of the day.

On the other hand, Otunba Seyi presently nurses a political ambition as he intends to represent a senatorial district in the National Assembly. Having signified his intention since 2012, he has been consulting and doing his homework, and all his moves so far put him ahead of other aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress. The senatorial district for which he’s running, Ogun East, happens to be the district on the spot because of the calibre of aspirants who are equally interested in it. Immediate past governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, as well as the Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation, SouthWest, Buruji Kashamu, are among those vying for the same seat in the Peoples Democratic Party.

Funke Daniel back to basics

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he reign of immediate past governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, is over. As such, it’s a new

phase of life for the powerful politician, his family and those who worked with him. In her days as the first lady of the Gateway State, one could not but notice her because Yeye Olufunk e Daniel was up and d o i n g as the mother of the state.

Her rare b e a u t y, powerful dress sense and carriage were additions to her p e r sonality as the first lady.

Unlike her husband, who still gets regular mention in the news due to his involvement in political activities ahead of next year’s elections, Yeye has since left the public glare to operate behind the scene. Information at our disposal has it that Yeye Olufunke has not only been engrossed with family issues, she’s also said to have returned to her base, which is the fashion world. The woman is said to be doing everything to revive her fashion business for which she is known.

Funke Daniel, prior to the enthronement of her hubby as the governor, has made a mark in the fashion world through her outfit, Kresta Fashion, at Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja. The business, which suffered a dull moment when the proprietress was away, is fast coming alive.

Dora Akunyili honoured

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ne time Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, late Prof. Dora Akunyili, have been ranked

pronounced man and wife in a society wedding that had the crème de la crème of the society in attendance. Till date, the superlative wedding ceremony which was held in Abuja is a reference point when marriage ceremonies that are the talk of the town are up for discussion.

Meanwhile, the lady in question has not ceased to enjoy marital bliss since she quit spinsterhood. Njideka experienced another exciting aspect of marital life when she was delivered of a baby girl in the United States, some months back. Sources have it that while the baby girl is growing up with care from both her paternal and maternal families, her parents too are growing in love. The result?

Njideka is looking more stunning and radiant as she savours both motherhood and marital bliss.

among eminent personalities who are no more but are still cherished, even in death. The former Minister of Information has again been honoured in death.

Dora Akunyili came into national consciousness due to her effectiveness and sustained integrity while she was at the helm of affairs at NAFDAC and afterwards, became a role model in the public service and in the society at large.

She was one of the award recipients at the maiden edition of Impact Awards a few years back and the organisers of the yearly event, Impact and Exclusive Media Group, deemed it fit to dedicate its 2014 edition to the late politician. The theme of the event was, ‘Integrity in Public Service, Prerequisite for Nation Building.

The Dora Akunyili Case.’

The speaker at the event and member of the House of Representatives from Ogun State, Hon. Kehinde Odeneye, extolled the virtues of the late minister.

He advised politicians not to put aside their integrity, even as the next elections approach. He further enjoined politicians and public office holders to uphold their integrity and be selfless in rendering their services to the masses.

Obumneme, son of the deceased, who represented the family, in his remarks, appreciated the gesture of the event organisers towards his late mother. The event which was held at Renaissance Hotel, Lagos had many dignitaries in attendance.

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Body&Soul

Thinking

Lola Akande mellows at last

Pastor Kola Oyeyemi bags award

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rdent fans of Celeb Lounge will recollect that we wrote about the crisis that was brewing as regards who gets the APC ticket for Ikeja Federa l Constituency ahead of the 2015 elections.

While a former chairman of Ojodu Local Council Development A r e a , Hon. Abiodun Faleke, who currently occupies the seat is warming up to return to the National Assembly, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Ikeja Constituency 2, Hon. Lola Akande, had signified interest to battle for the ticket. Owing to the fact that the teacher-turned lawmaker is the elder sister of Senator Remi Tinubu, wife of All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, many had thought it was going to be a fierce battle. The tempo was also on the high side. We told our readers that the ticket may have been conceded to Faleke by leaders of the constituency.

Fresh information from a reliable source is that Lola may have resigned to fate and forgotten about going to the National Assembly. We were further informed that the seat, which she occupies at the state assembly, may have been ceded out. However, Lola, we learnt, is most likely to be in the executive arm of government in the next dispensation, if what sources informed us is anything to go by.

paulhelenproductions@yahoo.com

with Helen Paul

You need favour?

Read this

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F

ast-rising Lagos pastor, who is also a top staff of the telecommunication company, MTN, Kolawole Oyeyemi, has added another feather to his cap as he was recently honoured with a lifetime achievement award in marketing.

At the 2014 edition of prestigious Marketing World Award, which was held at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, a few other privileged corporate players also got awards in different categories. Organisers of the MWA, Instinct Wave Group, celebrated excellence and creativity of marketing. Oyeyemi, a senior pastor of a young and vibrant church in Lagos, Chapel of Uncommon Grace, is also president of Leadership Foundation.

As the general manager, business development, sale and distribution at MTN, Oyeyemi has over two decades of experience in marketing.

Happy times for Ifeanyi Uba

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Aloud

hese are sure good times for Capital Oil boss, Ifeanyi Uba, as the oil magnate, after going through a traumatic period, now has a reason to smile again.

From a humble beginning, the Anambra State-born dude had started and nurtured his business. Luckily for him, his calculation and hard work paid off and his business snowballed into a bigger investment, giving him national attention as a business man to watch.

Well-built Ifeanyi became the toast of many within and outside oil business because of his soaring success. The tables began to turn as he made up his mind to vie for the governorship position in his state, Anambra. Issues began to spring up but he was not daunted; he trudged on but at the end of the day, he could not achieve his political ambition as another candidate carried the day.

His faceoff with Coscharis boss, Cosmas Maduka, was a big issue. His assets, among which is his private jet and his main business, Capital Oil, were taken over

by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, and the consequence of this is better imagined.

Finally, after so much battle, his assets and business have been released to him after what seems like pitching his tent with the appropriate quarters.

) 0807 270 9777

uring last year’s Christmas and New Year festivities, I decided to make my staff happy by giving them a surprise bonus of N50, 000 each. Of course, they were not expecting this because their salaries had already been paid, so they were surprised. Some were even close to tears of joy, raining prayers on me. I felt really fulfilled to have done this.

But something shocking happened.

One of them, after I handed the surprise envelope to him, said something that really shocked me to the marrows.

I felt like retrieving the envelope from him –but I controlled myself.

“Thank you Ma, but don’t forget that I learnt you N1000 this morning. Can I have it now?” That was his response after counting the money I handed over to him.

“Oh, ok. I forgot. Have it,” I responded as I gave him a N1,000 note. He collected the money and left my office, but I blamed myself for including him in the list of staff that got the bonus.

If you ask me, it was my most embarrassing moment.

Many people lament today that favour is eluding them, not knowing that it is a result of their unpalatable attitudes, most times orchestrated by greed, pride and lack of humility. The boy in question has since been fired from my company. I didn’t have to think twice on that decision because he was less productive in the company, and now, he has shown greed and lack of manners.

Favour is very important to human survival. We all pray and are in dire need of favour in our endeavours. But some people’s attitudes deprive them of getting it. Unfortunately, such people assume they have spiritual problems. They accuse that step-mother or the old woman in their village of barring their progress, not realising that their destiny is in their hands. The earlier you work on that bad attitude of yours, the better.

I’m not saying there are no wicked people who use supernatural means to hinder people from getting favours and progressing in life, but most of the cases are self-inflicted.

I always tell people around me that humility is the easiest key to success.

Being humble doesn’t take away anything from you, but it adds a lot. The benefits of humility are unquantifiable. When you satisfy people with humility, it is a smooth way to get favour from them. I have seen people who fight to earn respect. In the Yoruba movie industry, for instance, I realised that many of the ladies fight over the title ‘aunty’. For a new actress to excel among them, she needs to call many people ‘aunty’, whether she is older or not. This development has caused unnecessary rancour in the industry. God uses the foolish things of this world to confuse the ‘wise’.

Such a thing is not a barrier to me because I have learned from childhood not to underrate people. That little child you underrate today could be in a position to assist you tomorrow. He/ she might also be the link for you to get a life-changing favour. Such is life.

God will not come down from heaven to help you. He sends angels in the form of your fellow human beings, but some people, as a result of their pride, greed and lack of humility, have distanced themselves from their angels.

In my debut article, I explained my humble beginning as a studio receptionist, and how favour located me as a result of my hard work and humility.

It will interest you to know that when some people who knew me then see me today, instead of requesting for the favour they need from me, you will hear them saying words like, “After all, we knew you when you started nah, when you didn’t have fame or money…” What has that got to do with the assistance you want from me? Such words can make someone who has plans to assist you change his mind.

The truth is that God has used me to assist people financially and otherwise, and it has nothing to do with whether I knew them before or not, or because they know my beginning.

For instance, if you want me to do a free show for you, there is no need to remind me that you knew when I was a receptionist.

I have used my personal experiences as reference points in this article so that you can have a clear picture of what I’m trying to explain.

God has continued to show His colossal supremacy to us by coding certain things from us. Nobody knows the day he will make it in life, or through the channel or person it will come to fruition. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that you must not underrate people. If you want people to respect you, respect them first, and what you get in return is their respect. That is why it is widely said that respect is reciprocal.

God will not come down from heaven to help you. He sends angels in the form of your fellow human beings, but some people, as a result of their pride, greed and lack of humility, have distanced themselves from their angels

48

SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

Miscellany Alley

Life is rich sometimes and painful at other times, but it is mostly full.

Let’s share our experiences on this page, after all, everyday is an opportunity to learn...send yours to julietbumah@gmail.com Rebound Bound Someone out there must know the feeling of being so in love one minute and being told in the next breath “it’s not you, it’s me”. That speech sucks to say the least, but the feeling afterward is much worse. Anyway, I have since overcome most of those issues and I am on the rebound. The rebound can take as long as you want it to and its one of the best times ever. When you do things you wouldn’t normally do in a relationship but you don’t care because… well, this isn’t a real relationship. Sometimes, the guys involved know this, but not always. It is fair to let them know they are the rebound guys right, but who cares? I am lov-

ing this devil-may-care attitude too much. I may one day down the line feel sorry for the suckers, but at this opportune moment, let it wait! How long can one stay on this path? Like I said before, that’s up to you, and I will take my sweet time.

In the interim, “where the boys at?”

Gift Osakwe, 20yrs Abuja

“Fabric-Nappers”

I gave my clothes to a tailor over six months ago. She made some but they did not size me. I took them to her to repair and since then, she has moved shops and refused taking my calls nor return my clothes. Do they teach tailors in their training days to be such

disappointers? Which one will they carry your cloth and instead of sewing them as agreed, stack them up and even mix up styles and materials when they decide to make them? People can be mean sha. When will professionalism come into the homes of artisans? This same matter applies to electricians, plumbers, carpenters, even mechanics. Please biko, you people should try and do your work in your little spaces. Don’t wait till you rise up. If you are diligent in small things, you will be too when given big work.

Thank you.

Aishat Mohammad 28 yrs Sokoto

Secret Ingredient ‘Tins’ My mother can make the meanest okro soup.

You know that one that can be done in 20 minutes tops if the meat is cooked already? She loves it with pounded yam. So if you factor in the pounding, make that 30 minutes and you will eat the best okro soup you ever had.

Whenever I asked her the secret to such wonderful tasting okro, she says it’s not my business and that when I get married, she would tell the secret to her daughterin-law. As most mothers, she has been trying to get me to pick a girl for life for a while now.

These things take time, I keep telling her. Anyway, I met a girl recently who

invited me to lunch and made an equally killer okro soup. I was excited and my interest was definitely piqued. I asked her what the secret was and she said she is not sure if its really a secret but she uses yellow pepper and hot leaf for her okro soup. Wow! I am expecting good things from this relationship, who knows? Perhaps I have found my Mrs Right to make my mom rest and me a very happy man indeed…with that type of okro soup I see a very bright future indeed.

What do you think?

Linus Oko, 38yrs Warri​

substances on her head.

She has one for every outing. Some are flowers and others different bugs and garden mosaics that catch her fancy at the time. Some are cute, and others funny, others still give her a vintage appeal. I am not really into all that fashion and trends hullabaloo. I just want to look good with my girl beside me as an arm candy. I have spoken to her on occassion, but she does not get it. How can one get through to a fashion junkie or fashion fascinator and have them tune it down a notch?

George 26yrs Lekki

Fascinated Fashion

I have this friend and she loves perching some

DIY on the GO

How to preserve tomatoes Esther Odili

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upremely ripe and juicy tomatoes are worth waiting for to eat, but with a few tricks up your sleeve, you can save that great tangy flavour to enjoy all year round. Can, freeze, dry, or just simply cook down tomatoes, whichever one you prefer. Some of these methods require a bit of time, but none require special skills or anything complicated.

Tomatoes are a favourite food of many and are great on their own.

Although it is a fruit, most people categorise tomatoes as a vegetable.

Tomatoes are very rich in Vitamin A. It is sweet, bursting with juices, and has a firm texture that doesn’t fall apart. There are thousands of varieties of tomatoes in an array of shapes, colours and sizes. The most common shapes are round (Beefsteak and globe), pear-shaped (Roma) and the tiny cherry-sized (Cherry and Grape). Yellow varieties tend to be less acidic and thus has less flavour than their red counterparts.

With bumper crops and unpredictable weather conditions, figuring out what to do with your pile of tomatoes can sometimes be a challenge. Being creative

and having a variety of methods to put away and store the value of that wonderful fruit for months is easy. How you store fresh tomatoes can make the difference between tomatoes tasting as they should or ones that have a weird texture and flavour. Here’s the best way to do it: Purée: A thick, red paste or concentrate made from crushed tomato pulp that has been cooked, reduced and added to dishes to give them a bright colour and a pronounced tomato flavour. You should store all your fruits and vegetables in your refrigera-

tor so they’d last longer, keep them cool, not cold.

What You Need: Fresh tomatoes Bowl

Knife Blender Cooking pot Olive-oil.

Process:

Sort the tomatoes, wash to remove any dirt and wipe dry. Dip tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, then drain, and peel off the skins. Blend the skinned tomatoes in a food processor, then heat until the tomato pulp has reduced to a thick paste. Some processors remove the skin of the tomatoes so, it can be blanched or not.

However, blanching will help to loosen the skin and also partially cook to preserve colour and flavour.

Use a deep enough pot as all thick sauces need sputter and splash room.

If using, chop the onion finely and sauté in hot olive oil until glassy, stirring frequently for about a minute or so.

Add the tomato puree and salt. Stir well and allow to gently simmer, half covered for 45 minutes to an hour (remove lid after 20 minutes). Stir occasionally. It is ready when the sauce has an even, thick consistency and no liquid separates in the puree. Here you make use of the wide pan; the liquid reduces quicker because of the wide surface and air contact. Work in batches adding each batch in a larger pot. If preserving, freeze in small to me-

dium quantities. When frozen, tomato purée can last for months.

Handy tips for making puree Although we typically recommend storing tomatoes at room temperature as it best preserves their flavour and texture, it’s not quite as simple as that. Here are the best practices depending on how ripe your tomatoes are: • Perfectly ripe tomatoes should be kept at room temperature on the counter away from sunlight. Make sure they’re in a single layer, not touching one another, and stem side up. Consume within a couple of days.

• Overripe tomatoes that are soft to touch with very red flesh are best kept in the fridge.

The cold air will keep the tomatoes from ripening, and they should last for another three days. Before eating refrigerated tomatoes, take them out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. This will allow the fruit to develop some of the flavour it has lost due to refrigeration.

• Keep in mind that the more densely packed a freezer is; the more efficiently it will run.

49

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Wine & Dine

Body&Soul

Rediscover Moscato white Ibukunoluwa Kayode

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nown for its sweet fruity flavours, Moscato wine is one of the oldest muscat grape varieties cultivated in the world.

Moscato is a typical light bodied fruit-forward white wine crushed from peach, orange blossom and nectarine grapes.

It is one of the most elegant wines from the Italian region, and made a debut recognition in Brazil as one of the subtle loved and often enjoyed wine by most connoisseurs.

Moscato white wine offers on the palate a savoury experience with a lush of unforgettable enjoyment.

The fruity character of Moscato lean towards apricot, peach, nectarine, meyer lemon, orange with aromas of herb, spice, flower, mineral and earth.

On the palate, it holds a friendly smooth undertone lingering finish of honey-

suckle, vanilla bean, rose, orange blossom, perfume, jasmine and caramel.

This dry sweet slightly bubbly white wine is also friendly to the health and can be enjoyed by anyone especially those who prefer low alcoholic drinks. It has 5-7% ABV and 110-170 per 6 oz serving. The refreshing flavour profile makes Moscato more than just a dessert wine primarily produced with muscate blac grapes.

It also has one of the most unique smells of all wine.

Moscato holds a medium acidity that makes it a friendly pair with variety of dishes -Chinese Foods like szechuan, thai and vietnamese cuisine. Also, it pairs greatly with spicy foods and lighter meats like chicken and light flaky fish but can stand up to BBQ Pork.

Looking to rediscover a new taste to filter the taste bud? a glass of Moscato white wine is an indulgence to try chilled.

Offal pepper soup served with white yam Biwom Iklaki

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ffal is the innards of animals. Orishirishi and afo anu are some of the Nigerian names. For the larger animals, their offal can be cleaned and cooked as a tasty meal. You must be warned that it can be very rich and oily and so requires no additional oils to the meal, but lots of pepper and spices. You can enjoy this soup with yam, sweet potato, Irish potato or plantain (boiled).

INGREDIENTS

Offal (washed thoroughly with hot water) Yam Pepper Stock cubes Black pepper Pepper soup spices Onions Mint leaves (chopped) Ginger and garlic

PREPARATION

Spice and cook the offal until tender. Roast dry spices to bring out their oils and flavour.

Blend pepper, onions, garlic and ginger to a paste (helps to thicken the soup). Add some chopped onions to the pot. Stir in the paste and blended spices. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes to infuse the spices with the offal. Taste, and add additional salt, pepper, stock cubes as desired. Cover and let steam till it is tender, making sure there is enough sauce to make a tasty soup. Add the chopped mint leaves and turn off the heat.

Peel your yam and parboil with enough water to cook it. Add some salt to taste and a little butter or olive oil to give it a glossy look and flavoured taste.

50

SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

Prepping for harmattan Biwom Iklaki

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any areas in Nigeria have been experiencing the rains which make the atmosphere cold. If there is a break in the rains, the sun comes down with unforgiving glare. This yin yang play of the elements is recipe for many things, not least of which are common colds, fevers, allergies and a general lull in high spirits.

Also, when it rains through the night, you wake up to a biting cold morning.

Germs on the other hand thrive in warm, wet environs, and that is exactly what this season provides.

It is wet, and often hot and sunny. It exposes kids to all manner of illnesses.

Here are a few tricks that can get you safely through this not-so-merry pre-Yuletide season and through to the New Year.

Be sure to wash your hands often. This reduces your exposure to bacteria and the transmission too.

As often as you wash your

hands, moisturise them with some hand lotion or oil base sanitiser.

Cover up to keep warm.

Try to stay warm always so that you are not exposed to cold draughts and invariably catch a cold. For kids in school, they should always wear the cardigan provided by their schools or parents should endeavour to provide one for them.

Stay hydrated, drink a lot of water to flush your system, but avoid cold drinks.

Instead, take water at room temperature, warm beverages or hot tea/cocoa.

Think of fun activities to pass time indoors while it rains outside. Remember how you danced in the rain and how much fun you had doing so? Your kids can do this too (if they wear water resistant gear over warm clothes, wellies to protect their feet from getting wet).

Take a warm shower to wash away any clingy dirt or germs and to bring the temperature back to normal after being exposed to the cold rain. It is the sud-

den drop in the body temperature that often shocks the body and encourages illnesses.

Load up on multi vitamins. These act as supplements to your regular diet by providing what the body needs to prevent illnesses and builds up broken tissues.

Never leave your walls to be exposed to the rain.

They are very hard to dry out and may begin to grow fungi which are very bad, especially for kids with sinuses, allergies and asthma. Keep windows closed when it rains.

Get rid of stagnant water because they breed mosquitoes. Use mosquito repellents to protect you and your home from them.

Keep windows and the entire house free of dust by dusting often. Wash curtains too because of the amount of dust in the air.

If you follow these precautions, instead of viewing this season with apprehension, you will welcome it with open arms.

Colour Art B blue

I orange

R red

D yellow

Crackyour your brain Crack brain

INTELLIGENCE TEST How many animals do you see?

Source: www. interestingemails.com

3

4

6

Gags

What has an eye but cannot see?

Ans: Needle

Gags

What is lighter then feather yet the strongest man can’t hold it for more than five minutes?

Ans: Breath Which two sisters give birth to each other over and over again?

Ans: Day and night

What did the mushroom say to the fungus?

Ans: You are a fun guy (fungi) Why do farts stink?

Ans: So that deaf people could enjoy them too.

Hero of the week Dr Stella Ameyo Adadevoh You must have heard about the Ebola virus by now. The story is everywhere in the news on TV, radio, and around us. Look around you in school, you can see wash hand basins with soup and running water.

You also have tubes of sanitiser sitting in strategic areas.

All of these came about when Ebola virus came to Nigeria through a Liberian called Patrick Sawyer. He infected the people who cared for him at the hospital. One of them was Dr. Stella Adadevoh. She did not know that he had the virus, but as a doctor, there is always a risk of getting infected by different diseases from your patients. She was a victim of the hazards of being a doctor and caring for the sick. She caught the Ebola virus, but she did not survive. She died giving service to humanity.

She made sure they kept Patrick Sawyer in quarantine so that the virus would not spread throughout Nigeria.

That was how she saved Nigeria from a potential Ebola epidemic outbreak. You can remember her in your prayers today and always as she may have saved your life too!

Source: coloringpages101.com

5

Faith 51

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Interview Oritsejafor lacks capacity to lead CAN - Primate Ayodele p.53

Sermon Dancing on the graves of our children p.56

News Words for mothers, daughters at City of Life summit p.52

Sermon Importance of revelation p.55

Pastor and Mrs Tunde Bakare

Day Nigerians honoured Tunde Bakare Tai Anyanwu

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Tai Anyanwu Head, religous Desk titus.anyanwu@newtelegraph online.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

he Serving Overseer of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, means different things to different people.

To some, Bakare is controversial. And to others, he is focused consistent and indefatigable.

Others call him a visionary leader, mentor and activist while some say Bakare is generous to a fault, enigmatic, bold, an icon and defender of the people.

ToAdebiyi those in the corridors of power, Pastor Tunde Bakare is regarded as a tough critic. In the international circle, he was once described as being more explosive than any nuclear or atomic bomb.

However, there are moments when people comment about others, things, events and people, just straight from the heart.

In the last seven days, eminent Nigerians across ethnic divides had an opportunity to speak about the personal attributes of this man of God who is so admired, yet controversial.

It was the occasion of Bakare’s 60th birthday anniversary. According to the pastor, members of his congregation put together a weeklong birthday package. Included in the package were a symposium, birthday service, visits to charity homes and Bakare’s alma mater as well as a book launch.

“I made the mistake of saying on the pulpit that they could only celebrate my birthday

“It is that aggregate of his personality capital that drew me here today. Who will not be happy to associate with Pastor Bakare? I must say that I admire you; I admire your courage,” Mimiko said once in 10 years,” Bakare had said while commenting on the weeklong activities.

Among dignitaries at the events were a former head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari; ex-governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba; serving governors of Ogun and Ondo states, Ibikunle Amosun and Olusegun Mimiko respectively; and Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire.

Others include the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo; and many other eminent Nigerians.

Their various speeches were a celebration of Bakare’s exemplary lifestyle.

Mimiko, who described Bakare as a symbol of integrity, said, “It was that aggregate of his personality capital that drew me here today.

Who will not be happy to associate with Pastor Bakare? I must say that I admire you; I admire your courage.”

He added that Bakare would not be forgotten in the history of Nigeria because he responded to the yearnings of Nigerians when he decided to run as vice-presidential candidate to Buhari at a time Nigeria was in need of a true leader.

Also speaking, Amosun said, “He is one of those brands the good Lord has blessed us with that we exported to Lagos, Nigeria and the world as a whole. You have always taken a position that nobody can deny that you are indefatigable, fearless and may God continue to make you to be you. I want to you to come home to Ogun State. Please come, we will give you land,” the governor pleaded.

And for Gbadebo, there is no one else like Bakare. “I cherish that name,” he said.

For el-Rufai, “He is my egbon (elder brother). He was the one that always called the State Security Service to release me whenever they arrested me.”

In his opening remark, the chairman of the ocassion, Mr. Fola Adeola, said he had found Bakare to be a man of conscience.

“May your light so shine before men so that they will see your goodness and glorify God. A man cannot be fully accepted until he is rejected,” he said.

The former managing director of GTB Bank described Bakare as an enigma, hated by a lot, admired by many and a hater of injustice.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 52

52

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Faith

Words for mothers, daughters at City of Life summit

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Tai Anyanwu

he just concluded 2014 Esther Strategic Conference of City of Life Miracle Center, Lagos, was more than just girly talks.

Rather, it was a time of spiritual refreshing for the women folk, who converged on the church premises radiating cheerful faces as their leader, Rev. (Mrs.) Ngozi John Okwo, gave them enough of Godly counsel on how to bequeath the right virtues to their daughters.

Aptly the convention was celebrated with the theme: ‘How to Be the Special Mom the Daughter Long for.’

Okwo explained, “The convention was aimed at getting Mother and Daughter bond together spiritually, emotionally and in unity of purpose.”

She took the text of her message from Proverbs 31:10, 28: “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies… her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also and he praiseth her.”

Delving into scriptural insight, she emphasised the qualities of a virtuous woman, and enjoined mothers to learn of them and pass the virtues to their daughters.

Okwo decried the loss of spiritual and moral values and the disconnection between the mothers and their daughters.

She noted that many destinies had been destroyed through things that children see and hear.

She buttressed her points with the scripture in the book of Jeremiah 9:20-21; “Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word

of his mouth, and teach the world of his mouth, and everyone her neighbour.

For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces to cut off the children from without and the young men from streets.”

Emphaising the importance of being obedient to God’s word, she urged the women folk to take bold steps by changing their thinking pattern.

She charged the women to rather look up to the bright future God has destined for all. Before she ended her ministration, she identified the qualities that a mothers should bequeath to her daughter.

“A mother should see herself as a teacher in the home, a giver of life, the first role model to her child and should maintain the family altar.

“She should also always

create a good atmosphere at home, avoid negative words, bullying, boasting, bragging. Be accessible, play, read, interact even watch movies with them. Be interested in their talents,” she said.

Mothers, she continued, should discover the unique qualities of their children, understand their best time for study and refrain from comparing one child with others as well as give the children quality time.

She urged every daughter to build a strong spiritual stature and good value system.

She urged them to believe in themselves, be honest, have integrity, be respectful, serve God with all their heart and maintain spiritual purity.

The high point of the event was an award presentation to the grandmother, mother and daughter of the year.

Diary

Victorious Army Ministries plans convention

The Victorious Army Ministries International is set for it Victorious Army Ministries International is set for its Bethel Victory Convention.

The programme comes up at the Lagos headquarters of the church from December 3-7. The convener of the convention, Apostle Joseph Agboli, explained that free buses will be provided to convey participants from different towns in the country to the programme. The programme has the theme, ‘The blessing that makes rich.’ Renowned clerics such as Rev. Uma Ukpai, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, Papa Ayo Oritsejafor and Pastor (Mrs. Blessings Agboli will be onhandtominister at the event.

GFM skills programme

The Gospel Faith Mission International (Agege Assembly), Lagos plans to hold a four-week skills acquisition/ empowerment programme.

The Empowerment Promotion Academy is working with the church to create wealth via employment and entrepreneurship training for the benefit of its members and the public.The programme will take place at the church ground at Bankole Street, Keke Agege, behind Agege Stadium. The programme will cover catering and culinary delights, computer appreciation, web designing and computer engineering.

C & S Unification Church holds revival The annual revival programme of Cherubim & Seraphim Unification Church Worldwide Agege Lagos District Council Agege, with the theme: ‘Revive thy work,’ comes up in December. The three-day programme will run from December 3 –5 at the church premises at Agege Railway branch. Senior Apostle Prime Oluwasola Oyewole says that Peniel 2014, as it is popularly called, will feature salvation, deliverance, healing and breakthrough, Expected to minister at the event are His Eminence Most Elder Apostle Prophet (Dr.) S. A. Alao (JP); Senior Elder Apostle Pro (Dr.) J. A. Oguntuga (JP); Chairman LDCC, Agege/ Host , Apostle Pastor Kayode David; State HQ/ SAGEM, and Senior Prophetess Feyisola Adefioye.

Methodist Church holds night praise

Ebenezer Methodist Church, Akowonjo, Lagos will hold its feast of praise on November 26 and 27.

The programme has been slated for the church premises at Akowonjo behind the council office.

According to the minister in charge, Evangelist Godwills Okafor, the event will be a time of great experiences for members and visitors.“Other features of the programme are salvation, worship, drama and a wonderful time with the Lord for all He has done for his people in the year 2014,” the shepherd said.

Cross-section

Ask, testify and recover all Tai Anyanwu

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he annual revival programme of Powerline Bible Church, which afforded all Powerliners across the nations of the world to celebrate God and humanity under one roof, has come and gone.

But two words would remain indelible in the minds of the participants - the power of your testimony and your ability to ask of God whatever you wish to have.

Celebrated with the theme: ‘Recover All,’ the church’s General Overseer, Bishop Lawrence Osagie, gave an insight into the celebration.

“The whole idea of the conference was for all Powerliners to come together as one family and people of God to seek the face of God for revival in our personal life.

“It is also an opportunity for us to pray together for

God to intervene in the affairs of individuals and in the affairs of the nation,” he explained.

Expounding on the theme of the convention, Osagie said it was also a platform that enabled people who never knew Jesus to come to the family of the Lord. He added that as they attended the revival meeting, they got convinced by the Holy Spirit and then give their lives to Christ.

“We celebrate God and one another to recover all and we believed in the power of your testimony as bases for total recovering because if you remembered what God did yesterday then God would do it again.

“God is always blessing people and God has always intervened in the affairs of individuals but people do forget the little things and even the big things. It is an opportunity to remember our blessings and name them one by one,” he fur-

ther said.

On the final day, Osagie took the text of his message from Revelation 12 verse 11: “And they overcame him by the word of their testimony and by the blood of the lamb.”

Buttressing the theme with the story of Hannah’s encounter at Shiloh, Osagie explained: “She came to Shiloh to seek God’s intervention in her life because she was barren and people around her were tormenting and humiliating her because of her barrenness.

“She went to Shiloh and then cried unto God. After she laid her request, the Bible said that Hannah’s countenance changed. She was no longer sad. She demonstrated faith there.”

He pointed out that every problem taken to the altar of God elicits a response from Him. He stated that every time a Christian asks God for something, such a person should rise from his

or her feet and demonstrate faith.

Hannah’s testimony, he continued, was that the following year she brought her testimony to God in the person of her son, Samuel, who was given to her as a miracle.

Going further to demonstrate the power of testimonies and potency of prayer in the lives of people, Osagie talked about the case of David when he was confronted by Goliath. David, he said, remembered that God gave him the lives of a lion and a bear in the past.

Armed with the testimony, David also demonstrated the faith that he would kill Goliath. He said the Philistines’ man of war fell into his hand because David remembered the past testimony.

“We must always remember the good things that God has done for us. It will power us to pursue greater things,” he added.

Day Nigerians honoured Tunde Bakare C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5 1

“Some say he is controversial, kind, rascally, but above all he is a man of God, very focused. I give it to Tunde Bakare, you will go places and you haven’t seen anything yet,” he added.

And the glowing tributes continued to pour up to the point of the book launch. The reviewer, Dr. Ayo Olude, described the book as a story of Bakare beautifully written, well packaged and a delight.

Chief Joop Berkhout, the publisher of the book, described Bakare as an extraordinary stylish man, who usually keeps his audience spell-bound. “He is a controversial personality.

I would like to publish his autobiography,” he added.

Responding the host ex-

pressed gratitude to all who came to rejoice with him during the celebration.

He did not forget people who helped him in the early stage of his life and named as his real heroes. Bakare however said that his life was intertwined with the destiny of the Nigerian nation.

In his words: “I can’t shake off Nigeria. This is my entire life, for this reason was I born. I was 10 years old when God initiated me into this. I am not looking for political power in order to become Mr. President.

That is an office. I’m looking for the total restructuring of our nation, so that this bleeding giant, with a broken spinal cord will be healed and it can rise and liberate the rest of Africa.

The greatest civilisation is about to come from Africa.”

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Oritsejafor lacks capacity to lead CAN - Primate Ayodele The Spiritual head of Inri Evangelical Church, primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, tackles the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria. he spoke withTai anyanwu If you are not praying or fasting or predicting, how do you relax?

I am a prophet and I don’t predict if God won’t tell me to do that. When you are working for God, you will always be a happy and comfortable person. So, I am honoured to work for God and even more than a president. My position is higher than any ministerial position. If I come into this world again, I would like to remain who I am, working in the house of God. I am not worried about relaxation or time to unwind. I don’t know what it means. I am never sick because as a prophet of God, God takes care of me. I sleep when I want to sleep. I fear God so much and I don’t want to do things that will annoy my God. If you are appointed to head CAN, how will you tackle materialistic tendencies among men of God? I reject that appointment in the name of Jesus.

How can it be checked?

As a man of God, we should think about how our members will get to the next level of their lives. We should think of how people who don’t have a house will get a roof over their heads; how the unemployed can earn a living. We ought to organise skill acquisition programmes and get more people empowered.

That is how church leaders should think. But we have a situation where the leaders take from their followers to enrich themselves.

It does appear that there is trouble in churches?

Now, I need to talk about the recent issue affecting the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ayo Oritsejafor. Ayo lacks the spiritual endowment required to lead CAN. I am worried because I am a Christian ambassador, an anointed prophet of God and I know what it takes to lead people. My advice is that the old people in the affairs of CAN should retire.

We need people with ideas and spiritually endowment.

Ayo is not endowed and he should face his career as a pastor. He is too busy for the CAN leadership and cannot lead Christendom. He is an entrepreneur and many things are wrong with the leadership of CAN. Christians should pray that God will send in somebody who will put things right and move CAN forward.

sociation will disappoint the Super Eagle Chief Coach, Mr. Stephen Keshi. I even granted interview because God said talk.

Recently, Gen. Abdulsalami urged Mr. President to negotiate with Boko Haram. Few days after, a ceasefire agreement with the terror group. Within two hours of the announcement Boko Haram renewed attack, what is your take on that?

It worries me when a Christian president fails to consult with God before doing things. It looks like that is one area where Mr. President is weak. It amazes me that the President does not look at his background, how he got to the top. He loves to consult human beings than God. The President should listen to what God’s prophets say and work with that. If God said, don’t negotiate with Boko Haram, he should not negotiate with them. The army cannot defeat Boko Haram for now. We must go to God in prayer, and we have the prayer warriors that will do the praying for the nation. We have the foot army to go to war but God will have to give direction, because we cannot do it on our own. Let our government seek the face of God. Shekau is dead; God told me so. Mr. President should not negotiate with Boko Haram and let God direct him on how to deal with the terror organisation.

I only talk about issues as spiritually directed by the Almighty God. God may have directed Pastor Adeboye to vouch for the CAN President, but God has not directed me

How do you rate Pastor Enoch Adeboye’d recent defence of the CAN President?

Pastor Adeboye can defend Ayo Oritsejafor; that is his own business. In Nigeria, we need to make spiritual enquiries about who climbs into leadership positions. I only talk about issues as spiritually directed by the Almighty God. God may have directed Pastor Adeboye to vouch for the CAN President, but God has not directed me. Christian leaders in this country have turned to political instruments.

Political affiliations are gathering momentum. What is the prophetic outlook?

If the APC picks Muhammadu Buhari or Aminu Tambuwal as the party’s flag bearer, President Jonathan will have a tough time. But that does not mean that President Jonathan will not win the election in the North. APC may not pick its vice president from South East but from the South West. Note: I don’t belong to any party, I also don’t vote. They may call President Jonathan a corrupt leader or any name. The Lord says that Jonathan’s efforts will manifest in two years. If you ask me if God has said whether Jonathan should go for second time or whether APC would win in the 2015, I will give answer to those questions sometime this month.

Why not now?

I don’t have any say except God directed me. Last January, I told Nigerians that the Nigerian Football As-

Ayodele

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Channels of favour Mystery ofAnxiety

for verily I say unto, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

(Matthew 17:20) By the spoken words from your mouth, refuse to accept the negative circumstances around you. In view of this spiritual position, the word of God says, “Death and Life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21).

To lend credence to the above scripture, the word of God also says: “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth.

Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” (Proverb 6:2). This latter scripture means that you can be trapped by the words of your mouth. You can also be lifted by the words of your mouth.

The former scripture talks about the power and component of the tongue; this is so because God created man in His own image and likeness. Man is the only creature that has the effective gift of communication through spoken words.

God created everything in the world and in the universe by the words of His mouth. Thus, the word of God declares, “By faith we understand, that the world were framed by the words of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

(Hebrews 11:3).

When you realise the power in your spoken words, you will begin to utilise them positively until all the obstacles and hindrances against your progress are removed. Many great men and women in the world discovered this

salient virtue and made effective use of it. Men like Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussollini, Napoleon, Bonapatti, etc. made effective use of their spoken words to brain-wash their nations into wars, industry, sports, revolutions and many other great achievements. The word of God made it clear that our Lord Jesus Christ is the brightness of the spoken word and stated thus: “Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.” (Hebrew 1:3).

The words you speak with your mouth are the raw materials with which you are blessed by God or oppressed by the devil. When you say negative things, you empower Satan and his demons to oppress you and victimise you. But when you say positive things, you empower the Holy Spirit to mobilise God’s angels to deliver the packages of your blessings into your possession. Don’t say what you don’t mean. For instance, when you wake up on a day you are about to embark on a journey and you say to your wife, “Darling, if I come back take it, but if I don’t come back, take care of the children,” you are inviting the spirit of death to attack you; may be through accident or any other calamity. A wise wife would simple cancel that journey.

Learn to always say, “It is well” to every situation. Learn to bless every new day by saying, “This is the day that the Lord has made, and I shall rejoice and be glad in it.”

What you say with your mouth is the

divine investment of God in you. So learn to say the right things at all times.

This was why the divine injunction declared thus, “What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see well? Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile.”

(Psalm 34:12-13). The word of God also says, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10 vs 10).

Men lost the glory of the tongue when they attempted to get to God by building the tower of Babel. God confused men by giving them different languages. But man regained this lost glory on the day of the Pentecost as they spoke in multiple tongues under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Many parents have destroyed the destinies of their children by saying negative things to them. The Bible says, “My grace is sufficient for thee, and my strength is made perfect in your weakness.” (2nd Corinthians 12 vs. 9). In verse 10c, the word God records, “For when I am weak then I am strong.”

Therefore, I charge and challenge you to always say that you are strong. Even when your weakness is obvious, still say that you are strong. The speech centre has a network connection from the tongue to the brain and from the brain to the spinal cord and then to the central nervous system. Therefore, God divinely created and positioned the speech centre to be in control of the central nervous system, so that anything you say with your mouth whether positive or negative affects your whole body, either positively or negatively.

Then God said, Let there be light and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.

God called the light day, and the darkness He called night, so the evening and the Rev. James Akinadewo morning were the first day. motailatugrow@hotmail.com Then God said...Then God said... Then 0803 718 8392 (SMS only) God said...Then God said...Then God said..

Then God said...Then God said...

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him, male eavens are shouting Halleluyah. and female He created them. Then God The world is not complete with- saw everything that He had made, and out you and your generation is indeed it was very good. So the evening blessed having you around this and morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1 time. You are God’s masterpiece with royalty verses 1-27, 31) HIS IMAGE decked on you and the world is waiting for Awesome, wonderful, marvellous, mindyour manifestation as a child of God. blowing, excellent, unrivalled and captivatYour divine package is supersonic, ing exploits of God Almighty. He created extraordinary and mind-blowing and that Heaven, earth and the fullness thereof in got me thinking – If God Almighty (our just six days and the entire package has creator) could think within Him that the whole world (you inclusive) can be worked not decayed since. God now created you to continue the work of creation, make on, packaged and delivered within six His creatures better, dare the undared, days. I mean six solid days, then you (His image) must imbibe the spirit of your father. tread where others dread, upturn demonic Challenge yourself and positively transform mindset, break new grounds, have possibility mentality and charge your generation your own world. Become a change agent, for greater exploits. light your generation with your vision and Shock absorber ultimately get a pat on the back on the day of reckoning when you submit the report n God also created the first bridge of your investment to the investor. This has inside the Red Sea. brought to the fore our teaching today – n God also made the first elevator Audacity to Dare. May His name be praised transporting Prophet Elijah to

forever. Amen.

Heaven.

HIS WORD n God also made the first fountain ‘In the beginning God created the Heavens inside a rock for the Israelites. and the earth, the earth was without form, n God also made the first subma and void, and darkness was on the face of rine for Jonah. the deep. And the spirit of God was hovern God also created sand atop ing over the face of the waters.

Erinmo Mountain in Osun State,

Nigeria where buildings are sited today. n God baked the first bean cake to feed Prophet Elijah in the wilderness. n God produced the first biro that wrote the Ten Commandments on rock tablet for Prophet Mo ses. Interestingly, it was that divine tablet that Steve Jobs studied to produce the Ipad for the global village today.

You and God If God could dare when nothing existed, what about you?

He created you and deposited potential inside you to dare things none has done before as in the days of creation. God thought within Himself, ‘This is darkness but can be transformed into a world of possibilities.’ He charged His Almightiness, started proclaiming them into existence and they became a reality. Think – You (His image) was not spoken into existence but formed from the ground because of your uniqueness, now breathed into, to have the life of God in you, different from other creatures, to become a co-creator and continue the work of creation as laid down by your father (God Almighty).

To fulfil His mandate in you, you must dare new things, making people to ask – what wisdom is this?

Nothing and nobody, devil inclusive, must stop you on your way to greatness; you are too loaded to be downloaded by the devil. Distraction is the enemy of distinction. That great idea bubbling inside you daily must be brought to fruition.

Anything worthwhile in life will attract opposition. Leave the camp of detractors, flow with the spirit of possibilities, arise

and do what others have not done before and those detractors will become your cheerleaders. Know that only champions are celebrated, not the also-rans.

Dare devil achievers n America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was defeated in eight elections. His fiancée died, he failed in business and had a nervous breakdown but eventually became America’s president. He never gave up, was enigmatic and Americans named an automobile after him. n Steve Jobs lost his placement in a company he started at 30 years but bounced back to start Apple with Ipad tablets and the world became the apple of his ‘I’. n Award-winning Oprah Winfrey was demoted from her position as news anchor and told she wasn’t fit for television. But she told herself – I will surprise these people and eventually became an influential television personality in the world. n Dropped from school and told he would amount to nothing in life but fired back – watch my back, my name will ring a bell in this generation. How true it was for Michael Jordan. He looked inward, charged his sporting ingenuity and became the best basketballer ever, won several awards and entered the National Basketball Association Hall of Fame. n At age 11, he dropped out of school, owing to a strange ailment, shrinking stature and not being able to measure to students of his age. But now the Guinness Book of World Records is not complete without him.

Take your scroll - Lionel Messi.

John Ogbansiegbe

0803 341 6327

The Channels of your spoken word The dominating thoughts in the heart of a man are easily identified by his words. Some talk poverty and receive poverty. What you say with your mouth determines what happens to you.

What you say with your mouth can put you under your problem or above your problem. Our Lord Jesus Christ was positive in His words. His words carried divine potency. His words drove away everything that had not God in it. He spoke to the winds and the waves, they obeyed Him. He spoke to demons and they fled. He spoke to afflictions, sickness and diseases and the afflicted became healed. He spoke to the fishes and they obeyed him. He spoke to water and it turned to wine.

He spoke to bread and it multiplied to feed the multitude. He spoke to the fig tree and it dried up.

He spoke to death and there was life.

In the same way, you can speak to your circumstance and situations and receive the desired results. This was why our Lord Jesus Christ declared and stated in His word “Because of your unbelief,

Prophetic Insight

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Audacity to dare

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Breaking barriers through the power in His book! (2) The Voice of Dominion by

Bishop David Oyedepo E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

7747546-8 (SMS only)

L

ast week, I taught on the Proofs Of Authentic Dreams. Also, I showed you a few of our pictures from the Dream Book.

This week, I will continue to show you more of our pictures from the Dream Book. Besides, I will show you how all invisible barriers are subject to the authority of faith. May God give you understanding!

What, then, are our pictures from the Dream Book? n Every child of God is a spiritual Isaac: The Bible says that we brethren as Isaac, we are the children of promise.

According to scriptures, Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year a hundred fold, for the Lord blessed Him. He went forward, became very great and the Philistines envied him. Therefore, every child of God is a spiritual Isaac ordained for envy (Galatians 4:28; Genesis 26: 12-14). n Every child of God is ordained a fruitful vine: As it is written: Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants

round about thy table (Psalm 128:3). (See also Psalm 127:3). We understand that every child of God is a wife of the Lamb.

There is no male or female; we are all one in Christ. It means every child of God is redeemed to be physically and socially fruitful. Moreover, God has not ordained dry seasons for us. Therefore, the last dry season you experienced is the last you will ever see! n Every child of God is redeemed and raised to be far above principalities and powers: It means that we have been translated far above every force behind all barriers, visible and invisible.

We must also understand that there is no barrier before us that can challenge the authority of the revelation of the truth that we believe in. This is because whatever we believe, we are empowered to become (Ephesians 2:5-6; 1:20-21, John 1:12).

However, faith is the spiritual force that destroys all barriers on our path, visible and invisible, because no satanic barrier can resist the authority of Bible-based and Bible-provoked faith. As it is written: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Therefore, all invisible barriers are subject to the authority of faith (Ephesians 6:16).

But, how does our faith accomplish this? n Faith taps into divine unction that destroys all yokes: From the story of the woman with the issue of blood, we understand that through faith we can tap into divine unction to destroy every bar-

There is no male or female; we are all one in Christ. It means every child of God is redeemed to be physically and socially fruitful

rier on our path (Luke 8:40-48). n Faith establishes our partnership with God in battle: When we establish partnership with God through our faith, we become unbeatable, unstoppable and irresistible in the battle of life (Hebrew 11:24; Romans 8:31). n Faith engrafts the believer into divinity; thereby, equipping him to be more than a conqueror: Our faith engrafts us into the realm of divinity and divinity connotes dominion, invincibility, indestructible and undefeatable (Romans 11:17-23; 8:35-38). n By faith, we enforce the performance of whatever is written concerning us in scriptures: As it written: And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord (Luke 1:45). (See also Isaiah 10:25-27). n The force of faith crushes every barrier on our path: Concerning the heroes of faith, the Bible says: And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon… Barak, and of David also…Who through faith subdued king-

doms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens (Hebrews 11:32-34). (See also 1Timothy 6:12; Matthew 11:12).

However, faith is no cheap talk; faith is hard work. Faith is not making God responsible for the outcome of our lives; faith is sharing responsibility with God in the face of scripture, so as to commit His integrity to perform. Thus, there is your part and my part, in determining the outcome of our lives.

Friend, to break barriers through our faith, we must be born again. You can be born again by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. You can do so now if you haven’t, as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. 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 be with you again next week. Be Blessed!

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books — Walking in Wisdom and The Unlimited Power Of Faith.

Our Ministry is getting set for SHILOH 2014 captioned, Heaven On Earth, which will hold at Faith Tabernacle Canaan Land, Idiroko Road, Ota from December 9-13. Among the highlights of the event are specialized healing services. Come for a destiny turnaround!

Importance of revelation unveiling is perfectly described in the example of a sculptor unveiling his work by the exposing it to the onlooker. It is uncovering of or revealing what was previously hidden.

Revelation is tremendously important to the church and to every sincere Godseeking worshipper. Do you remember in Frank Oboden Olomukoro Matthew 16:13-18 where Jesus asked the frankolomukoro@yahoo.com disciples this question: “Whom do men say 0703 362 1866 that I the Son of Man am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one he importance of revelation by the of the Prophets. He saith unto them, but spirit of God to a true believer can who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the ever be overemphasised. Revelation means more to you than you Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon realise. Without revelation, it is practically Bar-jona: for flesh and blood (man) had not impossible to walk with God in spirit and in truth, as a worshipper. By revelation, we revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto the, that thou walk with God with understanding. art Peter, and upon this rock I will build How did Abel know what to do in order to offer a proper sacrifice to God? It was by my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it?” The Roman Catholics revelation. By faith he received the revelasay that the church is built upon Peter. tion of the blood. Cain didn’t get such a Now that is really carnal. How could God revelation (even though he had a combuild the church upon a man so unstable mandment) so he couldn’t offer the right sacrifice. “By faith Abel offered unto God a that he denied the Lord Jesus and cursed more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which while doing so? God can’t build His church he obtained a witness that he was righteous. upon any man. And it wasn’t a rock lying there as though God had hallowed the God testifying of his gifts: and by it he ground at that spot. And it isn’t as the Protbeing dead yet speaketh.” (Hebrew 11:4) estants say, that the church is built upon That was what Zechariah meant when he declared: It is not by power or by might but Jesus. It is Revelation. If you read it the by my spirit, saith the Lord. (Zechariah 4:6) way it is written: “Flesh and blood hath not It was a revelation from God that made the Revealed it, but my father hath revealed it and upon this rock (Revelation) I will build difference and gave Abel eternal life. Now my church.” The church is built on Revelayou might take what your pastor says, or tion, on ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ what the seminary teaches. Though it may Oh, how we need Revelation by the be taught to you with eloquence, until God spirit! We don’t need a new Bible, we don’t reveals to you that Jesus is the Christ, and need a new translation. Though some are that it is the blood that cleanses you, and very good, and I am not against them, but that God is your Saviour, you will never have eternal life. It is the spiritual revelation we need the revelation of the Spirit. And thank God, we can have what we need, for that does it.

God wants to reveal His word to us by His Now the Greek word for revelation is ‘apocalypse,’ which means ‘unveiling.’ This Spirit. No man knows the things of God

Oracles God

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save the Spirit of God and He to whom the Spirit of God reveals them. We need to call on God for revelation more than anything else in the world. We have accepted the Bible, we have accepted the great truth of it, but it still is not real to most people because the Revelation by the Spirit is not there. The Word has not been quickened.

Now we know the Bible says that, it can’t be denied. But the revelation of it is missing. It is not Real to the majority of God’s children.

If Revelation is beyond you, look up and seek God for it. That is the only way you are ever going to get it. Revelation has to come from God. It never comes by human or natural endowment, but by spiritual inducement. You can even memorise the scriptures, and though that is wonderful, that won’t do it. It has to be a revelation from God. It says in the Word that no man can say that Jesus is the Christ except by the Holy Ghost. You have to receive the Holy Ghost and then, and only then, can the Spirit give you the Revelation that Jesus is the Christ; God’s Anointed One. (I Corinthians 12:3).

The prevailing overcoming Church is built on Revelation. It is the revelation of God that will give you authority over the Devil. You see why he (Satan) fights the truth, he knows that if the people get the true revelation of the true church and what she is and what she stands for, she can do greater works, and she will be an invincible army. It will take the Holy Spirit to give us revelation or we will fail to get it. It won’t take just ordinary study and thinking to make the Bible real. The ability to hear from God requires supernatural instruction, not just a student comparing verse with verse; though that is good. But a mystery requires the teaching by the Spirit or it never becomes clear, as Jesus declared in Matthew 11:27 “All things are delivered unto me of my father and no man knoweth

the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” God is not to be known intellectually, by reasoning or logic. He is known by faith, believing Him by spiritual revelation.

Now, that is the revelation: Jesus Christ is the Almighty God. The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. No matter how hard you try, you can’t prove that there are three Gods - a Holy Trinity. It is not that there are three Gods but one God with three offices. There is one God with three titles or offices - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (1Timothy3:16).

This mighty revelation is what the early church had and it must be restored in the last days along with the correct formula of water baptism. Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16 Acts 19:1-6.

The spiritual revelation of who God is, is expressed in Jesus Christ in the flesh. Jesus is the revelation (the revealing) of God in the flesh to the world as Emmanuel. God the Spirit (John 4:29) dwelling in the flesh ( Jesus), reconciling the world to Himself. II Corinthians 5:16-18.

God has no other way of bringing out His spiritual revelation except by a Prophet. A Prophet, what is it? A divine revelator of the divine Word, that has the revelation of the Word, to give to the people for edification. Now ‘FAITH’ is a ‘REVELATION FROM GOD.’ He reveals it to you by His Grace. It’s nothing you did. You didn’t work yourself up into faith. You never have faith, it’s given to you by hearing the word of God by grace. And God reveals it to you.

Therefore, Faith is a revelation and the whole church of God is built upon revelation. That is why scriptural doctrines are opposed to Church traditions and creeds.

May God begin by His Spirit to give us continuous life giving and prevailing revelation.

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Dancing on the graves of our children Firm Faith:

Right Reason Most Rev.

Emmanuel A. Badejo fradebadejo@yahoo.

0803 949 4219 (SMS only)

W

e see it all over again! Like a tragic drama thrust on us by life’s vicissitudes, we see scores of Nigerian children blown to smithereens by terrorist bombs. We feel the helplessness of the innocent; hear the eerie silence of the dead, voices shut down, never more to speak. We sense the pain of the bereaved, the anger and confusion of the displaced, all aggravated by jamborees and pageantry in the highest quarters of power in the country.

The message seems clear in those insensitive minds. Half of Nigeria might as well be blown to pieces; terrorists may take most of the country, as long as there is enough safe space to do it, what must be done must be done. Our leaders must rally, celebrate and dance. Must President Goodluck Jonathan formally declare his intention for 2015 Presidency with the blood of the innocent yet to dry in that school in Yobe?

Why should anyone complain? Whoever does, has to be an enemy of the President. Nor are the other political parties any better! The time for parties to campaign and rally is here and nothing must be allowed to stop that! No, not

the escape of over 140 terrorist suspects from a Nigerian prison only days earlier, not the crash of yet another military helicopter on surveillance mission in Boko Haram territory. No, not even the death of 48 young innocent Nigerians in that Yobe government school must stop anything for politics itself here is war! Of course when the rich wage war it is the poor who die.

God, why do you tarry?

History indeed has been made in Nigeria! There must be few places in the world where leaders would have the heart to stage the kind of colourful rallies that Nigeria has witnessed in recent days.

President Jonathan and the ruling party did mercifully observe a minute silence for the souls of the dead and condoled with the living as well. Why should that not be sufficient? I believe that Nigeria is making a dark kind of history for few world democratic leaders would treat their people with such disdain as we see here in our land.

Few governments can in the face of daily bombing, killing and looting simply rehash empty lines of promises with no evidence of fulfilment as we hear, ”We shall bring the perpetrators to book” and then go on with business as usual. But, let the powerful remember that a man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it? On our part we still cry: “God, why, oh why do you tarry?

We prayerfully appropriate the words of prophecy: “Let the plans of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come true...Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who change darkness for light and light for darkness, who gives bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed wise in their own eyes” (Is. 5: 19-21) As It Was in the Beginning The travails of orthodoxy “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, it is now and forever shall be world without end.” The age-long Christian honour to the Holy Trinity can as well be the theme prayer for Christian orthodoxy. But these are not the best of times! Practically everything is up for change and even values, once considered unassailable, are being challenged. By the Advanced Learners Dictionary, orthodoxy is defined as an idea or view that is generally accepted. In religion, it is the traditional beliefs or practices of a religious group. Orthodoxy has, over time, been the guarantee of order and propriety.

Today a generally corrosive attitude is creeping into the public mind to counter the acceptance of orthodoxy. An increasing number of people unfortunately see orthodoxy as burdensome and negative.

This is fuelled by a generally exaggerated sense of individual freedom coupled with a diminished sense of responsibility. A relentless lobby in modern media seeks as well to promote the idea that whatever

is orthodox limits individual freedom.

Nothing can be farther from the truth.

In reality, the continued sanity of modern society depends on the capacity of this age to insist on orthodoxy in certain areas of life so as to prevent the dominance of chaos and the tyranny of relativism not only in religion but also in society at large.

Following Jesus Christ For Christians this should not be such a difficult conclusion. Jesus when He walked the face of the earth declared that some things need change while others stay permanent. He came to be a transformer of the status quo while upholding some unchanging values.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed...” (Lk. 4:18). You have heard it said: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you this: do not oppose evil with evil...” (Matt. 5: 38-39).

Jesus’ “transformation agenda”, was not destructive of enduring values on which the sanity of society depends. He said to his disciples.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away but the smallest of my word shall not pass away” (Mk. 13:31). “Do not think that I have come to remove the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to remove but to fulfil them” (Matt 5;17).

Every human society runs on certain orthodox practices. Where every individual purports to be the measure of all things society would cease to exist. The hypocrisy of demonizing orthodoxy in religion can only portend fatal consequences to our current generation.

The currency of the spirit (2) Insight Rev.

Femi Akinola

www.thehebrewsng.com

01-790 3163; 0808 584 5864

I

f you want to experience the currency of the spirit realm, then you must follow me in this short piece. However, you may need to refer to the previous edition in order to get a better understanding of this message.

Favour is the currency that bails you out of shame. Just about the time for you to see shame and disgrace, favour will answer for you in the name of Jesus. Everyone needs favour.

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

(Luke 2:52).

Recall that Jesus is the Son of God and He needed no man to fulfil His purpose on earth. Yet, He needed favour. If not, the Bible would not have said He increased in favour with God and even man. If Jesus Christ needed favour while on earth, what makes you think you can do without it?

Favour is so essential to human life and destiny; in fact, it goes hand in hand with life.

“Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.” (Job 10:12).

If you are alive and your life is not favoured, then you have not yet arrived.

Life without favour will be mere struggle and frustration.

What is favour? Favour is life; it is a divine flow that releases God’s abundance in your life. Until you get it you continue to struggle. Often times, favour is difficult to comprehend because it is so mysterious; sometimes, it sounds incredible and imaginary but it is very real.

If Jesus could need favour, then we need not be deceived. Without favour there is no flavour. A life or destiny that lacks favour will lack fervour. But when you carry favour even from afar, people will perceive your flavour.

Only the legitimate children of God can be beneficiaries of the favour of God. It is not for the ‘bastards,’ neither is it for those who don’t know their Father. Favour is another kind of blessing for the people that know their God. Favour is something you don’t deserve going by the calculation of men and when it happens, it raises questions like ‘how did this happen?’ or ‘is he the only one?’ When you are favoured, everybody pays attention to you.

I pray for you that from today, people will pay attention to you in the name of Jesus.

“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5).

You go visiting and jumping from church to church, bathing in different rivers, and so on. Favour is what you need.

When the favour of God is upon your life, things begin to come for you cheaply, even while others are struggling to get it.

Some signs to watch out for when the favour of God is lacking in a man’s life include suffering, struggling, stagnancy, delay. People will ask: Where is your God?

If you are alive and your life is not favoured, then you have not yet arrived.

Life without favour will be mere struggle and frustration.

Shame, backwardness, etc.

In Genesis 18:3, Abraham experienced favour when an angel visited him. Joseph found favour when Potiphar made him ruler in his house (Gen 39:4-6). Esther found favour in the palace (Esther 2:15).

If all these people could need favour, then you need it even more.

What do you have to do?

For you to see or enjoy the favour of God, you must first give your life to Christ. This is because until He owns your life, His favour cannot rub off on you. Then you have to live a holy life and serve God. You must also be humble and friendly with people. Sometimes, the way and manner in which you carry yourself will determine whether or not people will help you. Humble yourself so that God can lift you up. God raises men to help men. Some people have slapped or even insulted their destiny helpers. Some have even abused or stolen from their helper.

Begin to humble yourself so that God will lift you up.

Be mindful of how you present your spouse to people. Sometime ago, two friends came to my office and as we were praying I was led to ask one of them if she knows anyone called Charles. She replied

that Charles is her younger brother, so I asked why she didn’t want her friend to get married to Charles. The lady was very fast to respond, saying, ‘God forbid.

This lady you are seeing here can abuse anybody. Would you even believe she is so lazy and cannot even cook?’ I then turned to the other lady and asked, ‘Your friend said you don’t have a very good character. Is this true, young lady?’ She replied, ‘Pastor, don’t mind her. It’s just that this my friend is very stupid and mad. In fact, she is an idiot.’ You need a change of mind and attitude because your attitude is enough to repel or attract you to favour.

Finally, you must be faithful and be a giver because you can only attract what or who you are.

Declaration n Everything that has made life difficult for you, be it from your father/mother’s house, that thing is being removed now. n I destroy every power that is magnetising evil to you. n Anywhere you have been to and they have told you ‘NO’, this week they will call you and tell you ‘YES’. n Every door that has been closed against you, I command it to begin to open for you. n Every prison in which you have been locked, favour is bailing you out. n Wherever your helpers are, God will connect them to you. n Every curse working against you is hereby cursed. n Everywhere you have been resisted, I see God making a way for you. n Everything that you have struggled for, by the reason of favour I see you getting them cheaply.

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Philistines under the shadow of goliath If you are under the shadow of Almighty God, He has no fear to transfer to You, neither does He have any doubt, failure, etc. to transfer to you.

The Lord has security, faith, success, certainty, boldness, blessings, etc. to transfer to you.

Word of Life

Bishop

Moses Kattey

moseskattey@yahoo.co.uk

0808 770 7486

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obody in Philistine was more important than Goliath, the giant man of war.

Even the King of the Philistines did not shine as Goliath, because he was under the shadow of Goliath, the giant. They trusted in his shadow.

It was difficult to find anybody who stepped out of the shadow of Goliath.

In the case of the children of Israel only David was found to step out of the shadow of Saul the King. Saul the King of Israel had 100 per cent control over all under his shadow except David whom the Lord removed from under man’s shadow.

So Saul could not transfer his fears and doubts to David.

Goliath transferred his confidence, his boldness and his defeat to the Philistines who were under his shadow.

When a top politician dies, all those under his shadow become stranded and like sheep without shepherd.

Under the shadow of the Holy Spirit As a Christian worker, success in the ministry can only be attained under the shadow of the Holy Spirit.

Any ray or measure of light, success, victory, power, etc reaching you must be supplied or permitted by the Holy Spirit. This you must realise. Except you realise that it is only Him and Him alone that can give you the measure of light and power you need in your service of God, you will labour without results.

Jonathan under the shadow of Saul his father Saul believed very much that he had the power to make Jonathan king. Jonathan also knew this.

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than him (2 Sam. 1:22).

If you do not step out of that shadow, you will not have a sense of direction and programme of your own. However, when you pray stepping out of his shadow, the implementation of your plans will be directed by the Holy Spirit.

Jonathan depended 100 per cent on

Infact, they may not even notice that you exist because you are in a place without light, under a shadow

his father. They were knit together.

He had no plan except what his father had. The only time Jonathan stepped out of the shadow of his father Saul, he became as important as Saul his father (1 Sam. 14).

And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and upon his feet and his armour-bearer after him and they fell before Jonathan, and his amour-bearer slew after him… (1 Sam. 14:13) Saul said unto the people that were with him, “Number now, and see who is, gone from us, and when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armour bearer were not there.” (1 Sam. 14:17).

If Jonathan were a politician, he did not wait for his father, the owner of the shadow, to tell him what to do and when to collect a nomination form to contest. He listened to God, and was under the shadow of the Almighty God. “If they said thus, come up unto us Then we will go up for the Lord Hath

delivered them into our hand, And this shall be a sign unto us.” (1 Sam. 14:10).

“And the men of garrison answered Jonathan and his armour bearer, and said, come up to us and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armour bearer, come up after me, for the Lord had delivered them into the hand of Israel.” (1 Sam. 14:2).

When Jonathan stepped out of his father’s shadow, he was noticed and won a war. The owner of the shadow did not take the credit.

11. Step out of the shadow of your employment You can never be more important than your work place, industry, etc as long as you have not consciously stepped out of its shadow. Most of your income will always come as determined by the owner of the shadow.

When you, however, step out, you will increasingly discover that what comes to you is not determined mainly by the owner of the shadow.

The sun and the rain will reach you directly. If you do not step out of that shadow you will only be noticed with respect to the business, or the owner of the shadow.

Nothing reaches you except through that organisation.

Furthermore, since you are under the shadow, most of what you do will not be noticed. Infact, they may not even notice that you exist because you are in a place without light, under a shadow.

Taming Your Emotion Taming your Emotions Bishop

Lawrence Osagie 0806 325 0667 www.powerlineministriesinc.org mail:powerlineministries@mail.com

W

hen armed robbers enter any place, they first of all terrorise everybody with fear and make them afraid to enable them to gain control. And that is why they point their weapons at you to scare you and bring you under fear. This has contributed to the reason you have not gone beyond this level. Fear denies you of courage and the boldness to take steps and dare issues. The people you are supposed to see, you never meet them because you were afraid of the unknown. May that spirit of timidity leave you from this moment in Jesus Christ Name. Amen.

Fear is a killer and could take you to an early grave if you are not careful.

Fear brings torment and torture. And people these days fear many things they fear mankind and even household creatures like cockroach. When three cockroaches fly into the bedroom at night, it must be one witch that has sent them. And this is because of all sorts of stories we hear every day in our peculiar society.

Go to some homes, when the father is not around, everybody is at peace but the moment the door opens and he is back, the mood changes because he is

a terror in the name of discipline. You know he is the lion of the tribe of his home.

When children are raised under such influence, they grow up afraid of faces because of the intimidation they suffer at home. So, don’t give room to fear.

The Bible says in Proverbs 28 that the righteous are as bold as lion. And you know no animal intimidates the lion in the forest. We are enjoined to be as bold as that – always certain that we cannot be swallowed up in battle but that we are forever victorious in Christ. So as a child of God you come from the lion of the tribe of Judah. Fear nobody but be bold and courageous.

When you wake up, tell yourself: ‘I am the righteousness of God through Christ my saviour.’ I am bold and courageous therefore no one can intimidate me. I am in control and well favoured. Say it until your soul is obsessed in the realm of God. God wants you to stand and confront every area of your confrontation. Don’t be intimidated. Stand and confront that Goliath like David did.

God told Joshua to stand and be courageous. Your destiny is at stake; don’t allow the enemy to deny you of your throne with mere threats of life. No! Jesus has made you an overcomer. You are more than a conqueror. These are the traits of a true hero. Any one that ever reigned in life was indeed a fearless man.

When God told Abraham to leave his land of nativity, it took only courage to follow God to an unknown destination.

When God told him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, it took only courage to believe that God is able to raise him from the dead. So, let us follow the example of

Every time you believe the word of God you are working by faith, but when you dance to your feelings you work in fear those who have through faith obtained the promise. God is not a joker; all power indeed belongs to Him. In Hebrews 10:38, the Bible says: the just shall live by faith. Faith is the opposite of fear. Faith is our lifestyle in Christ Jesus, not fear. And that is why David at the battle front said: I come to you in the name of the Lord and my God will deliver you into my hands.”

David’s confession and hope was rested in his faith in the potency of the power of God. And that is why I have allowed the influence of the word of God to take hold of me. The word of God has so consumed my entirety that I cannot perceive any other influence. I do not approach my dreams with the things I see or else I will not imagine their coming to manifestation. But I look up to God who supplies my needs according to His riches in glory, not according to my labour or bank account or the economics of this world.

At the beginning of every year, we draw our budget based on our plan.

We look ahead and decide on what new grounds to cover and estimate what it will take to get there. We are not bothered if the fund is readily available or not but we put our trust in God and we start. When you look at our budget

and see the cost of diesel amounting to about N3 million, you would be discouraged to think of using diesel that year. But the Bible says that we overcome the world even with our faith and that without faith it is impossible to please God. I want you to know that faith and fear have the same power. They have the same ability. They have the same capacity but they work in opposite directions.

Any time you are working in faith, fear disappears. Your decisions, your actions are either a product of your faith or your fear. Whatever you have built with your faith, fear can bring it down overnight. Fear is a killer, faith is a builder.

By faith, you overcome, by fear you lose. Every time you believe the word of God you are working by faith, but when you dance to your feelings you work in fear. And when you work in fear, Satan celebrates because he knows you are coming down.

When Peter looked up to Jesus, his faith was in action and he walked on water. When he saw the storm, he danced to his emotions and became afraid. He began to sink until Jesus came to his rescue. Faith takes you up, fear brings you down.

Job was the perfect man in the east.

He was the wealthiest man. There was none who was as rich as he was. The father of the fatherless, the hope of the widows and orphans. Even God testified that Job was a righteous man. But suddenly, we saw the famous man lose his business overnight. He lost his children in one fell swoop and his health began to fail. The Bible confirmed that what he greatly feared came upon him.

(Job 3:35).

Advertise your church events, special programmes, conventions and other church activities on these pages. Contact: Tai on 07064380029

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NMVA 2014: Some directors are fraudulent, says Cally Ikpe Cally Terwase Ikpe, CEO Callivision Network LTD, is a veteran broadcaster, veejay, event manager, culture activist and music video revolutionaire. To his credit are Live Beats; a music entertainment program, reckoned with as the longest running show on television in Nigeria since 1995, often referred to as the show that threw up the pop group, Plantashun Boyz. The Benue State-born founder and coordinator of Nigeria’s first ever music video awards, the Nigeria Music Video Awards, premiered on December 2, 2007. He spoke with SONY NEME on challenges and the state of entertainment industry.

Cally Ikpe Please take us through this year’s awards?

It is another opportunity for Nigerian musicians to be honoured, I mean those who did very well with the art of music video making. We have 23 award categories this year.

Nominations have already been put out and artistes are now battling to outdo each other in the various categories.

As is consistent with us, we have also this time remained cause-driven by devoting the show to deepening the consciousness for a violence free environment. The theme of the event is A World Without Violence. This is a thumb down to all forms of violence like insurgency, robbery, rape, etc.

We reckon too that lewd scenes and denigration of women in videos and movies are also acts of violence. We are fixed on discouraging all such acts. We are hopeful that this year’s event will be remarkably different from the previous ones. This is anchored on the general improvement in the industry ranging from vocal prowess, stage craft, stage technology and other factors. It will be better experienced than explained. We are about to cross our area of rest and comfort where we are able to do things with considerable ease, where we are able to break the barriers with ease.

We are waiting for the day to come for us to entertain our distinguished audience, as usual.

NMVA at eight, how would you access its impact on individual music videos and the revolution it is generating across Africa and the world at large?

It takes almost N2 million to do an above average music video in Nigeria presently, depending on which director you are working with. Some people could get more adventurous and spend close to N10m. It depends on the resources available to you, and how much gamble you want to take.

Ordinarily, with N5m, you should comfortably be able to produce a quality music video that will command a desirable audience viewership. But by and large, it is not all about the money spent but the ingenuity of the director and quality of the music on display. Regrettably, some of the artistes just go to an invariably popular director, and it turns out sometimes that what you get is a replica of what has been done in the past that he will just rehash in a new garb. We have seen that a couple of times. Only for you to discover down the years that what you are parading as a good product is a replica of what someone had done in the past. This is what you have been bragging about that you have a quality brand in the market.

A lot of directors are culpable in this regard. It is unfortunate, and I call it fraudulent. When you pay a director that sum of money, what you are actually expecting is creativity at its best. Because what he has just done is what any other video director can do – just copy from somewhere and paste.

Why they continue doing that is because we are not quick at litigation here. We soon shrug it off and say, ‘God dey’ and we move on. That is rather another very unfortunate issue in the music video industry.

But, that aside, we have done very well in the multi-billion naira industry. By that I mean what music videos generate for the economy, the goodwill they bring to this country. Don’t forget that they are cultural tools that make them true ambassadors of Nigeria, as they market the country better to the outside world. So whatever we are doing, we have to be mindful of the fact that the whole worlds is watching us. You can afford to produce a time tested work or play to the gallery You have to be careful of what you put out there. We preach this always to them. That you look very deeply and speak with the producer and director of the work that what you need is original and what can stand the test of time.

Not seeing a job today, and in the nearest future you discover that it was lifted from another job, which will be very unfortunate.

With this positive economic impact by these artistes making them true ambassadors, how would you quantify their relationship with the corporate community?

Are these artistes’ remunerations commensurate with their endorsements and the crowd they pull to these major brands?

Well, in terms of giving back, there is the honesty question. People are not very honest when it comes to that. They give back because they are expecting something in return, not because they want to give for the sake of it. Do they give quietly, that is why they get the cameras to assemble each time they want to give. I won’t say what the artistes are getting is adequate, but considerably, with the coming of MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat and the telecom industry generally has helped in raising the bar in generating excitement and buzz because right now artistes are thriving on endorsements. These guys have come up with lots of platforms that enable works to be sold, whether you left the studio with CDs on the streets or not. That is a plus for them. You will see someone like Harrysong will post a song on hardware, sits back and millions of naira are posted to his account monthly. For that reason you must give them kudos. Though they are not doing it just to enrich the artistes because they earn far more than the artistes at the end of the day. They are not doing it for the love of the industry. They are doing it because it is business for them.

In all we give them kudos as the owners of the work gets something to take home.

Since inception, how much support have you got from these corporate bodies whose products thrive through these artistes’ musical videos that NMVA promotes?

The show is not getting the kind of support needed. When I say the show, I mean other music shows in the country today. We have a situation where even those who sponsors, do that because of the relationship with the man in charge; who has with the driver of a particular show. It should not be so. It is not sustainable. That is why at a lecture recently

But by and large, it is not all about the money spent but the ingenuity of the director and quality of the music on display at Atlantic University in Lagos, I kept emphasising that we need to put measures to ensure that iconic brands are sustained. It is not so presently as most of the projects are built around personalities. And when they leave the stage the product is left in a limbo. There are couples of them here. It is very unfortunate.

Why did these great brands go down if there was sponsorship?

Most of the great brands like Nigeria Music awards, NMA and a host of others?

We have been sacrificing. A show does not thrive by sacrifice. Look at the Grammys, though there is marketing, but they don’t go cap in hand. Yes, ours is an emerging system, but the roles we have played so far should encourage sponsors to keep us going. It behoves organisers to re-examine ourselves and ensure that what we ask from sponsors are realistic, and ensure that year in year, year out we have sponsors.

What has been the main challenge of promoting NMVA? Marketing NMVA has remained the most challenging aspect of it. After each event and you get the whole world applauding it as a worthy event, you come back and feel you are coasting; only for you to go out there for sponsorship. They won’t say no or yes, rather they are working on it until the event day and it got stuck. I have never had a sponsor that picks up the bill. Yet, it is an event that is produced based on the budget your sponsor has.

Though with N1bn worth but we get most of the items on goodwill. For instance how much can I pay all the television stations that is airing the adverts and the prints that has taking it as their project? All these aggregates to what makes up the show.

How do you plan to achieve this?

Our technical team is set and eager to make a statement.

Eko Hotel has always hosted the NMVA from inception except for the 2013 edition that held at muson center. It’s been a partnership that has proven to be quite great. Besides, Eko Hotel is about the best event venue around. A very unlikely host this time. First time you will see the person in that capacity. It is however premature to hint at this point. Please, give us a little time to tidy it up.

How is the NMVA different from the very many other awards show in the Nigerian entertainment industry?

The NMVA is the first ever video awards in Nigeria, the most credible, most consistent and always cause driven.

It is about the only music awards that give the technical hands i.e. directors, editors, cinematographers, costumiers e.t.c a chance to shine alongside musicians on the big stage. fulfilment Yes, in almost all spheres except in the area of sponsorship. I reckon too that it is not a situation peculiar to us; many great brands have gone under on that account.

There is hope, though. Assessment of the Nigerian music industry It has been a very competitive year; no one act has dominated the scene for long. Nobody is guaranteed prime spot, if you blink, you go down. In all we have been technically very great What’s your opinion on the artistes we have currently?

An overwhelming number of them possess the capacity to be world greats.

Sport 59

SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Afcon 2015

Ike Uche scores, as Eagles creep closer p.62

Football

Pele released from hospital p.62

Golf

First Bank Golf Championship tees off Friday p.61

Cynthia Uwak: My dress style shouldn’t bother anyone Cynthia Uwak last played for the Super Falcons in 2007, why the national team coaches refused to invite her to the team again is still a misery considering her top class performance in the Uefa Women’s Champions League every year for her Finnish club side, Åland United. But something remains constant, her controversial dress style. She spoke with DAPO SOTUMINU on this and many more

You have been out of the national team for some time now, what do you thing has been responsible for this?

If I tell you that I know what is happening I would be telling you a lie. I don’t know why all the Super Falcons coaches who have handled the team since 2007 refused to call me to play for my fatherland. But, it’s okay; my football career is going on well in Europe.

How do feel being left of the Falcons for so long?

To be honest I am not bothered about it, since this had not affected my contract playing top class football in Europe.

Which game was your most memorable in the national team?

My most memorable was the match between Nigeria and Sweden in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2007. I scored a fantastic goal against Sweden, it was a good one for me as I was based in Sweden at the time and they had the strong believe that they were the best in the world. It was a big shock as I scored for my African country.

Do you have any ugly moment playing for the national team?

I can remember any of such moment as my time in the national team both in the Falconets and the Super Falcons were great as I put in my best on the field of play to help me country.

Sunday Team

Deputy Sports Editor Dapo Sotuminu Golf Reporter Ifeanyi Ibeh

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

For some time now, your aggressive striking role in the Falcons had been vacant until the coming of Asisat Oshoala. What do you think about this young player?

Oshoala is a great player and she has proved that to play well as a top striker you must do so full of Energy. It is good to know that, someone in the class of Oshoala play my kind of football today in the Falcons. I was happy when she was voted as the Most Valuable Player at both the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and the 2014 African Women’s Championship.

Equatorial Guinea twice won the AWC title as they have some

Nigerian players. What you think about Nigerian players playing for other countries?

I don’t see anything wrong with that. Those Nigerian players who moved to Equatorial Guinea were rejected in the Super Falcons, and they made themselves comfortable in another country. Nigerian players are spread all over Africa playing in one national team or the other; everybody cannot play for the Falcons.

The Falcons will be playing at the FIFA World Cup Canada 2015.

Why do you think the Falcons have not been able to win the World Cup title?

A lot needs to be done to make the team a world class squad.

Playing international friendlies is one of the things that can make the team study and learn how other European countries play.

The truth is that a lot of work still needs to be put in. The Falcons should not be limited to winning

the AWC title alone, they should be able to beat the world someday, but this as I said needs hard work and we must up our game.

Your dress style has been controversial over the years, why have you chosen the men’s dress style?

Well, people chose to make it controversial and that’s none of my business. Everybody has the right to choose how to dress and what makes them comfortable, I don’t see why how I dress should bother people. I appreciate what I wear and my friends do so too, so what is the problem. In Europe where I am based ones sense of dressing is respected once it is your choice.

Can you dress like this in Africa?

Yes of course, I dress the same way when I am in Africa and my people don’t complain. I don’t see any problem with this as long as I do not exhibit nakedness, that for sure would be objected to by my family.

Some people think your dress style is wrong since it’s more of men’s style?

I don’t live for people and their opinion does not count for me, in as much as they have the right to dress how they like I think I do as well.

As it is, you seem more comfortable in Europe than in Nigeria, will you return home after your career?

I don’t know about that yet I take things one at a time. I am still praying now.

Will you honour the call if invited to the Falcons again?

Maybe yes, maybe no it depends, but let the invitation come first.

Then we take it from there.

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SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sport

Falilat Ogunkoya: Married female athletes are better

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Dapo Sotuminu igerian Olympic silver medallist, Chief Falilat OgunkoyaOmotayo, is convinced that female athletes who are married do lot better in international championships more than their single colleagues.

The retired world class athlete told New Telegraph on Sunday, that, she doesn’t have any scientific explanation for her statement, but has facts on a number of world class female athletes who are true examples, and this includes herself.

“I was a very good athlete before I got married, but became a world champion, multiple All Africa Games champion and Olympic silver and bronze medallist after I got married. My husband then was a coach.”

“If you check properly, all the female athletes who are the Olympic champions, World champions and the world record holders are all married. So the fact that Nigeria’s current best athlete, Blessing Okagbare just got married ahead of the World

Falilat Ogunkoya in action

Championship year, the 2015 All Africa Games and the 2016 Olympic Games won’t affect anything negatively, rather her performance would be boosted and now is the time I believe strongly that she would win the elusive Olympic gold after winning a bronze at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Her double gold medals outing in Glasgow would also serve as a boost.

“Now, she will concentrate better in international competitions as the IOC, the IAAF would allow her to travel with her husband, so the issue of missing him during top class events won’t arise at all. She has to work harder because other people have done it, and her own should not be different. The good thing about Okagbare is that she has a world class coach in John Smith who has made other world champions, hers won’t be an exception.”

She noted that from all indications, Nigerian athletes would do well at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but this depends on their ability to follow up the team’s perfor-

mance at next year’s All Africa Games.

“Already, the country’s performance in international competition is at its peak following the excellent outing at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, so the 2015 All Africa Games won’t be a big deal for Nigeria, but the ability to follow-up in readiness for Rio 2016 means a lot for Nigeria’s aspiration to win medals at the Olympics. The country didn’t do well at the London 2012 Olympics, simply because the athletes were not given the best preparations. But the stake is different now as they have been recording better results in the last one year.

“For our athletes to excel, we need to help, support and encourage them to perform in their various events.”

She stated that, Nigeria’s strong point at Rio 2016 would be the relays and the sprints. At the moment we have two great athletes in the women’s Long Jump with Blessing Okagbare and Ese Brume who won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. And we must concentrate on these not forgetting that in other sports, the weightlifters are also reaching their peak in performance, they will also do well in Rio after a long time.

Falilat, has a different opinion on the issue of the importation of American athletes into the Nigerian athletics team, stressing that, those who want to help Nigeria win at international competitions are free to come if the likes of Francis Obikwelu could drop Nigeria’s nationality for Portugal and Glory Alozie for Spain.

“At the London 2012 Olympics, we counted over 25 Nigerian athletes competing for other countries of the world. It’s all about choice; if those foreigners are willing to come we should encourage them.”

The former Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Sports, said life is better as a retired athlete; as she has rest of

mind now compared to her active years when she was always under pressure to maintain her top international rating in athletics.

“Today, I can wear high-heels, dress up in a fashionable way and go to parties. But those days it is only after competitions that you can dress up. All you wear

I was a very good athlete before I got married, but became a world champion, multiple All Africa Games champion and Olympic silver and bronze medallist after I got married.

My husband then was a coach

Falilat Ogunkoya with fellow athletics legend Modupe Oshinkoya in Lagos

are track suits, spike shoes and canvasses. As an athlete you cannot attend public functions the way you like, but I am free today. Then, all you do is just to go to the track, sleep, train and compete. When I look back at my performances as an athlete, I feel satisfied.

“I competed effectively in the colours of Nigeria for 20 years, from 1984 to 2004 before I retired; I think that was good enough. I ran in the 400m, 800m, 4x400m relays and 200metres.

With my main event which was 400metres race, we call it the real woman’s race because of the endurance involved. I did very well internationally because I moved to the event as a sprinter, so I knew how to run my race at all vital points, bends and straights. This is the same reason Blessing Okagbare is doing well in the 200m and 100metres, she is using her short sprint experience to win in the 200metres.”

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

Golf Weekly First Bank Golf Championship tees off Friday • At Ikoyi Club 1938

Ifeanyi Ibeh

T L-R: Sports Legends, Dr. Awoture Elayea, Dr George Ogan and Pa KAB Olowu and Modupe Oshikoya during the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2014 Nigerian Sports Award held in Lagos

Minister inspects medical equipment Matthew Oboh

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inister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, has directed that immediate steps should be taken to quickly install the state-of-the-art medical equipment acquired by the Commission to enhance the training of national athletes in order to achieve podium level performance.

Danagogo gave this directive after inspecting the equipment at the National Stadium, Abuja.

While being conducted round the High Performance Centre

by Dr. Abdulkadir Mu’azu, Director, Sports Medicine, the Minister was informed that substantial quantity of the equipment have been supplied and are ready for installation.

These equipment include: the Anti-Gravity Trademill; HP Cosmos Testing and Medical Trademill; and the Swift Speed Field Testing Equipment.

The equipment along with other sophisticated equipment will be used for Science Testing, Strength and Conditioning, Treatment, Rehabilitation Enhancement Recovery and Performance for athletes to boost podium level performance.

According to him, “these are state-of-the-art equipment, the first of its kind to be installed in Africa and I believe our athletes will achieve podium performance through its use.”

It would be recalled that one of the decisions reached at the 2012 Presidential Sports Retreat in Abuja was the setting up of a high performance Centre that will enhance high power level in sports. In implementing this decision, the National Sports Commission awarded contract for the supply of these stateof-the-art high performance equipment for sports medicine, rehabilitation and testing.

Battle of the fans TV show comes on stream

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ootball fans would have another opportunity to indulge their love for the game in a weekly TV quiz programme christened ‘Battle for the Fans.’

Battle of the Fans is designed for fans to showcase their knowledge and live their passions for the game. According the Executive Producer of the show, Engineer Naheem Sahid, the competition is a product of six years in-depth research and planning for a one stop, first rate TV programme of this nature. He informed that it would be the winner takes all prize money of N250, 000 and it’s open any fan of 18 years and above in age, who want to display their knowledge and passion for the game.

Throwing more light on the packages, Projects Director, Nkechi Obi, added that, entry for the game is

by SMS to a designated short code number. The programme focus is on local and international football past and present, with each week devoted to a particular league, country, continent or global football. It will be a refreshingly different in all aspects. It is a complete package spiced with information, education and entertainment,’ she narrated.

Obi further informed that the objectives of the programme include attracting viewer ship to the show to create and sustain

an online football community that would engage with football fans. It is also to serve as a common platform for all fans to come together and celebrate their interest and passion for the game of football. It is also designed to tap into the zeal of Nigerians fans for

the round leather sport and set the platform for brands to engage with those fans.

Battle of the Fans will be broadcast on a network of local television stations in the country as well as on the cable networks platforms.

Lasisi, Jimoh applaud GOtv for boxing revival

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wo former Commonwealth boxing champions, Joe Lasisi and Hogan Jimoh, have been singing the praises of satellite television operators, GOtv, for giving the sport they gave all their active lives to a revival.

Lasisi, a former Commonwealth light heavyweight champion, noted that, the resolve by GOtv to give him and some other Nigerian boxing legends who are still alive recognition awards, is a great honour that should be emulated by other corporate bodies.

“What they are doing is simply telling Nigerians that we are still alive and kicking, and we should not be forgotten as we gave our all to put Nigeria on the world map of boxing and sports generally.”

Hogan Jimoh, a former Com-

monwealth Bantamweight champion, said he was delighted when he got the message that GOtv would give some of us awards during an international boxing event they would be sponsoring in Lagos. “This is very good and commendable. It gives me a sense of belonging.”

Pursuant to its stated mission of restoring the popularity of boxing as a sport in Nigeria through the GOtv Boxing Night, six legends of the sport will be specially honoured on the inaugural night of the fight series scheduled for November 23. The GOtv Boxing Night is a professional boxing event featuring one national title fight and five supporting bouts scheduled to hold at the Indoor Sports of the National Stadium in Lagos.

he 53rd edition of the oldest golf championship in Nigeria, the First Bank Lagos Amateur Open Golf Championship, will get underway on Friday at the golf course of the Ikoyi Club 1938, in Lagos.

The three-day championship, which attracts the best amateur golfers from across the country, has been sponsored by First Bank since it inaugural edition back in 1961.

Ikoyi Club 1938 has also for long been the home of the championship To qualify for the championship, players must have handicap 14 and below. In addition, intending players must be certified to have qualified to be eligible to play by the Ikoyi Golf Club.

Entries for the championship, which opened on October 23, 2014, will close on November 17, four days before the championship tees off at Ikoyi Club 1938.

To date, the championship has produced 33 winners in its 53-year history, and has been the launch pad for some of the country’s top professional golfers, most notably Gift Willy and Oche Odoh who won the championship in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Samuel Amadi and J. Ajiboye hold the record for the highest number of titles with five trophies

each. While Ajiboye won in 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1979, Amadi emerged winner in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007 and 2010.

Mutiu Olaitan is the Championships reigning champion after beating Bawa Umur by two shots at last year’s event.

The Championship tees off on Friday, November 21, with practice rounds on the course, while the first round gets underway on Saturday.

There would also be a ‘Beat the Pro Challenge’ contest on Saturday along with interactive sessions on the golf simulation machine at Ikoyi Club 1938.

On Sunday, the final day of competition will see guest players taking to the course followed by the final round of the Championship.

In addition to the interactive sessions on the golf simulation machine, as well as the ‘Beat the Pro Challenge’ contest, Sunday will also see guests, spectators and children being shown the professional aspect of the game courtesy of a coaching clinic run by professional players.

In the last three editions of the Championship, the event’s sponsor, First Bank has brought in two European PGA Tour professionals from the United Kingdom to coordinate the coaching clinic.

The awards dinner to cap off the Championship will also come up on Sunday.

Monty joins 600 Club

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olin Montgomerie, who back in the 1980s played regularly on the Nigerian Tour, has joined a select group of golfers to have played in 600 European Tour events after taking part in the Turkish Airlines Open at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal; a golf course named after the 51-year-old.

Fondly called Monty by admirers, the Scotsman became the seventh seventh man to play in 600 events in his career.

He joined English trio Barry Lane (684), Malcolm Mackenzie (605) and Roger Chapman (619), fellow Scot Sam Torrance (706), Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (641) and Irishman Eamonn Darcy

(610) in reaching 600 competitive outings on the tour.

Monty has won a record eight Order of Merit titles, claiming 31 victories and over $24.5m in career earnings.

After making his competitive debut in 1986 at the Care Plan International, Montgomerie’s last win on the European Tour came at the 2007 European Open at The K Club.

Ko youngest ever LPGA Rookie of the Year

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ydia Ko has become the youngest player to win the LPGA Tour’s rookie of the year award.

The 17-year-old South Koreaborn New Zealander clinched the points-based award with three tournaments remaining on the LPGA Tour schedule.

She already has two victories, two runner-up finishes and nine other finishes in the top 10.

Laura Baugh was 18 when she

won the LPGA Tour rookie of the year in 1973.

Ko is number in the world rankings and number four on the LPGA Tour money list with just over $1.5 million going into this week’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico.

She’s third in the Race to the CME Globe, which culminates this week in Florida with $1 million going to the winner.

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SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sport / News

Fasimoye, Azeez excited ahead of Africa Cup

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Afcon 2015: Ike Uche scores, as Eagles creep closer

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eturnee Super Eagles defender, Ikechukwu Uche, was the star of the day in faraway Congo, as the Nigerian national soccer team creeps closer to grabbing a ticket to play in the 2015 edition of the African Nations Cup competition with a 2-0 victory against the Congolese national team.

The Eagles were exceptional at the Stade Municipal in PointeNoire on Saturday, as Ike Uche, the rejected stone that became the corner stone scored from the spot and China-based striker, Aaron Samuel made it 2-0 at the dot of 90th minutes.

This result put the coach Stephen Keshi-tutored team in the second position in the Group A qualifiers with South Africa topping the group after a 2-1 win against Sudan, they also book their final ticket.

Keshi, started Uche, who was making his return to international football for the first time in 19 months. Congo’s Red Devils almost got the lead in 58 seconds after Efe Ambrose gambled with the ball and allowed Con-

golese star, Thievy Bifouma, a one-on-one situation goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama. The Lille of France keeper stretched fully to push the goal-bound shot away from target.

Seven minutes to the break, CFR Cluj man, Ferebory Dore, was freed inside the box and had just Enyeama in goal to beat to give Congo the lead, but his shot went wide.

Congo began the business end of the match as they finished the first half but it was Nigeria who got into the lead 13 minutes into the second half through Uche’s

goal from 12 yards.

Mikel slipped a pass through Congo’s defence to free Emmanuel Emenike, who was tripped in the box by Chancel Massa in goal for the Red Devils.

Uche stepped up and scored from the spot in the 59th minute to give Nigeria a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, Congo won themselves a penalty after Godfrey Oboabona handled the ball in Nigeria’s box.

Bifouma’s penalty was, however, saved by Enyeama, who kept Nigeria in the lead.

Keshi then threw on Samuel

Jonathan congratulates Eagles over Congo victory Anule Emmanuel

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resident Goodluck Jonathan congratulated the Super Eagles of Nigeria on their victory over the Red Devils of Congo.

The President has described yesterday’s victory Pointe Noire as a dogged and hardfought one.

President Jonathan in a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity Dr. Reuben Abati said the victory has has revived Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for next year ’s African Nations Cup Finals.

He applauded the Super Eagles’ patriotic, determined and very courageous display in front of a very vociferous,

•••Mark charges Congo on security of Nigerians P

Mark

for Emenike with 15 minutes left and the former 3SC striker sealed the game for Nigeria with a superb left-footed finish.

Nigeria are now on seven points with Congo but sit in second place behind South Africa, who have sealed their passage to the 2015 Afcon in Equatorial Guinea.

The Super Eagles will play their last qualifiers game against South Africa on Wednesday in Uyo, while Congo play against Sudan. A victory for Nigeria would give a sure ticket to play in the 2015 Afcon.

resident of the Senate, Senator David Mark, yesterday showered encomiums on the Super Eagles of Nigeria for the 2-0 win over Congo in the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers game played in Pointe Noire.

Commenting after the crucial encounter, Mark said the Eagles have rekindled hope of the nation that they can still do the country proud in spite of the anxiety being expressed by soccer-loving Nigerians.

The Senate President however charged the government of Congo and the Nigerian Embassy in that country to ensure the security and safety of our players and officials judging by the unfriendly behavior of the Congolese fans.

He told the Stephen Keshi-led team to remain focused and determined to qualify smoothly for

the AFCON 2015 saying that all Nigerians now have reasons to be proud of them.

Mark underscored the importance government and people of Nigeria attached to sports especially football as the needed tonic for peace and unity.

The National Assembly under him, he said, will continue to give priority attention in terms of adequate budgetary allocation to sports, “so that we can continue to excel in sports meet.”

He specifically told Keshi not to be discouraged by attacks or criticisms but should rather see criticisms as a tonic to improve and indeed excel.

Mark reminded the Eagles and their handlers of the pride of being an African champion which he stressed must not be taken for granted.

aggressive and partisan home crowd which earned them an emphatic 2-0 victory and placed Nigeria in a good position once again for qualification to defend the African Nations Cup which it currently holds at the next year ’s finals, now scheduled to hold in Equatorial Guinea.

“On behalf of all soccer loving Nigerians, the President heartily commends the Super Eagles for their winning performance in Pointe-Noire which has wiped away the disappointment of their earlier outings in the Nations Cup qualifying series and rekindled the belief of Nigerians in their national soccer team’s ability to bring further glory to the country.

President Jonathan joined other Nigerians in looking forward to seeing the Super Eagles complete the task of qualifying to defend their title at the 2015 Nations Cup Finals with victory against South Africa in Uyo next week.

He assured the Super Eagles and their handlers that they will have the fullest possible support of the Federal Government and the people of Nigeria for that final qualification match.

he Technical Director of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation, Mr. Tunji Fasimoye, is excited over the selection of a foreign-based player and eleven home grown stars by the Technical crew of the Black Stallions ahead of the Africa Rugby Sevens coming up in Zimbabwe later this month.

Speaking ahead of the camping at the National Stadium Lagos, Fasimoye, enthused that picking the team from the just concluded Independence Sevens tournament has pointed to the immense talents that abound in the local scene.

“We are really delighted that we have a bunch of talents that we can pick from locally to represent Nigeria at the Africa Rugby Sevens Championship. We have also decided to do now is incorporate some young players into the camp to enable them learn from the older lads so that we can groom them for the future.”

In the same vein, Black Stallions captain, Azeez Ladipo, praised the technical crew for having the foresight to start building for the future. “It will be good to have these young lads train with the senior players.” “l have gained a lot of experience, I have played outside the shores of this country and most of these boys have not. The technical crew has spotted them and they’ve seen potentials in them. One of the ways we can improve their game is to have them understudy the senior and more experienced players by giving them the opportunity to train with us.”

Pele released from hospital

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razilian football legend, Pele, was released from hospital on Saturday after undergoing surgery for kidney stones.

The 74-year-old was admitted to Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein hospital this week with stomach pains, and underwent surgery on Thursday after doctors discovered kidney stones blocking his urinary tract just days out from his scheduled trip to Australia.

“Albert Einstein hospital confirms that Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) was released at 10:00 am,” the medical centre said in a statement.

Pele was taken to the hospital late last Wednesday with what close associate and aide Jose Fornos Rodrigues initially indicated was a stomach ailment that forced him to miss a book launch in his hometown, Santos.

“He had stomach pains and he was brought to hospital for tests.

But he is calm and feels good,” Rodriques had said.

Pele was booked to make two public appearances at lunches in Australia this week - in Melbourne on Wednesday and Sydney on Thursday - to honour veteran SBS broadcaster Les Murray’s contribution to the sport over 35 years.

Organisers of the Australian trip have confirmed new dates will soon be locked in for 2015 and that all tickets will be honoured and transferred to those amended dates.

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2014

PDP ward congresses: Matters arising

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wo weeks ago, precisely on Saturday, Nov 1, the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) held its ward-delegates congresses nation-wide, to elect delegates to the party’s governorship primaries earlier slated for November 29 but now to take place on December 8 and 9 while the National Convention holds 10-11. According to media reports, the conduct of the ward-delegate election was anything but peaceful. Indeed, in most places, especially in PDP-controlled states, the exercise was reportedly fractious and controversial.

Expectedly, many of the results have been disputed. Only last Thursday, for instance, Godwin Ettah, Cross River State PDP secretary raised a serious question of integrity for the party when he alleged on AIT that the results of the ward-delegates congress held in Cross River were compromised by the Electoral Panel sent from Wadata House, the PDP National headquarters in Abuja, to conduct the election. Similarly, in Enugu, everyone must have heard how there was no election at all but some members of the electoral panel, apparently at the behest of some senators from the state simply wrote the results of a purported election and submitted same to the party secretariat, an action an embarrassed Wadata House had to disown in an affidavit sworn to by the PDP solicitors at the Federal High Court, Abuja. Other examples abound.

It turns out that the people who are so desperate for power that they are ready to throw electoral law, party rules/constitution, democracy et al out the window, if the terms of the electoral contest don’t favour them, are mainly PDP federal lawmakers (and a few other highranking party and government functionaries), the self-same group to whom everyone looks up to stabilize our democracy through oversight functions and the enactment of good laws for the good governance of the country. And you ask: if ranking Senators could violate a piece of legislation as important as the electoral law (it’s criminal to declare the results of an election that never held); if ranking Senators could connive with rogue party officials to declare fictitious results of a never-held election just to have their way in a contest they thought they might lose, isn’t it obvious such persons are nothing but poisons to both party and democracy and must be cast out? To leave such persons in the system and even seek to accommodate their interests in the politics of the next dispensation is to pollute the system the more and alienate people from the ruling party.

From the very beginning, PDP went into that very important ward-delegates election a divided house. The controversy centred principally on the control of party structure. By the party’s constitution, the President is its national leader while the governors are leaders of the state chapters. Although that may not have been intended, what that essentially means is that the governors are also the major funders of the party and as such, practically own the structure. Thus, in a normal ward-delegates election, particularly in a state chapter where there is no faction, most of the winners would be mainstream party men who would be loyal to the state governor.

We could validly argue that this arrangement is undemocratic, to the extent that, wittingly or unwittingly, it has invested a rather overarching power of organization and control of the party machinery in the leader. Which, to all intents and purposes, it to the detriment of ordinary members who have little or no say in the decision-making process because they make practically no financial contribution to the party. But, that is the party constitution; that is the way it is, at least for now, in the PDP. To seek to change the rules of the game midstream through the kinds of

Sunday

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

abugufex@gmail.com 08076290498 (sms only)

Nwodo

Mu’azu

“It is sad that after 16 unbroken years in power as the chief driver of the nation’s democratic governance, the PDP is still saddled with ill-defined levels of authority and unable to organize a hitchfree internal election as simple as warddelegates congress” subterfuges some people have contrived to protect inordinate person interests, is to simply invite chaos into the party.

It was apparently in a bid to ‘democratise’ PDP, including party-funding, that former National Chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo attempted, in 2010, to introduce an e-registration platform by which members would electronically register and pay their annual membership dues. The idea was for funding to come directly from members who, by this means, were then expected to wrest party control from governors and establish its independence thereafter. The leadership would then go ahead to put in place nimbler administrative structures that would promote best practice in party administration and, by extension, internal democracy, in the PDP. But, no sooner had President Jonathan come on national television to demonstrate how the process would work than it was shot down, obviously at the instance of the governors who, it would appear, couldn’t contemplate a party leadership that would be completely independent of their money and, therefore, control. There was, thus, no need to amend the constitution: the governors were still in charge.

The raging controversy began prior to the congresses when some politicians, sensing serious threats to their electoral ambitions were they to abide

Metuh

by the extant arrangement whereby the governors are in charge of state party structures, connived with some corrupt national party officers to disorganize the arrangement in some of the state chapters and use their own machinery, albeit ad-hoc and ultimately unviable, to put themselves and or their cronies into reckoning. This dog-in-manger attitude has been particularly on display in the South East where the three PDP states of Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu have been grappling with the shenanigans of some rogue NWC members who have joined forces with dissembling local politicians who are no longer in good standing with their people, to cause confusion in the state chapters.

Consider the scenarios. While in Ebonyi and Enugu the NWC allegedly colluded with some frustrated politicians in those states to ensure the ward congresses were either inconclusive or not conducted all, thereby denying the governors the requisite number of delegates to win the governorship and federal legislative primary elections, in Abia, the NWC is accused of colluding with “the powers that be” to impose candidates on the party in what has been described by some as “an at-

tempt at self-and-family-perpetuation” in power.

In Ebonyi and Enugu, for instance, the state chapters, in very transparent and verifiable manners had earlier conducted pre-primary election among members of the party caucuses and come up with consensus candidates in apparent efforts to reduce the costs of all-comer primary elections and the acrimonies that were bound to come with them. But, the NWC first disavowed it. Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary, who has been fingered in the current confusion in which the South East PDP is mired, was to rush to the press to condemn “any consensus arrangement by state chapters of the party,” insisting every aspirant must be given a chance to participate in the primary election. But, he was forced to shut up when he was reminded that the consensus arrangements in states like Enugu and Ebonyi did not detract from the party’s primary arrangement at all, as the two chapters recognized the rights of those party members who so desired, to purchase forms and participate in the coming governorship primaries.

Secondly, the states’ party chairmen resigned to contest elections and were immediately replaced by persons chosen in accordance with the party’s constitution and zoning formula but the NWC again kicked against that, insisting on the deputies acting, even when the national office of the party had set a precedent in the immediate appointment of Ahmed Muazu to replace Alhaji Bamanga Turkur after the latter’s sack.

On the day of the congresses proper, no materials came from Abuja for Enugu, for example. That meant that the congresses never validly held in the state. But, Metuh insisted that there were results to be announced and actually took a purported Enugu delegates list to Abuja and later sniggered that those not satisfied with what had happened should go to court.

And that was after he, a lawyer, had led his friends from Enugu, among them senior lawyers too, to court to compel the PDP to recognize the fake results they had prepared as arising from the purported delegates election in the state. Imagine the impudence! But, thank goodness that reason prevailed at the top echelon of PDP and those recidivists who wanted to reap where they did not sow were stopped in their tracks. According to The Nation’s report, the PDP “in an affidavit and a written address it filed in its defence to a suit brought by three persons claiming to be suing on behalf of ‘themselves and all delegates elected on the 1st of November, 2014 at the ward congress held in Enugu State,’ in which they are asking the court to prevent the PDP from changing the ‘result of the congress’, further asserted that contrary to the claims of the plaintiffs, the result sheets for the congresses were still in its custody…and that none of the plaintiffs ‘won any election and were never issued with the official result sheet in form PD/004…’ The suit was ‘a subterfuge by the plaintiffs to foist their ambition on the party as the 1st defendant’s (PDP) delegates.’

It is sad that after 16 unbroken years in power as the chief driver of the nation’s democratic governance, the PDP is still saddled with ill-defined levels of authority and unable to organize a hitchfree internal election as simple as warddelegates congress. What, in the name of all that is reasonable, is the point of working so hard to organize the party at the state level if a single pronouncement from a low-level national officer could undo everything the state chapter may have legitimately and properly done in the party’s electoral interest? The PDP must reinvent itself as it goes into an election in which the odds aren’t exactly in its favour. The starting point is to at least conduct peaceful, free and fair ward-delegates congresses.

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Sanctity of Truth

PDP ward congresses: Matters arising

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

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Let the security debate begin (1) The Nigerian Project

AS WE WERE For too long, Nigerians have been treated to politics of banality, inanity and vacuity.

Politics devoid of substance, debate, agenda and goal. Politics full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Politics of betrayal, bitterness, treachery and perfidy. Politics, politics, politics. Politics without governance, politics devoid of democratic dividends. Such has been Nigeria’s experience.

Nigerians have always been at the receiving end of the directionlessness of politicians’ antics. Politicians without principles, who jump from one political party to the other, and yet jump back as soon as their selfish expectations are not met. They want to eat their cake and have it. They desire to stay in the kitchen without feeling the heat.

They believe they can jump into the river without getting wet or drenched. Gracious God! Nigerians have suffered in the hands of Politicians. They constitute the grass that suffers when two elephants fight.

Like the Bourbons of European history, the Nigerian Politicians have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. Their hobby is to deliberately suffer from selective amnesia, picking and choosing when it pleases them.

HOW WE ARE NOW The Political configuration in Nigeria today is easy to decipher.

There are today in Nigeria, 25 registered Political Parties. However, the two leading ones are the ruling, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the main opposition, All Progressive Congress (APC), a merger of ANPP, CPC, AC and a faction of APGA. With no clear ideological differences, the two political parties are but two sides of the same coin - same dramatics personae – who swing and jump from one to the other, without shame, qualms or conscience. Once they jump boat, the receiving political party welcomes the decampee with pomp, pageantry and aplomb. The cross carpeter is a saint, an angel. Like Naaman the leper who became cleansed of his leprosy after being dipped into River Jordan seven times, the defection suddenly cleanses the defector of this Political leprosy and personality baggage.

THE MAJOR ISSSUE OF THE DAY The major issue of the day is Nigerian Security. Security of lives and property. Not security of the stomach, which is no less important.

But, let us here concentrate on security of the limbs, lives and property. This is sine qua non in this era of Boko Haram insurgency, where some parts of Adamawa and Taraba states have been brazenly attacked and even annexed by the insurgents. They have even planted their flags in some major towns like Mubi and even renamed them.

For too long, the main opposition Political Party, the APC, has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of what it fondly calls “Cluelessness” in dealing with the Boko Haram Menace. Even Obasanjo former Head of state and Democratic President had, at one time or the other, joined the fray. He once recommended the stick at a time Jonathan preferred the stick. He was easily lampooned across the divide by Nigerians who accused him of destroying Odi and Zaki-Biam through the use of such obnoxious tactics.

President Jonathan’s Government and the PDP have, on the other hand, strenuously defended his Government. The Government has oscillated from the Carrot to the stick and and from the stick to pacifist dialogue and negotiation. All have so far yielded no manifest dividends, going by the increasing spate

MIKE OZEKHOME san, ofr mike.ozekhome@yahoo.com 08128444555 (sms only)

of insurgents’ bravura and impunity. So, what do we do? Do we wring our hands in helplessness, hopelessness and haplessness?

Do we just “Siddon look”? Do we declare a total war, as distinct from a mere declaration of a state of emergency? Do we negotiate and dialogue? Dialogue with who? Ghost?

Ethno-religious extremists and bigots?

Fundamentalists whose aim, it claims, is to Islamize the entire country and impose Moslem Sharia Law? Just with Whom?

CHARACTER SKETCHES OF THE MAIN CONTENDERS. It is the right of Nigerians to hear from the main aspirants for the position of President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So far, the following have indicated interest to contest the Presidency in the two major Political Parties, the APC and PDP: sitting President Jonathan of the PDP; Sam Ndah-Isah, Atiku Abubakar, Muhammadu Buhari, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Rochas Okorocha. Our Xray of their backgrounds and antecedents will show perhaps, who amongst them, may, only may, likely be in a better position to tackle our security challenges.

SAM ISIAH-NDAH Aside being the founder of the Leadership group of Newspapers which have since become authoritative, little is known of this cerebral former Columnist of the titles, “Last Word” and “Earshot” which he started in Daily Trust before establishing the Leadership group. A pro-good governance exponent and author of the book (a distillation of his articles) “ Nigeria: Full Disclosure”, the advocate of a new vision and direction for Nigeria, was born in Minna on May 1, 1962. He had his Primary Education in Kaduna between 1968 and 1974; and attended Government College, Kaduna between 1974 and 1979. He later read Pharmacy at the University of Ife (OAU), Ile-Ife, with a brief stint at the Minna General Hospital and Kano Specialist Hospital, Ilawe-Ekiti and State Hospital at Ikere-Ekiti, both in Ekiti States.

Later, Nda joined Pfizer Products Ltd and worked there till 1989, when he went entrepre-

MAMA LASISI

neurial. A former member of the Daily trust Editorial Board, Sam was famously said to have started leadership group of Newspaper with less than N 1 Million in 2003. The man whose credo is “know your limits, then ignore it”, is a business mogul with many successful companies under his sleeves. These span the media, investments, hospitality Industry even in Faraway Johannesburg, South Africa, education, lease holdings and ICT. Sam, a member of the Asian Think-Tank Global Institute of Tomorrow based in Hongkong, he is an alumnus of the Lee Kuan Yew School of the Public Policy of the National University of Singapore and School International and Public Affairs of Columbia University, New York. He is a member of the World association of Newspaper (WAN), NPAN and Board of Heritage University, Kaduna.

Today, Nda ironically has the onerous duty of convincing die-hard Buharists as to why he would want to contest against General Buhari, his Idol, whose Presidential ambition he had championed in 2002, when he helped to form The Buhari Organization (TBO), where he was appointed the Deputy Director-General. He was also a founding member of the CPC, under whose platform, Buhari contested the 2011 Presidential Election, before its recent merger with other Political Parties to form the APC. With Chieftaincy titles in his native Nupe land (Kakaki Nupe), potiskum and the Ndigbo Community in Abuja, the Grand Commander of Great Ife, is a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN). In spite of these glittering credentials however, Sam is not known to have any experience at all in Military or Security matters. But, does the Road make the monk? Only time will tell.

OWELLE ROCHAS ANAYO OKOROCHA Born on the 22nd of September, 1962, Okorocha is the present Governor of imo state, a position he won after defeating former Governor, Ikedi Ohakim, in the rerun in four Local Government Areas in an initially inconclusive election. Anayo attended his secondary school in Jos between 1976 and 1981 and University of Jos between 1990 and 1991, where

he obtained Diploma in Public Administration. He later obtained the Advanced Diploma in public Administration (1993-1994). A very successful Businessman, Politician and Philanthropist. Okorocha is known to be a lover of education, an area he has excelled in developing. Formerly President of the Red Cross society and President of the Rochas Foundation, Owelle was a member of the National Constituttional Conference. He is the Pro Chancellor, African Business School.

As a Politician of note, the fluent Hausa spoken orator once contested the PDP Presidential election and came second. When he later lost in the gubernatorial primaries on the platform of the PDP to become Governor of Imo State, he defected to the APGA, picked up the candidacy and went on to win the election becoming Governor of Imo State.

He later defected from APGA to the APC, whilst still Governor. It is believed he has done well in the area of security in Imo State, carrying the war to the den of armed robbers and kidnappers. But, do these qualify him for the plum position of Nigerian President? Can he win the war against terror?

MOHAMMED RABIU MUSA KWANKWASO Born in Kwankwaso Village in Madobi Local Government Area of Kano State in 1956.

Rabiu attended Kano Technical college, Kaduna Polytechnic and Post graduate studies in the united Kingdom.

He joined Polities and became the Deputy Speaker of the Federal house of Representatives in the aborted third Republic. A well known member of the People Front Bent of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) led by late General Shehu YAr’adua, Kwankwaso was a member of the 1995 Constitutional Conference. He joined the PDP in Kano, then led by the trio of Mallam Musa Gwadabe, Senator Hamisu Musa and Alhaji Abdullahi Sumaila.

He was first elected Governor of Kano state between 1999 and 2003. In 2003, he lost the PDP primaries to Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau (now Minister of Education) who he had earlier removed as a Permanent Secretary and demoted to the position of Lecturer, College of arts and Science, Kano. Shekarau went on to become the Governor of Kano State.

In 2011, Rabiu was re-elected Governor of Kano State. President Obasanjo had, in 2003, after losing the Governorship primaries, made Rabiu the Minister of Defence, a position he had resigned from in 2007 to contest the governorship. In 2007, he was appointed by Obasanjo as the Presidents Envoy to Somalia and Dafur, after he lost the bid for the Kano Government House. He was later to bounce back in 2011 to become the Governor of kano state.

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By Aliu Eroje

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