Binder1 6 december, 2014

SATURDAY SATURDAY

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Vol. 1 No. 291

Sanctity of Truth

/newtelegraph

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

world of zizi cardow MODU-SHERIFF: I’LL ROOT OUT BOKO HARAM The creative, eccentric fashion designer

N150

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nigeria’s KILLER DOCTORS lHow lives are wasted

Appolonia Adeyemi

P

erhaps, the most famous instance of misdiagnosis that Nigerians can easily recall the case of human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

The lawyer had long been receiving treatment in a Nigerian hospital for pneumonia, but a decision to visit a London hospital revealed it

was actually lung cancer.

He would eventually succumb to that ailment.

There are several other similar cases that did not make the headlines either because they went unreported or due to the fact that the patients involved survived the ordeal.

This investigative report lays bare all the chilling facts.

SEE FULL STORY ON PAGES 24, 33 & 34

2015: UDUAGHAN DROPS SENATORIAL AMBITION } 6 lAkpabio, Suswam, Jang in race

fayose to pdp: suspend }6 obasanjo now

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SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Contents | 6.12.14 CONVERSATION

Uganda’s Jokes Master Like many stand-up comedian, the Ugandan, Daniel Omara, never imagined his jokes could someday earn him some good pay. But some pep talk from his idol, Klint de Drunk, shook off all diffidence

}13

INSTYLE

The Retro Look More than one hundred years after it was first introduced in the United Kingdom as footwear for cricketers’, the two-tone wingtip shoes have retained their appeal

}16

SHOWBIZ

Waiting to Exhale She has twice been a finalist in Nigerian Idol and MTN Project Fame, but Ogechukwu Okafor (‘Oge’) is still confident she’ll make a huge success in her music career

}21

THE ARTS

Feminine Strokes A solo exhibition by Duke Asidere at Omenka Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, highlights the artist’s long obsession for the female subject

}18

SPORT

Lost Glory Built 42 years ago, the National Stadium, Lagos, was an iconic venue that played host to some of Nigeria’s best moments in sports. Today that allure is long gone

}30-31

DESTINATION

On the Atlantic Fringe Private islands often sound like an exotic concept we tend to associate with locations like the Caribbean, but a new facility known as Inagbe Grand Resort and Leisure that sits on the Lagos Atlantic coastline fits that bill

}42 Plus: Voices 12 | Love&Living 35 | Faceoff 48

Comment

A vote against political violence

I

n the countdown to the 2015 scourged and blighted at the end of the elections, the utterances of some day. It is a vicious political whirlwind politicians in the various levels from which no one has ever reaped of preparations for the elections anything meaningful. It is porecisely have become worrisome. Apart because of this that Britain, with all from the obvious dangers that violence its residual history of conquistadorial portends, threats of politicians resort- splendour, stuffed every national pride ing to Hobbesian methods to reinforce in order to secure sustainable peace their political desperation refocus at- with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) tention on the need for Nigerians to be whose campaign of violence became conscious of the grim harvest possible an expensive political distraction. from an interplay of political violence Elsewhere in the world, examples and mindless insurgency. abound of once-virile nations that beThe possibility of an unholy mix of came caricatures and shadows of their political violence interplaying with glorious past, no thanks to extreme pothe prevailing extreme viciousness of litical violence. Syria, Iraq, Lebanon insurgency to launch the country into and Ukraine, lately, adequately fit the a political orbit that is better imag- picture of nations that became painsined than felt should be worrisome takingly painted into oblivion and to all Nigerians as the ultimate recipe inconsequence by political violence. for disaster. As the country painstak- For example, it remains controversial ingly negotiates her political future, how long it would take Syria, for inthe mindset of desperation by some stance, to negotiate itself out of the depoliticians bent on acquiring power bilitating crisis imposed by its ongoing and position at all costs, with neither jaw-dropping political violence that room for setbacks nor disappointment has become inspirational to copycat which is natural in every human con- murderous groups around the world. test, should be condemned with all the To underscore the spectre provided seriousness it deserves. by political violence, the other day, Of course, disagreements are natu- some armed men from Rivers State ral in every human enterprise which is recently invaded a PDP meeting in why we congratulate the Plateau State Abuja, bent on imposing their posiDeputy Governor, Mr Ignatius Longjan, tion, allegedly because of a decision who did not allow his rejection of the that was injurious to their preferred delegates election in the state Peoples candidate. Herein lies the free-wheelDemocratic Party (PDP), to spiral out ing dangers inherent in political vioof control as in Ekiti where some judi- lence: If every person or group with cial workers, including judges, were access to violence decides to deploy allegedly manhandled on account same to achieve his views, anarchy of desperation by some politicians. soon overtakes a scenario where arAnd the consequences of guments are won by a regime of lawlessness force, not logic or suand violence has already perior argument.

“Political reared in same Ekiti where And because of another high court judge the obvious dangers violence, we must handling a case involving inherent in this, this emphasise, is a Gov Ayo Fayose, Justice model of anarchy is Olusegun Ogunyemi, has veritable affliction not the ideal one we washed his hands off the can recommend for that leaves every this country unless we case, citing threat to his life as reason. victim thoroughly have elected to draPolitical violence, we matise our oblivion or scourged” must emphasise, is a veriinduction into the untable affliction that leaves enviable club of failed every victim thoroughly nations.

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, Saturday n Waheed Bakare

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

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Telegraph Adam&Eve

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2014

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6 DECEMBER, 2014

5

How Zizi gave ankara its groove Abia State-born Zizi Cardow blazed a trail in Nigeria’s fashion industry with her creative use of ankara fabric. Cardow, whose style reflects an understated elegance, speaks with ANGELA DAVIES on style, the fashion industry, and growing up.

How is your typical day like?

It is shuttling between the factory and the showroom and attending to clients. It is always hectic but it is fun because it keeps me on my toes. It saves me the money of going to join a gym.

You have been in the fashion industry for 14 years. How have you been able to sustain your brand?

Apart from working hard, I reinvent my label every once in a while by coming up with new things. I think as a designer, one of the key factors is being able to come up with creative ideas and new trends. Generally, keep up with the times.

Was becoming a fashion designer borne out of passion or was it fortuitous?

It is borne out of passion and that is the driving force. Without passion for whatever you are doing, I don’t think there will be sustainability of any sort. You will not have the drive to keep it going. So with passion, you add the commercial aspect of it to be able to sustain it.

What makes the Zizi Cardow brand unique?

It is the cut. My cuts are always different from every other designer. I would liken my cuts to what you have internationally. I really don’t follow what goes on here; I follow what I feel represents Zizi Cardow.

Other things are the finishing and customer service.

For some reason, I would say it is also the elegance and the simplicity in our cuts. Once you see a Zizi Cardow outfit, you will know because it is unique and different. I always tell people there is elegance in simplicity. Yes, it might be difficult for people to understand what you are trying to project but what makes you a designer is that ability to find your own signature.

At what cost would someone get a Zizi Cardow label outfit?

Amazingly, a lot of people think that we are expensive but we are not. Honestly, we have pieces from N7,500 to N200,000 depending on what it is you are looking for.

What is about ankara that you find so remarkable?

Ankara fabric was what I started with because I believed in the fact that we can create an identity of some sort for ourselves by using this fabric.

Using this fabric is something I have always done and it is something I will continue to do.

It is a fabric that will always be a part of my collection.

Does the fact there are younger designers emerging in the industry imply that designers like you would be eclipsed soon?

Everybody has got their own niche market and clients. But I would say challenge is good, challenge is healthy

because it only helps you to also be on your toes. It makes the industry vibrant and not monopolised. As it is, it awakens everybody’s senses and when you look at it, it also creates wealth capacity. So, I don’t in any way feel threatened.

How would you define your style?

It is simple, fun and comfortable.

If I could peek into your wardrobe what kind of outfits and accessories will I see?

You will probably find a wall full of accessories like earrings, necklaces, bags, shoes. I am bag fetish. And for clothes; you would find 90 percent Ankara outfits. Then, I can count a few pieces that I would say are my outing clothes. I really don’t have outing clothes because I like things to be versatile for me; what I can wear in the day, I can wear at night. I could just dress it up or dress it down.

What memories do you have of your growing up years?

Growing up was challenging as well as it was adventurous especially growing up in the midst of 14 other children and everybody with their own different characteristics. I learnt to be able to stand up for myself and be independent at a very young age. I suppose maybe that was where I got this thing about me just being who I am and not getting lost in the crowd. I still recall running around in the streets, playing football, jumping off mango trees and roof and picking fruits because I knew all the fruit trees in the Apapa (Lagos) axis. Also, the fact that you could go to the next door neighbour, means that there was a sense of community and there was no discrimination. It was just fun.

What has life taught you?

Life has taught me patience, tolerance and most importantly to be content with what you have. I think the forefront for me will be humility, the fact that one should humble themselves to be exalted by others.

As a designer, what do you consider your high and low moments?

I would probably ascribe my low periods to the first time I was trying to make people understand that the ankara fabric could be used for anything. It was difficult projecting this idea to Nigerians.

Then I would say my high moment will be now that everybody has suddenly become Ankara fabric crazy. So when I look at the way things have turned around, sometimes I smile.

What is that one wish you desire to be fulfilled?

I don’t ask for much in my life. The only one I probably would say I desire would be to know God more. I want to be closer to God. Does your daughter intend to toe your line?

No, she doesn’t even want to. She thinks it is stressful but she is arts inclined. She does painting and photography.

What is about motherhood that makes you happy?

For me first and foremost, I don’t really sit down and feel I have the right to claim that she is mine and mine alone. I tend to have this feeling that it is a privileged to have a child, so I see myself as a guardian who is supposed to nurture and look after her. Therefore, if I sit down and look at it in that aspect, I would say the greatest joy I get out of motherhood is being given that privilege to be able to look after somebody.

What is your beauty secret?

Funny enough, I don’t have any. The first time I went to a spa was courtesy of a treat from a friend. I am not feminine like that but it is amazing how I turned out. I can’t even remember the last time I visited the salon, probably last year.

How would you react to the notion that women do not make good bosses?

I think it is a generalisation of some sort which is not nice. There are some male bosses as well that are just as lousy as the next person.

I know for a fact that half the time even in the society that we are in, workers tend to be more subservient to their male bosses than their female bosses. Maybe that is what makes some women to be nasty.

Most of the time people believe that if you are a woman and you have achieved so much and you don’t have a husband, people can talk back at you because they feel you are nothing. No woman would take that as long as she is your boss and no matter how friendly she may be with you. There are lots of reasons and things that have to be looked at through which also depend on the context.

6

News

T

Ayodele Ojo

here was a dramatic prelude to the Peoples Democratic Party’s primaries for National Assembly seats with the withdrawal of Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, from the senatorial race last night.

Governors and lawmakers elected on the platform of the (PDP) are set for showdown this weekend as National Assembly primaries hold in 36 states of the federation.

No fewer than 1,000 aspirants are contesting the 360 House of Representatives seats while 109 senatorial seats are for grabs.

Each senatorial aspirant paid N5.5 million while the PDP collected N2.5 million from House of Representatives’ aspirants. The primaries for the House hold today while senatorial primaries will take place tomorrow.

The re-election bid of several lawmakers are threatened by the ambition of the governors and their determination to replace them with other aspirants.

Except Senate President David Mark and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, more than half of the senators are unlikely to win their return tickets to the Red Chamber this weekend.

Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba will require some miracle to make it back to the Senate with the determination of associates of Governor Liyel Imoke to replace him.

Saturday New Telegraph learnt that a large number of the legislators might lose their re-election today and on Sunday going by the outcome of the recently held ward and local government congresses.

The National Assembly primaries may be a repeat of the November 29 primaries of the House of Assembly where many lawmakers lost their re-election.

As at yesterday, nine

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Eight governors launch bid for the Senate this weekend governors are participating in the senatorial election.

Akpabio, who has been endorsed for the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, looks likely to stymie the ambition of Senator Aloysius Etok. The latter’s two-term spell in the Senate had been anchored on the strength of Akpabio’s support. He may have to test his strength in another party as Akpabio is in firm control of the PDP structure in the state.

In Benue, Governor Gabriel Suswam seems certain to take over the party’s Benue North-East senatorial ticket. In the face of apparent defeat, former National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Barnabas Gemade, on Thursday withdrew from the race.

In a notice of withdrawal sent to the national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, Gemade said: “I have come to realise that things have got to a point where one cannot expect a level playing ground or even any democratic action in our affairs in the party.

“There is in fact no room for an honest and law abiding member of this party in having a fair chance in any contest in the forthcoming primary election as anyone who is capable of manipulating the process, albeit illegally, is free to do so, and will be protected.

“The party constitution and election guidelines for the 2014 primaries are being flouted with impunity without sanctions.

“My opponent in the primary elections contest was allowed to write out the entire list of delegates for the election in his house

including the delegates from my ward and local government area and has boasted on public media how he will use such list to ‘disgrace’ a party elder.

“For these reasons and more, I hereby wish to withdraw my candidature from the primary elections for Senate scheduled for Sunday December 7.”

The situation is interesting in Niger State where Governor Babangida Aliyu is replacing Senator Shem Zagbayi, who was elected last September.

In Kebbi, Governor Saidu Dakingari is poised to take over from Senator Isa Galaudi in Kebbi North while Governor Theodore Orji wants Senator Nkechi Nwaogu’s

seat in Abia Central.

Governor Martin Elechi may also replace Senator Paulinus Nwagu for Ebonyi Central while Governor Jonah Jang is interested in taking over the Plateau North seat of Senator Pwajok, who is contesting the governorship seat.

Governor Isa Yuguda is also throwing his hat into the ring in Bauchi.

Governor Sullivan Chime has succumbed to the superior power of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. Chime pulled out of the primaries on Thursday.

Some of the PDP lawmakers have opted out of this weekend primaries because of their interest in the

governorship seats of their respective states.

In the House of Representatives, those running for the governorship seats include Emeka Ihedioha, Ndudi Elumelu (Delta), Gujbawu Kaka Kyari (Borno) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Bethel Amadi (Imo), Bello Mutawalle (Zamfara), Shehu Ibrahim Gusau (Zamfara), and Abiodun Akinlade (Ogun).

It was learnt that about 17 PDP senators will not contest the senatorial election on Sunday because of their governorship ambitions.

The senators are: Gyang Pwajok (Plateau), Helen Esuene (Akwa Ibom), Nkechi Nwaogu (Abia), Ayoade Adeseun (Oyo), Ayogu Eze

(Enugu), Chris Anyanwu (Imo), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Simon Ajibola (Kwara), Paulinus Nwagwu and Victor Lar (Plateau).

Others are Solomon Ewuga (Nasarawa), Isa Galaudi (Kebbi), Muhammad Magoro (Kebbi), Bashir Lado (Kano), Adamu Gumba (Bauchi), Abdul Ningi (Bauchi) and Babayo Garba (Bauchi).

Faced with the possibility of failed re-election bids, senators have engaged the Presidency and the party leadership on the need to give them automatic tickets. Members of the House of Representatives also made similar demand.

But the PDP didn’t accede to their demands.

Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola and Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, dancing before the inauguration of the rebuilt Asoro Grammar School in Benin City…yesterday

Fayose faults PDP governors’ visit to Obasanjo Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

E

kiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has said the visit of five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to former President Olusegun Obasanjo was unwarranted and unnecessary.

He also called for the suspension of Obasanjo for alleged anti-party activities, saying the PDP as a party should stop condoning indiscipline.

Fayose spoke on Friday in Ado-Ekiti, through his chief press secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, and his special assistant on public communication and new

…calls for his suspension media, Mr. Lere Olayinka.

According to him, Obasanjo was “unpresidential” in his scathing criticisms of President Goodluck Jonathan, adding that nobody should be seen as bigger than the party.

“Have you ever heard a former president of the United States of America openly abusing a sitting president of the country?

Does it mean that former USA president, Bill Clinton, agrees with all the policies of George W. Bush and the incumbent president, Barack Obama? Obasanjo is behaving unpresiden-

tially and he must be told to respect himself,” he said.

The governor said visiting Obasanjo to plead with him to rescind his decision not to participate in the party’s activities was capable of encouraging other members of the party to openly disrespect the office of President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria as being done by Obasanjo.

Fayose, who called for immediate suspension of the former president from the PDP, said: “A man who has refused to respect the

office of the President of Nigeria that he once occupied does not also deserve respect from anyone.”

He urged the party to set a panel to probe Obasanjo’s anti-party activities. The governor, who described Obasanjo as one of the major problems of Nigeria, added that the former president’s open castigation of President Jonathan was unbecoming of someone who led the country for 11 years and wasted billions of naira in his attempt to perpetuate himself in office beyond the constitutionally recog-

nised two terms.

Speaking further, Fayose said Obasanjo was already a member of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and that he was pushing for one of his loyalists to be the party’s vice presidential candidate.

“Obasanjo is a man who can never be pleased. His principle of life is; if it is not his way, it must not be another person’s way.

Even if President Jonathan gives Obasanjo his blood today, he (Obasanjo) cannot change because he is already neck deep in the APC agenda, with his eyes on the vice presidential ticket of the party.

“Therefore, no amount

of visits by PDP governors can make him change his mind about President Jonathan, whom he hates not because he has not performed, but because he (Jonathan) did not hand over his presidency to him,” he stated.

Five PDP governors cmprising Godswill Akpabio; (Akwa Ibom), Isa Yuguda; (Bauchi) Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu; (Niger), Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa) had on Thursday visited the former president at his Abeokuta home, apparently to plead with him to stop his open condemnation of the Jonathan administration.

6 DECEMBER 2014

How Ambode emerged as Lagos APC governorship candidate Temitope Ogunbanke and Ibraheem Musa

A

Lagos and Kaduna

former Accountant-General of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday emerged as the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for February 28, 2015 governorship election in the state.

Ambode, according to the result announced by chairman of Lagos APC governorship primaries committee, Rev. Peter Obadan, won with wide margin, scoring 3,735 out of the 5,724 valid votes cast, while the state Commissioner for Works, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, came a distant second with 1,201 votes.

The Senate Minority Whip, Senator Ganiyu Solomon and House of Assembly Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, scored 272 and 182 votes to place third and fourth respectively.

Declaring Ambode as winner, Obadan said: “I hereby certify that Akinwunmi Ambode having scored the highest number of votes cast is hereby de-

News

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

l El-Rufai picks party’s ticket in Kaduna clared winner.”

He also commended the aspirants for displaying high level of maturity and understanding during the primaries, and told whoever is not satisfied with the outcome of the primaries to approach the party’s governorship primaries appeal committee.

In other results, Governor Babatunde Fashola’s anointed candidate and former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Olasupo Sashore, (SAN), polled 121 votes, while former Lagos State Commissioner for Health and Education, Dr. Leke Pitan and former Commissioner for Rural Development, Dr. Tola Kasali, polled 112 and 69 votes respectively.

Former aide to Tinubu, Mr. Tayo Ayinde; businessman, Mr. Adekunle Disu and lawyer, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, polled 17, nine and seven votes respectively while former member of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Lanre Ope, Special Adviser to Fashola on Environment, Mrs Tobun-Adetokunbo

Agbesanwa and businessman, Mr. Abayomi Sutton had no vote.

In his acceptance speech, Ambode commended the delegates and party leaders for ensuring that the process that threw him up as APC gubernatorial candidate was free and fair.

“After this victory, we must move quickly to retain the party, APC, in the column of the progressives by returning the APC to power in Lagos. The task ahead of us is daunting, but surmountable. We have only just commenced the first phase of the execution of our political agenda. The next phase beckons. We must all work together to usher APC back into power in Lagos State.”

Meanwhile less than one hour after Ambode emerged APC governorship candidate, one of the party's gubernatorial aspirants, Lanre Ope, has congratulated Ambode.

The statement reads in part: “Please accept my hearty congratulations on wining the flag of our party in the primaries that we just concluded this morning.”

Meanwhile, a former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister , Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, emerged as the Kaduna State governorship candidate of the APC by polling 1,965 votes out of the 3,518 votes that were cast at the primaries.

Announcing the results, the party’s returning officer, Mr. Ekenyem Nwafor, Orizu said the accredited delegates for the election were 3,557 and the valid votes cast were 3,518, while there were 28 invalid votes.

The returning officer, who declared El-Rufai as winner, having polled the highest vote cast, commended the manner in which the delegates comported themselves during the election.

El-Rufai defeated four other aspirants, including Isa Ashiru, who is a member of the House of Representatives, the CPC governorship aspirant in 2011, Alhaji Haruna Sa’eed, Alhaji Salihu Lukman, the Director General of APC Governors Forum and Mohammed Shamshudeen Ango Abdullahi, another House member.

Troops dislodge Boko Haram in Mubi N

igerian troops have completed the operation to clear Mubi, Adamawa State, of Boko Haram terrorists who had mischievously renamed the town ‘Madina’ and operated in the town and its environs.

A mop-up operation is nevertheless ongoing to apprehend and deal with those who might be lurking around neighbouring communities, according to a PRNigeria report.

“Members of the terrorists group were dislodged after coordinated air and land operations in the area,” the report added.

It said more special troops were being deployed in other areas in the North-East axis in similar coordinated air and land operations to rid the communities of terrorists’ activities.

PRNigeria quoted a top military officer as saying that desperate terrorists looking for escape routes might wreak havoc on soft-targets in neighbour-

ing communities that were not affected in the military operation.

He said: “In their attempts to escape the intensity of military offensives, desperate terrorists have resorted to attacking soft-target in neighbouring communities.”

The officer acknowledged improved understanding of the communities on the military operation but seek for more supports from the civilian population in identifying and exposing members of terrorists group.

“The people must be courageous and brave enough in identifying the terrorists that are mostly known to the locals to enable the military to curtail the excesses of the insurgents.

“We are working assiduously to also tackle activities of moles, some very young who spy for terrorists and invite them for invasion of communities. We need the cooperation of the residents,” he said.

The Week Ahead PDP holds House primaries today The primaries to nominate candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be held today across the country.

According to the reversed timetable of the party, the screening of the aspirants was conducted between November 1 and 21.

The primaries for the nomination of the party's senatorial candidates will take place tomorrow.

Returning members of the party in the National Assembly are demanding automatic ticket from the party leadership.

Winners’ Chapel begins Shiloh Dec 9 The Living Faith Church Worldwide, (aka Winners Chapel), will on December 9 begin the annual gathering of its members all over the world, tagged Shiloh, which will end on December 14.

According to the Crowd Control Unit (CUU) of the church, the event, which will be held at the church’s headquarters, will be broadcast live via satellite all over the world with the theme “Heaven on Earth”.

The presiding bishop, Dr. David Oyedepo, will be ministering alongside other ministers during the five-day event.

House extends resumption to Dec 16 L-R: National Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Adewale Oladipo; Ondo State PDP Chairman, Mr. Clement Olasehinde Faboyede and Governor Olusegun Mimiko, at the inauguration of the party’s State Executive Committee in Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

I accept my suspension, says Tukur Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

F

ormer National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Bamanga Tukur, has said as a loyal party member, he has accepted his suspension by the party leadership, even though he was not given fair hearing.

Tukur, who was suspended by the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP for allegedly seeking to oust

the national chairman, Dr. Adamu Mu’azu, said as a foundation member of the party he knows the rule.

“My position on this case is simple: that I have never taken my party to court. I have been sued myself as a defendant. The court cases are very clear.

When I was sued to make appearance, naturally my representative has to go to court and represent me. But I have never sued my party.

“I am a founding mem-

ber of this great party. I am a member of the Board of Trustees of this party and I am past national chairman of this party. I know the constitution of this party. So, how is it possible that I will sue the party. It is just a misrepresentation of facts may be because I was sued as a co-defendant. Once you are sued you have to appear that is all I can say,” he explained.

He denied that he swore an affidavit seeking to return to office as chairman.

“I can't tell a lie. When they asked whether I resigned without giving the 30 days notice, that is correct,” Tukur stated.

The former national chairman said he saw no reason for him to brief the PDP national leadership before disposing the affidavit, and said he was never contacted.

“In fact, I would expect that they will call me and tell me what they are seeing.

I have never being asked or contacted,” he said.

7

The House of Representatives has extended its resumption for plenary to December 16 as against December 10 previously announced when the House adjourned for recess on October 28, 2014.

Clerk of the House, Mr. Mohammed Sani-Omolori, said the postponement was necessitated by the ongoing primaries and political activities.

The statement said: “This is to notify members of the House of Representatives that the resumption of the House from recess earlier scheduled for December 3, 2014 has been postponed. The House will now resume on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 10a.m.”

Court rules on Alison-Madueke probe Dec 17 A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed December 17 for judgment in a suit seeking to stop the House of Representatives from probing allegations that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, spent over N10 billion on chartered aircraft.

The minister, her ministry and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), who are the plaintiffs in the suit had on June 19 obtained an order of interim injunction halting the probe from commencing pending the determination of the suit.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed had adjourned for judgment after entertaining parties’ arguments in the suit in which the National Assembly and the House of Representatives are the defendants.

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6 DECEMBER 2014

FCT

FCT PDP chieftain sues party over suspension

N EWS I N BRIEF

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aliyu Gubrin, who was suspended alongside former Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bmanga Tukur, has vowed to challenge his suspension in court.

Gubrin, who spoke through his counsel, Lilian Ojimma, described his suspension as being strange adding that he was not given a fair hearing before being suspended.

He also debunked the claim that Bamanga Tukur has anything to do with the suit he filed seeking to oust Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu as the party National Chairman.

Gubrin had dragged the party before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to challenge the appointment of Mu’azu as the chairman of the party.

N77.3m

The IGR realized from road taxes sources in Kwara State in 2012.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

ILORIN PDP group insists on zoning

Jonathan appoints Ekpendu as new CG of Prisons

President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Dr. Peter Ezenwa Ekpendu as the new Controller General of Nigeria Prison Service (NPS).

An indigene of Ibeku Okwuato in Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, Ekpendu prior to his new appointment was the Deputy Controller General (Administration) since 2012.

He was Deputy Commandant Prisons Training, College,Lagos - 1991 to 1994; Officer-in-Charge of Umuahia - 1995 to 1996; Officer in charge of Owerri Prisons - 1997 to1998 and Deputy Controller of Prisons Training, Prisons Headquarters 1999.

He was also Controller of Prisons Pension, Prisons Headquarters - 2000; Controller of Prisons of Enugu State 2001 to 2003, Imo State 2003 to 2005 and Delta State in 2006.

68

The sex ratio of men to 100 women in the above 60 years age group in Burkina Faso in 2012.

Source: Un.org

Members of the Freedom Group (FG) yesterday demanded the implementation of the zoning arrangement that would see the emergence of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate from the southern senatorial district of Kwara State.

Addressing journalists in Ilorin, Chairman of the group, Alhaji Kunle Sulyman, said the group’s decision was based on the need to ensure real justice in the sharing of political offices in the state, and condemned alleged attempt by some members of the party from the central senatorial district to dominate affairs of the state.

102m

The number of mobile-cellular subscriptions of developed countries in 2007.

Source: Itu.int

2015: APC desperate to take over power, Clark alleges

F

irst Republic Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has alleged that some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) can do anything, including poisoning or killing President Goodluck Jonathan, because of their desperation to take power in 2015.

The elder statesman made the claim yesterday in Abuja, during a conference organised by the Peoples Democratic Party Ward2-Ward Initiative with the theme ‘building a legacy of sustainable democracy, peaceful co-existence and transformation of Nigeria’.

According to him, the utterances of some members of APC following the insecurity in the country show that they are not patriotic Nigerians.

Clark commended the organisers of the event for drumming up support for the re-election bid of President Jonathan, adding that the era of election rigging or

political thuggery was over.

He said: “This morning, I read one of the newspapers. The national chairman of one of our political parties said that Nigeria was moving towards anarchy. I was shocked. Coming here, I want to make a statement about it. Today, you are here on your own because you believe in Nigeria. The future is here.

“I appeal to the national chairman of APC (Chief John Odigie-Oyegun), who is my very good friend, who in those days, we regarded as super permanent secretary, not to join those who want to take office at all cost. If it is possible, they will like to kill Jonathan, they will like to poison him provided they will get into office. Is that the Nigeria that you want?

“So, Nigerians, let me say this to you, that today, I am 87 and by May next year, I will be 88; but I do believe and I have a slogan that when you are 70 and above, you are in the departure lounge waiting for your boarding pass."

Osun PDP suspends six members Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

O The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (middle) jubilating with party supporters after he was declared as the winner of the primaries in Lagos …yesterday

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Nnamani, Nyame, Turaki, other cases still ongoing –EFCC

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Ndubuisi Ugah he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied insinuations in some quarters that it has soft-pedalled and consequently bungled the ongoing trial of some former state governors, who were alleged to have enriched themselves fraudulently, while in office since 2007.

Specifically, the EFCC said it was untrue that it had relented in its task to recover some of the monies looted by some of the former governors.

Based on this, it explained that the corruption cases against former Governors Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Jolly Nyame (Taraba), Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), and James Ibori (Delta) among others, were some of the highprofile cases, which the EFCC was still prosecuting and assured Nigerians that investigations were

still ongoing in some of the cases even as the anti-graft agency was still awaiting judgments on some of the cases.

Spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, who said this during a live phone-in programme on Faaji FM on Thursday, said it would be prejudicial for anybody to think that the EFCC had compromised on its statutory responsibility to the nation.

He argued that some of the impediments to getting judgments on some of the cases was caused by the frequent preliminary injunctions obtained by the suspects.

“Most of the cases are ongoing but no judgment has been gotten from some of these cases. The EFCC since 2007 and 2008 had gone to court to prosecute some of these governors including (Chimaroke) Nnamani, Jolly Nyame, Saminu Turaki, James Ibori among others. Interestingly, we are trying these cases and fol-

lowing court procedures.

“Some have even gone to the Supreme Court to obtain one form of injunction or the other, but we are not relenting in our efforts.

Preliminary injunctions are been obtained in some of these cases but I can assure you that we are determined to get to the root of these cases. We are following due process because it is the court that decides,” he said.

Some other former governors like Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Danjuma Goje (Gombe) and Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo) are currently facing corruption charges, while the conviction of three former governors - Lucky Igbinedion (Edo), Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (Bayesla) and Ibori was said to have made some of the serving governors to be apprehensive of what might befall them after leaving office.

Also, it was gathered that of the three former governors, Ibori was the

only one convicted outside the country while Alamieyeseigha has been pardoned by President Jonathan, who served as deputy governor to the pardoned ex-convict.

Asked why some definite judgments have not been gotten on some of the cases, Uwujaren said: “It is the court that gives the judgment. We only follow judicial procedures to carry out our investigations on some of our suspects.”

The EFCC spokesman, who also denied reports that “it was helpless in stopping some of these former governors from further seeking elective positions”, said: “We are not the court…it is not EFCC’s fault. We cannot stop the masses from voting for whoever they want to vote for so long as such a person is cleared by the courts.

"There is no suspect aarrested by the EFCC that would come out and deny any charge levelled against him or her.”

sun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suspended six of its members for anti-party activities.

The chairman of the party, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, who said this in a statement in Osogbo, accused the suspended members of engaging in anti-party activities during the conduct of the party's House of Assembly primaries in Ile Ife, describing their acts as undemocratic.

Similarly, angry members of the state All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday locked out their party chairman, Gboyega Famodun, and other state executive members of the party from office in protest against alleged imposition of candidates.

“The recommendation was ratified by the State Working Committee of the party and acted according to section 58 (1) g and h of

the PDP constitution which stipulates that members should not engage in disorderly conduct at meetings or rallies, also they are not to engage in any conduct likely to cause disaffection among members of the party," he said.

Meanwhile, the protesting APC members stormed the party secretariat located at Ogo-Oluwa area, Osogbo, to register their grievances on the development they described as undemocratic.

Speaking with journalists on the development, the protesters’ spokesperson from Ilesa East Local Government Area, Mr. Ayodele Fasugbe, threatened to resist imposition from any quarter.

He argued that, “If care is not taken and if the leaders continue to remain adamant in their decision to do imposition, it may lead to failure of the state governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, in the local government.”

Arrest insurgency, Arewa forum tells leaders Dahiru Suleiman Dutse

A

group, Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) has attributed the backwardness of the northern region to lack of commitment, and foresight of its leaders.

Similarly, it accused the leaders of ineffective action in containing insurgency bedevilling the region.

The forum’s President, Alhaji Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, who spoke in Dutse,

while addressing a press conference, said: “Honestly, we berate the northern governors’ inability to contain the unabated and unwanted killings and massive destruction of lives and property of the northerners.”

According to him, it is pity to note that the majority of northern leaders were unable to contribute positively in tackling security among other confronting issues bedevilling the region.

6 DECEMBER 2014

APC will save Nigeria, say Aregbesola, Oshiomhole Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

E

do State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole and his Osun State counterpart, Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday urged youths in the country have assured Nigerians that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would save the country from its socio-economic problems.

They posited that the APC was poised to institute core legacies that would shape the nation and bring her out of her present doldrums.

They both spoke at the inauguration of the newlyconstructed Asoro Grammar School buildings in Ewotubu community near Benin City.

In his speech, Oshiomhole said leaders had cause to show love and responsibility to children who are looked up as future leaders

and therefore must have something to fall back on as responsible citizens.

“In 2008 when I assumed office, this school like any other schools had no roofs and the children were sitting on bare floor. When you ask children to show love for their country; you must first of all show love to the children," he said.

On his part, Aregbesola said the opposition APC remained the only organised party that was fitted to pull the country out of drudgery that had been the lot of citizens for many years through sound education, provision of quality healthcare delivery system and job creation.

He said: “We know what want and we are determined to pursue the liberation of our people with everything we have.”

Aregbesola said: “Democratic society is best organised at party lines."

Delta PDP rejects National Assembly electoral panels Dominic Adewole ASABA

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he Delta State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday rejected the National Assembly Primary Election Committee and Electoral Appeal Panel members posted to the state for its senatorial and governorship primary elections.

Those rejected include one Pere Egbe Ganfo (chairman), Edith Uso (secretary) and Hon. Benard Ochepe as a member.

Others in the Electoral Panel are Senator J.K. Branbafa (chairman), Liman Kwande and Barrister Raymond Nnah as members.

The rejection was sequel to the pandemonium that broke out after the declaration of the results of the House of Assembly prima-

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ries of the party in the state last week Saturday.

The results of the House of Assembly primaries submitted in Abuja were at variance with what the state forwarded eventually, after the Panel Chairman claimed to have been waylaid by gunmen who snatched the authentic sheet from him.

Briefing journalists at the party’s secretariat in Asaba yesterday, the state chairman of the party, Chief Edwin Uzor, wondered why the panel’s chairman escaped from Asaba in a chartered flight.

He said since the officials from Abuja falsified the results of the state House of Assembly primaries, when they got to Abuja, the new electoral officers for the National Assembly primary “are set to cause crisis again.”

CALABAR

ILORIN WEST PDP members want Ilorin West primaries cancelled

NEWS IN BRIEF

Some aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State are asking the national leadership of the party to cancel last weekend House of Assembly primaries in Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state as they accused National Planning Minister, Dr. Suleiman Abubakar, and some other top notchers of the party of working to destablilise the party in the local government.

Addressing journalists on Thursday, the aggrieved members alleged that the congresses for Magaji Geri and Ajikobi Alanamu, which were supposed to take place at Pacific Hotel and Yebumot Hotel respectively did not hold as stipulated.

Imoke enjoins transparent, peaceful primaries

Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, yesterday charged leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the three senatorial zones of the state to ensure that today’s House of Representatives primaries and the Senate, which is scheduled for tomorrow respectively, as well as December 8 governorship primaries are transparent, free, fair and peaceful.

Addressing the leaders at the Governor’s Lodge, Calabar, Imoke said owing to the peculiarities of this primaries, it was extremely imperative to meet with them as a political family to ensure that not only is the outcome of today's exercise and the subsequent ones peaceful, but violence free and fair.

14%

The percentage of population under 15 years in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012.

Source: Un.org

9

MAKURDI Suswam inaugurates c’ttee on CBN’s N2bn loan

Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, yesterday inaugurated an eight-man committee to access the N2 billion loan facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to generate employment in the state.

The committee is headed by the governor's Special Adviser on Commerce, Miss Esther Iange.

Inaugurating the committee at the Government House, the governor said the gesture which was the brainchild of President Goodluck Jonathan, was aimed at enhancing the real sector of the economy.

He said the funds would be further disbursed to cooperatives through finance houses selected.

582 The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions of Ascension in 2010.

Source: Itu.int

17,000

The total number of internet users in Vanuatu in 2007.

Source: Blatantworld.com

Nyanya bombing: Court invites AGF over Ogwuche’s case CONTENTION

As Ogwuche seeks to quash his unlawful detention, judge invites AGF. Tunde Oyesina

T Abuja

he Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday invited the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), or any of his officers to come and address the court on the constitutionality of Section 27 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 vis-a-vis Section 35 (4) and (7) of the 1999 Constitution.

The invitation was premised on the enforcement of fundamental rights suit filed by the alleged mastermind of the April 14, Nyan-

ya bomb blast, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, challenging his arrest and continual detention by the Department Security Service (DSS).

Ogwuche, who is currently in the custody of the DSS was alleged to be the mastermind of the Nyanya bomb blast where over 75 people died.

The court had earlier struck out a two-count criminal charge which the police filed against Ogwuche for lack of diligent prosecution.

Following that, Ogwuche through his counsel, Ahmed Raji SAN, approached the court challenging his continual detention, adding that such is a breach of Section 35(4) of the constitution.

Section 35 (4) is to the effect that no accused person should be detained beyond 20 days.

Responding, counsel to the DSS, Clifford Osaghie,

contended that the security agents did not breach any law by detaining Ogwuche.

He premised his submission on the provision of Section 27 of the TPA which provides that an accused on suspicion of having committed a capital offence could be detained for 90 days which could be renewed on expiration.

He added that the DSS had earlier obtained remand order from a chief magistrate court, Kaduna and the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

Raji had earlier moved that Section 27 of the TPA be struck out for contradicting Section 35(4) of the constitution.

It was on that note that court invited the AGF who is number one law officer to bear his opinion on the issue.

The court consequently fixed December 17 for continuation of hearing.

Osaghie on his own had argued that the submission that Section 27 be struck out was made in error, adding that the applicant was arrested and detained in connection with a capital offence.

He argued that the applicant is in lawful custody, adding that investigation had been concluded and that the case file had been forwarded to the AGF for prosecution.

He, however, prayed the court to dismiss the application for lacking in merit, frivolous and abuse of court process.

Ogwuche through his counsel, Raji (SAN), had brought an application pursuant to Order 2, Rule (1),(2),(3) of the Fundamental Enforcement Procedure rule and Sections 34,35,36,37 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution seeking the enforcement of his fundamental human right.

Court strikes out Bankole’s suit against Kashamu Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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n Ogun State High Court sitting in Abeokuta yesterday struck out a suit challenging the delegates list in respect of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ward congresses in the state.

The court presided over by Justice N.O. Durojaiye said in its judgment that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

The suit AB/315/2014 was filed by Ganiyu Mu-

stapha, Yinka Sosinde, Dele Ajayi, Reverend Oyeyemi, Taiwo Okikiolu Issa and Sunday Alawode, who are believed to be loyalists of former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole.

The plaintiffs had sought for an order of interlocutory injunction to restrain the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu, and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party from accepting or ratifying any delegates list submitted by the state chairman, Chief Adebayo Dayo.

Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Abdullahi Dikko (left), presenting a souvenir to the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, during a courtesy visit by the FRSC management in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

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VICTORIA ISLAND Glo offers subscribers 200% bonus in promo

N EWS I N BRIEF

In its bid to serenade its teeming subscribers with mouth-watering rewards this festive Season, telecoms giant, Globacom has launched two mega promos, Glo Overload and Allawee.

While Glo Overload instantly gives 200 percent airtime and data bonus and an opportunity to be 100 times richer every time they recharge with N200 or more, Allawee gives every new customer N18,000 worth of free airtime for calls and text messages.

The two offers are part of a series of promos being unveiled by the company to appreciate its subscribers as well as to create unprecedented excitement around the network.

MINNA ‘Why I resigned from Aliyu’s cabinet’

The winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries in Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has said why he resigned from Governor Babangida Aliyu’s cabinet because he wanted to serve his people to improve their living standard.

Bello, who is popularly called Abu Lolo, said this during a press conference yesterday in Minna, adding it was better he resigned honourably to pursue a better career.

“I believe in God to succeed; I left governor Aliyu's cabinet after I served one year as a Commissioner for Commerce and Investment because I hate a situation where people work and complain without speaking their minds,” he said.

€106.99m The amount of money realized from TV rights by Manchester United in 2013-2014 season.

Source: Goal.com

53%

The percentage of individuals using the internet in Greece in 2011.

Source: Itu.int

IKEJA Synagogue: TB Joshua knows fate Dec 10

The Lagos State coroner's court investigating the collapse of a guest house within the Synagogue Church of All Nations has fixed December 10 to deliver ruling on an application filed by Prophet Temitope Joshua seeking a stay of proceedings on the inquest.

The coroner, Mr Oyetade Komolafe, fixed the date after hearing arguments from Joshua's counsel, Mr Olalekan Ojo and the Lagos State Government’s counsel, Mr. Akingbolahan Adeniran.

It will be recalled that 116 persons were killed after the six-storey building collapsed on September 12.

76

The life expectancy (in years) at birth of women in Cook Islands in 2001-2006.

Source: Un.org

Group distributes N6.2m to 36 people

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group, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation, had disbursed over N6.2million to 36 beneficiaries of its third miniZakat distribution in Lagos on Thursday.

The group raised the money through wealthy Muslims for onward distribution to the needy and the less privileged as a way of bridging the gap between the rich and the poor in line with the tenet of Islam.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Foundation’s board, Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, said the beneficiaries were carefully selected after Z and S saw the need to cater for their educational, economic empowerment and medical support among others.

"While urge the beneficiaries to utilise the Zakat fund judiciously, he said, “we are very grateful to our Zakat payers and patrons for their unflinching support and goodwill over the years.

We appreciate all of you and pray Almighty Allah continues to bless you, your fami-

lies and enterprises.”

Expressing concern over the poor living condition in the country, he said this was evident in the avalanche of requests the group contended with every month.

“To say that we are disturbed by the increasing number of applicants seeking for Zakat fund with a non-corresponding increase in the number of Zakat payers is an understatement. This is a paradox in a country blessed with abundant mineral resources,” Abdul Mutallab said.

He said despite the challenge, the group would not relent in its efforts to complement the efforts of the governments to improve the socio-economic conditions of Nigerians with Zakat fund.

“We are not unmindful of the herculean nature of this noble cause. With the continued support of some kindhearted Nigerians, we will surmount this challenge and take our people to greater heights insha Allah,” he added.

Abacha: APC'll lose Kano in 2015 Anule Emmanuel

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Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Nonye Rajis-Okpara (third left) and other guests at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) road show in Singapore... recently

Rajis-Okpara: Nigeria is Africa’s investment haven ECONOMY Nigeria woos Singaporean investors as envoy highlights economy potential.

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Mojeed Alabi

igeria’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Nonye RajisOkpara, has called on Asian businessmen and women to explore the rich potential and benefits, which abound in the country, saying it is the most attractive place for investors to invest on the continent.

Equally, the Head, Trade Policy and Facilitation, German Development Cooperation (GIZ), Mr. Alexander Werth, has said Nigeria is on the verge of diversifying its economy with new trade policy.

But Rajis-Okpara, who spoke recently, when the Nigerian Stock Exchange

l Germany hails FG’s new trade policy (NSE) staged a road show as part of efforts to attract foreign investors, said with seven per cent rate of return on investment, which is rated fourth highest globally, and an annual consumer spending of about $400 billion, which was expected to hit $1.4 trillion by 2020, “then there can be no other better destination”.

She added that the country has grown rapidly over the past decade, at about seven per cent per annum. “Of course we are now the largest economy on the continent and the 26th largest in the world.

After the GDP rebasing exercise for 2013, Nigeria GDP is now estimated at about $510 billion,” RajisOkpara added.

The high commissioner, who expressed appreciation to the Singaporean government and its people for the existing cordial re-

lationship between the two nations, also dwelt on the business relationships between Nigeria and Singapore, saying the Southeast Asian country had invested greatly in Nigeria’s economy.

“Bilateral relations between Nigeria and Singapore have deepened in recent times and both countries are experiencing an auspicious time of very warm relations. In this regard, Temasek Holdings, a Singaporean government company, established in June 1974, marked its 40th anniversary and had Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala in attendance.

“Temasek’s net portfolio value was estimated at US$219 billion ($173 billion) in 2013 and covers a broad spectrum of sectors; including, financial services, telecommunica-

tions, media, technology, transportation, life sciences, consumer, real estate, as well as energy and resources. The company, in conjunction with International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group and its subsidiary, the IFC's African, Latin American and Caribbean Fund invested $150 million, $75 million and $30 million, respectively in a Nigerian firm, Seven Energy, as the principal investor,” she noted.

Meanwhile, Werth told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, that Nigeria would overcome dependency on oil to earn foreign exchange as it diversified into industry and agribusiness.

According to him, the new trade policy is trying to ensure that Nigeria moves away from oil to non-oil sectors.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Kano State and son to former Head of State, General Sanni Abacha, Mohammed Abacha, has dismissed any possibility of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the governorship election in 2015.

Mohammed yesterday visited to President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Speaking to State House correspondents, Mohammed said he was optimistic that the state,which has always been under the control of the PDP until the defection of Rabiu Kwankwaso to the APC would still

maintain the status quo as the dominant party in the state in next year's polls.

Mohammed said he played a pivotal role in the emergence of Kwankwaso in 2011 when his defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) denied him the opportunity to contest the election.

The PDP governorship aspirant said he remains the candidate to beat.

"If I was not a good candidate, I wouldn't give anybody support. We are hopeful; I wouldn't want to say too much. I said it before that it was a PDP state; it was a PDP ticket.

It was taken or converted or even stolen; whatever you want to call it, so be it. The chances of the PDP are still bright,” he said.

Court strikes out ‘deportation’ case against Lagos govt Muritala Ayinla

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he Federal High Court sitting in Lagos yesterday dismissed a fundamental right application filed by Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda (MRA) against the Lagos State Government to challenge the purported deportation of some individuals from Lagos State.

Justice Musa Kurya, in his ruling found that contrary to the allegations of the applicants, the state government did not deport the applicants or any other

person or group of persons to any place outside the territory of Lagos State.

The state government had argued that the applicants were rescued from different parts of the state while they were begging for alms, living under bridges, by the roadsides, and engaging in other social vices with no discernible means of livelihood or physical address in the state.

The court held that on balance of probability, the case of the Lagos State Government was more credible.

6 DECEMBER 2014

Dangote cement shuts down production in Benue Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

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ormal production services at the Dangote Cement Plant located at Tse-Kucha near Gboko town in Benue State have been shut down, Saturday New Telegraph has learnt.

It was gathered that daily operations in the administrative and technical services, loading of the product as well as those carrying out menial jobs were also affected, leaving only the security operatives who mounted the gates, which were securely locked against staff and visitors.

Though no official statement was given by the management of the company on the motive behind the decision, in a brief telephone interview with our correspondent, the Assistant General Manager, Corporate Affairs and Special Duties of the company, Mr. Bem Melladu, linked the problem to what he called

“market forces and community agitations.”

He said: “The truth of the matter is that the closure is predicated on some market forces and community agitations among other issues.”

It was gathered that internal wrangling was also believed to be part of the major obstacle that led to the closure of the plant, and that it might resume production when such burning issues were finally ironed out.

A member of staff of the company, who confided in Saturday New Telegraph, claimed that the closure of the plant was a deliberate strategy by the core investor and President of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to shut down production in the Gboko plant and downsize the workforce particularly those who have put in longer years of service starting from 10 years and above to avoid huge wages in favour of such staff.

Court dismisses case against Lamido, PDP Muhammad Kabir Kano

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Federal High Court sitting in Kano has dismissed a case against the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), challenging their eligibility for last month’s PDP governorship primaries that saw the emergence of Lamido’s Chief of Staff, Alhaji Aminu Ringim, as winner.

Messrs Abba Anas, Danladi Auyo and five others, who had sued Lamido, the state PDP chapter and INEC over the alleged exclusion of their names in

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the primaries conducted by the party, is seeking the court presided over

by Justice Fatin Riman to overrule the election and declare it as invalid.

But delivering judgment in the case, Justice Riman ruled that the plaintiffs had no locus standi because it is an internal party affairs which Section 87 of the Electoral Act empowered them with.

Also, the judge said that as a Federal High Court it had jurisdiction to hear the case but the plea of the dependent counsel, Mr. Felix Opemera, that the case was supposed to be taken to the Jigawa State Federal High Court not Kano Federal High Court was valid.

IKEJA APC flays DSS over torture of staff

NEWS IN BRIE F

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Department of State Security (DSS) of resorting to the use of torture to obtain forced confessions from the workers who were arrested during the first raid on the party's Data Centre in Ikeja, calling it a contravention of the UN Convention against Torture to which Nigeria is a signatory and a violation of the citizens' fundamental human rights.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Friday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it was necessary to quote a relevant section of the United Nations Convention to put the DSS on notice that it might be treading on dangerous ground.

AWKA Obiora Okonkwo petitions Mu’azu

A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial aspirant for Anambra Central senatorial zone, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, has petitioned the National Chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu, over the appointment of Alaye Tremie Jnr. as the chairman of the Anambra State Electoral Panel for the National Assembly primaries slated for December 6 and 7.

He said almost all the senatorial aspirants in the state are yet to see the official list of elected delegates for Anambra Central Senatorial district.

“I trust that you will oblige me and all other aspirants for the National Assembly primaries in Anambra by giving full and urgent consideration to this petition,” he said.

21

The number of countries that lie entirely within one trans boundary basin.

Source: Unesco.org

11

FCT Jonathan condoles with Anyiam-Osigwe’s family

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday commiserated with the family of the late Coordinator-General of the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, Mr. Michael Anyiam-Osigwe.

Michael, the brother of the founder of the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, was shot dead by armed robbers in Edo State on November 29.

Jonathan’s condolence message is contained in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, in Abuja.

The statement stated that the deceased was a very good friend and associate of the president like his sister, Peace.

103 The sex ratio of women to 100 men in Mexico in 2012.

Source: Un.org

1,513

The number of pending asylum seekers of Tajikistan at the beginning of 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

Family feud stalls burial of Nwobodo’s son CONTROVERSY

Sympathisers yesterday left the burial ceremony of Nwobodo's son confused due to family crisis Uwakwe Abugu

A Enugu

mild drama arising from a perceived family misunderstanding yesterday disrupted the burial of late Dr. Ifeanyi Nwobodo Jnr., the first son of the first Governor of the old Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo, which resulted in an endless wait for the remains of the medical doctor to be buried all to no avail.

It was an absurd situa-

tion as many left the Amechi Awkunanaw, country home of the former governor without witnessing the burial and having the impression that the corpse was missing.

The deceased passed on about three weeks ago and his remains were to be interred at Amechi Awkunanaw near Enugu but to the chagrin of those who had attended the burial ceremony, his body was nowhere in sight.

Sources close to the Nwobodos said the disappearance of the corpse might be linked to a perceived disagreement between Nwobodo and siblings of his departed son over the location of his grave.

Whereas Nwobodo is said to have favoured burying the remains of his son within the compound

where he reportedly built a bungalow for his deceased first son after his death, but the siblings of the deceased insisted that their brother should be buried in their father’s compound.

Again, sources at Amechi Awkunanaw also alleged that the squabble about the burial place of the deceased might be linked to the issue of who among inherits the former governor's country home, that is, his second wife and his children or the deceased and his siblings.

Among the dignitaries who were at Nwobodo’s house yesterday for the stalled burial were Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Senators Chris Ngige and Gilbert Nnaji; former Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa; former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi and

former Information and Communication Minister, Frank Nweke Jnr, among others.

At the height of the controversy, it was gathered that some of the dignitaries had tried to broker truce, including the move by the Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, who offered to bury the deceased in the church’s compound at St. Mathew’s Anglican Church, which was to no avail.

The younger Nwobodos, who share the same mother with the deceased, told the cleric that their brother’s remains should be buried in their father’s compound and at that juncture, and at that juncture, sympathisers started departing.

As at 6p.m. yesterday, the situation had remained the same.

Ex-Police chief warns politicians against bloodletting, thuggery Juliana Francis

A

retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mr. Agba Nchor, has urged all the aspirants and their supporters for the Senate and House of Representatives primaries in Cross River State to shun thuggery and bloodletting.

Nchor, who is a Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) chieftain, said it was the responsibility of every member of the party, including aspirants and supporters to ensure that the primaries were transparent and free of violence.

He said: “The aspirants

should allow the election to be transparent. Cross River is a peace-loving state. They should allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to do their work. Everybody should play the game as it ought to be because if it’s transparent, nobody will complain.”

He, however, advised against imposition of aspirants on the party members, noting that it would create unncessary tension.

Nchor said: “Imposition will cause problem!

One group may say since you impose a candidate on us, then we will move to another party."

L-R: Head, Technical Training, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), Mr. Tope Dada; Managing Director, Mr. Ben Langat and best graduating trainee, Miss Sylvia Ofiani, at the commemorative session on the completion of a 15-month NBC’s Graduate Training Certification in beverage bottling operations for 19 engineers in Lagos …yesterday.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Voices

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014

12

Would you prefer rich/busy to modest/caring parents?

I prefer rich parents Money does the trick for me. For you to get whatever you desire is through money. You want to have the best education, you need money. So, I prefer rich parents.

– Abdullahi Damilola, student

I would have loved rich parents For me as an explorer I will prefer rich but busy parents because I have tried the modest but caring parents before and not until I try the other, there won’t be better basis for comparison.

– Aweda Tunmise, student

I need love and care I will go for the modest but caring parents because as a child I need the love and care of my parents more than anything else. Their attention is of importance to any child because when you are in any challenge, they will always be there for you.

– Adeyemi Promise, student

I prefer rich parents Money can’t buy happiness and joy It is good to have rich parents but to me if my parents are okay and spend precious time with me it will be better because money can’t buy me happiness and joy.

– Nwankwo Chibuzor, student

I prefer rich parents

But care is important because you need that attention and care from your parents as a child.

Howvever, it is also good to have all the things money can buy. So for me, I prefer rich parents.

– Alayemi Oluwaseun, student

I need all the care in the world I will prefer modest but caring parents because as a female child, your parents (mother) should always be by your side most especially at the stage of puberty to lecture and help you.

– Love Vincent, student

I need their money and not their attention Who cares if my parents have time for me or not?

Even if they are living abroad and I am here in Nigeria, I don't care, I am less concerned, all that concern me is the money and not their attention.

– Adewara Michael, student

Yes I will prefer the rich but busy parents because family needs money even to portray the caring the more. One needs to add to the money he has got by being busy working for it, most especially the man.

–Adeleye Oloruntoba,

Rich parents’ children lack proper grooming I will go for the modest but caring parents because they will spend more time with me and they will know more about the child's character unlike the rich ones. The rich parents’ children get into trouble in school because they don’t have good home training unlike the modest parents’ children. The modest parents are always there for their children morally and spiritually unlike the rich busy parents who are always supporting them with money.

– Abdulrahman Zainab, student

With rich parents, I'm okay Caring how? I will prefer rich because I will get the entertainment I want no matter how busy they are.

As long as I get the money I need and all I need from them, I think I will be okay.

– Nelly Lil Smith, student

Is rich parents I will prefer a rich but busy parent, because even with the fact that they are busy, I will still get full benefit of good education, housing, feeding and a lot more that make life meaningful.

– Fatai Azeez, student

Money answers to all things Money they say answers all things. So, I will go for the rich but busy parents because as a reasonable child I should be able to know what is wrong and right when I am faced with some challenges and no matter how busy my parents are there will still be a time they will be free then I can take that time to meet with them.

– Olushola Damilola, student

Parental care goes a long way I prefer parents who are modest but caring because parental care goes a long way in a child's life and that contributes so much to the child's future.

– Bolu Akintunde, sales representative

With rich parents you don’t have to depend on anyone I will prefer the rich but busy parents because with the money in your hands, you will be able to meet all your needs and you wouldn’t have to depend on any man or anybody. Also, life will be very easy for you.

– Nenena Edah, student

With caring parents you can never go wrong I prefer poor and caring parents because they will always be by my side to give me good advice, and they will always be there to listen to me whenever I call for help. Also, joy is very essential in the home and care goes a long way too.

– Wumzy Fumisky, student

compiled by

AYILARA DADA, TOPE DADA, JOHN EDU AND RICKETTS OLUSHOLA

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2014

WeekendDelight 13

C o n v e r s at i o n

Instyle

DANIEL

Trendy Jacquard evening jacket for men p.15

OMARA

The Arts The women on Asidere’s broad canvas p.18

Chef’s Corner

At The Boma, it’s dance, music and food p.40

I don’t see myself as a comedian but social critic

It all started with appearance on “Stand Up Uganda” comedy competition organised by DSTV in 2009 where he was the second runner-up. Five years on, Daniel Omara, a teacher, poet, TV presenter and actor, who was in Nigeria recently tells ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA about his long walk to stardom.

BACKGROUND I am a comedian, TV presenter, actor and poet by profession, all rolled into one. That is why my head is very big. During my childhood I was engaged mostly with athletics, running around, but my parents have always told me that there is something weird about me, something funny about me and we all took it as a joke.

I didn’t take it as a big deal but as I grew I began to take an interest in acting and writing poetry. I have been writing poetry since I was about 10.

Then as I progressed in life I began acting in schools’ plays and it was by the time that I got to the university that I realised that I could sit in a bar sombre, because I didn’t use to drink. What I was doing was to talk to people and they would be laughing the whole time.

People used to take me along so I could entertain them. So when this DSTV competition, called “Stand up Uganda,” came up everyone was telling me go for it, go and try it out. I remember at that time I woke up in the morning and I told my mum to give me money for transport fare and there

Love&Living “She gave me love potion” p.35

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

was a lot going on in our lives then because things were not very okay, but I told her that the experience was going to change our lives and so I went for the auditioning.

BEGINNING A NEW LIFE On day one, I made it to the top 40 and on day two I made it to the official top 20 comedians. Then the TV show began and I went through the competition with the support of my family and friends and I made it to the second runner up. This was in 2009.

After that we started a comedy group and then also started a weekly comedy show. We began mentoring other comedians. We are four, all from the competition, it was called ‘crackers’ but it broke off last year. The idea behind it was that we were going to be the crack in the breakthrough of comedy in Uganda because we knew that our generation was not going to earn a lot from comedy but we wanted to make sure that 10 years down the line we would be remembered as the people who pioneered comedy in the country.

So, we progressed with it but unfortunately the group broke up last year.

However we dissolved into many comedy platforms. So, there is one for women, there is another one handling international shows and then there is ours, which is into grooming young comedians. And the experience is just growing. In 2010 I was called to Big Brother to perform live on the show and I was the very first stand-up comedian to perform at Big Brother live show and for me, it was a very big boost and after that I went into advertising and films.

TURNING COMEDY INTO A SERIOUS ACT IN UGANDA Initially, we didn’t get respect as comedians because no one ever took us serious. So we had to build a brand that people would respect. We stopped doing slapstick comedy and started doing corporate comedy. You dress well on stage, no shorts, and no open shirts, don’t be shabby, wear a suit if you have to and be smart on stage.

So, people began to see comedians as

OMARA

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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Weekend Delight

| Conversation

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

‘I found Nigerians very intimidating CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 3

smart people both in the mind and in their dressing and they began to realise that each of us comedians, were not just comedians.

One of us was a telecoms engineer, another was a sound engineer, the other accountant and I am a teacher by profession.

OMARA

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT It was the first time I stepped on stage to do stand-up. I used to crack jokes before as I was always joking and telling people stories and people would laugh. Before it was just a regular day telling jokes but now you have been told that you are a comedian and that reputation is a lot harder to live up to.

So, it was a bit scary, but I chose not to think of myself as a comedian. Rather I thought of myself as a social critic, a person who is going to help society by exerting on behavioural change through my comedy and it made it easier for me.

The second moment is boarding a

“I do jokes that are not limited to one place; the joke has to work in South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria and internationally. As a comedian if I am not teaching you anything new I shouldn’t be on stage”

plane to South Africa, it was actually the first time I would be getting on an aircraft and no one could believe that I was flying out of the country on account of comedy.

No one had ever seen it happen. But now you have a stand-up comedian who is going out to entertain Africans on a live show, which is being broadcast in over 54 African countries. It was amazing, I was so scared, it wasn’t my best performance, but what I always remember was that they invited me out of all the people that they could have chosen to be the first stand-up comedian in Big Brother. It meant a lot to me.

MY STYLE OF COMEDY I try to use a brand of comic material that will survive anywhere. I do jokes that are not limited to one place, the joke has to work in South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria and internationally. So, I always build my content to try as much as possible to be international and wherever I go I adapt, I use what I have learnt about the place to entertain them.

So, in the competition when many of the comedians were entertaining Ugandans, I was thinking of entertaining the world. I got picked for that.

Someone told me that I had what they called corporate comedy. I don’t know how true that is but I took the compliment.

I want to be the type of comedian who is taken seriously as an analyst and not just as a person who comes on stage and tells jokes. Jokes are easy to tell.

My background as a teacher doesn’t allow me to leave a person’s mind blank.

Every time I talk to someone I feel like I should teach them something new. So, as a comedian if I am not teaching you anything new I shouldn’t be on stage.

If you are not going to learn anything from me then it is pointless because if you are just going to laugh at me and at my jokes then I don’t see the point. I want you to feel that when you work out of the theatre you have laughed

but you have also learnt something new.

I take pride in education, so I also want to be that kind of person that parents will entrust their children with because I teach Literature and English but I haven’t taught in over five years.

I try my best not to do dirty jokes; I try to keep it clean, which is hard because most of the words are perverted. I try to do relatable content that would not offend anyone. I want to be able to perform in a church and even a mosque and stadium where you don’t have restriction based on your content.

A ROVING COMEDIAN I have been to Rwanda, I have been to Malawi and I was supposed to go to Zimbabwe but then it didn’t work out. I have been to Tanzania. They are all comedyloving countries but there is something different about every country. The people of Rwanda were very receptive but not energetic. They sit and they listen to you, you joke and they laugh. They are not going to talk back or say anything to you; they are just going to laugh at your jokes if they like them.

Malawians are very energetic; they receive everything with energy, jumping and shouting and all that. Tanzanians were almost like Rwandans. I think comedy is not a popular thing there, especially not in English, you know it is a Swahili nation.

When you do a comedy show you have to been particular about the audience you are performing for, so luckily for me, it was hotel owners, corporate dignitaries who were there and so I could do English jokes and get away with them.

I HAVE BEEN WATCHING NIGERIAN COMEDY INDUSTRY SINCE CHILDHOOD I knew that the comedy industry in Nigeria is very big. I have been watching Nigeria comedy since I was a child. As Nigeria began to manifest itself in Africa then we began to understand that there is this country, which is exporting everything. First they started with their films (Nollywood) then they came with their comedy and now their music has ran us over.

Around 2007 when I saw Basket Mouth perform “Two Things Involved,” I said this is interesting and that I think I can do this.

Then I watched Klint de Drunk perform in 2008. I saw his reggae piece, I watched it and a lot of my friends were telling me, by the way, you should try out that kind of thing, you can actually handle it.

But I must confess that the truth is when I watched his performance I did not see any weakness and this scared me. Because I have never seen a perfect set and this man has done it. I said to myself I can pull this off, I want to challenge this guy. This is my target for now, this is the man I want to beat in Africa, this was what was going on in my head the whole time we were going through ’Stand up Uganda.’ Klint is the man I want because that was a very well put together piece and I knew that Nigeria comedy was big.

KLINT IS MY ROLE MODEL AND MOTIVATOR It is Klint actually, I performed with him in Kampala and I watched Klint perform 45 minutes on stage and for 30 minutes he was improvising, just picking things from the audience. He looks at someone and build a story around that person. It was amazing; it blew me away because I am a strategic comedian. I come with a thought out piece, usually with a topic, an introduction, a build-up and an end. That is how I structure my pieces and anything that comes in between I can improvise but not for 30 minutes and Klint just did it for me and when he finally came to the script that he has

prepared, he just killed the show and that was amazing for me.

Afterwards he sat me down and began talking to me and giving me advice, which even I didn’t think I needed because I didn’t know that I had those weaknesses with my set. He told me you have good content but sometimes you don’t build the topic enough. He told me sometimes you use one sentence and that sentence could be built into several pieces.

No one has ever told me that and so I took that advice but then he pointed out the weaknesses, he is a very objective person.

NIGERIA AND NIGERIANS ARE INTIMIDATING I came here prepared for war. I came here with all these stereotypes in my head and I am thinking that Lagos is much polluted because somebody told me that when you enter Lagos there is no sign that says ‘welcome to Lagos;’ that what you have is ‘This is Lagos.’

I was like you guys are intimidating and I found Nigerians very intimidating.

The truth is I was intimidated by Nigerians and Nigeria can be intimidating because I said to myself I can actually live up to these people, they seem like a very hard crowd. I saw the way people move in the city, it is competition, people yelling at each other, ‘get off the road,’ ‘move, move,’ hooting constantly. They are very aggressive, very persistent, and the energy is high, which means I have to find a way of topping that without changing my style.

I made sure I told people about what I have seen at the airport, my experience coming to Nigeria and then I also told them about Uganda because my plan was to market Uganda in Nigeria because Nigerians don’t know that much about Uganda or East Africa generally. So, I saw it as it as an opportunity to share my country with the rest of the world.

I AM AT MY BEST WITH A CALM AUDIENCE I am better with calm audience, people who sit down and listen; I don’t have Klint energy, running round the stage. So, I came down and just began to deliver and as I went on it became easier. I have just come to realise that Nigeria is not quite different from Uganda because in the end comedy is comedy. If you are doing it right people will appreciate you and if they like you they will try to understand you.

I WANT AFRICANS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD In the next five years I want Africans, not just me to take over the world, particularly Ugandans to come up because we are being known for all the wrong reasons – Idi Amin, that crazy anti-gay bill which they slammed sanctions on us for, wars and coup d’états, we have always have a negative image and this is my chance to show the world that Uganda is more than the misguided, mischievous country full of alcoholics.

There is actually a lot more in there, there are talents in Uganda and I want to bring that out, I want to share that experience with my friends, the comedians with whom I have worked.

I LIKE TO SEE PEOPLE HAPPY I am inspired by happiness, I like to see people happy and if you can deliver it the better, If you become the source of someone’s life joy you have done a lot for the person and if you can educate and entertain someone at the same time and build him into a better person through what you do, then you have really done enough for the world. That is my inspiration.

Instyle

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

15

fashion etiquette Dressing age appropriate

A

s a woman, the older you get, the more tailored your clothing should be. It simply means that you should cover up any parts of your body that have started to droop. You should forget about transparent and revealing tops as well as tight hugging trousers, skirts and dresses that you wore while you were much younger.

While young women may look elegant wearing these outfits, older women may look awkward in the same pieces. It is ideal to dress your age by wearing outfits that are comfortable and stylish but age appropriate. Dressing age appropriate will make people admire your fashion sense and respect you as well.

You could also look at fashion magazines to get ideas on how to create your own style that will make you comfortable and trendy. That is really what fashion is all about.

Michael Godson

Uti Nwachukwu

Praiz

Trendy jacquard evening jacket for men Angela Davies

T

he modern gentleman needs to update his wardrobe with classic jacquard blazer that is trendy, timeless and remarkable. This sleek, smart and structured jacket works well with lovely plain shirts, a pair of complementing trouser with a regular fit to make them easy to match with classic footwear like loafers or brogues in black colour.

It is a great choice outfit for many evening occasions like music awards and cocktail event.

Designers like Zara, Versace, Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent and others have come up with beautiful designs, colours and fit to choose from to complement your style and silhouette.

Many of these jackets come in different styles and are combined with varied fabrics.

Hence, you have damask jacquard, print jacquard, Paisley Jacquard, skull jacquard, silk satin Jacquard, marble printed Wool-Jacquard Jacket and lots more.

They come mainly in single button shawl lapel styles and worn with a bow tie indicating that they are primarily for evening events.

In this festive season with so many events around the corner, why not opt for a jacquard jacket probably with a touch of red, green or gold in line with the season.

To rock the jacquard jacket, all you need is to get one with a good fit in a length that you are comfortable with and be the cynosure of all eyes.

Pascal Amanfo

Abike Dabiri-Erewa

16

Instyle

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Retro two-tone wingtip shoes If you are looking for footwear with retro touch to match with your elegant look, then, opt for a two-tone wingtip shoes, ANGELA DAVIES writes.

T

he two-tone wingtip or spectator shoes as they are called have a specific style appeal for many men who seek a retro look for their footwear wardrobe.

This classic shoe style has remained prevalent more than 100 years after it was originally introduced.

In the United Kingdom where it is known as a spectator shoe, it was first introduced as a shoe for cricketers.

The term wingtip refers to the shape of the cap toe that looks like wings stretching across the front of the shoe. It was highly fashionable for gentlemen to wear wingtips in the 1920s and 30s with their three-piece suits. And today, trendy men also wear these shoes with suit and smart casual outfits to different events.

The typical two-tone wingtip shoe is the white and black colour combination. However, today, these shoes come in a variety of two-tone colour and style such as white and brown, chocolate brown and light brown, blue and grey and a lot more to select from.

Many two-tone dress shoes come with lace up while a few styles do not feature lace up and are perfect to pair with smart casual outfits for any event.

Also, one distinctive feature that distinguishes the twotone wingtip shoe from other dress shoes is the decorative touch of perforations that adorn the shoe along the stitching. So, if you are looking for footwear that is retro yet stylish, then, opt for a two-tone shoe in colours that will harmonise your outfit and overall look.

Instyle

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Simple and matured

Facts

Her fashion sense may not be flamboyant, nevertheless, pretty gospel artiste and United Nations Peace Ambassador, Anne Emmanuel Ibrahim, (Anne Love), flaunts her simple yet mature style in elegant dresses.

She speaks with ANGELA DAVIES. Define your style My style is simple, mature and very comfortable.

What determines the kind of outfits you wear?

Sometimes my mood and the event I am attending define what I wear.

What kinds of outfit take up a larger space in your wardrobe?

I am a dress girl. I wear a lot of dresses because I’m not a tomboy. The dress could be knee or floor length it does not matter as long as it’s beautiful, elegant and comfortable.

Clothing item you will never be caught wearing They say never say never.

I use to say bump shorts but I think I wore one recently outside my house but not in Nigeria.

Nevertheless maybe revealing clothes I would say.

Beauty item you cannot do leave home without My lip gloss as I do not depend so much on make-up.

When I want to make-up, I go all out. But I think my face is presentable whether there is makeup or not. But I make sure my lips are always presentable.

Best designer I love Dorothy Perkins because of the fit of their jeans. In Nigeria, I have a whole lot of designers who design for me because I wear Ankara jackets a lot.

How do you love your make-up?

It depends on the event. Some-

Ade Bakare gained his initial tailoring experience working at the fashion houses of Victor Edelstein and Christian Stambolian in the 80s and 90s.

He established Ade Bakare Couture in 1991 and started selling his collection twice a year to London boutiques among others in various parts of England, Scotland and the Channel Islands.

times I just want to look simple; sometimes I want the Smokey eye for an evening event and sometimes I want to be all out.

But, I am basically simple on a good day. I love light make up.

What is the most expensive fashion item you ever bought?

Designer bags Are you a shoe freak?

That is one of my fetishes. I used to do very high heels but right now I do four or three and half inches and no more six or seven inches. I have shoes in different styles, colours and heights.

From the 1920s to the 1950s men’s shoes had an overall similar style and colour palate. The choice colours were brown, black, white or a two tone combination of these colours.

How do you love your hair?

I have my natural hair. But no matter which way I want to present it, whether with weaveon or natural, I always want it to be nicely and neatly styled and smelling good.

What type of jewellery appeal to you?

I am not a jewellery freak. I just do earrings. I can do without it so I don’t really have preference.

Louis Vuitton allegedly burns its old bags to keep the brand’s complete exclusivity.

If you were to be a fashion accessory, what would you like to be?

Maybe handbags or shoes Signature perfume Jimmy Choo does it very well for me. The fragrance is divine.

Michael Kors designed his first piece of clothing at age five and it was his mother’s wedding dress.

Best colour That will be white and red.

White is pure, it is presentable and helps you to stay away from dirts.

WHO WORE IT BETTER?

Wana Sambo print jumpsuit

T

Banner

he fashion face-off this week is between television host, Zainab Balogun, and ex-Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Anna Ebiere Banner. The outfit in contention is print jumpsuit from the Resort 2015 collection of Nigerian fashion brand Wana Sambo.

Balogun wore the print jumpsuit to the Tiffany Amber Nigeria launch of the Women of Vision campaign in partnership with Diamond Woman in celebration of the brands’ 15th Anniversary at Art Twenty One Gallery, Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on October 11.

Balogun styled the elegant wide legged print jumpsuit which featured v-neck, sleeveless, pockets and tie waist with drop pearl earrings, pair of pumps and blackish

grey clutch. She tied the rope to accentuate her frame. Balogun completed her low hair cut look with mild make-up but spotting red lips.

On her part, Banner wore the outfit sometime in June when she made appearance at the Palms to sign copies of the Complete Fashion Issue in June for fans and readers in which she was the ‘Cover Girl.’

She harmonised the colourful sleeveless wide legged print jumpsuit with a silver wristwatch, earrings, red pointed-toe heels and a blue purse with long chain handle.

She had her side part long wavy black and burgundy locks down her shoulders and wore beautiful translucent makeup.

So, who do you think rocked the print jumpsuit better? Is the television host, Balogun or ex-beauty queen, Banner?

Balogun

17

The Arts SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014

The women on Asidere’s broad canvas Recognised as one of Nigeria’s most important painters, Duke Asidere, has held eight solo exhibitions and more than 43 joint exhibitions in Nigeria and Europe.

Asidere’s ongoing solo exhibition at Omenka Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, titled, The Artist, His Muse examines an aspect of his broad oeuvre—a culmination of a long appreciation for women, writes TONY OKUYEME.

A

sidere is regarded as an integral part of a group of artists working in Nigeria today, leading a revival of painting— a medium several critics and scholars alike consider a dead form of artistic expression. He adores women and paints them out of a deep desire to identify with their strength of character.

In The Artist, His Muse, which opened at Omenka Gallery on November 29, and runs till December 20, his long appreciation for women above all, his mother and chief muse, who remains his most important influence; his obsession and idea of ideal beauty and love, is again brought to the fore in the collection of works on display.

He interprets and celebrates her virtues in these paintings of his several models.

“The emergence of the muse dates back to ancient Greece, when the nine divinities— daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne inspired artistic achievement. Indeed, art history is fraught with many an example of the artist/muse relationship.

Writer Lee Siegel describes the muse as the ‘female figure-deity, platonic ideal, mistress, lover [or] wife whom poets and painters called upon for inspiration," the Gallery's management noted in a brochures.

According to the curator, Oliver Enwonwu, “A close observation of Asidere’s canvases of female figures will reveal their representation as strangely hybrid beings. Furthermore, the faces appear the same, bearing the same strong features as his mother, and are captured in an angular and semi-Cubist technique drawn from a deep knowledge of classical African sculpture.”

18

Reflection with Tim Leye 08098668480

I'm but a little baby (Tribute to baby Arnella) If only I could talk!

Or learn to scale the wall!

I would have taken a walk From our house hell Who pretends as house help.

Presiding o'er affairs of a little Arnella.

If only I could run!

My feeble legs, agile and strong, Running up heaven's invisible rungs; Free from this maid Who kicks me around like wood I was made Abusing the fate of a helpless child.

Asidere and some of his works

Friends of July

Characteristically, his elongated figures often appear headless or limbless. This device employed by Asidere draws its origins from historic masterpieces like the Venus de Milo, a well-known classical Greek statue with missing arms. The dismemberment of the body in late 20th Century art is no accident. It is the result of living in a world in which violence, oppression, social injustice, and physical and psychological stress predominate.

Asidere revisits this stereotypification and objectification in his paintings of non-erotic women by offering a critique of patriarchal communities with accompanying social practices and political structures that hide sexual abuse, and normalize assumptions that women are subservient to men. The 24 paintings and drawings of traditional beauties and liberated women presented in this exhibition raise awareness about these issues. Many of the enigmatic forms appear regal

Living in the City

and are engaged in mundane activities including neighborhood banter and preparations for a party, their masklike faces and haughty appearances lending weight to the artist’s ongoing investigations into cultural perceptions of blackness; its physiognomies and behaviour; his artistic journey advancing several questions regarding the meaning of contemporary beauty.

Much of Asidere’s success lies in his ability to render what is public and generic in a way that is intimate and specific. Asidere paints his feelings intuitively.

He then refines his instincts by continually adjusting his lines, colors, and planes to reflect his mental state, his sensitivity and artistic refinement evident in the soft pinks, blues, greens and yellows—a culmination of the simple shapes and textures inspired by his mother’s textiles while growing up.

The exhibition was accompanied by an artist’s talk on the opening day, with Asidere

revealing why he celebrates women in his paintings.

Asidere was born in Lagos in 1961, he studied fine art at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and graduated with a first class in painting in 1988. He also earned a master's in fine art from the same institution in 1990.

Asidere’s work engages contemporary African politics.

Through visual metaphors, the artist comments on the everyday human drama that surrounds him: political, social, psychological or cultural. Furthermore, he adds an element of surprise to these sketches of human drama by infusing them with irony and humour.

He has recently turned to car enamel paint, which he applies with a spray gun to produce emotionally charged works that retain figurative subject matter, and at the same time emphasize abstract qualities. Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of Asidere’s style is his simplicity of form and expressive line, which he achieves with an economy of means.

Omenka is a leading art gallery in Nigeria and represents a fine selection of established and emerging contemporary African and international artists working in diverse media. Omenka stimulates critical discourse on African art through solo, group and large themed exhibitions accompanied by informed, scholarly catalogues.

The gallery participates in major events like Art Dubai, Joburg Art Fair, Cape Town Art Fair, Cologne Paper Art, Docks Art Fair, Lyon, LOOP, Barcelona, Art14, and 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

If only I could say nay!

My bleeding heart could loudly say Where none but I may Know what it is to be fed in haste With food full of hate.

For an innocent little baby as I am.

If only I could fight back!

When she cruelly steps on my back, Callously beating me blue black, Lacerating my bare buttocks Defiant to my daily cry round the clock.

Tiny cries of Arnella toddler.

If only babies like me could speak!

We will in voice low and meek Entreat mummies who at dawn rise to seek Daily bread. Fancies of life To please tarry and devote more time To vulnerable and weak little babies like me Ah! How I wish a baby could sue!

Gladly would I petition the law in a suit With flawless innocence do pursue, And demand justice, O'er child abuse and sundry injustices Meted to hapless little babies like me.

But, I'm but a little baby.

Little. Helpless. Vulnerable!

Bankole ‘I'm blunt, exciting and complicated'

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Ojo ‘Agbani Darego's Miss World victory inspired me into modelling'

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ShowBiz SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014

OC Ukeje: My career, marriage and relationship with Stella Damasus Okechukwu Ukeje, better known as OC Ukeje is an actor, model and musician. He came into prominence after winning the Amstel Malta Box Office (AMBO) reality show.

His stellar performance in movies like Two Brides and a Baby, Hoodrush, Alan Poza, Confusion Na Wa and Half of a Yellow Sun are testament to his artistic prowess. Ukeje got married to Ibukun Togonu (nee Bickerseth) last month. He speaks with LANRE ODUKOYA on career, marriage and affair with Stella Damasus.

How long have you known your wife?

I’ve known her for about 13 years.

You mean you’ve dated her for 13 years?

You asked me how long I’ve known her and that answer is to your question precisely. We dated for a few years.

You probably disappointed some people by not marrying someone from the industry where you practically spend most of your time, don't you think?

Even if you’re in the industry, you’ll decide what elements of your life you expose to the industry and the ones you won’t. There’s nothing wrong in dating someone in the industry from my opinion. The most important thing is finding the right woman in the industry you’d want to date. So, it doesn’t matter whether she’s in the industry or not. People also think it’s easier to date someone in the industry, but you as an individual must discern what works for you.

After your role in Two Brides and a Baby, there were suggestions of something

E-BRIEFS Giving Frank Edoho a second chance Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host, Frank Edoho, and new lover, Sandra Onyenucheya, had a low-key wedding a few days back. The duo had been married traditionally since last year when the lady was still carrying the pregnancy of their son. Sandra has a child from her previous relationship while Edoho has three from his marriage to TV host, Katherine Obiang. But a few days after the marriage was legally consummated, what ought to be managed privately by the couple who should be more experienced by now is gradually filtering into the public. What is sparking off the spat against this new family is Sandra’s flamboyant lifestyle which Edoho has allegedly begun to frown at. It might well be costing Edoho a fortune to sustain his partner’s lifestyle, but does he not deserve a second chance to right the wrong?

Tope Alabi releases album two years after feud with Pastor Ajanaku

Many had thought you were going to get married to an older lady since many of them seem to flock around you Well, it’s okay for ladies to be around one but why should people think that I would be married to an older person?

Well, as a matter of fact, there’s nothing absurd about it. Everybody already says age is but a number and I guess it’s actually individuals that decide what works for them. I think I’ve made the best choice.

Obviously, everybody tells you your percentage of female followership will dwindle, but at the end of the day, you don’t live for the people; you live the life for yourself.

And that’s what’s important to me.

Could you recall your first encounter?

No, I can’t. It was actually my first year in the university and it’s been a long time.

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amorous between you and your co-star, Stella Damasus. How true is that?

Well, if there was an insinuation that the chemistry that existed between Stella and I while on set was original, then I think we did our job well which was the most important thing anyway. Stella is a very brilliant actor, someone I admired before coming into the industry and she set me along the paths of meeting the kind of people I wanted to work with. To be honest, Stella introduced me to a lot of people in the business. And that was good for my career. We have personal relationship as friends outside the working relationship.

What’s the best thing that happened to you in 2014?

Of course, getting married is the best thing that happened to me this year.

How would you assess your career in 2014?

I think my career has done pretty

well this year. I’m very happy about the films that had been released and the ones I shot. I’m also very excited about where this will take me in the years to come.

Has acting been your first love or was it an afterthought?

I stumbled upon acting actually. I just happened to be doing plays and I figured that I’m good at it and people took me seriously and thought that I could develop it which was what I did. And I started working with the right kind of people, it changed my game altogether. Music was actually my first love.

So how far have you gone with your first love?

I haven’t done anything commercial, but music is still very much in the pipeline and at some point, I’ll do it.

For two years, famous gospel singer, Tope Alabi, feuded with her pastor, Iretiola Elijah Ajanaku (now late), and for the same length of time she was unable to wax any album.

The downturn lent credence to Ajanaku’s claim that he was Alabi’s wordsmith and that she would be no good singer without him. Alabi had actually returned to the drawing board to prove him wrong. She had finally released another album titled, Oruko Tuntun, literally meaning "a new name", last Monday. The album though turned out to be the blandest of her repertoire, seemingly affirming Ajanuku’s claim that the chunk of lyrics from the singer’s songs came from his sermons.

Sadly so, the only track with rich lyrical content in the album which sounds like a beginner’s medley is the song that gave the album its title, Oruko Tuntun.

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Showbiz

When did you start acting and which movie brought you to limelight?

Wale Adenuga Productions discovered me in 2003 or 2004 when I acted in Super Story (One Bad Apple) where I played the character, Caro. That movie brought me to limelight and since then, it has been good.

Did you experience a long wait to get to the stardom?

I was fortunate, but it was still difficult. I still had to be in very long queues at audition venues.

Then it was tough, now we have Blackberry, there is the social media and you just hear there is an audition going on somewhere.

You even decide if you want to go or not. But back then, you will get to the audition venue before you discover that it has been postponed or they had already done it. You just had to always get there first as there was no communication as such. All the hassles that actors had to go through, yes I did go through then.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

‘I'm blunt, exciting and complicated' Actress Kehinde Bankole waltzed her way into the hearts of movie fans with an impressive debut performance in Wale Adenuga's series, Super Story. Her career since then has remained on the rise. She speaks with ANGELA DAVIES.

Which of the movies you starred in will you say has been the most challenging?

Each one of them has been challenging, that is because they all come with different stories, present different backgrounds, researches and commitments.

There is none that is the same and all of them require a level of hard work and commitment to pull it off. They are all different in their different ways.

Your latest movie is October 1.

What was your experience?

The storyline is fantastic. It was written by Tunde Babalola.

Working with Kunle Afolayan was exciting. In the movie, I played Tawa, a school teacher, who was caught in the middle of so many controversial issues like serial killing, political manoeuvrings and a lot more. What is special about my character was that she was the delectable sweetness in the entire bundle of confusion. In the long run she is the connecting dot to every other person in the story.

Is there any role you would reject as an actress?

I hardly do, you do what is required if you can do it. The

What is that side of you that people don’t know about?

It is the fact that I cannot tolerate attention seekers. I dislike people who will do anything just for attention. I think it is one of the things people don’t know about me.

Sexually harassment is said to be quite prevalent in the movie industry; did you experience anything in that regard?

People do get molested but I wasn’t molested because even before you could get out of the house to go for an audition when I was growing up, my parents had to question you and maybe an elderly person in the house would go along with you.

So that at least saves you from any form of molestation. But it is still going on. I keep saying it, maybe one day I will have a platform where people would be informed and educated on how to protect themselves from such things. Sometimes, the young ones want to come into the industry but the first few steps they should take is what they don’t know. They don’t know who to call, where to go and no websites to say new actors should pay a formal fee for registration and all that.

They just see random information everywhere. So for now until this issue is solved, maybe parents and guardians should pay a little more attention to the processes of how these young ones are trying to get into this industry.

Who are those you look up to in showbiz?

I would say Wale Adenuga himself and his entire family.

It’s like a team. Then Kunle Afolayan who is obviously doing exceptionally well and giving Africa a voice and some young hardworking producers who are doing well too.

What would you describe as your unique feature as an actress?

I’m a mixture of Western and African. When it comes to acting, what makes me unique is that proficiency to switch from this to that. I am not strictly this or strictly that. I am a good speaker of the Yoruba language and I speak English as much as I can try. I like to balance it, I think that is what stands me out. But, most importantly, I think it is hard work.

What do you consider before accepting a script?

There are three things that I consider. The first is the story, second is the story and third is the story. I want to know if the story is similar to something I have played before, if it is challenging, if it is relevant to what I am going through at that time and if I can commit to it. So, for me, the story is very most important.

How do you relax?

I love to see movies, play and spend time with my family and loved ones. I love to cook too.

bottom line is: 'can you play that character?' I think what would make me reject a role is if I think I am not connecting. It may be that something is wrong somewhere, it may be the story, maybe it’s me telling myself even as I am reading the script that I don’t think I can deliver this. But I don’t think there is a role I can reject.

Do you have normally have preference for a male actor you'd like to be paired with?

No, I don’t. I can be paired with anyone as long as he can deliver, help me to be better and I can help him to be better too.

How was growing up?

It was interesting. We are a family of eight, six children and parents. I am from a close knit Christian home. There were lots of fun things when we were growing up. For instance, I cherished my lessons at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Agege, those after school hour lessons, my primary and secondary school days.

I attended a boarding school, but then I didn’t like it but now when I think back on all the things that used to happen, boarding school was interesting. Also, growing up essentially with my family, I think

those are the memories I cherish.

What has life taught you?

Life has taught me to be humble. It is very difficult especially in a country like Nigeria where there is pressure. Everybody is angry, everybody is tensed and there is a lot of tension. I think you only make it worse by adding your own personal ego to the tissue.

How would you describe yourself?

I am simple, blunt, exciting and complicated. I am a mixture of everything.

What motivates you in life?

I would say God, nature and life.

What would you be doing five years from now?

I would have gone into music but I don’t know whether as a recording artiste and whether I would stay there for long. I said music because it is a talent I have and I would hate to wonder what would have happened. So if I go into it and it is just fun, let me just go and do it. And if I go in and I am rusty, let me go in and be rusty. I have a group called Rave, which I co-founded with Nkechi Ajayi, my partner who has been very encouraging. She keeps telling me that we can do it. In five years' time, I would be producing something by then. But the question remains whether it is going to be a talk show, movie, soap opera or series. But I would love to own something of mine.

What is music genre?

It is going to be inspirational, not necessarily secular. It is going to talk about life generally but everything will point towards the direction of God. What did you study?

I studied mass communication at Olabisi Onabanjo University. Besides that, I have had the influence of a number of people, organisations and even the church contributed to my life in terms of counselling, teaching and trainings.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Showbiz

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Oge is waiting to exhale Nigerian Idol and MTN Project Fame 2014 finalist, Ogechukwu Okafor ('Oge'), is planning an industry invasion. Following the experience she garnered while participating at the two major music shows, the Anambra State born singer has just dropped her official debut single titled Higher. Oge, who holds a Bsc in biochemistry from the University of Port Harcourt speaks with LANRE ODUKOYA. How it all began...

Well, I don't come from a family with a music background; I just loved music as a child. I loved listening to the radio a lot, and I tried to mimic whatever I heard on radio. So along the line I started to sing in the church, and the when I got into secondary school, I sang from my Junior secondary school days till I got into senior secondary school because I was a member of the school choir. Along the line we also formed a powerful singing group of seven girls and we were very popular in my school. The motivation I got from the group urged me to go on with music. Then early this year I got on MTN Project Fame where I was among the final 14. I was also among the top 10 finalists of this year's Nigerian Idol.

Project Fame was a much more tougher competition and both has really helped me a lot.

Mission in music...

I've always wanted to do music professionally, it's something I've always wanted to do. Although my parents don't really support the idea because I'm the first child and the only girl, but I know I have the talent and secondly I just don't want to be an ordinary member of the society, I want to be a voice in my generation, I want to be able to speak and people would listen, I love kids a lot so, I want to be able to affect lives positively through music.

Convincing my parents...

I come from a family where we are all academicians, my mum is a teacher, my dad is an accountant. And I studied biochemistry so they wanted me to have a regular 9 to 5 job, but to me music is what I love. I'm the first child of my parents and the only girl. So I'm working hard

on my craft, talent and music and when I become successful at it, they'll see what I see too. It's part of my motivation and driving force to succeed. If I had my way, I wouldn't even have studied biochemistry, it was my parents' choice, left alone to me, I would have studied performing arts.

About my new project...

My new song is titled, Higher. It's a love song basically, it's that sweet feeling you get when you are in love with somebody. The song talks about the kind of guy I'll want to have in my life (smiles) the song was produced by my super-talented producer, Don Ada. What stands me out....

I have a strong passion for my music, everybody can listen, groove and understand my kind of music because of the clarity of my sound and quality of my message. The market we are in is quite challenging as regards finding the right sound that would appeal to everybody, but you would always want to listen to my songs because I'm romantic. So you'll get to be hearing a lot of love songs, heartbreak songs and more from me.

Challenges...

It's quite difficult, I can't even start to explain. For me, the Project fame and Nigerian Idol competition opened my eyes and created a visible platform for me thrive on. However, the major challenge people like us face in this industry is finances. The funds to promote a good music is scarce especially for someone like me that has no sponsor.

Jobs I did for survival...

I grew up in Port Harcourt, but I did my NYSC in 2010 in Abuja and relocated to Lagos in 2011. While I was serving in Abuja, I used to sell male clothes, shirts, ties, cuff links, belts, shoes and I had a job too. So I saved everything I could save before relocating to Lagos in 2011 against my parents wish. Initially, they didn't even know, they thought I was still in Abuja because they wanted me to come back home and I wasn't going back because all my life they protected me too much.

So when I saw an opportunity to be free, I grabbed it.

Views on marrying a fellow artiste...

Sure I can, it depends on the person really, it's not about what the person does. For me, my man should be good-looking, he should be able to make me laugh, and

intelligent so we can share views, bounce ideas off each other and, above all, have the fear of God. Even if he's not born again, he should at least fear God.

'My greatest fear is not being “counted for something”, going through life and not leaving a huge impact on the society'

Eyeing other talent hunts...

No, I’m not planning to contest again. It was mainly for the much needed experience and exposure and I got that already from being part of two major platforms.

Away from music...

Currently, I own a contracting company. We do basically general supplies. I have other interests too, but I’d like to keep them private for now.

My greatest fear...

I’m concerned about living a purposeful life and the legacy I leave behind when I’m gone. My greatest fear is not being “counted for something”, going through life and not leaving a huge impact on the society.

Earliest musical influence...

My earliest musical influences were Boyz2Men, Whitney Houston, KC and Jojo, Brandy and Mariah Carey.

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Showbiz

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

'I quit a career in TV to pursue my music dream' Television presenter Cindy Onuoha who goes by the moniker, Cindy O, is working to actualise her childhood dream to do music. That dream came true recently with the release of a single and musical video. She speaks about that effort in this encounter with TEMITOPE DADA.

‘Agbani Darego's Miss World victory inspired me into modelling' A finalist in this year’s Miss Commonwealth Nigeria, Olayinka Ojo's first shot at pageantry was a disappointing one. But her resolve to carry on has been rewarding, writes OLUSHOLA RICKETTS, who spoke with the former Miss FUNAAB (Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta).

How long have you been modelling?

While I was a kid in primary and secondary school, I was a queen. But officially, I started modelling some two years ago when I got admission into the university.

How has it been so far?

It’s been hectic, challenging, demanding, but it’s been fun and a good experience too.

Could you recall some of the competitions you’ve taken part in?

I have been involved in many, but my first I would say was Miss Ogun in 2012. It was really challenging because it was my first big one. I did not really do well; the stage appeared to be more than what I expected. I lacked the confidence and charisma. I felt bad and I was down for a while, but I stood up again. I contested for Miss FUNAAB, my school and I won in 2013. Though it was highly competitive too, I think the experience I had gathered, my look and courage stood me out. I later competed for Miss Campus Diva in 2014, a pageant among schools in Ogun State. Though I expected nothing, I came out as the first runner-up. Recently too I competed for Miss Commonwealth Nigeria 2014 and I was among the top five. It was held at the Jeviniks Place in Ikeja GRA, Lagos, sometime in October.

How did you get to know about Miss Commonwealth?

It was through my manager, Oluwaseun Olopade. who is into entertainment. Attending Miss Commonwealth was like a huge opportunity. I contested with more people that I have ever had. I really challenged myself that I want to pursue something bigger. The winner is expected to represent Nigeria at the world stage. Right now, due to the experience, I know I am better than the way I used to be. I am not even worried that I didn’t win the crown because the experience I got was massive.

Was there a time you felt pageant was all waste of time?

To be honest, yes. It was recently during Miss

Commonwealth. I found it hard to move along with people easily; I make sure I take my time before I get familiar. So in camp I saw people who I felt were more experienced than me because they displayed so much confidence. I just kept to myself in camp and felt down sometimes. We were in the camp for like three days.

But I talked to friends and put everything in the hands of God. So how do you handle defeat?

I feel bad but at the same time I feel it gives me an opportunity to learn one or two things that could help me grow further in my career. I believe I am still young and I would make mistakes. No experience is a total waste.

Is modelling your childhood dream?

It started from when I was a kid, precisely when Agbani won Miss World. Since then I’ve always been all around it because her accomplishment inspired me. I look up to her as my role model. So modelling for me started from when I was small, though I nearly dumped it. My sister too used to be a beauty queen, but she didn't really take it serious.

What is it like being a young model?

It has been tough I must say. Only few people will believe in you or you can actually go places.

There are instances when agents would demand for sex from you to be considered, but I believe it is a choice. No one can force anyone to do what she or she doesn’t wish to do. And I have chosen not to do what some people will do. I am not so desperate; I would just take it step by step because I don’t have any reason to rush into anything.

I don’t have to do anything I am not supposed to do.

How do you cope with school given the frequent travels which pageants entail?

I try not to do much whenever I am in school, except it is something closer to the school. If I am to travel I would not let it clash with my academic activities. Whenever we are on break I make use of it well.

You are doing well as a presenter; why are you thinking music?

I studied mass communication so I have flair for entertainment generally, not just music. I came to Lagos for my National Youth Service Corps and I decided to try out presenting. Presenting was not something I really set out to do. I got a call from a friend who told me about the interview at ONTV and encouraged me to go for it.

I tried it out and I was called for the job among about three hundred people who attended the interview. It was fun to experience and see how it would be like.

Over the years I have worked as a presenter in Artiste Zone on Silverbird Television, Startimes, etc before I worked at ONTV. I stopped last year because it was not really what I wanted to do. Though I am not abandoning presenting totally, I would always prefer music to it. Some people are still trying to convince me to work for them and I am truthfully trying to see if I could combine music and presenting.

So how far have you gone with your music?

I did my first single in 2006.

It was a song titled Aristo, but it didn’t quite go well. I also did songs like Just Move, Adamarama and recently Love Me Plenty which is the single we are promoting at present.

How were you able to convince your parents?

As a young girl of 17, it was not easy to convince my parents because they felt music was for rascals.

To them, music was not a career for a responsible person. My dad was seriously worried, especially when I released my first single and had to be travelling for shows. He later told me that since I had entered the university I must stop going to shows. It was a serious problem and I stopped doing shows. I also stopped recording as well, and I had to concentrate on my studies for four years.

Are you the only child?

No, I have six brothers and three sisters.

What makes your music stands out?

My father told me the

only reason he allowed me to pursue my musical passion was because he's convinced I had a chance because all the people he sees are old. I thought about it and I think it is true to some extent.

Apart from Davido, Wizkid and a few others, we don’t really have young musicians. I feel that my youth, energy and the fact that I try to mix good music with commercial songs would stand me out of the crowd.

What kind message do you try to convey through your music?

I try to pass message with every song I do. My Aristo Babz talked about the need for young girls to focus on something else that can provide them money rather than going for rich men. I tell people that having a virtue is more important than anything else. When you have morals it makes you a better person than a person that has no morals.

In Adamarama, I try to let people to know the beauty of the word "Ada" and womanhood in general. I think Love Me Plenty is the only song I have done with a lot of fun in it, but I still talked about the reason to love.

6 DECEMBER 2014

... a finger on the city’s pulse

CONFLUENCE

Tuface’s club Rumours get strippers for Christmas

hose who know the family of Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, well enough would readily tell you they’re connoisseurs of the good life. So, when words went to town recently about the cost of the outfit worn by Abiola Kola Daisi, the governor’s daughter, at a function in the UK recently, it failed to ignite as much curiosity. This blue Hue Valentino sheer long sleeve tulle gown that has an embroidered heart on the bustline is one of the most expensive Valentino dresses of the season. It’s worth a whopping $16,900 and when converted to the naira (taking the recent slide in value into consideration) then the dress is over N3 million. She wore it to the British Fashion Awards held last Tuesday at the London Coliseum.

As Lagos Chief Judge, Funmi Atilade's son weds

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ecently, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Funmilayo Olajumoke Atilade, hosted the wedding ceremony of her son. The wedding ceremony was between Adepemi Moses and Atinuke Jennifer, the daughter of Colonel Kolawole. The engagement ceremony took place on November 20, 2014 while the white wedding was held November 22, 2014. The father of the groom is Archbishop Magnus Yemi Atilade of the Gospel Baptist Church, which was

founded by his late father, Archbishop Atilade.

The groom's mother, Hon. Justice Funmilayo Atilade, is the daughter of late Hon. Justice Williams and sister of the immediate past Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Ayo Philips.

The event promises to be a talk-of-thetown. Justice Atilade was supported by her elder sister, Hon. Justice Mrs. Ayo Philips, the immediate past Chief Judge of Lagos State, and her close friends and well-wishers.

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Goodie Ibru to bow out as Ikeja Hotel boss

SOLUTIONS TO CROSSWORD PUZZLE

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Gov. Ajimobi’s daughter, Abiola, sizzles in N3m dress

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he investment of Innocent "Tuface" Idibia in music, hospitality and real estate has won him many fans. And that’s because he’s proven his maturity in refusing to lavish his wealth on automobiles and other frivolities. One of his investments is Rumours, a night club, which has branches on First Avenue, Festac Town, Oduduwa Street, Ikeja GRA, and Lekki, Lagos.

It may interest you to know that one of the pubs, the Festac outlet which merely drew patrons from the star power of its owner, now parades strippers every Thursday. This addition is apparently intended to drive traffic to the club this Yuletide, but may linger after the season anyway.

Today, Rumours in Festac, Lagos, has reportedly emerged the most patronised club in the neighbourhood. The controversial lounge has since revived the dead night life in Festac through the innovative ideas of its management.

Rumours is co-owned by Dotun Omotoye.

The superstar and father of seven is understandably the passive partner in the business but he’s mostly around at any of the branches to attract patrons.

Rumours was established late last year and the site was previously occupied by the defunct Equatorial Nite Club.

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Showbiz

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

ome next January, Goodie Minabo Ibru, the Managing Director of Ikeja Hotels Plc, will officially quit his position after a concensus reached by other top stakeholders on December 1.

Ibru who is a prominent member of the popular Ibru dynasty was asked to resign by members of the board of the hotel.

Though, no reason has been given so far, sources disclosed that the board is eager to inject fresh ideas into the company. Should the plan to ease out Ibru come to fruition in January, Olumide Braithwaithe and Tunde Sarumi have been tipped to replace him as the Managing Director and Deputy Managing director of the company respectively.

We learnt that the board members have demanded an Extra-General Meeting (EGM) of the company to consider the requisition of the members concerning the aforementioned issue.

Ikeja Hotel Plc engages in the acquisition and development of hotel and tourist facilities in Nigeria. It operates three hotels: Sheraton Lagos Hotel and Towers, Federal Palace Hotel, and Abuja Sheraton Hotel & Towers. Ikeja Hotel was founded in 1972 as Properties Development Limited and changed its name to Ikeja Hotel Limited in 1980.

Later, it changed its name to Ikeja Hotel Plc in 1991. The company is headquartered in Lagos.

Investigations SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH 6 DECEMBER 2014

24

Medical blunders:

Killing patients by error

The nature of healthcare delivery can be described as “delicately complex”. It requires the services of Physicians, Nurses, Medical Laboratory Professionals, Physiotherapists, Social Workers, and Pharmacists. Institutions also require both administrative and managerial expertise for smooth organisational existence. Given the complexity of this system, and an attempt to balance business and humanity, it is not surprising that preventable human errors occur on a daily basis. This often poses serious threats to patients undergoing treatment, which sometimes results in their death. Appolonia Adeyemi, who has been tracking this development, reports that most of the blunders are preventable, as they have resulted from carelessness

M

onica, a native of Idumu Ogo in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, had her first child through cesarean operation in 2013. Weeks after, she started experiencing abdominal pains that took her through several hospitals in the state until her admission at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin in Edo State.

At the hospital, doctors discovered that what she had suffered for about seven months was a result of a spatula-like surgical instrument left behind in her abdomen after a gynaecological surgery. As it turned out, hers became, as it were, one of the strings of medical blunders patients regularly endure in this part of the world.

She was lucky to have survived the horrible ordeal.

But, she is not an isolated case. Surgical blunders happen everywhere, sometimes resulting in court cases for those who know their right, especially in advanced countries, where there are legal firms specialising in taking erring doctors to court.

A career professional and housewife, Alarape has been bed-ridden for months now. Alarape, who is in her early 40s, recounted her ordeal in the hands of some medical personnel, while soliciting divine intervention for a quick recovery.

She said: “My illness started with severe stomach pain. My husband later rushed me from my home in a Lagos suburb in February to the Emergency Center of a teaching hospital, when the abdominal pain became unbearable.

“At the hospital, a stomach surgical operation was carried out on me in the first week of March for what the medical team called intestinal stomach obstruction. Sadly, the surgeons did not do the surgery properly. They messed up my stomach inside. They destroyed my large intestine in the name of surgery as I later learnt that I was dying slowly on the operation table. I later went into coma in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for one month,” Alarape narrated.

Incidentally, the doctors in an Indian hospital where Alarape was referred, noted that the doctors that treated her not only messed up her intestines but

that a section of her intestine has been cut off. As a consequence, Alarape, the doctors said may not be able to pass faeces from her anus any longer. “Though, I was treated and discharged, the doctors at the Appolos Hospital insisted that I must come back, precisely in February next year for the final corrective surgery. And of course, the financial implication, which runs into millions of Naira, is frightening,” she further said.

Also at another teaching hospital not too long ago, a Lagos-based female journalist, who had gone for dental treatment ended up with embarrassing skin swellings around her mouth and cheek bone.

The unexpected deface shocked the victim, family and friends.

Although, the team of dental professionals at the hospital, who provided the initial care, had explained the shocking outcome as adverse drug reactions, the negative impact of that development on the woman was terrible. Since the incident, she has been moving from one skin doctor to the other in search of solution.

As it happened with Alarape, the woman never bothered to lodge a formal complaint to the hospital authorities.

A doctor checking a patient's blood pressure

PHOTO:YNAIJA.COM

CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

Isioma madike

Editor, INVESTIGATIONS isioma.madike@newtelegraphonline.com © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Doctors operate on another patient

PHOTO: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014

FREE

Sport Splash 25

Women's W'Cup

W’Cup draw: Falcons ready for any opponent -Oparanozie p.27

Eagle Focus

In-form Aluko clashes with Ideye’s West Brom p.27

EPL

Rampant Chelsea seek Magpies' scalp p.28

Lifestyle

Mikel celebrates girlfriend's birthday with white in-laws to be p.32

Taribo

Eagles need ‘hungry’ players – Taribo

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Vincent Eboigbe

The Team

Vincent EboigbelAssistant Editor Ajibade Olusesan l Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya l Correspondent

© Daily Telegraph Publishing

aribo West has advised Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, to go back to his initial approach of picking hungry home-based players and mixing them with Europe-based ones who are still passionate, if the team must bounce back from its current low ebb.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2015 African Nations Cup after winning the last edition in South Africa 2013. West, a former Super Eagles defence stalwart, argued that Keshi started brilliantly when

he first got the Eagles coaching job in 2011, noting that was the way to go to reverse the bad patch the team has fallen into.

“Keshi started with incredible philosophy that paid off handsomely. He picked players from the domestic league who were hungry and determined, players like Godfrey Oboabona, SundayMba and others were introduced to the team and we all saw the outcome. He also picked those players from Europe who showed hunger and achieved a dynamic mix,” Taribo told our correspondent on the telephone.

“I think he should go back to

that approach, he should base his invitations and selections on merit and nothing else. There should not be other considerations, nothing like this is my player or that is not my player; all of them are Nigerians.

“He wanted to succeed at that early stage and he used that incredible approach. He should reach for that drive to succeed again and do the right things.

I have no doubt that we will bounce back if the right things are done.”

The former AC Milan and Inter Milan star is impressed by the Nigeria Football Federation’s

decision to give Keshi a new contract with enhanced salary, saying this would have a galvanising effect on the coach to reach for the stars again.

“Renewing his contract is a good move and I also think there is nothing bad in increasing his salary. If we can pay expatriate coaches who are not better so much money why can’t we do the same for Keshi? I agree that Nigerians are disappointed that the Eagles couldn’t qualify for the Nations Cup, but Keshi has proved his worth and I believe he can take us back to the peak,” Taribo stressed.

26

Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Nigerian League Rendezvous

Don’t treat us like Crown, 3SC players plead

P

layers of newly promoted Shooting Stars of Ibadan have appealed to the management of the club to ensure they make funds available for the team to prosecute the league next season.

They cited the example of sister club, Crown of Ogbomosho, who was starved of funds during the just concluded season

and was relegated at the end of the campaign.

Some of the players who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity said if the management failed to provide funds for the team, it would be a straight journey back to the lower division.

“We don’t want to end up like Crown which after just a season

in the top flight were sent back to the lower division,” one of the players said.

Another player said the sacrifice the players made to gain promotion should not be rubbished by the attitude of the management.

The player said: “Playing in the lower division was not easy and I don’t want to experience

it again. So the management should do the right thing for us to excel in the premier league next season.”

The players further stated that the management still owed them some months’ salaries, but noted that they chose to be quiet about it so as not to be distracted.

“People believe the management did not owe us anything

for last season, but I can tell you that even as I am talking to you now, we are yet to receive some of our salaries and match bonuses.

“It was like that all through the season but we resolved among ourselves to gain promotion first and then ask for our dues later,” one of the players said.

Dolphins defender hails teammates for good season

D

olphins of Port Harcourt defender, Jonathan Zikiye, has attributed his fine performance last season to the support from his teammates.

The former Nembe City leftback who made his debut for the club in the 3-0 whitewash of Abia Warriors, paid tribute to the team’s management and technical crew for finding him worthy to wear the club's shirt.

“I would say I have improved so much since joining Dolphins thanks to my coaches and teammates.

“It was my first season with Dolphins and it's been wonderful, despite not scoring many goals as a left back, I am happy with my performance for the team,” he said.

While describing the Federation Cup final loss to Enyimba as the lowest point of his career, he pointed to his debut game for Dolphins as his happiest moment since joining the Port Harcourt side.

Zikiye said: “My debut game for Dolphins during week 10 fixture against Abia Warriors was my best for the club because it came with a goal.”

He promised there would be an improvement in his game next season.

Kano Pillars' Rabiu Ali (left) vying for the ball with Abia Warriors' Obasi Okoro

Promotion battle: Succour for Kwara United S uccour has come the way of Nigeria National League side, Kwara United, as they continue their quest to gain promotion to the premier league.

The Nigeria Football Federation Organising and Disciplinary committee sitting in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the replay of the inconclusive Match Day 30 game between Ranchers Bees and Kwara United.

The game will now be replayed next Tuesday at the FIFA goal project pitch in Abuja.

The encounter, which was the last tie of the season between the two promotion-seeking clubs,

was abandoned with the score tied at 2-2 in Kaduna.

Kwara United were two goals up in the first half, but Ranchers Bees found their rhythm in the second half to level the scores.

The visitors' officials then claimed that they were assaulted

by Ranchers Bees' fans, forcing the match to be abandoned.

Kwara United must win the encounter for the Afonja Warriors to get the promotion ticket back to the Premier League, while a draw will be enough for Ranchers to join Wikki Tourist as the two promoted teams in Group A.

Ex-Chelsea trainer new Kogi United coach

F

ormer Chelsea of England Under-18 trainer, Yomi Elijah, has been appointed as the new head coach of Nigeria National League side, Kogi United.

In the club’s quest to gain promotion to the premier league next season, the Wada Boys have decided to restructure the team with the inclusion of Elijah in the technical crew of the team.

A statement signed by the chairman of the club, Abdul Adama, and made available to our correspondent stated that Elijah’s appointment was based on his impressive records in training footballers

both on and off the pitch.

“I am expecting the coach to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the team. I want to

Elijah

charge him to maintain discipline and focus in the team,” Adama said.

The 42-year-old who managed ABS FC in the just concluded league season, expressed joy over his recent appointment and promised to bring out the best in the players.

Elijah said: “I am sure with hard work and dedication on the part of the players and management, Kogi United would achieve the desired result.”

Yomi Elijah will work with former Super Eagles defender and FC Copenhagen player, Abdul Sule.

6 DECEMBER 2014

W’Cup draw: Falcons ready for any opponent -Oparanozie

27

Doping scandal hits Russian sport apart

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Emmanuel Tobi

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uper Falcons and En Avant de Guingamp of France striker, Desire Oparanozie, has declared that Nigeria are ready to face any opposition as the draw of 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup take place on Saturday, December 6, in Ottawa, Canada.

The World Cup will be played from June 6 to July 5 next year in six cites namely Ottawa, Moncton, Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.

This is Nigeria's seventh appearance in the tournament, having qualified for each previous edition of the competition. Oparanozie is optimistic that the Falcons would be the team to beat at the competition.

“Why should we be scared of any team? she queried. “Nigeria will be going to Canada as African champions and we are ready for any opposition because no nation can win the World Cup without playing against the best teams in the world,” the former Wolsburg of Germany striker said.

She however called for early preparation while expressing confidence in the abilities of the coaching crew.

We have a fantastic team of young and experienced players in a dynamic mix that is being nurtured to greatness by our great coaching crew and with good preparation, Nigeria will be the team to beat in Canada,” she added.

Nigeria's best performance was at USA 1999 when they were knocked out in the quarterfinals

by Brazil with a golden goal after finishing second in their group.

Other participating nations are: Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden, England, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, China, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Korea Republic, Japan, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

Aluko

In-form Aluko clashes with Ideye at KC Stadium

H

Ajibade Olusesan

ull City will attempt to end a five-game winless streak when they host West Brom today (Saturday) and Coach Steve Bruce will count on Nigeria’s Sone Aluko to reproduce his midweek magic for them to realise their ambition against the Baggies.

Aluko came on for Mohamed Diame six minutes into the second half of Hull City's trip to Everton on Wednesday and his fine individual goal eight minutes later proved enough to seal a needed 1-1 draw for the Tigers.

Aluko has been struggling to tie down a regular place at the club as he has started just once in his seven appearances for

the club this term but his brilliant showing on Wednesday and the injury to Diame could earn him another chance to start this weekend.

His compatriot, Brown Ideye, was finally given a chance to play but he could not help West Brom escape a 2-1 defeat at home to West Ham on Tuesday and he could be handed another opportunity to prove himself.

Similarly, Mikel Obi could make his first league start this season when Chelsea travel to Newcastle due to the unavailability of Nemanja Matic. The Serbian is out due to a card offense and there were suggestions that coach Jose Mourinho could turn to his Nigerian import.

ussian sport is at the centre of a major doping scandal following allegations of corruption and systematic doping, including the reported admission of drug use by an Olympic champion runner and cover-up and extortion involving a three-time Chicago Marathon winner German broadcaster ARD and French newspaper L'Equipe had reported that Liliya Shobukhova, who won the Chicago Marathon for three consecutive years between 2009 and 2011, along with the London Marathon in 2010, paid the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) €450,000 ($562,500) to cover up a positive doping case.

ARD also appeared to show reigning Olympic 800-metre champion Maria Savinova admitting to using the banned steroid oxandrolone in an undercover video. The broadcaster’s report also linked doping to Russian officials and athletes in other sports, including swimming, cycling, biathlon, weightlifting and cross-country skiing.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said there was "already an ongoing investigation by the IAAF Ethics Commission" into Shobukhova's allegations. IOC spokesman Mark Adams told the Associated Press news agency: “These are serious allegations. I understand an investigation is already under way by the IAAF ethics commission and we await the full findings. Should there be anything affecting the International Olympic Committee and our code of ethics we will not hesitate to take any and all action necessary.”

Shobukhov

Orawo wins 8th Heineken/LM Open

A

Oparanozie

fter two days of intense competition at the just concluded eighth edition of the Heineken sponsored Le Meridien Open that took place at the Le Meridien Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort, Uyo, Paul Orawo emerged overall winner in the championship.

In the female category, Susan Kolkotas won the overall best gross. The tournament is the last in the series of the LM Open for the year.

Orawo who is the National Engineering Manager Nigerian Breweries Plc. has a handicap of 6. He had the overall best gross to

come out tops.

The two-day tournament at the 18 holes Le Meridien Ibom Golf Course - which is regarded as the most challenging golf course in West-Africa – saw over 120 top golfers within and outside the country slug it out at the championship. The tournament that started in 2011 has continued to be a major attraction for golfers.

Heineken, the world’s leading international lager beer brand has been a major sponsor of the tournament since its inception four years ago. According to Senior Brand Manager, Ngozi Nkwoji, the brand is a “Big Friend” of the

game hence its continued sponsorship which is an attestation to its resolve to strengthen and promote the game of golf in Nigeria.

“Heineken, a world class beer has decided to associate itself with the game of golf, an international sport. We intend to help build the image and standard of the sport through our continuous support,” she added.

At the last edition, Kalio Isoboye, emerged the overall champion.

The LM Open comprises a series of tournaments played on a quarterly basis on the Ibom Golf course, Uyo.

Gasperini

toke captain Ryan Shawcross is telling his team-mates to stop moaning about bad luck

S

hands, starting with tightening up the Stoke defence when they face Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium on

Shawcross warns Stoke ahead of Arsenal clash

ian Piero Gasperini will be hoping for a response from his high-flying Genoa side, who host an improving Milan on Sunday.

Genoa have surprised many early in the 2014-15 Serie A campaign, going eight matches unbeaten to occupy fourth spot in the standings - only adrift of third-placed Napoli on goal difference.

Gasperini's men, though, were surprisingly bundled out of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday, beaten 2-0 at Empoli in the fourth round. It was Genoa's first defeat in all competitions since September, when they lost 1-0 at home to Sampdoria.

"We encountered an Empoli side in good shape, they got off to a stronger start and undoubtedly played better," Gasperini told Rai Sport afterwards.

"We did well in the first half but gifted them a goal and the game got complicated, as we lacked the intensity needed."

Milan are unbeaten in three games ahead of Sunday's clash after accounting for Udinese 2-0 via a Jeremy Menez brace.

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Genoa eye response against Milan

www.newtelegraphonline.com/metro

NEW TELEGRAPH

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ewcastle will be hoping to extend their new-found strong home record against Chelsea when the sides come face-toface at St James' Park in Saturday's early kick-off.

Alan Pardew's men have won their last two matches against this opposition in front of their own fans but it may be difficult to make it three in a row.

Unbeaten in 21 competitive fixtures this season, the in-form Chelsea are highly fancied to end their north east misery with a 12th win in 15 Premier League fixtures.

The Blues have drawn three of their last five league games on the road, and you can bet on them taking at least a point once again this time out.

Those three stalemates can largely be attributed to a lack of cutting edge from Jose Mourinho’s men, who have struck just six

Head-to-head

Newcastle Chelsea Matches played: 155 155 Matches won: 51 66 Matches drawn: 38 38

goals over that five-game period.

After being restricted to just one goal apiece in trips to both Manchester clubs, they were most recently kept completely at bay by a determined Sunderland side that left a blueprint for their north east neighbours to follow on Saturday.

Having conceded just three goals in their last eight matches, the Magpies will be feeling cautiously optimistic over their own chances of following in the footsteps of Sunderland, and are unlikely to prove too adventurous as they seek to grind out a result.

Rampant Chelsea seek magpies' scalp

Global Football Special

Lavezzi

espite extending their unbeaten run to 22 games, PSG still trail league leader Marseille as the expensively-assembled side — featuring Zlatan Ibrahimovic and five players costing more than 40 million euros ($50 million) — struggles to dominate opponents in the French league.

Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Lille was hardly encouraging with a big game coming up at Barcelona in the Champions League next week. Before that, PSG face Nantes at home, while Marseille host Metz on Sunday.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc is under the spotlight after deciding to rest striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Lille on Wednesday.

D

PSG target top form in French title chase

uan Mata is a January target for La Liga side Sevilla.

T h e 26-year-old Spaniard has struggled to break into Manchester United's starting 11 this term despite putting in a number of good performances.

Speculation has been growing over Mata's future with Juventus, Valencia and Atletico Madrid all said to be interested in the former Chelsea man.

The Mirror report that United are reluctant to lose Mata in January but with defensive recruitments a priority for Louis van Gaal they could be tempted to cash in.

Van Gaal is not short of options in the middle but they would rather keep hold of Mata until the summer when a move for Kevin Strootman look to be a priority.

The Roma midfielder is proving his fitness following a lengthy lay off with injury and Van Gaal is said to be monitoring his situation extremely closely.

Sevilla join the race for Mata J

28 Sport SATURDAY N 6 DECE

Shawcross

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games in La Liga, while Barca have three consecutive victories to their name.

Valencia will look to halt their mini slump when they take on Granada on Sunday - Nuno Espirito Santo's men have not won in three La Liga fixtures, while Sevilla will aim to stay ahead of their rivals with a win at Rayo Vallecano.

Athletic Bilbao could extend their unbeaten run to seven matches if they avoid defeat against bottom club Cordoba, while Villarreal host Real Sociedad, Almeria visit Eibar and Levante take on Getafe.

Del Potro Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro has been granted a wildcard into next month's Sydney International, organisers said.

The 2009 US Open winner will start as the tournament favourite despite a tough injuryblighted year.

“Last year I played some of my best tennis in Sydney and it is the perfect way to start the year,” said the Argentinian.

England captain Alastair Cook has been handed a one-match suspension for a second slow over-rate offence within 12 months, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday.

England beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a rain-shortened match at Hambantota on Wednesday but were one over short of their target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken into consideration, the ICC said in a statement.

"As Cook had previously been found guilty of a minor over rate offence in One-Day Internationals within the last 12 months, this offence constituted his second minor over rate offence...," the governing body said while explaining the suspension.

Ribery

Second-placed Wolfsburg travel to Hannover looking for a third away victory of the season in the Bundesliga.

Wolfsburg have lost their last five meetings, conceding 13 goals in the process, against Hannover so they will be eager to set that record straight on Saturday.

Fourth-placed Augsburg will look to record a fourth successive victory when they travel to Cologne, while Borussia Monchengladbach can end their dismal run of form when they host Hertha Berlin.

Gladbach have not won in the league since November 2 and occupy fifth spot as a result of three consecutive league defeats.

Viktor Skripnik's Werder Bremen side travels to Eintracht Frankfurt looking to build on last weekend's win over Paderborn, while the latter entertain Freiburg.

Bubba Watson admits he wants to win more events outside of the USA ahead of next week's Thailand Golf Championship.

"I want to win outside the US. I won in China this year but I'd like to back that up with another win. "I just think that people look at your career differently if you've won outside of your own country. It means you've had to travel, means you've had to get used to jet-lag, had to play golf in many different places at a high level," he said.

SPORT BRIEFLY

eigning champions Atletico will look to put some early pressure on Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday when they travel to Elche.

Atletico sit third on the table with 29 points, four adrift of leaders Real, while Barcelona (31) are second.

If Atletico knock off Elche, who are second-bottom, they will be poised to take advantage of any slip-ups by Real or Barca, who face Celta de Vigo later on Saturday and Espanyol on Sunday, respectively.

Real have won 10 straight

R

Atletico turn up heat on Real, Barca

ose Mourinho insists Chelsea have the strength in depth to cope without suspended midfielder Nemanja Matic against Newcastle.

The Serbian is out of Saturday’s trip to St. James’ Park having picked up his fifth booking of the season in Chelsea’s 3-0 win against London rivals Tottenham.

Matic has been a key player for the table-topping Blues this season, but having coped just fine without Diego Costa against Spurs, Mourinho has no fear of missing Matic against Newcastle.

“It’s not a problem that we won’t have Matic,” the Portguese boss said.

“We will play with another player. It’s like Costa against Spurs: did you remember he wasn’t playing? I didn’t.

“Obviously Matic is playing fantastic for us. But that’s the way we think, we will forget him for that match.”

We won’t miss Matic - Mourinho

eaders Bayern Munich will put their unbeaten run on the line against third-placed Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena.

Pep Guardiola's side has only lost once in all competitions this season, against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League, but Leverkusen pose one of their toughest tests so far.

"Every team's a threat," said Bayern full-back Rafinha. "Wolfsburg, Gladbach – they're having a really good season – as are Leverkusen.

"We're seven points clear of second place, but that's not enough for us.

"When you play out a draw, that's two points dropped. We have to win as often as possible, at home and away. If we stay focused on ourselves we'll continue to be successful.

L

Leverkusen test Bayern strength

Alastair Cook

Saturday.

He said: "We've been unlucky with goals and we've been unlucky with injuries, but we can't keep cursing that. We've got to do something about it.

"We've got to stop conceding sloppy goals. Our luck will change and we need to make it happen sooner rather than later, hopefully on Saturday.

"If we play like we did at Old Trafford or even better we can beat Arsenal.

We can go into the game confident even though we've lost a couple.

Bubba Watson

and take control of their own fortunes.

The Potters have been frustrated by a run of goalline clearances as they've slipped to narrow defeats against Liverpool (1-0) and Manchester United (2-1) in the past week.

Manager Mark Hughes has also seen key men Peter Odemwingie, Victor Moses, Glenn Whelan, Steve Sidwell, Robert Huth and Jon Walters confined to the treatment room.

But Shawcross insists there are matters they need to take into their own P PTS 13 34 13 31 13 23 13 23 13 22 13 21 13 20 13 19 13 18 13 18 13 17 13 17 13 14 13 14 13 12 13 11 13 11 13 10 13 8 13 6

Serie A Saturday Roma v Sassuolo Torino v Palermo Sunday Napoli v Empoli Atalanta v Cesena Genoa v Milan Parma v Lazio Inter Milan v Udinese Monday Cagliari v Chievo

La Liga Saturday Elche v Atletico Bilbao v Córdoba Real Madrid v Celta Vigo Deportivo v Málaga Sunday Vallecano v Sevilla Barcelona v Espanyol Villarreal v Real Sociedad

La Liga

NO TEAM P PTS 1 R'Madrid 13 33 2 Barcelona 13 31 3 A' Madrid 13 29 4 Sevilla 13 26 5 Valencia 13 24 6 Villarreal 13 21 7 Málaga 13 21 8 Celta Vigo 13 20 9 Bilbao 13 18 10 Vallecano 13 17 11 Eibar 13 16 12 Espanyol 13 14 13 Getafe 13 14 14 Sociedad 13 13 15 Levante 13 12 16 Granada 13 11 17 Almería 13 10 18 Deportivo 13 10 19 Elche 13 10 20 Córdoba 13 7

Sport Frankfurt v Bremen

Bundesliga Saturday Köln v FC Augsburg M’gladbach v Hertha Hannover v Wolfsburg Paderborn v Freiburg Stuttgart v Schalke Bayern v Leverkusen Sunday Hamburger v Mainz

Premier League Saturday Newcastle v Chelsea Hull v West Brom Liverpool v Sunderland QPR v Burnley Stoke v Arsenal Tottenham v C' Palace Man City v Everton Sunday West Ham v Swansea Aston Villa v Leicester

FIXTURES

NO TEAM P PTS 1 Bayern 13 33 2 Wolfsburg 13 26 3 Leverkusen 13 23 4 Augsburg 13 21 5 M’gladbach 13 20 6 Schalke 13 20 7 Hoffenheim 13 20 8 Hannover 13 19 9 Frankfurt 13 18 10 Mainz 13 16 11 Paderborn 13 16 12 Köln 13 15 13 Hertha 13 14 14 Bremen 13 13 15 Freiburg 13 12 16 Stuttgart 13 12 17 Hamburg 13 12 18 Dortmund 13 11

P PTS 14 36 14 30 14 26 14 25 14 24 14 23 14 22 14 20 14 20 14 20 14 18 14 16 14 15 14 14 14 13 14 13 14 12 14 12 14 11 14 10

PREMIER LEAGUE

NO TEAM 1 Chelsea 2 Man City 3 Soton 4 Man Utd 5 West Ham 6 Arsenal 7 Swansea 8 Liverpool 9 Newcastle 10 Tottenham 11 Everton 12 Aston Villa 13 Stoke 14 Sunderland 15 Palace 16 West Brom 17 Hull 18 Burnley 19 QPR 20 Leicester

TABLE

Bundesliga

NO TEAM 1 Juventus 2 Roma 3 Napoli 4 Genoa 5 Sampdoria 6 Milan 7 Lazio 8 Fiorentina 9 Udinese 10 Sassuolo 11 Inter Milan 12 Palermo 13 Empoli 14 Verona 15 Torino 16 Cagliari 17 Atalanta 18 Chievo 19 Cesena 20 Parma

Serie A

NEW TELEGRAPH EMBER 2014

29

30

Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

I

Vincent Eboigbe

t used to be known as Sports City and it did not come by that appellation by accident.

It was actually a sports city in every sense, where various sporting activities took place simultaneously all-year round. Tennis at the courts, swimming at the pool, basketball at the indoor sports hall, table tennis at the knock-up hall, judo, badminton, taekwondo etc.

Those were the days when fans would travel in buses from all over the country and camp in the stadium before any of the major matches involving the traditional clubs like Bendel Insurance, Rangers, IICC, Stationery Stores or Mighty Jets.

Built for the All Africa Games in 1973, the National Stadium in Lagos also hosted the National Sports Festival of the same year. It was the venue of the famous Challenge Cup where all those unforgettable finals took place. The 1980 Nations Cup that the Green Eagles won was also hosted at the stadium in Surulere. Obisia Nwankpa had his unsuccessful shot at the World Boxing Council lightweight crown in the same arena, it was also one of the venues for the World Youth Championship, Nigeria ’99. A year later, it also co-hosted the Nations Cup, Ghana/Nigeria 2000.

Today, the stadium has however assumed, in the intervening years, the unenviable position of being a rendezvous for lovers who throng the various spots like Ojez, Old Skuul, NSC (Staff) Cooperative seeking fun. These drinking joints have become its main attraction.

It is also the favourite ground for the various religious groups with Christians and Muslims frequently holding their special worship there. Only traditional African worshippers have not started taking their own instruments of trade to the stadium as yet.

The full measure of the descent of the national stadium can be gleaned from the fact that it now serves as practice pitch and parking lot to the nearby Teslim Balogun Stadium anytime a major championship like the U-17 World Cup Nigeria hosted in 2009, is taking place.

Ojez exemplifies what the stadium has become in the last 10 years.

The entertainment outfit that owns a significant chunk of the stadium, occupies the entrance to the VIP section of the stadium, and New Telegraph investigations revealed that the upper part of that wing has been turned into residential quarters. A woman (who identified herself as an Ojez staff) coming out of one of the rooms when our reporter visited wanted to know what he (the reporter) was doing in that part. She had the look of someone not expecting anybody to stray to that area and quickly pointed the reporter back to the first floor where the restaurant is. The entertainment outfit apparently took pains to inscribe arrows indicating clearly where the toilets are situated so that people don’t venture upstairs. The way the woman came to the staircase suggests the residents have been schooled to quickly come out of their rooms anytime there were any ‘unwanted’ visitors just to cover their presence there.

New Telegraph photographer was

Front view of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos photos: tony eguaye

Entrance to the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos

From Sports City to � Sad tale of the rot in the nation’s biggest sporting arena thoroughly searched and once the camera was discovered he was prevented from going upstairs not minding his reason for wanting to access the place. He was similarly stopped from entering the main bowl of the stadium, not even his excuse of just wanting to see the place having not been there for a long time could sway the security personnel stationed at the entrance.

“You can see why it is difficult reviving the stadium. It will mean dislodging Ojez from that place; as it is now, there is no way you can access the main bowl through the VIP section as Ojez occupies that entire stretch. Nothing is happening at the stadium and they do not want to do anything about it because it will affect these entrenched interests,” said a staff of the National Sports Commission who pleaded for anonymity.

Another staff added: “You can’t eradicate these squatters from the stadium with the way things are for now. It is like trying to eradicate prostitution. Ojez has turned that upper deck to residential quarters for his employees. I don’t know if he collects money from them for staying there but given his control over that place who can stop him from doing whatever he wants.”

Old Skuul, another one of the various spots within the stadium New Telegraph found out has also begun to carve out its own business empire inside the stadium. A mas-

End of the year Series

Battered tracks inside the main bowl

Old Skuul for instance has erected a building in boxing, so how do you tell that man to leave that place tomorrow with that kind of structure on government land?

sive structure has been erected by the outfit in boxing that is known as Old Skuul two with another smaller building marked VIP section, nestled nearby.

“Old Skuul for instance has erected a building in boxing, so how do you tell that man to leave that place tomorrow with that kind of structure on government land? From the look of things it appears Old Skuul got that approval legally. It was Pat Ekeji (former NSC Director General) that gave him that approval, but I think it was supposed to be for something more temporary. It is just sad that people want to appropriate government land; why can’t they just go outside and look for land to build their structures,” wondered Pat Ibe a broadcast journalist.

New Telegraph also learnt that the Director General of the NSC, Gbenga Elegbeleye, was at the stadium

last Sunday and is not unaware of the structure Old Skuul has put up on government land.

Manager of the stadium, Abolore Alanamu, said the entertainment outfit had exceeded the approval given to it and knows the implication of such action.

“The approval we gave to Old Skuul is not to build such a structure there, they know. The DG was around and left a message for them. They know what they did is wrong and have been made to realise it,” Alanamu said.

He however dismissed as unfounded claims that there were some landlords in the stadium who sublet their ‘houses’ to people.

“Nobody lives inside the stadium I can tell you that. We have night security guards and they have not told me that people live here; at any rate if there are people

Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

31

Fun seekers drinking at Ojez

Entrance to the restaurant

One of the rooms in the living quarters

‘quarters’, drinking joints who live in the stadium they do so illegally. As for Ojez, the people who live there are his employees and as you know they work late and have to sleep over night, it is not out of place. I also know that the toilet in the upper part is now used exclusively by the club’s clientele while the one opposite the entrance to the restaurant is for general use.”

But an inside source dismissed this as a ruse. He noted that Old Skuul staff also work late but do not sleep on their premises.

“That is not correct,” said the source. Old Skuul made arrangements for rooms in NIS for their staff and that is where they sleep at night. Ojez was supposed to do the same but he has not. So why has he refused to.”

The liaison officer in Lagos, Francis Gbiri, also attempted to put in perspective the issue of residents inside the national stadium “Yes, people sleep in the stadium, even though it is not residential. People sleep in NIS, people sleep in Ojez, these are people who work very late, will they go home around 2am?” Gbiri asked.

“Old Skuul employees also sleep there. What of SWAN (Sports Writers Association of Nigeria)?

People who use SWAN hall and finish their events late may decide to sleep, what is wrong with that.

Paul Ogazi has his place somewhere in the stadium, are we now saying he is a landlord too?"

Beside this, the once proud stadium is in a state of general disrepair. It is a decrepit, lumbering old giant, shorn of all its former glory.

The main bowl of the sprawling edifice, as well as the seating area are in advance state of decay. The

End of the year Series tracks are battered, the swimming pool is not spared the dilapidation.

Work on the swimming pool area that was commissioned some years ago has since stopped. Work on the pool itself, the plumbing and other aspects did not even commence.

Nwankpa who won a gold medal at the 1973 Games and fought Saoul Mamby for the world title inside the Surulere arena bemoaned the neglect the stadium has suffered.

“It is sad really when you look at the level of decay the stadium has suffered. I still remember very well, in fact I still have the newspaper that carried the story that this stadium was built with N6m when the naira was strong. Now, how many tens of billions would you need to build a place like the national stadium? Yet look at how it is been wasted. No matter what they try to do, nothing can compare with this stadium,” said Nwankpa.

“Nothing is wrong with the stadium, so why was it abandoned?

Truth is nowhere in the country can you get the crowd, whether in football, athletics or boxing, like in Lagos. There is no magic about resuscitating the stadium, what is needed is for government to turn

There is no way you can access the main bowl through the VIP section ...

Yes, people sleep in the stadium, even though it is not residential

its attention to the place, bring in people who can take a comprehensive look and begin work on it.”

Sydney Olympics 4x400 metres gold medalist, Aniefiok UdoObong, also echoed the above sentiments, while lamenting the lack of maintenance culture that has plagued government projects in the country down the years.

He said: “The issue has been lack of maintenance and making funds available to take care of not just the facilities like the playing field and tartan tracks, but also of other areas like security, water supply etc. I cannot understand the reason for the neglect and it makes me really sad; this is a place we all remember with nostalgia, where great champions and great teams played, a place rich in history. You don’t throw away history. The National Stadium should be treated like an icon, just like Wembley in the United Kingdom.”

But Gbiri has a riposte. He noted that government could not continue to put money in a place it had decided to give to the private sector. He revealed that the stadiums in Calabar, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu had already been taken care of in this way.

New Telegraph learnt that the committee overseeing the process of selling the stadium was in Lagos three months ago and met with some of the businesses operating inside the stadium.

“Truth is government has decided to privatise the stadium, should the same government be spending money on the place again?” Gbiri said.

“A committee had been set up, the members were here three months ago and they gave forms

to those who have businesses at the stadium to fill detailing how they started their businesses in the stadium and who they pay to. I can assure you that there will not be any problems regarding what will happen to the businesses operating in the stadium, because if you bought a property you should have proper documentation, if it is a piece of land, you should have a Certificate of Occupancy. When the time comes those things will be sorted out.”

Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Tammy Danagodo, announced the concession option for the national stadiums earlier in the year but stakeholders are skeptical about the commitment of government to the whole process.

Sports commentator, Ikeddy Isiguzo, said the concession plan in itself was not something to be overly excited about. According to him, the important thing is to do something regarding the state of the stadium regardless of by whatever name it is called.

“There is nothing to be excited about as far as I am concerned because this is not the first time they are coming up with that kind of thing,” opined Isiguzo.

“Whether it is a form of management partnership, concession, outright sale or by whatever name it is called, it is not the important thing.

What should concern and interest Nigerians is that the arrangement is done in such a way that the facility will be well managed going forward and importantly it will still be used for sports.”

As the debate about the stadium rages, the rot deepens and with it a huge slice of the nation’s sporting history.

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Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Lifestyle

Please take me back, Ozil begs ex-girlfriend

I

njured Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has built bridges with ex girlfriend Mandy Capristo, according to Bild.

The German tabloid claim that Ozil, who was dumped by Mandy in October for being ‘too flirty’ with other women, went to visit his former lover recently.

Romance has not yet returned, but the pair are at least enjoying each others’ company again.

The couple still share dogs and Mesut apparently looked after them at Mandy’s home.

Ordega

Super Falcons star, Ordega, releases new photos

2

1-year-old Francisca Ordega is a Super Falcons player and was part of the team that won the 2014 African Women's Championship. She is from Benue State and plays for Pitea club in Sweden where she currently resides.

Rodriguez's wife undergoes surgery after being dubbed ugly

T

he wife of Real Madrid star James Rodriguez and sister of Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina – Daniela Ospina – has undergone cosmetic surgery after being called ugly online, reports El Balon Rosa.

Mrs. Rodriguez was thrust into the limelight when her husband completed a £63m transfer to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu from AS Monaco over the summer and she posed with the Colombia international at his official unveiling.

However, things started to turn nasty when some Madrid fans took to the Internet to insult Ospina’s sister, dubbing her ugly and hurling a string of vile abuse at her.

Sadly this is said to have affected Rodriguez’s wife and she has since undergone surgery in order to change her appearance – the result of which can be seen below.

Mikel with Olga's family

Mikel celebrates Olga's birthday with white in-laws to be

N

igeria’s Super Eagles and Chelsea FC star John Mikel Obi celebrated the birthday of his Russian girlfriend a couple of weeks ago.

The now bit role player is seen happily holding his Russian girl. He also met her wealthy family.

The birthday was held three weeks ago, but the pictures are just surfacing of her fabulous party.

The Chelsea man is also seen trying out vodka, the most famous Russian type of alcohol.

It seems the party was really a blast.

Capristo

Mourinho attends lingerie show before game

O

“Your genetics load the gun. Your lifestyle pulls the trigger."

– Mehmet Oz

Model at the lingerie party Ospina with Rodriguez

Stories courtesy Dailymail

photo: getty images

n the eve of a game most Premier League managers might be watching old tapes of their opponent's previous matches, or adding the final touches to the next day's gameplan - not Jose Mourinho, though.

The night before Chelsea hosted Tottenham at Stamford Bridge for a midweek clash under the lights, Mourinho was attending a lingerie fashion show in London.

Mourinho was pictured arriving at the Victoria's Secret event at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre on Tuesday night alongside his wife Matilde Faria and daughter Matilde.

Mourinho with organisers at the show

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Investigations

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C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 4

There was also a story of Nwugo Okoye, who until her death was the Head of Corporate Communications at Etisalat, one of Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) operators in the country.

Before then, Okoye had worked as Manager in charge of Internal Communications at MTN; this was after over a decade of robust practice in the advertising industry.

Incidentally, Okoye’s fruitful and vibrant life was cut short after a failed Myomectomy (an operation done to remove fibroids while leaving the uterus intact).

Okoye had gone into the theatre certain she would make it.

She could afford to have the surgery done anywhere in the world.

But she chose to have it here. A supposedly simple surgery many other women have had and came out successfully in Nigeria, proved fatal in Okoye’s case. Investigations later pointed to a human error as the course for her death.

Akabunma, who hailed from Isu in Ebonyi State, also died of such human error in the hands of medical personnel. After his death, his body was dissected for autopsy where it was found that a hand towel had been left behind his left lung during surgery for emphysema seven years before.

He had complained of chest pains incessantly in the years before his death. He was 64 years of age at the time of his death.

In like manner, a middle-aged woman, who craved anonymity, was said to have underwent a double mastectomy, only to find out after the operation that she did not have cancer. Her test results had been switched with those of another woman. Another patient, who had an operation to his ear, because he suffered from vertigo, was equally operated on the wrong ear.

However, there have also been several cases of swab of cotton wool, scissors and other surgical tools that are forgotten in the body of patients that underwent surgery in recent times. Some of the victims of these unfortunate medical blunders, no doubt, went through hell, moving from one hospital to the other in search of solutions. This is apart from the huge financial costs they end up expending in order to get well. Some patients actually die in the process, while a few others sail through. Incidentally, only a negligible number seek compensation.

Yet, medical errors, according to experts, do not only involve surgery. Though, those in this category are usually the ones making screaming headlines in the media.

This is understandable. They are so sensational and the results often so final.

Aside surgeries, however, there are numerous other medical blunders that do occur on daily basis.

One of such is drug errors during anesthesia, which remain a serious cause of iatrogenic harm also. But, despite the wide range of reported incidence and perceived lack of consensus regarding the magnitude of the problem, it is, in the words of experts, unacceptable that any patient suffers harm, no matter how minor, while undergoing anesthesia.

There is also misdiagnosis in the medical laboratories. The one that readily comes to mind is the celebrated case of renowned attorney and human rights activist,

Hospital wards

Health professionals photo: nigerianewsworld.com

Chief Gani Fawehinmi. He had a taste of these medical mishaps that made him to shuttle between Lagos and London before his death. His hospitalisation in a London hospital was informed by a misdiagnosis of his ailment, which he did not know until he got to London.

After several checks by doctors, he was confirmed to be suffering from lung cancer and had to be placed on cancer treatment.

Though, it was not clear how much damage the initial misdiagnosis and wrong treatment had on his health. Before this revelation, however, doctors in Victoria Island hospital where he was first hospitalised treated pneumonia.

Indeed, millions of medical mistakes are mostly premised on wrong diagnoses, which lead, in most instances, to unavoidable deaths. In cases where the diagnoses are right, negligence and lack of respect for the patient is said to be the main enemy in the course of treatment in which someone has to pay the price.

However, medical personnel in the country seem not to be the only ones committing these blunders.

There have also been several cases of swab of cotton wool, scissors and other surgical tools that are forgotten in the body of patients

Jean Ndubeze, a Nigerian-born Nurse was accused of making a string of mistakes while working at Homerton Hospital in East London between March 2007 and July 2008.

The error were too many to have cast doubt if she, indeed, passed through medical school in the first instance.

She was reported to have failed to recognise that a patient was dead and left another patient sitting with her breasts exposed. Ndubeze allegedly said that a pain relief drug was “very addictive” and failed to notice or respond when ventilator and monitor alarms were activated, the British Nursing and Midwifery Council panel was told.

Today, more people in the country die from medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancers or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Though, not all adverse patient outcomes are due to medical error; blunders, no doubt, represent adverse outcomes that are preventable with the current state of medical knowledge. It is, therefore, imperative that all healthcare professionals recognise the factors

PHOTO: NIGERIAHEALTHJOURNAL.COM

contributing to the occurrence of medical errors, in order to develop more effective processes to prevent their occurrence.

Incidentally, medical mistake is grouped under an umbrella term for all errors including mishandled surgery, diagnostic errors, equipment failures, and medication miscalculations. Though, medical errors are difficult to measure, not only because of inadequate reporting and varied definitions, but also because most incidents are not single acts, but a chain of events.

For instance, prescribing a wrong dose of a drug may be counted as a single mistake and named “error of prescription”, but this imprecision may have occurred because the patient's medical record contained an inaccurate body weight or because a laboratory report was missing.

In spite of the problems associated with defining medical error, experts have identified these to include adverse drug events, improper transfusions, surgical injuries and wrong-site surgery, suicides, restraint-related injuries or deaths, falls, burns, pressure ulcers and mistaken patient identity. Studies have also shown that majority of adverse incidents occurring in healthcare delivery are preventable mistakes.

However, restraint-related injuries, deaths and suicides per se are not errors but consequences of neglecting to restraint the patients.

Given this background, medical errors are, therefore, those mistakes that occur in the healthcare system, which ordinarily, if given immediate and adequate attention, could have been prevented.

Despite cases of medical errors in Nigeria, limited information exists on negligence claims. In 2006, there was the case of a child, who became Human Immuno Virus (HIV)-infected through blood transfusion in a Nigerian teaching hospital even though both parents CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

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Investigations

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 3

were HIV-negative. A commission of inquiry recommended the dismissal of the Chief Medical Director and payment of damages to the family. But, whether or not these directives were effective is hard to prove.

Similarly, a drug manufacturing company was charged for medical malpractices for testing a drug on Nigerian children in 1996, which resulted in injuries, disabilities and deaths. Although, the rate at which medical negligence claims is reported in Nigeria is relatively low, previous reports have shown evidence of reactions to inadequate care and errors in treatment in Western countries from which lessons can be drawn.

For instance, estimates show that between 1996 and 1997 medical negligence cost £235 million, while negligence claims against general practitioners rose 13-fold between 1989 and 1998 in the UK alone.

There is no doubting the fact that modern technological development has made a big impact on the tools available for investigating diseases more accurately.

Except for a few centres, most of these tools are lacking in Nigerian hospitals. This is the reason why experience of using them is lacking, which means doctors do not get trained to use them; hence the patient suffers as a consequence.

It is also true that even in the few hospitals with these facilities, when patients undergo such investigations, the results are sometimes not interpreted correctly, thus emphasising the need to ask for help from more experienced colleagues.

However, the other fundamental reason why issues of poor diagnosis will persist for a long time is due to the largely uneducated nature of the Nigerian population. This means that patients are not able to challenge any decisions made on their behalf because they perceive seeing a doctor as a privilege or favour rather than as a matter of constitutional rights. Doctors, therefore, are seen as demi-gods, who are to be worshipped as they can do no wrong.

A doctor, who craved anonymity, narrated what he called the low point of his practice in which he almost sent a patient to her early grave because he was too tired to examine her. According to the doctor, he had spent over 24 hours on duty because a colleague, who was to relieve him,

An x-ray photo

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

‘Errors could arise from misreading medical report’

A patient in an operating theatre

Former Health Minister, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu

photo: strenghtinnumber.co.uk

Enabulele

did not turn up. He had attended to a long list of patients’ non-stop, without an opportunity to go for a short break.

He said: “Although I was physically in the consulting room when the patient entered, I tell you, my soul was already on my bed at home. So, I failed to do what I was supposed to do as a doctor and that error would have sent my patient to her early grace but for His grace.”

PHOTO: SCIENTIFICAMERICA.COM

Medical errors are those mistakes that occur in the healthcare system, which ordinarily, if given immediate and adequate attention, could have been prevented

Fawehinmi

Vice Chairman, Association of General Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), Dr. Tunji Akintade, while reacting to incidences of medical blunders said, “Medical negligence is a concern for all including the medical and the assaulted personnel. This is because if there is a case of carelessness involving death or injury, the person that is affected will suffer for it. Though, the doctor behind such acts usually would not at peace.

According to him, either the patient or his family can lodge a complaint to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), which can in turn set up a panel to determine whether there has been a case of negligence or not.

“Somebody has to bring the negligence to the awareness of MDCN before such could be looked into,” Akintade said.

Akintade said that enlightenment is going on among doctors and that they are aware that no matter how friendly they are with patients, if anything goes wrong in the course of treatment, they would no longer remember their friendship. “Doctors are getting more aware about this; among the public, a lot of awareness is also going on,” he added.

Also speaking, former President of the Nigerian Medical

Association (NMA), Dr. Osahon Enabulele, cautioned against accusing medical teams whenever something goes wrong. He said that other factors such as lack of basic facilities in hospitals could be responsible for many of the errors. He, however, noted that patients and their relations have every right to lodge complaint against medical practitioners when negligence is suspected.

“Complaints can also be brought against hospitals when they fail to do what they are supposed to do. They have a constitutional right to get such a case to court,” Enabulele said.

However, Enabulele says that negligence should be differentiated from medical blunder. According to him, blunder could be caused by several other factors including dearth of working equipment, especially diagnostic equipment that are valuable to practitioners as ancillary support services in addition to their clinical acumen. “Medical blunder could equally arise from misreading medical report,” he added.

He pointed out that every profession is inching towards perfection and that is why in the whole issue of continual educational development, the role of constant engagement with the system, should be in place. “The truth of the matter is that when negligence occurs, the regulatory bodies are informed and they in turn take it up. Again, it may take time but gradually the cases are adjudicated upon. When judgment is pronounced, which results in punitive measures against the practitioners, the practitioner obviously will sit up,” he said.

Yet, a public health physician was quoted recently to have said that in resource-challenged settings like Nigeria, more patients are likely going to die in hospitals due to medical accidents occasioned by negligence than the impact of the illnesses they are suffering from. This, according to the doctor, is a known fact, even if it appears questionable and only applicable to a developing country like Nigeria.

Though, the Lagos State government stirred the hornets’ nest last year when it passed the Corona’s bill into law, the law, according to analysts, has some defects.

For instance, it contained, according to them, aspects considered injurious to medical care, which can prevent doctors from sticking out their necks to saves lives already at the brink of death.

For now, it remains a reality that many Nigerians have died, and would still die, simply because their cases were poorly handled in hospitals. Some have gone unnoticed and in the case where the victim is a prominent person, some questions may be asked. Like all cases, no one will be held responsible or brought to book. But, how can this unusual epidemic confronting ignorant Nigerians and their families be tackled? Would doctors continue to bury their mistakes while patients die?

Dear Love Doctor, ‘Help! My ex is back into my life'

p.37

L ve&Lv ng

Life Experience 'I was a fool for the sake of love' p.36

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014

35

'She gave me love potion' Confession In Africa, desperate women are known for patronising witch doctors for the purpose of using love potions to charm any man they want. However, in this story, true love seems to be greater than any love potion.

M

y story is short but it is quite unique and interesting if you understand. My name is Wale and I live and work in Lagos.

I am in my early 40s and I and my wife have four lovely children. I love my wife so much and she normally shares her secrets with me. From the day that we got married, I understood clearly that communication is all that a couple needs to make their marriage work.

Henceforth, I resolved to always maintain a good line of communication with my wife. And I think that is the secret of the success of our marriage.

You see, I always confide in my

wife and she too confides in me. I tell her everything I do in my family and even at the office. And she does likewise. But a few years ago, when our first daughter turned 15, my wife decided that it was time for her to share her most prized secret with me. That morning on my way to the office, she told me that she would like me to return home as early as 6pm so that we could have a romantic and quiet time together. She said that would be a perfect time for her to tell me something she had wanted to tell me all these years.

I dutifully obeyed my wife and returned home by 6pm that day to find that she had prepared my favourite food beside a bottle of wine on the table. Our kids were away on holiday in the homes of our relatives, so we were as free as birds to do whatever we liked in the living room that evening. We sat down to eat and drink the wine and my wife opened up as we ate, drank, and kissed. Guess what my wife told me?

My wife told me that the first day I asked for her friendship while she was still in secondary school (SS2), she fell head over heels in love with me.

And she wished that I would never leave her and marry someone else. So

I was so passionate about my wife and I knew deep down in my heart that I was not going to give her up for anything in the world

she went to a herbalist living in her area and the man gave her a love potion to put in my food. My wife said she put the love potion in my food, but that when I returned to school at the UNN three weeks later, I forgot all about her and we lost contact after her family moved out of Lagos, until we met again by accident in Ibadan five years later.

She said she thought the love potion had failed, but that she believed that what will be, will be. So she kept hoping and praying that if God had destined us to marry, I would eventually return to her. My wife said she was afraid of telling me this in the first year of our marriage, because she thought that I would take her for a witch and divorce her. After her revelation, I thanked her for sharing it with me and told her that we are married today because God has destined us together, and not because of any love potion. However, I sternly warned her to stay away from native doctors. Isn’t it funny?

I told my wife that ours was a natural kind of love potion because the chemistry between us was simply fantastic.

I remember that the first few weeks with my wife were some of

the most romantic experiences I had ever had in my life. We went out for candlelight dinners on weekends and we enjoyed romantic escapes in some of the best hotels in town.

I was so passionate about my wife and I knew deep down in my heart that I was not going to give her up for anything in the world. She was simply the love of my life and the Apple of my eye; and that was that! Nothing was going to change the way I felt about her.

Supposing that love potion had worked on me, how would I have acted? Sometimes I imagine myself behaving like a fool because I am under a spell cast on me by a woman.

I imagine myself taking orders from my wife and cooking and pounding yam for my wife and washing her clothes and doing all the jobs meant for a woman, just because she used love potion on me.

The greatest treasure that I and my wife possess is true love. And true love is greater and works better than any love potion. I thank God that I'm having a happy marriage today, and I pray to God every day to bless everyone who contributed in one way or another to making my marriage work.

36

Love&Living

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Love News

Love Songs

Dumped husband stabs wife’s new lover in shopping centre

"Love Is The Answer" [Verse 1:] Broken hearts everywhere From stepping on love we don't care Somebody tell me what we gonna do Even though it's plenty to share People hungry in the streets life just ain't fair But you never think about it until it's you

...after she taunted him saying, ‘he’s better in bed than you, deal with it’

A

jilted husband repeatedly stabbed his wife's lover in front of crowds in a shopping centre after she told him his love rival was better in the bedroom.

David Barrow, 46, had followed Nicolette Barrow, his wife of 19 years, to a secret rendezvous with her lover Jason Earle at a shopping centre in Bristol.

He confronted the pair and was about to walk away when Mrs. Barrow said: 'he's better in bed than you, deal with it.'

Barrow then repeatedly stabbed Mr Earle, causing damage to his liver.

Onlookers at the busy shopping centre in Cribbs Causeway said Barrow appeared to be punching Mr Earle and

to have forgotten he had the knife in his hand. After the attack he was seen repeatedly headbutting a wall.

At a hearing at Bristol Crown Court, Barrow, who has two teenage children with his wife, was jailed for four-anda-half years after he admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The court heard the Barrows had been married for 19 years when Mrs Barrow, 43, met Mr Earle over the internet and the pair started an affair. They met in secret, sometimes even at the family home in Patchway in Bristol.

Peter Coombe, prosecuting, said on one occasion the Barrows, Mr Earle and his wife met at Strensham services on

the M5 in Worcestershire to discuss what had been going on.

During this meeting Barrow said to Mr Earle: 'It's a good job this wasn't two hours ago.

'I would be banged up by now because I had a knife.

'If I found you in my house you'd have been dead. I know everything about you. I know where you live.'

The Barrows decided to go to marriage counselling and Mrs Barrow agreed not to see Mr Earle while she and her husband tried to repair their marriage.

But the affair continued.

Barrow found out and

bought a satnav and block of knives as he planned to warn off his wife's lover.

He hired a car and on July 12 drove to Mr Earle's home in Malvern, Worcestershire, to confront him.

But he changed his mind on the way and began to make his way back to Bristol, the court heard. As he drove home along M5 he saw Mr Earle's van overtake him and he decided to change course again and follow him.

Barrow called his wife to ask where she was and found he was at The Mall shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol - where Mr Earle was also heading.

Life Experience

'I was a fool for the sake of love'

M

y name is Ijeoma and this is the story of how I met Azunna. I’m a radio broadcaster. He walked into the office one day after months of interaction through the social media network. I was on duty the day he came so I didn't really give him attention. So to make up for the "shabby" treatment I gave him, I sent him my mobile line which I don’t often do. From there we started talking and the love thing began. I was very inquisitive to know his marital status, and he said he was single, profession: Police. He quickly added that I shouldn't see him as one of those "officers" that make new families in any city they were posted. He convinced me, so to say of his status as a graduate of political science from a good University.

With time his younger brother started talking to me through his phone, sounding so excited speaking with this rare lady his strict brother fell in love with.

My officer friend took time to explain some things to me especially his financial setback due to a project which I saw he handled. I didn't mind so I made no single demand from him for the five months the relationship lasted, rather I spent because I felt my friend needed the help.

He asked for money to fuel the car which I did severally and he showed so much gratitude with promises to pay back when he stabilises. He later took a loan of N30,000 to support his palm oil business he jointly does with his friend. I obliged because he promised to pay by the end of that month. One fateful day, we went to see an old friend of his who asked him about "madam", actually that was the second person to ask him that question.

So, I became curious to know who the madam was because I've repeatedly asked if he was married. When he persisted, his brother assured me that he was not married.

That night was very ugly for us as he nearly hit an electric pole on the road out of anger in my inability to trust him. He said he had a live-in lover whom he did not marry and people seeing us together could still refer to me as his madam. I blamed myself for not trusting him and we moved on. He invited me to a place one day to show me his ex girlfriend who was married and expecting her third baby, and we exchanged pleasantries. A few days later, he brought another ex of his with five children who still follows him about, though he was assisting her with her husband’s police case. That one did not like my face and she did not hide it though they came to my house and my office on many occasions.

I sought to know why he couldn't let his ex be. He saw nothing wrong in being close to them still.

I was to go for an official training that was to last ten weeks and

Aloe Blacc

She called me all the names she could remember, and said I enticed her husband with my money and food

that looked like 10 years but I had to go, so for the third time in our five months, we spent the night together.

I travelled two days later.

When I saw three missed calls from his line, I happily called back only to hear a woman’s voice asking if I wasn't done with her husband?

She didn't even allow me utter a word. She called me many unprintable names, and said I enticed her husband with my money and food. I still did not get it because the guy I was dealing with ‘proved’ that he was single, apart from his brother and those his women, he would return from weekends and say he was cleaning his house since no one was living inside. He operated from his semi urban city village while his station was in the capital where my office was. She kept calling till 10pm when she told me that my single boyfriend is a father of three! I flashed back to the day I asked him of two little girls he used as his screen saver. He had told me that they were his nieces. However, I managed to send apologetic text messages to the woman explaining from my own angle all that happened.

I fell sick, ashamed and sorry for my naivety. I felt bad when I recalled him saying, "No lady has ever been this nice to me. I won't pay you back with a bad coin.” It was hard for me because I did not tell him a single lie for the period the friendship lasted.

I remembered a song by Don Williams entitled, "I'll be faithful to you" that he always played for me whenever we were together. All the same, I switched my mind to other things and felt better. Thank God I was away from the city so I did not have to see him for 10 weeks. Memories of him have now been replaced by other positive activities. Though he thinks we can still make up when I return, I do not know on what platform that will happen. I was a fool for love.

[Pre-Chorus:] Now I'm gonna say how I feel And what I wanna say is love is the only thing that's real Now I'm gonna tell you what to do Just believe that love is the only thing we have that's true [Chorus:] Love is the answer Love is the answer Love is the answer to the questions in your mind If you looking it's the answer that you'll find It's the only thing that everybody needs It's the only thing that makes us truly free [Verse 2:] Friends nowhere to be found To help you when you are down But you know that you're the one to blame We know what's wrong from what's right Nobody wins in a fight but still we play the game [Bridge:] Just look around the whole wide world So many beautiful things to see Take my hand and come along spread some love with me.

Love Poem

Unknown

A Part of My Heart I’ve made many wishes, I’ve dreamt many dreams, I’ve prayed many prayers, I’ve talked to God, And I’ve seen, What I thought was love, Come and go.

My hearts been broken, More times than you know, But I’ve kept the faith, I’ve held on, I believed that one day, You would come along; My most perfect love, The beginning of a fairytale, That will live on and on.

You my love, will always be, A part of my heart; A part of me.

*Send your love poems along with your name and number to ireto007@yahoo.com

Romantic Joke

Abusive Husband

A woman got married, but her husband was abusive. She got remarried and that husband ran out on her. She got married again and that husband failed in bed. Finally, she put an ad in the paper: "Looking for a man who won't abuse me, won't leave me, and won't fail me in bed." The next day, the doorbell rings. There is a man with no arms and no legs. "Hello, I saw your ad in the paper," he says. "Tell me a little about you." "Well, I have no arms, so I can't hit you. I have no legs, so I can't run out on you," he replies. "How do I know you're good in bed?" she asks. He says, "I rang the doorbell, didn't I?"

6 DECEMBER 2014

Relationships & Love Advice

‘Help! My ex is back into my life' Dear Love Doctor, I am currently in a really loving relationship. We've only been together a year and a half, but it's been a really great relationship.

My boyfriend is sweet, amazing, kind, loving, and very protective.

I worked really hard to be with him, and I love him more than I could ever describe. However, my ex boyfriend who maltreated me so much in the past is now coming back into my life by trying to sweet-talk me again. And I have fallen for him again and slept with him again against my will. What do I do to keep my ex out of my life?

From Tina.

Love&Living

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

Love Doctor’s Advice: If he truly had fixed his unacceptable behaviours you wouldn't have ended it. Do you want a relationship in which the other person doesn't change but bends over backwards to make you happy each time he screws up? If that didn't work for you then, why would it work for you now? You really need to stop acting immature, grow up and let go of your ex for good, so that you can move forward in your love life. *Send your comments/stories to Love Doctor. E-mail: ireto007@yahoo.com. For free marriage/relationships counseling, call Love Doctor Mike 07031028714, 08131161840.

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fghan police shot dead a bird which had been equipped by the Taliban with an explosive pouch, GPS tracker and detonator.

Alert officers spotted the suspicious bird in the Faryab province in the north of the country, near the border with Turkmenistan.

The bird had several wires protruding from its feathers, a mobile phone detonator and a specially designed 'suicide vest'.

Police were also suspicious about the large bird, because it was not native to the area.

Major General Abdul Nabi Ilham told NBC News that the bird exploded when it was shot and 'suspicious metal stuff' was scattered around.

Ilham added; 'We are gathering all the stuff, but found parts of what looks to be GPS and a small camera.'

The success in Faryab Province comes as the Afghan district police chief in Helmand Province, Ahmadullah Anwari, complained that his officers are suffering from major weapon and equipment shortages.

Anwari said despite his officers

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Odd News

37

facing constant attacks from Taliban insurgents, he can only supply each checkpoint in his district with just three hand grenades.

He said: 'Sometimes up to 200 Taliban attack our checkpoints and if there are no army reinforcements, we lose the fight 'It shames me to say that we don't have enough weapons and equipment. But this is a bitter reality.'

As most foreign combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 after 13 years of war, the experiences of Anwari and other police chiefs and army commanders across the country are NATO's biggest worry.

The United States, which provides the bulk of NATO troops in Afghanistan, has poured some $61 billion into training a 350,000-strong security force.

U.S. and Afghan commanders have praised the bravery and effectiveness of local soldiers, police and others in the face of a Taliban onslaught that has killed more than 4,600 Afghan security force members already this year.

When insurgents attacked a for-

What is erotic massage?

E eign guest house in central Kabul last Thursday, Afghan commandos killed the attackers, but international helicopters and special forces helped in the mop-up operation that lasted hours.

Taliban fighters also entered Camp Bastion, a large base in the southern Helmand province handed over to Afghan troops a month ago by withdrawing U.S. and British forces. It took Afghan soldiers three days to drive the insurgents out.

Courtesy: Daily Mail

rotic massage or sensuous massage is the use of massage techniques to achieve or enhance sexual arousal. Massages have been used for medical purposes for a very long time. Their use for erotic purposes also has a long history. Today it is used by some couples on occasions as part of lovemaking, either as foreplay or as the final sex act. Erotic massages typically feature massages in erogenous zones of the body to increase sexual arousal.

Courtesy: Wikipedia.

38

Love&Living

True Story

M

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

'I drove away my only friend'

y daughter Olivia was due to start school and I attended the parents information session to find out how best to prepare my baby girl for big school.

I walked into a room full of mothers who gave me a disdainful look. I immediately knew what they were thinking. I had my daughter when I was 16 and was now only 21. So, I did stick out like a sore thumb in a sea of middle-aged faces.

It was quite a formidable school with an excellent academic reputation and I knew that in an area like this having a baby in your teens was not the norm. I prided myself on having got my life together — since having my baby I'd met a wonderful older man, Steve, who took on Olivia as his own, and provided me with life's luxuries including a beautiful house and a nice car.

I'd gone back to college and enjoyed working part-time as a dental nurse. In fact the only thing I didn't have was my own family and friends as they had turned their backs on me when I fell pregnant. Steve's parents had passed on and he had no siblings. So, it was pretty much just the three of us which was lonely and isolated at times.

When Olivia started school I volunteered in the canteen and joined the P&C and found parents beginning to slowly open up to me. It was then I met Joanne. Joanne was in her early 30s and was just so bubbly and easy going, she seemed to understand what I had been through and included me in working bees and encouraged me to help on class trips.

We became firm friends and conveniently lived close-by so saw each other a lot. She was my only friend and I was determined to keep her in my life. I suggested we should walk to get fit and walk the girls home from school together every afternoon which she too thought was a great idea.

I also started cooking extra at dinner and dropping it around to her house on my way past.

I planned shopping trips and

SEXUAL COMMUNICATION

10 ways to create true intimacy and be truly happy in your relationship 1. Use relationships to teach you how to be whole within.

Relationships aren’t about having another person complete you, but coming to the relationship whole and sharing your life interdependently. By letting go of the romantic ideal of merging and becoming “one,” you learn as Rainer Maria Rilke says, to love the distances in relationship as much as the togetherness.

family outings together and was thrilled to have found a soul mate. I often rang Joanne in the evening to have a chat before I went to bed and it was during one of our regular chats that Joanne dropped a bomb. She said I was smothering her and she needed more family time but that she would still see me at school. I said I understood but I was deeply hurt and had no idea where this was coming from. I had thought everything was great.

I started to feel isolated again as Joanne withdrew further, so I began to follow her from school so we could run into each other shopping and changed my volunteer day in the canteen to the same as hers. I even took my daughter and enrolled her at the same dance school as Joanne's child so that we could hang out during lessons, but Joanne wasn't the same around me — the comfortable closeness we had shared had gone.

My hurt turned to irrational thinking and I felt sure some other mother had been jealous and tried to break up our friendship. It rapidly got to the stage where Joanne would see me and walk the other way. I drove to her house to find out why she turned her back on me and saw Sarah who was

I even took my daughter and enrolled her at the same dance school as Joanne's child so that we could hang out during lessons

another mother from our school at her house. I was furious being convinced Sarah had been filling Joanne's head with lies about me as she had always turned up her nose at me. I got out of the car and seeing red slapped Sarah across the face. Sarah had a complete look of shock on her face.

I wanted the driveway to swallow me up when I heard Sarah had gone to Joanne's house to bring her daughter's school bag back after Sarah's daughter had picked it up by mistake. I left in a hurry embarrassed at what I had become, I was using Joanne to fill a void in my life. I arranged to see a therapist and would apologise to Joanne and Sarah on Monday.

Monday came and there was no sign of Joanne. I found out she had taken her daughter out of the school. I was completely distraught at what I had done. Everyone soon found out due to Sarah's big mouth.

I needed a fresh start so have moved Olivia to a new school two suburbs away and have started to make new friends but have learnt a lot of important lessons, not the least about boundaries.

Wedding Traditions

Groom drinking from the same cup with Bride's father: Habesha

T

he Abyssinians (now known as the Habesha People, who inhabit the Horn of Africa) had a ceremony involving wine, a cup, and a hole. When two people married, the ceremony was quite normal by today's standards, with feasting, happiness, and seeing the new couple off to the conjugal bliss of their wedding night.

The next morning, the whole village gathers around the site of said bliss.

Basically, to see how it went. Via cup.

The groom appears, holding a cup. He gives the cup to the bride’s father, and one of two things happens.

Hopefully, the cup is just a cup, and the two men drink the wine in-

side together and the marriage is happily cemented. But if, when the groom lets go of the cup, the hole he’d been plugging with his finger opens and all the wine pours out, the wedding is off.

This announces to everyone present that the groom has found that his wife had been “frail” (the term used by the author writing in 1802) before marriage and he is dissatisfied. No words are spoken, but the marriage is annulled, and the father takes his dowry and befrailed daughter back home.

—English Traditions and Foreign Customs, George Laurence Gomme

2. See your partner for who he or she really is.

The romantic tragedy occurs when you view the person you are in love with as a symbol of what they have come to represent, theidea of them. When you realize that more often than not you don’t really know your partner, you begin to discover who they are and how they change and evolve.

3. Be willing to learn from each other.

The key is to see the other as a mirror and learn from the reflection how you can be a better person. When you feel upset, rather than blame your partner and point fingers, remain awake to what has yet to be healed in yourself.

4. Get comfortable being alone.

In order to accept that love can’t rescue you from being alone, learn to spend time being with yourself. By feeling safe and secure to be on your own within the framework of relationship, you will feel more complete, happy, and whole.

5. Look closely at why a fight may begin.

Some couples create separateness by fighting and then making up over and over again. This allows you to continue the romantic trance, creating drama and avoiding real intimacy. If you become aware of what you fear about intimacy, you’ll have a better sense of why you’re fighting—and likely will fight far less.

6. Own who you are.

We generally grasp at romantic love because we’re yearning for something that is out of reach, something in another person that we don’t think we possess in ourselves. Unfortunately, when we finally get love, we discover that we didn’t get what we were looking for.

True love only exists by loving yourself first.

You can only get from another person what you’re willing to give yourself.

7. Embrace ordinariness.

After the fairy-dust start of a relationship ends, we discover ordinariness, and we often do everything we can to avoid it. The trick is to see that ordinariness can become the real “juice” of intimacy.

The day-to-day loveliness of sharing life with a partner can, and does, become extraordinary.

8. Expand your heart.

One thing that unites us is that we all long to be happy. This happiness usually includes the desire to be close to someone in a loving way. To create real intimacy, get in touch with the spaciousness of your heart and bring awareness to what is good within you.

It’s easier to recognize the good in your partner when you’re connected to the good in yourself.

9. Focus on giving love.

Genuine happiness is not about feeling good about ourselves because other people love us; it’s more about how well we have loved ourselves and others. The unintentional outcome of loving others more deeply is that we are loved more deeply.

10. Let go of expectations.

You may look to things such as romance and constant togetherness to fill a void in yourself.

This will immediately cause suffering. If you unconsciously expect to receive love in certain ways to avoid giving that love to yourself, you will put your sense of security in someone else.

Travel &Tourism SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014

Chef's Corner The Boma: Dance, music and food p.40

Travel Personality

Denis Gathanju: I was declared unwanted in Zimbabwe because I’m a journalist p.41

Destination

Inagbe Resort: On the fringe of the Atlantic, a resort like no other p.42

DE EDGE HOTEL PORT HARCOURT

Indeed, sometimes less is more

ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA writes on the simple elegance offered by De Edge Hotel, a new hospitality facility in Port Harcourt.

P

ort Harcourt like Lagos has continued to attract investment in the hospitality sector, with high brow luxury hotels sprouting literarily in the oil rich city. One of the newest additions to the list is De Edge Hotel, which is located in Port Harcourt GRA It comes with its own attractions and a promise of lavish treatment in a posh and elegant environment. The hotel’s façade is an architectural master piece, which exudes serenity.

Besides its classic ambience, the facilities and services are also of elevated class and well apportioned with a fascinating tinge. For many visitors to the hospitality outfit, these are some of the elements which make for an enriching and fulfilling experience. It's no surprise then that the new hotel has somehow become a toast of many since opening for business.

Facilities/services The hotel has 80 pleasantly decorated rooms. The categories include classic and executive rooms, junior and presidential suites, all featuring a number of amenities for the guest's satisfaction with the presidential suite as the star product of the hotel. This is because it comes with a luxury suitable for A-list customers.

Other facilities to explore include the fitness centre, which is fitted with different equipment for aerobatics and other forms of exercises. There is a swimming pool with luscious sit-out and relaxation spot, a tennis court, a bar lounge with inviting scenery, offering choice wine and champagne brands. The restaurant, which also presents a classic atmosphere serves breakfast, lunch/brunch

De Edge Hotel's facade

HOSPITALITY and dinner from its rich blend of African and continental cuisine.

Of course, business and conferences as well as social events of different kinds are hosted by hotel. At weekends, the hotel is a rich spot to unwind because that is when its full blown entertainment and leisure packages are explored by guests, with live band at the swimming pool end and plenty to savour at the bar.

Mission For the high brow hotel managed by South Africa-based LAC Management Consultants, its sight, the general manager, Christine Plaatjies, said is on attracting the corporate business guests, the travellers and leisure seekers. Port Harcourt with its high profile business sure attracts all of these clients.

So Plaatjies has her work cut out and she sure has the ability to attract the best guests. This much she and her team proved at the recent Akwaaba, a travel exhibition in Lagos where they stunned the exhibition visitors with their outstanding display and performance.

The general manager explained that the hotel is in a class of its own, describing it as luxury personified and a place where anyone with high taste, discerning eyes, and craving personal-

Typical bedroom setting

ized service and attention should visit. According to her, it's the philosophy that underpins the hotel's watch word - "Lavish Indulgence Guaranteed". You can take her to task on her promise next time you're in Port Harcourt, which is also known as the Garden City.

There is ample security at the hotel which also offers ground transfer services with escort and chauffeur-driven vehicle to pick up guests at the airport and drive them to their meetings and around the city for the duration of their stay. ‘‘Book your stay at De Edge Hotel Port Harcourt and leave the rest to us, lavish indulgence guaranteed,’’ Plaatjies said. The man-

NEW TELEGRAPH PARTNER HOTELS

FESTAC, LAGOS

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

39

ABA LAGOS

ABA

agement of the hotel, she adds, ‘‘is well constituted, embracing in its fold, key professionals with tons of experience in the industry. Our commitment to our guests is to deliver the best service on time, with excellence and integrity. Our staff are highly experienced and qualified to cater to the needs of guests, each member contributing fully to ensure that the highest standards are maintained."

It is no wonder then that the hotel boldly promises its guests thus: "Walk through our doors; with our international standard concierge service whose sole purpose is to cater to our guests' every need, lavish indulgence is guaranteed."

B E N E F I TS There are lots of benefits to derive as one of our partner hotels. For enquiries and details on how to join the programme, please contact Andrew Iro Okungbowa: 08023152195 (sms only), e-mail: iroandy@ymail.com or Chinyere Opara: 08063768131 (sms only) e-mail angela_curtis-2@live.com

40 Travel & Tourism

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

CHEF’S CORNER

The Boma: Dance, music and food Located within the Victoria Falls, The Boma is more than an eating place, showcasing a mix of African delicacies and cultural entertainment, writes ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA Live cooking station

Diners helping themselves to some food at the buffet set

T

he Boma is one of the spots located within the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. In the local Shone dialect, The Boma means "place of eating" and it comes with its own attractions and defining moments for many of the visitors who patronise the eatery in their numbers daily.

It is not just an eatery; rather, it is an African theatre of sorts where you are lavishly treated to different delicacies in the Zimbabwean tradition amid entertainment laced with heavy music,

Cultural troupe entertaining guests

percussion, dancing and singing.

With The Boma the live cooking station that you have ever experienced anywhere else pales almost into insignificance because there is nothing really like the full buffet on display and the live cooking station with a full lamb barbecue on the grilling strove. Not even The Carnivores in Nairobi, Kenya, comes close to the experience of The Boma.

It is no wonder then why every tourist that visits Victoria Falls often

feels obliged to visit the eatery to experience its special offerings. It is on high demand and usually bookings are made in advance for any group or tourist visiting for a dinner. Special and personalised treats are also available at the place.

On this night of visit, the place was already in full swing; the car park was full and it was evident there was a similar scene inside, judging by the pulsating music. But first, the group had to go through the ritual of the home, that is, a traditional print fabric is draped around your shoulder.

It is a makeover every visitor is treated to and that marked the beginning of what later turned out to be over three hours enthralling moment.

Thereafter, we were treated to a welcoming cultural performance by the troupe and then the journey into The Boma food sanctuary began.

For a first time visitor, it is a sight to behold with the grounds buzzing and enticing buffet set up at the left hand corner while somewhere you have a grill station with a lamb barbecue set on it. Behind it was another live cooking station where different delicacies are offered. It is actually a blend of African and continental.

The setting here was entirely African with the food court made into four different villages, namely Ndlovu, Monde, Chisuma and Chidobe. Each village enjoys its separate setting with stewards and bar attached to each village. Takawira was our head steward and gingerly he ushered the group to a reserved table in Ndlovu village with other guests already seated and enjoying the savoury meal from the simmering pots.

Minutes later Takawira introduced his team to us and then began another ritual - washing of hands in an earthen bowl then a welcoming drink – chibok – made from maize.

Thereafter, he took the group through a three-course meal with the special offer being mopuni worms.

It is actually the tradition of the house to have a special animal of the day with a star prize for any daring per-

son willing to have a go at it. So for this night, mopuni worms were on offer.

There were others on the list. For instance, the soup of the day was guinea fowl soup and there was crocodile tail for starters. Impala and warthog meat, marinated chicken, fish, kudu steak, chicken kebab, pork sausage and sivloin steak, all made the endless list.

The atmosphere was warm, colourful and exciting as the spirit of conviviality reigned among guests with everyone mingling freely and exchanging pleasantries. Each took turn at the buffet set and live cooking station to fill their plates.

Just when you thought it was time to bid farewell as people have had their fill, then came the cultural troupe taking over the centre stage. They performed different songs accompanied by drumming until it rose to a crescendo with the food court turning suddenly into a full blown African theatre.

Dancing and singing filled the air with the leader of the cultural troupe directing the affairs. The guests are not left out of the showpiece as drums are distributed among the guests and the four villages are thrown into a sweltering singing and drumming session followed by dancing as each guest took to the dancing floor, singing and enjoying the African beat.

It was a blissful night to remember for the memorable African setting, good food, the kindred spirit and cultural entertainment.

As we took our leave of the food court at the end of the night’s wonderful and entertaining engagement, Mark, the manager and his team were stationed at the departure lounge exchanging pleasantries and bidding everyone good bye, all smiles as the team chorused a joyous "Siyabonga (thank you). We look forward to welco ming you back."

But not without taking off the shawl as there was someone at the door to make sure of this because many would have easily walked through the door without remembering to take them off given that it had become part of you for the night.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Travel & Tourism

41

Denis Gathanju: I was declared unwanted in Zimbabwe because I’m a journalist TRAVEL PERSONALITY Denis Gathanju, a Kenyan, is a publisher with Safari Communications, and has travelled extensively within Africa. He was in Lagos recently for Akwaaba -Africa Travel Market - exhibition where he recounted his travel odyssey in an interview with ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA.

D

The motivation enis Gathanju, a Kenyan, could be described as a young, talented and dashing travel industry practitioner with an enterprising spirit. He is always on the move round the Africa continent and the world in pursuit of his career and interest as a travel journalist and entrepreneur in search of a new frontier in the travel world.

Since dreaming of the travel world and its fascination in his childhood days, Denis grew up taking to the industry as he experimented from one field to another and making new discoveries. “I have always wanted to be in the travel and tourism industry. I started travelling at a very young age and I created mental images in my mind whenever I travelled,” he revealed.

He trained as a journalist and tried his hands on different beats before settling for travel journalism. “This was one of the reasons why I trained to be a journalist. I first ventured into business and aviation journalism and then added travel journalism and photography along the way. I have been doing this for 15 years now,” Said Gathanju.

“The attraction was mainly led by a curiosity. A curiosity to see and know what is happening in another place. This led to a deep desire to live a new experience; a desire to meet new people and see new places. The motivation has always been driven by telling these stories to my family and friends and sharing it with everyone else. I become an interface by connecting what I see, feel and experience and transmit this to them,” he said of the motivation for his engagement with the world of travel.

Career path Ever since signing up as a travel journalist, he studied journalism from the London School of Journalism and cultivated the passion of telling the African story, to reflect the vibrancy of the people on the move, Gathanju who is also an avid supporter of Manchester United Football Club, has worked with different mainstream

Gathanju

media organisations across the world. “I have also been involved in creating travel publications and journals for leading hotel brands in Kenya and across East Africa as well as providing consultancy work in brand visibility and marketing for some of these brands,” he revealed of his career path.

“I have also been involved in creating tourism, promotions and marketing publications in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Ethiopia where we have worked with both the government agencies and the private sectorled organisations,” he said.

While his Safari Communications Limited outfit has seen him up the ante by providing corporate communications for clients drawn from a large spectrum of the travel and tourism industry, including governments. “Moreover, we are now getting more into consultancy projects and have been involved in this for the last two years now. We are currently working with various organisations, both in the private and public sectors, charged with the responsibility of travel, tourism and hospitality marketing,” he said.

A triple heritage For the Kenyan-born travel communicator and travel promoter, he is just living his dream as he says “the experience has been awesome and has been deeply rewarding. I am doing what I love the most – travelling, writing and taking pic-

African people are not hopeless. We are a dynamic people, a people full of positive energy, passion and a desire to change for the better

tures. These are my three loves.

“My passion forever remains providing and projecting a positive outlook of Africa and about Africa.

I want to tell the African story from an African perspective. I want to help define Africa and I believe that one of the best ways of going about this is through writing and photography that tell and capture the positive and vibrant energy of Africa.”

For all you know, Gathanju is driven by the passion to put Africa on the world map and revise the stereotype image and perception people have of it as a ‘dark continent.’

“For as long as I can remember, Africa has often been defined by the western media and for many years, they have associated Africa and its people as a hopeless continent and a hopeless people.

“But that is not what Africa is, that is not what African people are.

We are better than that and I refuse to be branded hopeless and I know African people are not hopeless. We are a dynamic people, a people full of positive energy, passion and a desire to change for the better. That is who we are and that is what we are going to be,” Gathanju added.

Memorable travel experiences “Scuba diving on the Kenyan coast is one of them. I went to Diani on the Kenyan south coast and I got a four-hour crash course in scuba diving. The following day, I was out in the open sea with a group of tour-

ists. The sensation of first swimming with the dolphins and then diving under the waters to the bottom of the ocean and seeing the rich marine life and the vast coral reef under the ocean was breathtaking.

“The following day, I got another chance when I joined a film crew from the National Geographic channel who were shooting a documentary on Kenya’s marine life. We performed a total of five dives on the shoot. It was during the shoot that I made my deepest dive to about 24 metres and we filmed around a sunken ship on the ocean floor.

“The other highlight would be flying on a hot-air balloon in the Maasai Mara and watching the multitude of the wildebeest make their trek across the plains of the Maasai Mara matching towards the crossing point of the Mara River.

It was a magical moment not only for me, but for everyone who witnessed this. It is an image that sticks in the mind forever.

“My third experience was when I was celebrating my 28th birthday.

I went sport fishing in the Indian Ocean around the Pemba Island Channel. It had been raining all morning and the sea was rough and the winds were strong. I finally got some action when we hooked a blue marlin. Marlins are the big game of the ocean. They are powerful swimmers and are very aggressive when caught.

“I battled it for close to 30 minutes non-stop. The marlins are loved by sport-fishing enthusiasts because they jump high above the waters when caught and put up such a fight. They make spectacular acrobatic somersaults mid-air in a bid to free themselves. On this day, I also set a record by landing a 200lb marlin on a 50lb tackle.

Kicked out of Zimbabwe “My worst experience was when I got kicked out of Zimbabwe because my passport showed that I was a journalist. I had travelled at a time when Zimbabwe was in heightened political mood with the presidential elections just around the corner.

"I pleaded with the immigration officials that my visit was for a good cause, but they would hear none of my pleas. I even asked one of the senior immigration officials to google my name to see the kind of stories I wrote and that I was not visiting Zimbabwe to report on the political situation there, but they wouldn't let me through. I was forced to sign legal documents before they cancelled the entry stamp on my passport and was hounded out of the country.

"Never in my life have I ever felt so unwanted. I was declared an unwanted person in Zimbabwe and the senior immigration official personally drove me to South Africa and I was handed over to South African immigration officials. It was a very humiliating experience.

This has never happened to be before even when I travel to Europe or Asia and it was deeply painful since an African was doing this to a fellow African in Africa."

42 Travel & Tourism

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Inagbe Resort: A resort like no Private islands often sound like an exotic concept we tend to associate with locations like the Caribbean or other far-flung places on the map. But OLUSHOLA RICKETTS who was at the Inagbe Grand Resort and Leisure, situated on the Lagos Atlantic coastline, writes that the island perfectly fits the bill.

L

agos boasts pockets of islands, most of them in their rustic and pristine stage.

Until over a year ago, Inagbe Island, at least, the portion where Inagbe Grand Resort and Leisure has now made its home, was in that class and almost one of the best kept secrets as not many people knew of its existence.

But not anymore, as the island, which sits pretty between Tarkwa Bay and the Atlantic City - accessible by sea from either Victoria Island or Ikoyi end of the city - is now experiencing a new lease of life and a new existence of its own as Grand Imperio Group, which is a real estate development firm, has opened up the island to the world.

A first time visitor to the island would be awesome struck by its natural pull and it enchanting allure then as one inched further, exploring the ongoing work to transform the place into an habitable enclave and with the resort, which is already enjoying some level of activities and patronage then you would understand why every visit or finds it fascinating and difficult to leave at the end of duty tour.

It is indeed a picturesque and serene environment, once in here, one is cocooned in a natural and a different world where you are totally oblivious of the bustle and hustle of Lagos some hundred metres away.

It is a new world and perfect picture destination that the owners of Grand Imperio Group are trying to create here.

A destination with a life of its own and which with time will incorporate an industrial outlay, a safari-like experience and estate apartments, among other attractions. The resort stirs the imagination of every visitor.

Resort’s facilities According to the chief executive officer of the company, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the resort is envisioned to be completed in three phases. The first phase, which is ongoing, has 125 chalets. One interesting and appealing attraction of the resort and the island itself is the fact that nearly all the facilities and amenities utilised Nigerian products.

The 125 chalets are of different categories, from standard, deluxe to ocean view executive rooms and two bedroom bungalow as well as six bedroom villa. Besides, other well apportioned facilities include multipurpose hall (seating over 1,500

The gangway that leads to the resort

DESTINATION people), conference centre, floating lounge to the lagoon, nine course golf range and an indoor sports hall with table tennis and snooker board.

Others are tennis court, basket ball and volley ball courts, horse ranch, swimming pool with ocean view, standard lagoon view swimming pool, beach volley ball, beach soccer and health spa, which offers different treatment options and an outdoor platform by the ocean as well as ongoing construction of 18-hole golf course.

Ogunwusi explained that the 18hole golf course cuts across the three phases of the resort development. “We are currently at the hole number 2. We are going to extend it to the second phase and the third because 18-hole golf course stretches along the three phases. To have a standard 18-hole golf course is a lot of work.

By February next year, we should be

done with the first phase, but it is now open to the public,� he said.

The restaurant and bars offer the best culinary experience with African and continental themed cuisines on the bill. The bar and the lounge come with enticing different flavours of winery and drinks. There also water related facilities such as quad bikes with the beach front providing an exciting and ample space for people to savour the bliss of nature and enjoy the leisure packages of the resort, which come in different sizes with live band performances to the bargain.

Services It is a full service resort with many services available on request, from lodging, leisure and entertainment packages of all sorts. It also caters to those craving for destination wedding and honeymoon. Party and conference planners will surely find the resort's available options quite most attractive and appealing because they come with different incentives. Picnickers could also explore

to their feel as the environment and a number of the facilities here are well suited for that while children would find it a haven of some sort to explore. What with the provision of 10,000-square metre theme park for children.

Apart from the destination appeal, Ogunwusi said there are other ways they intend to promote Inagbe. According to him, there are three means of generating employment: agriculture, construction and sporting activities. "What we are doing here is to set up a sports centre. Since a lot of companies do corporate social responsibility (CSR), we would set up competitions here and get companies to sponsor them. So we have different things we can do at this resort; maybe other resorts are limited in what they offer. We have a lot to offer, we want to set up industries here too. There is so many diversified ways we intend to promote this place than its destination appeal."

Industrial outlay Also a commanding presence

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Travel & Tourism 43

other on the fringe of the Atlantic proached believed in the project.

They considered it too gigantic and unrealisable, he recalled.

But Ogunwusi and his team where undaunted by the bland reactions from the banks and instead worked out alternative financing plan, which today seemed to have paid off as the project is on its feet and running according to the plan.

“It was very stressful but we believed in it. It is a good platform for us to launch our research that we had put together for many years. It was very stressful in terms of support, getting finance partners and affiliation at the initial stage. But we are now at the stage where we have many investors both local and international ready to buy into the idea.

"At the initial stage people wondered why we would wake up one day, go into a jungle and seek to turn it into a paradise suddenly. Obviously we cannot do it alone; it is too robust a project for one person. We also offered plots for private development, which come with access to the resort facilities," he said.

Living room

Swimming pool area

Floating events platform

here is the industrial activities taking place with Grand Imperio Group identifying over 35 industries, which they hope would be sited at the island. This, for them, would be a huge boost for both the Lagos and Nigerian economy. But at the moment, there is furniture factory where all the beddings and furniture required by the resort are produced. There is also showroom with many products on display.

Ogunwusi offers a glimpse of the scope of ongoing work at the facility and the job prospects he reckons they would yield. “Today we have over 400 youths who are gainfully employed and making many interesting things. We have been able to identify the usefulness of the coconut stem and a processing factory.

Everything about coconut is useful, from the stem, the leaf and the root.

It has a lot of potassium content and for every coconut we cut down we plant seven. All these mangoes and plants here are very useful. Mangoes can be used to make papers. So we are very proud of what we have been

able to put together in a year.”

The journey Grand Imperio Group is a major player in the real estate sector. They are involved in over two thousand homes development with a strong presence along the Lekki-Epe corridor. The journey into the once virgin Inagbe Island has not been easy task but more than anything else, their partnership with the Esinmikan Royal Family, the original owners of the island stretching over 300 hectares, has helped greatly.

Ogunwusi was full of praises for the monarch, Oba Mobadele Oyekan, whom he said has displayed a lot of passion for the project and also helped to stave off opposition particularly from the "omo oni le" (presumed offspring of traditional land owners who demand payment from developers with threat to disrupt construction if such payments are not made).

“Yes, we had issues initially, but we were able to address it by working in conjunction with the royal family.

We also sold the dream of this place

to the omo oni le that it was better we build together than to destroy. In terms of our possession, partnership and development of this place, there was no issue. We told them we were going to generate a lot of employment. It was a deserted land; no electricity supply and nobody wanted to live here," he explained.

With that hurdle crossed then came the issue of financing. None of the financial institutions ap-

Golf range

Energy The island is not connected to the public electricity grid, but the company has solved that problem through the use of solar power and diesel generator to power its operations and the entire complex. According to Ogunwusi, this was easy to achieve because not much energy is required as it is a natural environment with nature helping to light up and keep the place warm.

Accessing the resort The island and the resort can be accessed only by water and to make it easier for people to visit, the company has acquired several boats.

Given the phobia many Nigerians have for water, one would assume it affects patronage. By no means, says Ogunwusi.

“We have not finished yet and we already have bookings from a lot of corporate organisations. Don’t forget for over 20 years now there is a place known as Ilashe beach that people go to. Don’t forget that a lot of wealthy Nigerians are now investing in yachts and boats. The heat in Nigeria is about 36 degree, but when you are on the water you feel nothing.

"It is a gradual thing and Nigerians are waking up to it. Unfortunately, more foreigners are enjoying our waterways because we are always afraid. We have good patronage because what we are doing is great and the proximity too is helping us. It is very close to Victoria Island and Ikoyi; just 15 minutes boat drive,” said Ogunwusi.

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SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014

Politics 45

Special Report

We assist security agents fight crime – GCPSF Commandant p.47

FaceOff

Discordant tunes over GEJ's right to re-contest p.48-49

Interview

The political class has betrayed this generation, says Utomi p.53

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

I will root out Boko Haram, says Modu-Sheriff

Former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, in this interview with AHMED MIRINGA, speaks on his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party, Boko Haram and state of governance in the North-East states.

You have always been identified with the opposition, what informed your decision to join the ruling PDP? You are very correct. I am a consistent politician and I remained with one political party all through my political journey till now. I was a founding member of the National Republican Convention (NRC) and I remain with the party despite the fact that we lost election at that time. I was a member of the All Peoples Party (APP), in fact we brought the party to the state and we formed the government. From APP, we metamorphosed to All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).

All the parties we formed were based on principles of democratic representation and good governance. The need came when we had to take certain decisions. As a political party, we agreed to go into merger with the idea to make us strong and position ourselves as a formidable opposition in the country.

Thus, we formed what is now known as the All Progressives Congress (APC), but unfortunately, the party did not go far when it was hit by greed and selfishness as against our principles. We were thinking about fairness, equity and justice, but all these were not found in APC, as such, we had to take a decision, which informed our thinking to take our state to conform to the central government.

I am not doing politics today for myself.

I am doing politics today for my people and for the benefit of the people I represent, that is, the people of Borno State. Today, you and I know that if there is one state that has suffered a lot in terms of insurgency, it’s Borno State.

You and I know very well that all the security agencies under our constitution belong to the central government, with President Goodluck Jonathan as Commander-in-Chief. As a politician, the president coming through a political party, which formed government at the centre, owes his party and states which form government under his party. The president has his people, who will tell him what should be done to their states; they will always have his attention because they belong to the same clan. Whether what they will tell him is right or wrong, he must listen to them. Now, Borno State people are suffering, and I know that certain things are achievable only when you belong to the central government. And if it will take me to join the mainstream political party in order to go and fight for my people, I think my decision to join the PDP has been justified.

In any case, Borno State is not attracting federal presence being in the opposition. Every time we are in the opposition, we do not benefit in terms of dividends of democracy like states under the PDP. This is because it is natural that the central government will have to satisfy those states that voted them in. If we are not going to assist the central government to form a government, then, it is not duty bound to bring the dividends of democracy to us.

Of course, to provide security to protect lives and property is its responsibility, but we will be in a better position to get its attention if we are part of the central government.

I can say that the totality of my reason for

joining the PDP is to bridge that gap between the people of Borno State and the central government.

Do you have any political ambition now that you are in the PDP? To be honest with you, I nurse no political ambition, but people, my supporters have gone to the extent of buying form for me to run for the Senate, and I told them that, I did not make up my mind about running for any political office. My interest now is for Borno State to have the desired peace. I think that is the issue on my mind and I believe this is also what all well-meaning Borno leaders should be thinking about – Peace for Borno State. Peace as we used to have and enjoy in the past. I want all those Borno indigenes who were forced to flee their homes, their villages and local governments to go back to their normal lives. I want our children to go back to school in their various local government areas, without anyone coming to kill them. These are my prayers, wish and interest now, not election.

Would you succumb to pressure to contest election in 2015?

It is really not important for me. I think anybody can represent Borno State. It does not have to be Ali Sheriff. I have represented them three times as a senator. There is nothing about running for political office that it has to be me. However, if they insist and I have no CONTINUED ON PAGE 46

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Politics

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

‘APC lacks fairness, equity’

CONTINUED from PAGE 45

option, I will have to do what they want. I will have no choice but to please them. But like I said, for me, let's have some peace in the state, contesting for position or being in the Senate is not my priority.

If you eventually succumb to pressure, how will you use your office to end insurgency in Borno State?

You know I was Chief Executive of Borno State for two terms. I have also been in the Senate three times. I was the minority leader in the Senate two times. I am a grassroots politician who travelled to all nooks and crannies of the state. By all standards and indices, I know Borno State’s terrain. My first move will be to ensure that peace returns to the state. If I am forced to go back to the National Assembly, I will make sure I belong to the committee on security and work on the relationship I have built with people overtime to ensure that, attention is given to the state, and to the North-East in general in order to root out insurgency in this area and region.

Today, half of the people of Borno are living in Maiduguri. This is not what they want, this is not their making, but they were forced to abandon their homes because some wicked elements are seeking to take their lives.

This should not be so, but no thanks to insurgency. Our people have suffered enough. There is abject poverty in the state, particularly in the rural areas because these people depend on their farm produce to feed and clothe themselves.

Unfortunately, they could not farm because some people will not allow them have peace. I don't think there is any society that will love to promote poverty. It is my responsibility and the responsibility of the leaders of Borno to ensure an end to the precarious situation our state has found itself. I know the working of the National Assembly. If I am forced to go, I know that, all I need to do is to lean on that experience I have over the years to ensure I bring succour to our people. I know what we can do as a group to bring succour especially on the insurgency situation facing our people, and the generality of the people of the North-Eastern states.

You’ve been accused of sponsoring Boko Haram…

(Laughs) I was very shocked and devastated, when I was also told that this entire Stephen Davis saga was all fabrication. I believe if there is one person that suffered in the hands of the insurgents or Boko Haram, that person is me. I cannot be a sponsor and at the same time bear the highest number of casualty.

By my upbringing, my association and my relationship with people, I have never met one person that is Boko Haram. To this moment, no member of my family was found or arrested as a member of Boko Haram. I lost my brother, born of the same parents to Boko Haram. I lost my cousins to Boko Haram and I lost many of my friends and associates to Boko Haram. Now I ask; who are those people killing us? I think those people who are making the allegations are the same people killing us. They are the same people going round with propaganda in order to

Modu-Sheriff

give a dog a bad name to hang it.

The truth about this is that, I do not look like someone who would even have relationship with Boko Haram not to talk of being a sponsor. Truth never hides its colour. I am happy today because facts have emerged, all those fabricating these lies have been arrested. Those that fabricated this so-called Stephen Davis saga are currently in the hands of security agencies. All of them have met their waterloo. When the security agencies finish their investigation, they will let us know who asked them to go round fabricating stories. There is no way I could be chief executive of a state and a Boko Haram sponsor, yet they are killing my own brothers, relations and friends. I don't think even the devil will kill his own.

The allegation was a pure fabrication by some people in this state, everything you hear about this Boko Haram was fabricated here in Maiduguri. The photographs of those claiming to be Boko Haram commanders with Stephen Davis were taken within Maiduguri. We now know those behind those masks, we know their locations in the state and we know the people behind that fabrication now. It is very unfortunate that they allowed themselves to be used. They were all arrested and in due course they would be presented to Nigerians to tell who sent or asked them to do what they did.

When the security agencies complete their work, they would let the whole world know and our people and Nigerians would know who Boko Haram is and who is not Boko Haram. For me, I have no association with Boko Haram. I have no relationship with Boko Haram and I would never be one. I have nothing in common with people that are associated with Boko Haram. I mean,

what is Boko Haram? Simply, western education is haram. Everything I became today was through western education. So, if western education is haram, I could not have become a senator, I could not have become a governor, I could not have become what I have become today.

They believe that, anything to do with western education is haram – prohibited. I cannot be sitting here and talking to you if I believe that western education or everything western is haram. Almighty Allah will expose them, Allah will deal with them and I pray Allah to expose them and make sure they do not see anything good in their lives. Because of mere politics they want to destroy our names, Allah will deal with them one after the other. I pray very soon Allah will expose them.

The president has his people, who will tell him what should be done to their states; they will always have his attention because they belong to the same clan

Your political opponents are accusing you of not being mindful of the victims of insurgency, who are now taking refuge in many camps made for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). How would you react to this accusation?

Sometimes I wonder how some people think. The people of Borno State are not fools, they cannot continue to tell lies and people will keep quiet. I think so many people have already replied them. But I will tell you this, the first time I came to Maiduguri after leaving office in 2011, was to see the people that were displaced as a result of the worsening crises situation. I met with the victims and addressed them afterwards. I gave them my own contribution to assists them as a short term of cushioning the effect of the crises.

When people were killed by Boko Haram, even at the time when nobody was ready to go out to some of our local governments, I went round

to commiserate with our people. I drove over 180 kilometres to visit and commiserate with victims at Kala-Balge. When nobody wants to go on such a voyage, I bear the risk to condole families of those that were killed by Boko Haram. I am not from Kala- Balge, but I went there with all the risk. I went to Biu as well and other places.

The truth is that, even recently, when the Federal Government brought some relief materials to the victims of insurgency at the camps, some politicians went and locked up the schools where the victims are housed. How can you lock up people as prisoners for God's sake?

They did that, to prevent us from delivering the relief materials to the victims. But praise to Allah, the people came to us. Some of them were crying. They said they were sleeping on bare floor and don’t have enough food. They said, here comes succour from the Federal Government but the state government is preventing them from collecting.

I do not know what kind of politics we are playing with victims that need assistance. What was their crime that they should not be allowed to receive relief materials from the Federal Government, yet the state government continued to plead with Federal Government to send assistance? The state government has nothing to tell Borno citizens, it can’t confront the people because the government is already three and half years and there is actually very little to show as compared to their earnings.

Some people have said so many interesting things about the government. Let the government come out and tell the people of the state what it did in three and half years with the resources entrusted to them, rather than looking for excuses and abusing people. I was told recently, that the APC chairman in the state was abusing us. This is a small boy coming out to insult us. Well, we cannot join issues with them because they are too small to join issues with. They are children, who do not know their right from their left. They can abuse us all times but nothing scratches our skin. For them, politics is to go out and insult people, for them, politics is to go out and tell lies, but that is not politics and that is certainly not what we are teaching the younger ones.

We are teaching them to go and join politics in order to help people, to bring dividends of democracy to their people and not to go and be abusing people. Surely, that is not what we teach our younger ones. We did not teach them to carry stones and throw at people, or to carry cutlasses and knifes to go and kill people. But as strange as this is, we believe that the government lacks what to tell people as such, it is encouraging madness in the name of politics.

Today, they call us Boko Haram, tomorrow I do not know what they are going to call us, but when this puzzle is revealed and every Nigerian and Borno indigenes in particular come face to face with the truth everybody will answer his name because like I said, the people of Borno State and indeed Nigerians and the world will know who is Boko Haram and who is not.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

How would you describe Gallant Community Protection and Safety Foundation?

GCPSF is a Foundation that was established to assist existing security outfits like the Police, Army, Civil Defence Corps, and the Navy. It helps with information that these security agencies need to track down criminals in various neighbourhood. Members could make arrests and handover criminals to the appropriate authorities for further interrogation and proper investigations.It is a volunteer organisation and new cadet officers just graduated. They were equipped with adequate knowledge on how to fight crime in the society.

Apart from Lagos, where else is the Foundation located?

It has been in existing in about 25 states including Delta and Akwa Ibom before coming to berth in Lagos.

What exactly is the focus of the Foundation?

Our theme is National Security and Surveillance; in doing that we do not need arms. So, our officers are only equipped with the kind of intelligence needed to perform their duty.

Would that be enough to function properly given the crime rate in the Nigerian society?

It may not be enough but we are starting from somewhere. I say so because most times these officers encounter criminals that are armed. In such situations we can’t face them for doing so would amount to suicide.

Our main focus is to make sure that we spot such criminals and furnish the relevant security agents with the needed intelligence report.

How long would the officers need to train before they are certify fit for the job?

It is usually a onemonth rigorous training; though, it could last for up to three months in some circumstances.

Do the officers earn salary?

Not really because we encourage them to have something else doing to sustain themselves. Ours is an NGO that survives through donations. The officers also donate one thing or the other for the running of the organisation. Many of them,like I said earlier, are working.

We make it a policy that they have tangible thing doing before they join.

How would like the government both at the

‘We assist security agencies in the fight against crime'

Special Report

Gallant Community Protection and Safety Foundation (GCPSF) is a non-government organisation (NGO) established to help security agents fight crime in the Nigerian society. In this interview with MOSES KADIRI and EMEKA OKOBIA, the Deputy Commandant of the Foundation, Larry Diribe,says the focus of the organisation is to furnish the relevant agencies with the needed intelligence report for effective policing. Excerpt. state and federal level to assist the organisation to make it more effective?

That is a very good question. We recognise the fact that security is very paramount and

should be everybody’s business. It would not be a bad idea if the government adopts us. But, first, we are trying to work hard to be recognised as an organisation that is se-

rious in helping to fight crime in the society. May be when the authorities are convinced that we are doing enough,they could look in our direction. It’s only then we

can start thinking of how to lure them to assist us in some critical areas to operate maximally. When that happens our officials could be given stipends at the end of every month.

47

Okafor

That is what we are fighting for when we say we are assisting the existing security outfit; that means there must be empowerment from the federal government also.

FaceOff SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH 6 DECEMBER 2014

What do you think about President Jonathan's declaration to re- contest?

There are two issues involved in Jonathan's declaration. Jonathan is not legally qualified to contest the election again to become the President of Nigeria. At best he can go and contest for the governorship of Bayelsa State, Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or member of the House of Representatives.

Why do you say so?

Because the Constitution says nobody, cumulatively, can be President or Governor for more than eight years. If you add the one year and twenty three days he served after the death of Yar 窶連dua to the four years he would have spent, by May next year plus, another fresh four years, you will find out that he would be President for nine years and twenty three days. The Nigerian Constitution does not allow for a fractional tenure so, he can't by law seek a fresh election to the office of the President.

Jonathan not eligible for second term, says Galadima Former National Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change( CPC), Buba Galadima is an opinion leader from Yobe State, North East, Nigeria and tells ONWUKA NZESHI that President Goodluck Jonathan is not eligible to contest the 2015 presidential elections.

Are you saying that it was an illegality for Jonathan to have declared his intention to seek reelection as he recently did?

He can declare one million times, this is democracy. But by law, he is not qualified to contest the election. If it is his wish to waste public funds, he can go ahead and declare but he cannot contest.

Could that be the reason why there are many court cases challenging his eligibility to re-contest the next election?

Of course, he himself knows that he is not eligible. Secondly, because you know I said there are two issues, even if Jonathan contests this election, he cannot win under a free, fair and transparent atmosphere.

What do you mean by that?

I have said what I mean. If he runs, he would lose because out of every 10 Nigerians, nine does not want to hear anything about Jonathan or Goodluck. He cannot win any free and fair election. He is relying on using the military, police and INEC to do the magic for him. But he should know that he has kept the soldiers outside the barracks for too long for people to see through them. Nobody fears any soldier again because we have also seen how soldiers also flee

refugees were kept in Cameroun and commiserated with them.

But President Jonathan has not deemed it fit to go and commiserate with his own countrymen who are living under very harsh conditions in another country.

What do you think about the recent cease fire which the Nigerian government signed with Boko Haram and how the deal crashed a few days later?

The issue of Boko Haram and the failed cease fire is not surprising. When over 200 school girls were abducted from Chibok, President Jonathan did not believe that they were actually abducted until it was too late. Now Jonathan this was what informed his actions when he visited President Idris Debby of Chad to negotiate a cease fire. He went on the mission without carrying along, the Nigerian Foreign Minister, the Nigerian Ambassador in Chad and the governors of Yobe, Adamawa and Borno. He went with a known Boko Haram sponsor who is a member of his party and they held a private meeting with the President of Chad and some people in that country.

This was where the deal with Boko Haram was struck.

But his party has chosen him as their sole candidate ahead of their primary election. What do you have to say about this?

Yes. His pay is not the law. I am talking about the law. Unless the judiciary abdicates its responsibility, Jonathan cannot contest the next presidential elections.

What do you advice his party, the PDP to do?

It s in their interest to stop him from going ahead to contest this election. I wish anybody in his party can have the guts to contest with him and go to court because eventually, that person would be declared the candidate of the PDP, not Jonathan.

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As a citizen of Nigeria from the North East , what do you think Nigeria should do to stop this carnage in the North East?

It cannot stop until Jonathan is thrown out because he is behind everything.

Galadima

Jonathan. It is good that the party is playing according to the rules of democracy by allowing people to show interest in the race. What is important for the party to do is to ensure a level playing field where primaries will be conducted to choose a presidential candidate.

Whoever emerges from that process will defeat Jonathan.

on hearing of the arrival of Boko Haram. They run alongside the civilians.

Some persons have said that this Boko Haram is designed by opponents of the Jonathan administration, particularly from the North to destabilize his government. Do you share this view?

On the alternative, Boko Haram was designed by Jonathan so that elections will not take place in areas where he has no support.

If his opponents organized Boko Haram, they should have gone to places where Jonathan scores 101 percent in every election which is the South East and South South.

Your party, APC is parading a number of presidential aspirants, including Buhari, Atiku, Kwankwaso and Okorocha. Who among these do you think the party should field to be able to defeat Jonathan in 2015?

Any person that the party fields, even outside these people you have mentioned, is better than Jonathan. Anybody fielded by the APC will be greater than

Boko Haram was designed

by Jonathan so that elections will not take place in areas where he has no support.

Some groups, like the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), have been showcasing what the regard as the achievements of the Jonathan administration and on that basis they want him to run for another term.

Does it mean you do not believe their testimony that Jonathan has done well?

Yes, he did very well by instructing his solders to be killing our people in the North East. Yes. He did very well for us by killing us. we have lst over 200,000 lives in Yobe State alone and Jonathan has not deemed it fit to visit any twin in the state to commiserate with the victims of Boko Haram. But look at President Paul Biya of Caneroun and the Speaker of the House of Assembly went to where Nigerian

Can a government really be behind insecurity against its own country?

Yes it can if the government refuses to act to bring to an end the activities of those seizing it's territories. It means they are culpable.

Some Nigerians blame political and religious leaders of the North for alleged complicity in the Boko Haram saga. They say you did not condemn the activities of the sect at the onset and that encouraged them to continue until it became a big monster. What do you have to say on this?

Yes. We did not because we hold the Nigeria treasury; we have an Army; we have a Police and we have other national security agencies under our control. I have already told you that it is the federal government that is responsible for Boko Haram and you are now blaming us So what do you see happening in 2015 as per the elections?

Jonathan is to go.

And who is to come?

Any other Nigerian is better than Jonathan.

6 DECEMBER 2014

What are President Goodluck Jonathan's chances of emerging as the candidate of the PDP in view of the challenges within his party and from the angle of the opposition?

Jonathan will certainly emerge as the presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party ( PDP) when the party holds its primary election. I believe that the National Chairman of the PDP , the vital organs of the party, the governors and the National Assembly members who are at the core of taking this decision have already endorsed him as the sole candidate of the party. The governors on particular have a sizable number of the delegates. Then you also have the State Chairmen of the party. I don't know any State Chairman of the party who will stand up to say: No, I don't want to vote for Jonathan.

As far as that primary is concerned, I think Jonathan has more than ninety percent of the delegates.

But when you talk about obstacles within his party, I believe you mean those who earlier indicated interest in the ticket but PDP said Jonathan should have the right of first refusal.

When some of them refused to abide by this rule, the party then said they could buy their tickets and run. But we have not heard anything from them. So whether Jonathan would be running as the sole candidate at the primary, we don't know because we still have these people who indicated interest in the race. I only saw one who showed receipt of purchase of the Expression of Interest form but I did not see him showing receipt for the purchase of the nomination form.

You mean the son of the former Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa?

Well, let me not mention names. I saw a woman and I also saw a man.

The whole thing is funny. All I know is that if they purchased forms they should have filled and returned them to know they mean business. I think Jonathan has 90 per cent chance of emerging as the candidate of the People's Democratic Party.

Are you speaking from the perspective of the Aka Ikenga and the South East region or are you talking generally of the entire country?

I am speaking generally across the federation. All the PDP governors without exception have endorsed him; all the National Assembly members from the party have endorsed him. Remember that the National Working Committee and National Executive Committee have also endorsed him. So where is the opposition again? These are the people who control the delegates who will vote at the primary. You don't expect to be a delegate if they don't know you.

What about these series of cases instituted in different courts challenging his eligibility to contest the 2015 presidential election?

Those are cases instituted by people who want to drag the judiciary into the political arena. It is a very dangerous thing to do. You see that those cases are talking about who is qualified or not qualified to contest the 2015 elections but if you look closely, you will find out that these are instigated by the opposition to stop Jonathan and they want to use the courts to achieve their goal.

I can tell you that as a lawyer, I feel ashamed about these antics of some of our learned colleagues.

Some of them are saying that the man should not run because he has been elected twice but that is not true.

He has been elected president once.

As far as I know, in 1999, he was a

FaceOff | Politics

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

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President deserves a second term, says Uwazurike President Goodluck Jonathan's declaration for a second term has elicited varied reactions in the polity. Chief Goddy Uwazurike, President, Aka Ikenga, a sociocultural organization of the people of the South East geo- political zone, tells ONWUKA NZESHI that GEJ will triumph at the 2015 polls despite the formidable challenge by the opposition.

Deputy Governor; he later became governor when his boss, Chief DSP Alamiyeseigha was impeached. He left there to become Vice President and of course when President Umar Yar Adua died, he succeeded him. So at what point was he elected President beyond 2011?

But it is important for these people challenging his eligibility to show locus standi for their action.

They must establish the grounds for their case. Today we have all kinds of people rushing to court because of one man. You know the late Michael Jackson and all the cases instituted against him. Remember he won all those cases but it cost him a lot of money to hire lawyers to represent him.

So here every Tom, Dick and Harry is rushing to court to file a suit to stop Jonathan. You have no locus standi and you want to stop somebody from contesting an election. Until the courts begin to award damages against those who file frivolous cases, this trend will not stop.

There are also a plethora of cases challenging the appointment of Dr Adamu Muazu as the National Chairman of the People's Democratic Party( PDP) and all these are coming almost simultaneously as the challenge on Jonathan's eligibility. Is there any correlation?

These are all geared towards the same goal. It is the opposition elements within and outside the party that are trying to bring up these matters. The aim is simply to destabilize

The opposition seems to be happy when there is a setback in the war against terrorism and insurgency

the PDP and distract it from focusing on the crucial election ahead next year. There is no merit in any of those cases. We must understand that when Okwesilieze Nwodo resigned as Chairman of the PDP, it was because of the report that there was a court order against him. Do you know that till today, nobody has seen that so called court order? The moment Okwesilieze resigned, that case died a natural death. There was no court order anywhere. So now, they have started again to move against a sitting National Chairman of the ruling party and I only hope PDP has learnt its lessons that this is all part of the grand plan to stop the party from fielding Jonathan. Even Boko Haram, they are all targeted at Jonathan.

When you look at the array of presidential aspirants lining up on the opposition camp- you have Buhari, Atiku, Kwankwaso and Okorocha....

Forget about Okorocha because he has not purchased the nomination form. It is when you purchase the form that we can be sure you are an aspirant or a candidate.

Assuming a candidate like Buhari emerges as the candidate of the APC, do you see him beating Jonathan in a fair contest at the polls?

Well, I don't know what you mean by Buhari defeating Jonathan or Jonathan defeating Buhari. Let me put it in my own understanding. The APC is relying on the APC states. In their calculation, they have the heavy votes therefore they will

Uwazurike

win. But politics is not one plus one.

Politics is like football; it is not one plus one. There are other factors that will come into play when the elections. The opposition say they will win Sokoto, what about the politicians from Sokoto who do not believe in the APC? Are they willing to give up Sokoto? They know that if they allow Sokoto to fall to APC it means they must all fly to Abuja to look for crumbs. What some of the people in opposition do not know is that every politician would want to protect their territories from falling. In all of these, it is too early to predict how the elections would go but I believe that Jonathan will come out tops.

The Jonathan administration is facing a serious challenge in the name of insurgency and the opposition appears bent on cashing in on it as the election draws near. Do you think Jonathan has handled the challenge of insecurity satisfactorily?

What do you want Jonathan to do? Recently, there were talks of cease fire and so on. There was alarm in the camp of the opposition. There was anger among them.

They said, no way. They said it won't work. I was perplexed! I thought we all wanted a solution to the crisis and cease fire was supposed to be part of the solution. Finally, when the whole thing crumbled, they came out and said: "we told you."

In other words, the opposition seems to be happy when there is a setback in the war against terrorism and insurgency. They seem to be happy when there is chaos and bloodshed everywhere because they will have an excuse to attack the government.

Now, everybody wants Jonathan to suppress the insurgency, but for him to do that he needs our cooperation. But you find out that when the military kills one Boko Haram, the opposition will accuse the government of human rights violation.

You know that these insurgents don't wear any uniform. They dress like civilians and carry arms underneath their dresses wherever they go. They are executing a guerrilla warfare against the Nigeria Army and all Nigerians should be concerned about it. President Jonathan has a duty to fight them to a stand still because the Constitution of Nigeria says that the welfare and security of lives and property of the citizens is the primary responsibility of the government. When the Constitution says government, it means both federal and state.

What do you think about the current trends in the activities of Boko Haram where they capture towns and villages, host their flags and rename these towns? Don't you think this is a dangerous trend?

Boko Haram wants to carve a territory for itself. They want an access from Lake Chad down to the Atlantic Ocean. They want to grab land on both sides of the Nigeria Cameroun borders. They want to establish an Islamic country that will have access to the Atlantic Ocean. This is their plan.

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Feature

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6 DECEMBER 2014

Collapsed Synagogue building: So far, so good After the collapse of the six-storey guest house at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, there have been a lot of undercurrent issues, AKEEM NAFIU writes.

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any people were yet to come to terms as to the real reason behind the collapse of a six-storey guest house building located within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), at Ikotun Egbe, a Lagos suburb on September 12 where 116 people died and several others were injured.

The majority of the victims were South Africans and this almost caused a diplomatic row between the Nigerian government and South Africa.

In order to unravel the mystery surrounding the collapse of the building, the Lagos State Government backed by the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007 instituted a coroner inquest. The inquest presided over by Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe was saddled with the responsibility of getting firsthand information from witnesses that are able to give evidences on the probable cause of the crash.

These evidences will then be put together by the coroner who is expected to submit a report to the government on the reason or reasons behind the whole incident and how to avert a recurrence.

To help the coroner in his assignment, some print and electronic media include the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), P.M. News, Vanguard, Channels TV, Television Continental, Daily Independent Newspaper, The Nation and The Punch Newspaper are expected to give evidence at the Inquest.

Others are the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA); Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Alausa; Ministry of

Works, Alausa; Ministry of Tourism & Intergovernmental Relations; Office of the Surveyor-General of Lagos State; Prophet T.B. Joshua; The Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun, Lagos; the church’s building contractors and families of victims of the collapsed building.

Also to testify are; Dr. Femi OkeOsanyintolu, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA); Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South West Zone; The General Manager, Lagos State Fire Service; The Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja; the Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State; the Commissioner of Police, Dept. of Operations, State Headquarters, Ikeja and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dept. of Investigation, Musiliu Smith Street, Panti, Yaba.

Also expected at the inquest are; the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Lagos Command; officials at the Emergency Centre of Igando General Hospital, Lagos State and the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Lagos State.

To complete the list are; Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA); Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON); an eyewitness, Lindiw Ndwande, and Chairman of the Youth League’s International Relation Committee of South Africa, Mr. Rebone Tau. Three days after its inaugural sitting on October 13, the coroner in company with some lawyers, officials of some agencies and journalists visited the site of the collapsed building for an on the spot assessment. The visit, ac-

A supporter of TB Joshua during a protest in Lagos

The collapse bulding

Most of the 116 bodies that were received by our team of pathologists were already decomposing considering the amount of time spent in confinement due to the heat and tropical nature of the environment.

cording to the Coroner, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, is to give a clear picture to the testimony of any witness during proceeding.

After the visit, officials from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and the Lagos State Fire Service gave their testimonies about the incident. In his evidence, the LASTMA official, Oladiti Bamidele Wasiu, who is the Head of Zone 7 in Ejigbo, told the coroner about efforts made by his team to decongest the roads linking the crash site after being alerted on the incident.

He said this was imperative so as to create an avenue for all essential agencies responsible for rescue operations to gain access to the venue.

The LASTMA official added that he and his team were at the location until late at night on the first day of the incident and were present throughout the rescue operation.

In his own submission, the official from the fire service, Adebayo Olayinka, told the coroner that upon being informed of the incident, a fire water tanker of 10,000 litres water capacity with four crew members on board proceeded to the scene.

He added that other senior officers, head of stations and principal officers including the assistant director were all mobilised to the scene by the director of fire service, who was also present.

The witness added that he was able to carry out a 360 degree check which involved assessing the scene situation, the extent of damage and the physical cause of the collapse.

He however said on cross-examination by the church counsel, Olalekan Ojo, that he did not carry out any test to determine the structural effectiveness of the collapsed building.

He further indicated that the fire outbreak that occurred at the scene on the fourth day of the incident was as a result of shifting and moving of earth machines, iron rods and other free burning materials.

He said the fire was immediately put out with the help of a medium

size jet from the fire water tank.

He added that 131 people were rescued alive with various degrees of injuries from the incident while 80 suspected dead victims were recovered and taken away in an ambulance provided by the church.

All the bodies recovered, according to him, were neither dismembered nor burnt.

The witness who claimed to be an operational officer of the agency revealed that other agencies which assisted in the rescue operation included the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), Lagos State Physical Development Agency, Lagos State Building Control Agency, National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), Red Cross, Nigeria Police and other sympathisers.

During this first proceeding, the Coroner emphasised the need for the General Overseer of the church, Prophet T.B. Joshua to appear at the inquest for him to state his own side of the story.

Lawyer representing the church at the inquest, Jude Nnadi (SAN), had earlier hinted that it was not likely that Joshua would attend since he was not a witness.

However, the coroner in his submissions said Joshua’s appearance was of utmost importance because as the head of the church, his own account of the incident would shed some light on the whole issue.

The next witness to testify before the Coroner was the Lagos State Chief Medical Examiner, Professor John Obafunwa, who described the injuries sustained by the 116 people who died as consistent with what was obtainable when a heavy structure fell on a victim.

Obafunwa further revealed that due to the time the bodies had spent in the confined space, most of them were already decomposing when they were brought to the mortuary and had to be embalmed immediately.

Speaking further, he said, "Most of the 116 bodies that were received by

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6 DECEMBER 2014

One of the victims being taken away

L-R: Joshua, President Goodluck Jonathan and Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, during the president's visit to the site

our team of pathologists were already decomposing considering the amount of time spent in confinement due to the heat and tropical nature of the environment.

"The bodies had to be embalmed immediately to arrest any further decomposition. The bodies were mutilated, some had head injuries, fractured bones and ribs and some even had dangling limbs that were attached to the body by thin strips of skin.

"The bodies were not charred but were compromised by the heat. In the case of a building collapse the temperature would naturally rise, thereby causing decomposition to set in.”

The witness also indicated that prior to the commencement of the autopsy, the bodies were fingerprinted.

According to him, the exercise commenced with the usual forensic au-

topsy of the external appearance of the bodies, followed by the internal examination of the injuries.

He added that samples were later taken for subsequent examination under the microscope for the purpose of the DNA analysis before the dental team moved in to do their dental tracking.

However, as the sitting of the coroner inquest continues, a lawyer and human rights activist, Olukoya Ogungbeje, filed a suit before Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to halt to further proceedings at the inquest.

Ogungbeje, in the suit which has the Lagos State Government, Attorney General of the state and Magistrate Komolafe as first to third defendants argued that the composition of the inquest was a negation of the principle

TB Joshua

The only affirmation of substance in the instance case is that the applicant is a tax payer and a political activist of note

of natural justice and Section 36 of the Constitution, and as such it was unconstitutional, null and void.

He alleged that the Coroner inquest was constituted by the Lagos State Government after its agencies had indicted Joshua and his church of wrongdoing with the addition of structures on the building without approval.

The lawyer averred that the continuity of the inquest would lead to miscarriage of justice, as the coroner would base its decision on the testimonies of the same agencies of Lagos State, which had already indicted Joshua and his church.

He further alleged that the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA), the Lagos State Building Control Agency, the Lagos State Fire Service, the Lagos State Traffic Management

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Agency (LASTMA) and others have made public and prejudicial report in public domain that the building collapsed as a result of additional structures, while Joshua's claim that the building collapsed as a result of an aircraft hovering round the building moments before it collapsed, was ignored.

The lawyer is consequently, seeking an order nullifying the composition of the coroner and the proceedings so far. He is also asking the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants jointly and severally from further proceeding, sitting, investigating, embarking on fact-finding or taking any untoward action in any manner whatsoever on any facts connected to the case.

A counter affidavit was later filed by the Lagos State Government to the suit. In the affidavit deposed to by one, Moradeke Oladunjoye, a senior state counsel with the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, it was disclosed that the inquest into the collapsed building was initiated due to public outcry and pursuant to the provisions of Coroner System Law of Lagos State, 2007.

The inquest according to the government, is not a regular court, but just on a fact-finding assignment to unravel what actually went down.

It was added that the preliminary investigation carried out by the Lagos State Building Control Agency revealed that the church never got approval for the additional structures on the collapsed building.

Besides, government argued that the applicant (Ogungbeje) lacked the locus standi to sustain the suit as he was neither a member of the Synagogue Church nor was he personally affected by the inquest.

However, Justice Buba in his judgement, while dismissing the suit agreed with the Lagos State Government that the lawyer lacked the locus standi to institute the action as he was neither a member of the church nor was he directly involved in the incident.

The court further noted that the application was neither brought on behalf of the church or Joshua nor by an association seeking to enforce its rights. Also, it was held that the application was also not brought because the church or its pastor could CONTINUED ON PAGE 52

Synagogue tragedy: South Africans still angry with Nigeria Dominik Umosen

T

hose who pilloried Nigeria for alleged clumsy handling of victims of SCOAN's building collapse, might have exhaled relief on October 5, 2014 when over 100 bodies were eventually airlifted to South Africa for befitting burial, over a month after the disaster occurred.

The mind-numbing incident became even more sensational after revelations that the body parts of most victims were missing at the point of evacuation. The shock to members of their families might have been under-played at this point.

The reportedly decomposing bodies sparked a diplomatic row between both countries, in spite of attempts to downplay this fact. A South African official who preferred anonymity, told our correspondent: "Nigerians allegedly enthusiastically frustrated efforts to identify the bodies of victims. What South Africa was yet to come to terms with is that most of the bodies of the

victims were trapped in over-glorified mortuaries that litter the country’.

Appropriately, South Africa registered her displeasure on September 28.

"Part of what was communicated to the families is that due to the scale of the disaster, passage of time and climatic conditions, most of the remains were not in good state.

"Out of concern for potential secondary trauma, the families as well as public health considerations, government discourages all families from viewing the remains", the South African government further said, obviously in a veiled attempt to prepare the respective families ahead of the shocker that awaited them from Nigeria.

New Telegraph on Saturday learnt authoritatively that most of the bodies of the South African victims of the Synagogue church tragedy were repatriated in various stages of physical unwholesomeness or decomposition.

A South African who is in Nigeria still visits Synagogue compulsively in the hope that a nephew who perished

in the guest house collapse, might miraculously resurface some day. At the ‘Last Supper’, a symbolic shrine on the major walkway into the Synagogue village. Fight back tears, he told New Telegraph on Saturday that he would keep visiting the shrine even though the authorities of the church insist’ that praying before these statutes is scripturally wrong’.

It was learnt that full diplomatic war between Nigeria and South Africa was averted because strains in relationship between both allies occurred when the latter battled to reassure the former about the sanctity of historical ties between them following huge dollar seizures belonging to Nigerian government agents allegedly meant to purchase arms to fight insurgency.

"The agonising wait for the trauma to heal might not be over soon for most of these families any time soon.

Frankly, undue delay in the return of the remains of the victims was caused by political haggling between South Africa and Nigeria’, including origi-

nal reluctance by Nigeria to have DNA analysis done in South Africa, he said.

"Till date, some families still nurse anger over the delay in preparations for the return of the bodies of the victims. And as if this uncultural treatment of dead bodies was not bad enough, the Nigerian government could not do anything to prevent further anguish for some of the South African families by ensuring that most of the bodies were returned intact," Patrick further said.

"This is not only illogical, it ignores the possibility that several factors which could have triggered the tragedy, including the possibility of an unfriendly airborne object in the vicinity shortly before the implosion that swallowed the six-storey guest housed the South African visitors to the church", a member of the church told this paper.

T.B. Joshua’s reluctance to appear before the coroner inquest investigating the tragedy raises further questions.

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6 DECEMBER 2014

Collapsed Synagogue building: So far, so good CONTINUED from PAGE 51

not come to court by themselves.

“The only affirmation of substance in the instance case is that the applicant is a tax payer and a political activist of note,” the judge also held.

Therefore, the court said, “it has no difficulty in resolving the issue of locus standi against the applicant.”

The judge also agreed with the government that the inquest into the collapsed building was initiated due to public outcry

on the need to investigate circumstances surrounding the death of about 116 people on when the said guest house collapsed within the church’s premises.

On the whole, the court held that the applicant has not make out a case of an infringement on his own personal right and that he could not be crying more than the bereaved.

The case was eventually dismissed for lacking in merit.

Meanwhile, at the inquest, the Head of Homicide section at the State Criminal

Investigation Department, CID, Panti, Olushola Agoyi, while giving his evidence said that the building might have been destroyed by a strange aircraft which flew over it shortly before the incident.

The witness claimed that the collapse might also have been caused by sabotage or structural failure. He further listed internal sabotage, strange aircraft and structural and civil aspect of the building as three parameters that might be responsible for the collapse.

Agoyi said in the course

of his investigation, he recorded statements from 34 persons including Nigerians, Togolese and South Africans and that the way the building came down “was just like that of a controlled demolition and there were some smoke like dust that came out.”

“If experts analyse all these, it could be as a result of controlled demolition and I recommended that these mentioned exhibits should be tested by foreign experts,” he also added.

Other witnesses who have so far gave their evidences

at the inquest included; the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Development and Urban Planning, Toyin Ayinde Adedamola; Deputy Director at the Lagos State Ministry of Works, Oladotun Olukoyejo Lasoju; an officer with the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye and the Director General of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi OkeOsanyintolu.

However, the appearance of Joshua at the inquest was never to be and he has chal-

lenged his summons by the coroner at an Ikeja High Court presided over by Justice Lateefat Okunnu.

He is also asking that proceedings at the inquest should be halted pending the outcome of the application.

Joshua and the churc in the suit marked ID/188MJR/2014, is seeking for the following declarations: “A declaration that the decision of the coroner to summon the applicants to give evidence at a time when no materials were placed before the coroner against the applicants is a breach of the applicants’ right to fair hearing.

“A declaration that the coroner who relied on his personal knowledge of the facts of the case is not a proper person to preside at the inquest into the death of people at the collapsed building of Synagogue Church of All Nations.

“A declaration that the coroner who relied on extraneous matters not borne out of the records to reach his conclusion that the 2nd applicant is a necessary witness when in fact is not, is in breach of the rules of natural justice and fair hearing guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The applicants are consequently seeking for the following orders among others: “An order prohibiting the coroner from conducting further inquest/proceedings relating to the construction of the collapsed building which facts are clearly outside the scope of a coroner's inquest.

“An order quashing the proceedings of the coroner's inquest in its entirety for being conducted in breach of the rule of natural justice, likelihood of blade, and for taking proceedings clearly outside the scope of the jurisdiction of the respondent.

“An order prohibiting the respondent from insisting on the personal attendance of the 2nd applicant as such will be without or in excess of jurisdiction, unconstitutional and unlawful.

“An order of injunction to restrain the respondents as presently constituted from further conducting any inquest into the collapsed building of Synagogue Church of All Nations, as the 2nd respondent has demonstrated personal interest in the subject matter and his neutrality clearly compromised.

"An order of injunction restraining the coroner from taking and continuing to take evidence/proceedings on the issue of approval and construction of the collapsed building, which issues are clearly outside the scope of a coroner's inquest."

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

The political class has betrayed this generation, says Utomi Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Megaparty, Prof Pat Utomi tells DOMINIK UMOSEN that very few countries in the world are as badly governed as present-day Nigeria What are the implications of plummeting prices of crude oil for a country like Nigeria which relies almost exclusively on petroleum to finance her budget?

Why should Nigeria be troubled because oil prices have dropped but not dropped to the point where they affect the so-called budget benchmark? If there is still any brain left in my head, what is says to me is that that so-called benchmark is deceitful. And that those spending money were doing so above the benchmark. That is the only reason there can be a crisis. Having said that, the truth of the matter is that Nigeria should have a game plan on how to deal with any volatility in the global oil market; a game plan that would make panic unnecessary, after so many years experience with a volatile oil market. Oil prices, traditionally, have been volatile. The only reason they have seemed high and stable and rising significantly for some time has been because of the dramatic ascendance of India and China. While these countries were rising, the United States of America was progressively making herself self-sufficient in the supply of fossil oils as an alternative source of energy. Ant planning environment should have anticipated that this bonus; this Greek gift of high sustained pricing would give, sooner than later. So should those who lead the business of how government is organized not have implemented a game plan that ensures the system can absorb any shocks? Unfortunately, I am going to sound like a broken record; this is something I have been recommending for a good 15 or so years. I have argued that there is huge misgovernance in the country which is very deep. Let us not deceive ourselves.

And the misgovernance in government could have been avoided or reduced if generous distribution of oil revenues had long ago been curtailed through the use of a very low benchmark for the distribution of revenues between the tiers of government. The reason our politics is in such a complete mess is that many of the people who are seeking public office today in Nigeria are either criminals or they do not have anything else to do. And they see these revenues that come into the coffers of government as the only reason why they are there. And their only reason for their being in public office is for them to go and get their share of it. It used to be that public life was dominated by people who are sober and want to make a name serving their people. But now, every criminal who has nothing else to do wants to be in government. That could have been curtailed a long time ago if we had a responsible elite.

Would such a recommended benchmark not have amounted to giving away our endowment cheap?

If we had 40 as benchmark, for instance, and all the tiers of government got what was due to them, then there would have been pressure, early in the day, for government to do what governments used to do in the 60s and 50s- which is create the enabling environment and expand the economy so that you can task those who are producing, creating, creating employment and the entire people who are working. But governments, especially at the national level, have paid very little attention towards economic expansion

Utomi

whereas the economic expansion in the 60s was engineered by the national government. The marketing boards, for example, contributed significantly to economic expansion. Today we all wait to share what comes from crude oil and then we spend like drunkards. If we put the bench mark at that figure, the additional revenue that comes should go into a stabilization fund; a fund that could seriously consider short-term investment instruments. If, by a dramatic occurrence, oil prices were to tumble into the region of, say, 10 dollars a barrel as it did in 1998 under Gen Abacha, you would then be able to draw from the stabilization fund to ensure that every person’s accruable revenue is available. So if oil prices were to hover above 100 dollars a barrel or whatever, everything above the benchmark would therefore be invested, depending on the formula worked out; something like the Sovereign Wealth Fund as they call it. Different countries have different strategies for their sovereign wealth funds. A country like Malaysia would have a combination of inward-outward strategy. Their sovereign wealth fund is like the Kuwaiti Fund, mosly invested abroad. And the main reason for that in the future, revenues from those investments would flow in to sustain the monetary process in the country and all of that.

Now, when you are very developmentminded, you can do what the Malaysians tried to do, a portion of those funds must

But now, every criminal who has nothing else to do wants to be in government

be invested in long-term development in Malaysia. In many ways, this is what our political class has done. It has irresponsibly consumed the future of its children and I think we should not make light of what this really is. It is a major indictment of the elite of this generation. If we had this framework in place, we would not be scrambling because oil prices have been fluctuating as they are doing.

When you say misgovernance, are you restricting it to this dispensation or across the board?

I am referring to governance in Nigeria in the last God knows how many years.

There has been misgovernance for a while but it is worse now than at any point in Nigeria’s history. I do not think that Nigeria has been as badly governed than it is today. From corruption to irresponsibility of the political class etc. I mean, there are many parts of Nigeria where the only brand new cars you see are owned by government. The late Sardauna of Sokoto, former premier of the defunct Northern Region which comprised of all the states in the north, according to a story told me

by Alhaji Ahmed Joda, a former federal permanent secretary under the military, the entire Government House, Kaduna had about 3 cars- that is premier of a region that covers over 20 states today having just 3 cars. When the Sardauna was going on tour, his ministers went in their own cars and collected mileage allowance. Today, every parastatal head in Nigeria has a number of security details in his entourage and a number of escort cars. What sort of irresponsibility is that for God’s sake? Why? I told a story about Dr Joseph Sanusi, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. I was going to Abuja and was sitting by him when I suddenly remembered that I had not made arrangements for any one to pick me up

Politics

53

at the airport. Sanusi simply asked if I considered that an issue and offered to drop me off at the hotel. He was all alone, Governor of Central Bank, in a Peugeot 505. Today, a governor of the apex bank – I do not know what Godwin Emefiele’s arrangement is – but before him I saw CBN governor in an exquisite motorcade. I do not know what else could be as ridiculous as that.

Do you consider rather high emoluments for political office-holders, including legislators, part of the misgovernance?

Is it only for legislators? What about controversial retirement packages for state governors? I am only trying very hard to use words responsibly. What these people are doing is criminal and history will call us to account. Who serves a full career, say 30 years, retiring at age 60, for instance and gets such multiples of their income as retirement benefits? It is irresponsible to do that. I have argued that no governor should take as his pension for 8 years of work more than what a director in the civil service takes after 30 years of service. And that he should not award himself x number of cars. Some people say it is a way of preventing corruption. What rubbish corruption? All you need is a guarantee that after having served, you would at least be able to eat three meals a day and be able to move from place to place thereafter.

So to award yourself x million naira a month as retirement benefits, you should be prosecuted. Those of them who seem to have gotten away with it now, when they die their children will be prosecuted. They should bear this in mind that their children will be prosecuted for this criminality by their parents. Because they have the various legislatures in their pockets and share public money with impunity does not mean they should do irresponsible things. If they get away with it, it is only for a time. History will hold them to account and hold them in contempt.

Governors do not only consistently and compulsively junket abroad but also palm off traditional responsibilities of government as evidence of uncommon transformation. Are you amused?

I say to people that signing a cheque for Julius Berger to tar a road, for example, is not leadership. Any moron can sign a cheque. A governor should ordinarily not be bothered that a company got a cheque. These are routine functions that the civil service can handle, plan and execute without distracting the governor. But because there has been recycling of irresponsibilities somewhere, what is ordinarily routine will now become extra-ordinary and uncommon elsewhere. Those are the basic duties of that office. Leadership is about affecting cultures, changing how people think and do things so that they can continuously make progress. It is not about tarring roads. It is a shame that we live in a very literate society and we do not have enough people who have the courage and the decency to speak the truth because they are afraid they may not get a favour from somebody who has been allowed to use his discretion with public funds. That is what we suffering in Nigeria. But I am sure that history will remember those who speak the truth, not because they have anything against anybody. There is so much wrong with our society. I have campaigned for an International Criminal Court and Nigerians are so weak to hold their leaders accountable. May be, the global community, for the sake of our shared humanity and human solidarity, should find ways of bringing people to account for the common good.

In the 1990s, I was part of the lobby for the establishment of the ICC, to try economic crimes against the people.

54 Sport Extra

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

6 DECEMBER 2014

Awful short game troubles Woods

Sport Slaming

F

ormer world number one Tiger Woods called his short game "awful" as he finished five over par in his first competitive round after injury.

The 38-year-old is in 18th and last position at the Hero World Challenge, an event he hosts in Florida.

"It was weird," he said. "My short game was awful. I didn't make anything."

The 14-time major winner needed three chips to get on the green at the par-five 13th and also struggled at the eighth and 17th in round one.

"It was just one of those days where nothing went my way," added the American, who is 11 shots behind leader Jordan Spieth.

Adekunle Salami adekunles@yahoo.com 08050498539 (sms only)

Let’s fix Eagles, ignore politicians

I

Nigeria searches for kit sponsor Ajibade Olusesan

N

igeria Football Federation has intensified effort to secure a new kit sponsor for the national teams, New Telegraph has learnt.

Erstwhile sponsor, Addidas, last August, decided not to renew contract it had with NFF, citing violation of contractual agreement after Coach Stephen Keshi and some Super Eagles players were spotted wearing rival’s kits at the last FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

But the media director of the federation, Demola Olajiire, has said that the soccer body had opened negotiations with other kit manufacturing companies. He also added that they were still in discussion with Adidas with a view to sealing a new deal.

"We currently are in discussions with multiple parties regarding our kit situation. Despite receiving a notification letter from Adidas initially, we remain confident they could still reconsider their position," he said.

Adidas became the country's supplier before the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.

A Super Falcons player trying to dribble past a Camerounian player during a match

Falcons know World Cup opponents today

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he was not afraid of any team in the competition.

“After picking a ticket for the World Cup, you will have to expect tough challenges because we are going to be playing against the best teams in the world. The important thing is to work hard and be ready as a team,” Okon said.

Cameroon and Cote d’ Ivoire are the two other countries representing Africa at the Women’s World Cup England qualified for the 24-team event, which will take place from June 6 to July 5 next year, by going unbeaten in qualifying. Also present are the four previous winners of the tournament - United States, Norway, Germany and Japan.

The teams will be split into six groups of four, with seedings yet to be announced by the governing body.

Japan are the defending champions, but two-time winners USA are the favourites.

The competition will be held in six different cities, across five time zones, with the top two teams from each group joining the four best third-ranked countries in the last 16.

Adekunle Salami uper Falcons will know their opponents in the FIFA’s Women’s World Cup today as the draw for the 2015 edition of the global event will be made in Ottawa, Canada.

Nigeria qualified for the event after winning the Africa Women Championship held in Namibia in October.

Falcons coach, Edwin Okon, said

Chelsea prepare backroom role for Drogba

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triker Didier Drogba will have a role to play at Chelsea when he quits playing, says Blues boss Jose Mourinho.

The 36-year-old Drogba, in his second spell at the club, scored as Chelsea beat Tottenham 3-0 on Wednesday.

"The important thing is he is here and will finish his career with Chelsea," said Mourinho,

whose team top the Premier League by six points.

Mourinho added: "It looks, for me, that he's going to stay doing other things when he finishes his career." Drogba won 10 trophies in his first spell at Chelsea between 2004 and 2012, and scored 157 goals in 341 games. He rejoined the club at the start of the season after leaving Turkish side Galatasaray.

GAMES/CROSS WORD PUZZLE Lakes in the World-2

KEY WORDS

GENEVA GREAT BEAR KYOGA LUCERNE MANYARA MALHEUJR

KARIBA JACKSON FLATHEAD GARDA HAMMAR LUBANA

NARACH NYASA MOSES MARION ONEGA MJOSA

H T A N M M H O M A S A M E H M S B A K K R A Y F R O E I G G B A

L A E R G R T N E G A

F L A R D A J H J U C M E N E H F L L Y U A M C M E E M Y R A D N

T F G E V U A D R A G

S

A

N

U

L

F G

B

U

E

3

4 7

5

6

9 10

E E R Y T H C A R A N

A

2

8

D A V G G E E N N O E I A R S A O M J F M D

F

1

H E

11

12 14 16

A J A C K S O

18 19 21

22

25

1 5 7 8 9 10 11 12

Trip over, (7).

Bachelor of science, abbr., (3).

Salt water of Earth, (3).

Snake-like fish, (3).

Egg of a louse, (3).

Lack of difficulty, (4).

Throw coin, (4).

Exist, (2).

17

DOWN 1 Structure that protects, (7).

2 Except that, (6).

23

3 Tie firmly to something, (4).

4 Value highly, (6).

5 Lowest singing voice, (4).

26

16 17 18 22 23 24 25 26

Human blood type, (2).

Exhaust somebody's interest, (4).

Say loudly, (4).

5th sign of the Zodiac, (3).

Indicates simple possession, (3).

'Money' in Igbo language, (3).

Nigerian staple food, (3).

Partly cook by boiling, (7).

15 20

24

N E

13

ACROSS

14 Horse's fastest pace, (6).

15 Paid man companion, (6).

19 Measurement of surface, (4).

20 Increasing rapidly, (4).

21 Indicating 'before', (3).

6 Hair's protective covering, (3).

13 Seemingly everlasting, (7).

See solution on page 23

admit there is politics in virtually everything we do in our day-to-day life. Though many of us strive to distance ourselves from politics, there are still elements of politics around us. At home, in the office and almost everywhere, you can feel the impact of politics.

However, there are areas where politics will not thrive.

In technical areas, politics has no role and when it is deployed, no other result but doom will be experienced.

In administration of sports just like any other field, it is politics that reigns supreme in the determination of who holds what position. Election into various positions in sports is pure politics but when it comes to identifying talents, picking athletes for camping and raising a team in any sports discipline, objectivity and merit come to play. Merit is the best option to adopt for success.

Nigerian politicians are now neck deep in sports for the wrong reasons and their involvement is causing more crises in the system. Politicians can influence sports positively via sponsorship. For example, Senator Uche Chukwumerijie impacted in sports positively when he prevailed on his friends in the Senate to support his son, Chika Chukwumerijie, in his attempt to rule the world in his chosen sport discipline, taekwondo. This worked like magic as Chika got money to attend various international competitions ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He was hot. He beat all competitors including the then world champion but lost in the semi-finals before going on to settle for bronze. Politics can be used to inspire results.

Sad enough, what we have witnessed in recent time is that politicians are the ones trying to determine who handles the Super Eagles. When the Amaju Pinnick board decided that Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, should go because of poor performance, politicians brought him back under two weeks.

President Goodluck Jonathan is also said to be involved and till date he has not denied it. That is no news. What is new however is that contrary to the agreement of sacking the coach if he fails to qualify the country for the Nations Cup, some powerful people in the country are insisting on forcing the NFF to engage Keshi. Senate President David Mark and a top shot in the Department of State Security are also solidly behind Keshi’s continued stay as Eagles coach. This is bad for football.

Sports Minister, Tammy Danagogo, paid Keshi N14m for two months in which the coach put soccer-loving Nigerians through so much pain. How can Keshi respect the NFF when he is operating at the higher level? What a country!

Former international players, Sunday Oliseh, Austin Okocha, Jonathan Akpoborie and Victor Ikpeba at different fora expressed anger over the impact of politics in the technical aspect of football in the country. Akpoborie stressed that if care was not taken the situation could affect many generations because a bad precedent was being set over the way Keshi’s issue was being handled.

“It is like the NFF is even afraid of its employee because of some powers that be. This will destroy our football for decades. Somebody failed an exam and you want to reward the same person. Keshi lacked the tactical ability to handle our team. We have been struggling over the years,” Akpoborie said.

I agree with Akpoborie and other ex-internationals standing firm for the truth simply because after the ouster of Nigeria from the 2015 Nations Cup, the agenda should be the way forward. There can’t be a better way than to start on a clean slate. A new coach and almost a new team are what Nigerians are yearning for in the senior national team. If Keshi is retained, it could just be business as usual. The happenings in the Super Eagles camp since the World Cup in Brazil are very disturbing. We need a departure from these crises. It was even learnt that Keshi could be given a pay rise despite the AFCON ouster. The 'Big Boss' does not deserve to continue but if politicians are imposing him on us he should be ready to have a pay cut and not a salary increase. Politicians should allow technocrats to handle the technical areas of sports. We can fix the problems in the Eagles but we can only achieve this on merits and not sentiments.

• This column came out first on Monday but it is now a SaturdaySaturday tonic. Stay with the authoritative voice in sport.

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6 DECEMBER 2014

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Sanctity of Truth

Inagbe Resort: On the fringe of the Atlantic, a resort like no other

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Red-hot

Uche attacks

Moyes S

Ajibade Olusesan uper Eagles striker, Ike Uche, could engineer David Moyes’ first loss as the Manager of Real Sociedad when the club visits Villarreal this weekend.

Moyes is yet to lose since he took over at the Basque club last month.

The former Manchester United coach notched his maiden victory when Carlos Vela scored a classy hat-trick in a moraleboosting 3-0 win at home to Elche last weekend after his debut match in charge ended in a barren draw against Deportivo La Coruna.

But Uche who has hit a new run of fine form in the colours of Villarreal could be too dangerous for Moyes’ men. The Nigerian who scored 14 league goals last season has already recorded four in 11 matches this term. His strike in Villarreal’s 2-0 win at Cordoba last weekend makes him the best African player in the La Liga with that statistics this season and he is also the joint top scorer with Luciano Vietto, for the Yellow submarines so far.

Uche has acknowledged that scoring goals

remains his main responsibility as a striker although he also wants to help his team in other capacities.

“A striker will always want to score, so having done it makes me calm, but I’m not obsessed with goals. The most important thing is helping the team and working to achieve victories,” he said.

Moyes surely has brought a new lease of life to Sociedad this season and they could be a difficult side to beat for Villarreal at the Camp El Madrigal, but Uche said they were ready for the challenge.

Sociedad are yet to concede any goal since the dawn of Moyes’ reign, but the Iñigo Berridi-led defence which has let in 16 goals in 13 matches will be really tested by a strike force led by the Nigerian who only recently returned to the Super Eagles fold.

“Now, we have a match at home against Real Sociedad and we know it will be difficult, but we’re getting back our confidence and that makes us better.

If we’re calm, we’re a good team. We’re eager to play that match and personally, I want to keep scoring. That is my role on the pitch, ” Uche said.

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