Binder1 nov30, 2014 by Newtelegraphonline

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Vol. 1 No. 285

Sanctity of Truth

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Gospel singer, Kenny St. Best, on music, crashed marriage and politics } 18

BOMBERS

FROM HELL

Hiccups trail PDP House of Assembly primaries

lHow they tore Kano apart lDeath toll rises to 200 59 escape death } 32 as plane VEERs lEmir: We won’t be cowed off ilorin }8

runway

Muhammad Kabir

KANO

t was expected to be a normal Friday, when Muslims usually gather for Jumat. The area around the Kano Central Mosque is usually busy during Jumat on Fridays due to the huge number of people that congregate

there to worship. However, it was not to be a normal day. Coincidentally, the terrorists who ruined a solemn day of worship chose ‘Black Friday,’ symbolically marked in some parts of the world as a day for bargain sales, to carry out a deadly attack. It was all tales of horror from survivors of

the deadly blasts, which claimed over 200 lives as at yesterday. A survivor, Sani Dangwamma, said he was in his house adjacent to the mosque when he heard the first blast. As he rushed out of his house to find out what was amiss, he saw a large crowd fleeing the mosque and heading in

his direction. Then, there was a second and a third blast! Suddenly, many youths who were hitherto fleeing the mosque, turned around and charged towards the place of worship. Among them were youths known as ‘Yandaba.’ CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Sanusi

OBA OF BENIN CURSES ex-govs for LOOTing TREASURY }6

NEW ELECTRICITY TARIFF BEGINS TOMORROW }6

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Contents | 30.11.14 BODY & SOUL

Eyes on Politics Gospel singer, Kenny Saint Ogungbe, is passionate about the welfare of the lessprivileged, youth and women - the reason she is going into politics

}18

POLITICS

Cash crunch Dwindling government revenue and policy issues raise apprehension that many states will go bankrupt

}31

BUSINESS

Nigerians deserve cheaper fuel As the price of crude oil falls to less than $80 per a barrel in the international market, experts say Nigerians, like consumers in other countries of the world, should enjoy reduction in the pump price of fuel

}23

FAITH

Keep the spirit resonant The Household of God church dedicates 2014 Grace programme to Chibok girls

}51

SPORT

‘NFF must stop cheating’ Nigeria will not make any meaningful progress in international football unless the country stops cheating in age-grade competitions, Segun Odegbami says

}59

Editorial

Judiciary in need of help

ost of the challenges bedeviling the nation’s judiciary are orchestrated by the chief executives of states. One of the major challenges we have today is the undue interference by these chief executives who have already taken the thirdarm of government as the extension of their office. This, the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar said last week that the actions of the thirty-six states executives are responsible for the steep increase in corruption and the snail speed of justice delivery system in the country. The former Chief Justice, apparently miffed by her inability to implement some of the reforms that would have put the nation’s justice system at par with other civilized countries of the world, blamed governors for most of the greater challenges facing administration of justice in Nigeria. She would have wished to have an independent judiciary, with high standards, to guarantee equality of citizens no matter how lowly. But all that has become history as she could not achieve that, no thanks to states executives. Mukhtar said: “As it is with other countries, there are three arms of government governing this country. They are the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Each arm is supposed to be independent, and should perform its functions as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “One is supposed to function without the interference of another but at the same time, maintain a form of synergy. They all share a common goal and that goal is the smooth administration of the country. In this sense, the function of one cannot be divorced from the other as they act as checks and balances for one another. Where however, one deters the other from the effective performance of its function, then a glaring interference occurs. “An instance of this is where courts make orders that are not obeyed or implemented where it concerns the other arms of government. What readily comes to mind is the recent refusal of state governors to implement the orders of the Federal High Court to allocate to their States Judiciaries the funds they are entitled to in the States Budgets. As a result of this refusal, Judicial Staff have gone on strike, suspended it and have threatened to resume if the orders are not implemented. The non-implementation of the orders may in future be disastrous to the Judiciary and the country as a whole. We implore the chief executive of each state to obey the court’s order to avert further strikes. Democracy cannot thrive without a strong Judiciary,

and the non-adherence to the Rule of Law may lead to anarchy and impunity. The adherence to the doctrine of the Separation of Powers and the Rule of Law helps in building a sustainable democracy which everyone is clamouring for in this country. If we are to succeed, the executive, the legislature and the Judiciary should be ready and willing to respect each other in a bid to maintain each other’s independence”. Following this revelation, it is now obvious that the judiciary is in dire need of help. As long as the governors’ undue interference persists and the judiciary is not independent of the other arms of government as it is being starred of funds, the third-arm of government may end up in a disastrous future and the much touted democracy would be a mirage. Who will save the judiciary from the executive? The picture of its saviour is not in sight especially with the crisis rocking the Rivers State Judiciary. Can Mukhtar’s successor, Justice Mahmud Mohammed restore the already dwindling fortunes of the judiciary? What of the ongoing imbroglio in Rivers State? For about 13 months now, the third-arm of government has literarily gone to bed in Rivers State. It is in limbo following the protracted irreconcilable differences between the National Judicial Council, NJC and the government of Rivers State. While the NJC recommended the most senior judge to be appointed as substantive Chief Judge, the Rotimi Amaechi-led government believes NJC has no role to play in who becomes the Chief Judge of the state. Instead, it brought in its preferred choice, a judge from the Customary Court of Appeal as the state substantive Chief Judge. NJC’s choice is Justice Daisy Okocha as against Justice Peter Agumagu being preferred by the Amaechi government. The government must realize that a strong judiciary is the bedrock of any nation’s thriving democracy, hence it must not be sacrificed on the altar of greed and executive lawlessness as democracy cannot thrive without a strong Judiciary. If help must come to judiciary, government must first ensure that it gives room for the doctrine of separation of power to flourish so as to sustain Nigeria’s nascent democracy. It must also ensure that the impasse between the NJC and the Rivers State government must be resolved before the general elections if anarchy and impunity must end. Indeed, the executive, legislature and the Judiciary must be ready and willing to respect each other in a bid to maintain each others’ independence.

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

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Telegraph Adam&Eve

SUNDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

30 NOVEMBER, 2014

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

The Sunday Magazine SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 CON TINUED FR O M PAGE1

He said they turned back upon hearing gunshots in the mosque. The gunmen had apparently miscalculated, thinking people would continue to flee the area at the sound of the bombs and guns. It was not to be, said Sani, as the crowd chanted in Hausa: “Let’s go back, let’s go back. Let’s enter the mosque.” He said he cautiously followed the angry crowd as it headed towards the mosque. He continued: “Before we knew it, we saw a member of a community vigilante group calling on people to run as fast as they could. He said he had overpowered one of the gunmen. Upon hearing that, the crowd, charged inside the mosque, and killed the gunman instantly.” Accounts said up to five gunmen carried out Friday’s attack. He recalled that one of the gunmen, who climbed to the top of the mosque, was pushed down by a brave youth. Instantly, the mob descended on the gunman and burnt him to ashes. The remaining three gunmen ran out ammunition and were overpowered by the mob and killed. The terrorist, who detonated the bombs tried to flee the scene, but was brought down and also burnt to death. “The people displayed uncommon bravery in confronting the gunmen. It appears the recent admonition by Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, that the people should confront Boko Haram worked on Friday as the people were not afraid to tackle them.” Some of the survivors at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano said they still had bullets lodged in their bodies. One of them, Sani Abdulkadir, said he was entering the mosque when he was hit by two bullets and later saw himself in the hospital. Another survivor, Kabiru Ibrahim, said he was in the congregation when he heard a loud sound, and then something hit his chest. He saw blood gushing out, as he was trying to run towards the gate. He said he saw a young man shooting sporadically, then he quickly lay down among dead bodies. It was when rescue operation started as well as the reaction of the angry mob that made him manage to stand up. He said he fell down again due to excessive blood coming out of his body. Rescuers then rushed him up to the hospital, where two bullets were discovered in his leg and back. Faruk Habibu, a 13-year-old, said he came alongside his two friends who are still missing. He said he saw somebody coming out of a Toyota Sienna bus with a big gun in his hand, recalling that the next thing he saw was himself at the hospital with bullets in his stomach and leg. Babangida Hamisu, who is still in the hospital with bullet wounds, said he had not been attended to by doctors. He noted that people that were by his side died within a few seconds as the loud sound of the bombs went off. He said he tried to run away and that was when one of the gunmen saw him and opened fire on him, hitting him with three bullets in his tummy, leg and head. Tanimu Muntari noted that he was among those that went to help the bomber that was speeding to the Toyota Sienna bus, when it felt into a ditch, not knowing that he was on a wrong mission. “I was approaching when I saw the driver slapping one of those that was trying to help him for asking him why he was speeding. I then sensed that something was wrong. But before I could do a U-turn, two

Survivors’ tales of horror

Sani

Ahmad

bullets hits my back and I fell down. I just saw people on me saying, ‘he is still alive,” he recalled. Ten-year-old Yusuf Sada of Karofin Zage of Municipal Local Government Area said two bullets hit him in the leg and the head, adding that he fell unconscious but was revived at the hospital. The father of Isa, a minor, who is still unconscious, told Sunday New Telegraph that he is having three bullets in his body and had yet to be operated upon. He appealed to the doctors to come to his son’s rescue. Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who was at the hospital to sympathise with the victims, could not hold back tears as he saw some very minors lying almost dead. He said at the mosque that what happened was a serious attack on innocent people who had nothing to even protect themselves with. He said it was a call for a sober reflection and literally begged anybody that is aggrieved to embrace dialogue.

Haruna

Sanusi: We won’t be cowed

he Emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi II, yesterday said Nigerian Muslims would not be intimidated into abandoning Islam after coordinated bomb and gun attacks on the Kano Central Mosque that left over 200 people dead. “We will never be intimidated into abandoning our religion, which is the intention of the attackers,” the emir said during a 20-minute-visit to the mosque shortly after his return to the country. The mosque adjoins his palace in the city. Sanusi was out of Nigeria on Friday, when the deadly assault on the mosque occurred. Last week, the emir made a call at the same mosque urging civilians to take up arms against the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. But during his visit, he implicitly dismissed widespread speculation that the attack was

in retaliation to that call. “From all indications, they (attackers) have been planning this for at least two months,” Sanusi said in Hausa, Agence France Presse reports. The emir, who did not give details supporting that assertion, directed the place be washed and cleaned, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported. Pieces of flesh, blood splatters, broken floor tiles, abandoned footwear and prayer mats littered the mosque when the emir visited the mosque. Bloodstains were also noticeable at the entrance and on the walls of the mosque. The bomb blasts had left gaping holes in the ceiling of the sprawling religious edifice. “I have directed that the mosque be washed and cleaned and prayers should continue here,” Sanusi said. He did comment on the victims of the at-

tack. Hundreds of residents and faithfuls thronged the outside of the mosque to catch a glimpse of the scene of the carnage. Carcasses of dozens of burnt motorcycles and cars as well as water bottles and hand fans were scattered around the area. A senior rescue official late Friday gave AFP the preliminary death toll of 120. The official also said that at least 270 people were wounded in the attack, which saw two suicide bombers blow themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers in Kano, the biggest city in the mainly Muslim north of the country. Kano State Acting Police Commissioner, Sanusi Lemu, told journalists that three of the attackers were grabbed and killed by the enraged mob. He did not give further details.

SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Oba of Benin warns ex-governors to return looted Edo funds or risk doom Cajetan Mmuta

T BENIN

he Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa, yesterday warned ex-governors of Edo State, who held offices before Gov Oshiomhole to return allegedly looted funds during their tenures or risk doom. Though the revered monarch did not name the exgovernors, Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Prof. Osunbor have been the only elected governors of the state before Oshiomhole. Igbinedion was convicted by a Federal High Court in Enugu in 2008 and ordered to refund N500 million to the state government and forfeit three properties. His younger brother, Michael; an associate, Patrick Eboigbodin and four companies: Gava Corporation Limited; Romrig Nigeria Limited; PML Securities Company Limited and PML Nigeria Limited are facing trial at a Federal High Court sitting in Benin over a N25 billion scam involving Edo State Government funds. Osunbor was ousted in 2008 by the Court of Appeal, Benin, which declared Oshiomhole as the winner of the 2007 governorship election. The monarch spoke during the official commissioning of the dualised six-lane Benin airport road; the newly constructed Imaguero College buildings; and Ayogwiri-Apana-Igodor-Okpekpe Road. Also yesterday, Governor Adams Oshiomhole stirred the hornet’s nest in the camps of major presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress as he declared former head

of state, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as the choice of Edo people for the 2015 elections. The Benin monarch, who spoke through the head of the witches and wizards in the ancient kingdom and Esogban of Benin, Chief David Edebiri, also warned that unless the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party pay reparation to the state and its people for the over 16 years of the plundering of their resources, they would never see the light of the day in their actions. He also cautioned politicians against overheating the polity. “It is the wish of Omo N’Oba and advice that politicians should not overheat the polity. They should play the game without bitterness. What matters is the counting of the ballot box. That day you will see us; fighting no, no need for fighting anybody. Let us go to the ballot box and I can assure you that the people of Edo State will not be found wanting. “The Oba has asked me to express his gratitude to the governor of this state for the development he has brought to bear on our society. Before the advent of Oshiomhole’s administration, Benin City was like a town in the 16th century; we had no light (power), no road, no water, no modern amenities. “Successive governments of the PDP since 1999 came and plundered our resources. We had governors here who would only visit Benin on the day of federal allocation; immediately the allocation was got the next day, he vamoosed either to Europe or South America or the Middle East. Consequently, Benin City became more ancient than what it

ordinarily is. But Oshiomhole came, the Omo N’Oba recognised that this man is capable of doing something and some of us recognised that he would do something. He have him all the necessary moral support and political support. “Today, I am proud to say that this will be a smile and I am sure that every Benin man, not people living in Benin City will also say that this city is theirs. Oshiomhole has done something that no other governor in Nigeria has done. He started from the scratch. If he had met something this (new Airport Road) when he came, by now we would have invited people from Paris to come and compete with us. “But he met nothing and all the funds that were accruing to this state were siphoned and carried away to other lands. They went to build supermarkets, hospi-

tals, industries in South Africa, Dubai and other places with our money. I have said it before and I want to repeat here now that unless they pay us back; unless they pay reparation for the plunder of this place, they will never see light,” he stated. Speaking for himself, Edebiri said “I live on this street (Airport Road); if you were coming to my place our August visitors three or four years back at this time of the year, we would have to raise a speed boat for you to be able to access my house. That was the situation everywhere along this road. But when he (Oshiomhole) came, as a man of vision, he thrust this road as the flagship of his developmental efforts and today we on the streets are all enjoying Oshiomhole’s benevolence. “We are not active politicians but we are not blind

to good things. We see good things; we appreciate good things and we will continue to appreciate Oshiomhole even after many years of his administration. “I want to assure the visitors that the next election; this is my own personal statement and not the Oba’s, in the 2015 elections, the people of Edo South Senatorial District, the people of Edo State are going to vote for Oshiomhole. In 2016 which is the gubernatorial election year, we are going to vote for Oshiomhole’s party and I am pretty certain in my mind that many generations from now will continue to vote for Oshiomhole whichever party he chooses to belong.” Also speaking, Buhari lauded the support which the Oba and his subjects had extended to Oshiomhole’s administration. He commended the governor

for making infrastructural development the main plank of his government. In his remarks, Oshiomhole said the 7.2 kilometre Airport Road represents courage and vision to his government and people of the state. He said “We are unanimous that the only man who fits the requirement to commission this road is Buhari.” Among other APC leaders at the event were Edo State Deputy Governor, Pius Odubu; members of the State Executive Council and state house of assembly; a former Communications Minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh; ex-Information Minister, Prince Tony Momoh; former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory; Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; traditional rulers; various support groups and members of the ruling party in the state.

L-R: Prince Tony Momoh; Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; Maj Gen Mohammadu Buhari and others, at the commissioning of Imaguero College facilities in Benin …yesterday

Nigerians to pay more for electricity from tomorrow

igerians are to pay more for electricity, as the new tariffs approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission take effect from tomorrow. NERC had approved a review of the Multi-Year Tariff Order and the adjustment was intended to meet the demands of the generation companies. They had stated that the increase in gas price by $1/mmbtu would warrant a rise in electricity bills. According to them, the gas component in the power value chain is a ma-

jor factor that cannot be ignored. “I doubt if a rise in gas price by about 40 per cent per mmbtu won’t warrant a corresponding increase in tariffs considering the significance of gas to power plants in Nigeria. This is because most power plants in Nigeria today are gas-fired,” an official of one of them told politicaleconomistng.com. NERC approved the increase in electricity tariff notwithstanding the fact that electricity supply in the country has continued to be poor since the privatisation of the power

companies. Explaining the rise in gas price while giving the presentation at the commission’s head office, Roland Achor from Tariffs and Rates, NERC, said gas prices had been regulated since the adoption of the MYTO in 2008. Achor said that the regulated prices were applied in the 20122016 price regimes. “However, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources in collaboration with NERC has agreed to a gas price of $2.5/mmbtu and transport cost of $0.8 effective December 2014,” he said.

On the rate of inflation, Achor said that what the commission received from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed a figure of 8.3 per cent as of September 30, while the inflation rate at last minor review was 7.8 per cent. “However, MYTO-2 had an assumption of 13 per cent inflation rate and the effective rate is now 8.3 per cent.” Achor noted that the data received from the CBN and the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics showed an exchange rate of N154.75 to $1 as of September 30, while the figure for the last minor review was N158.57.

“MYTO-2 was benchmarked at N178 to $1. It is, however, important to note that MYTO-2 also allows a charge of one per cent above the CBN rate to cover letter of credit and other bank charges. The effective exchange rate is now N156.29 to $1 over the next six months.” Data from the systems operations of the Transmission Company of Nigeria showed that available generation on six months average ending September 30, was 3,675.41 megawatts. The gross capacity was therefore estimated to be

5,556MW but the last available generation capacity was 3,424MW. “Throughout the period from December 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015, the retail tariff will be based on generation of 3,675MW,” Achor said. President, National Association of Electricity Consumers of Nigeria, Ganiyu Makanjuola, said government should first address the fundamental issues of infrastructure, generation capacity and transmission. He said the association and electricity consumers were totally against the proposed tariff increase.

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2014

News Yekeen Nurudeen, Johnchuks Onuanyim and Chukwu David

ondemnation yesterday trailed the deadly bomb blast and gun attack on the Kano Central Mosque, as the President of the Senate, David Mark; Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar; the United States and the All Progressives Congress expressed outrage at the latest mayhem. This was just as the casualty figure from Friday’s blast rose to over 200. Mark, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, described the terror attack as “an act of madness” by the perpetrators. Mark described the perpetrators of the Kano bomb blast as people who had lost their senses as human beings and urged all right thinking members of the society to rise up against the terrorists working to put asunder the peace and unity of Nigeria. He urged security operatives not to be deterred by the recalcitrant attitude of the insurgents but be further strengthened to continue to protect and defend the territorial integrity of the nation. He also urged Nigerians to conduct themselves in a manner that would make the 2015 elections most credible and acceptable to all parties. Mark said the electoral process should be anchored on the rule of law and the will of the people rather than resort to violence or coercion. For his part, Tambuwal condemned the multiple blasts, saying the attacks were despicable and acts of cowardice. In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, the speaker urged the citizens to be extra vigilant, adding that the synergy between the security agencies and the larger populace should be strengthened with a view to apprehending trouble makers before they strike. According to him, efforts to tackle the war on terrorism is only as good as the intelligence gathered, as such more needs to be done to preempt future attacks. “In that regard, the House of Representatives will continue to play its part to support the security agencies and both the Federal and State Governments to find lasting solutions to the problem,” the Speaker stated. While condoling with the government and people of Kano over the attacks, Tambuwal appealed to all citizens to open their hearts

Mark, Tambuwal, U.S, Sultan, APC condemn Kano blast and come to the aide of those injured. In his comments, the Sultan of Sokoto and leader of Muslims in Nigeria said in Abuja that those behind all the attacks are not true Muslims. Speaking at the Post 2014 Hajj Conference organised by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria held at the National Mosque, he lamented the dastardly act and said it was time for all stakeholders particularly the federal government to rise up to the responsibility and bring the insurgency to an end. “World over, it is the duty and responsibility of government to provide security for the citizenry. This is the time for all the various sects in Islam in this country to rally round one another and bring to an end insurgency in this country. “I do not believe those perpetrating this are Muslims. If they are Muslims, they are not professing what Islam teaches,” he said. Speaking in the same vein, the Secretary General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, who also condemned the attack, reiterated the need for the federal government to show more commitment towards ending the carnage in the Northern parts of the country. He quoted former US President Ronald Reagan as having said that the first constitutional duty of any government is to protect the lives and properties of its citizens. The JNI secretary-general further challenged the federal government to move from mere speech making on the issue of ending Boko Haram to taking decisive actions that would portray the government as serious in its anti-terrorism war. His words: “Well, I think it is a very important statement made at the right time, at the right venue where Muslim leaders and other stakeholders of the Hajj Commission are gathered. I think it is very important that this matter be looked at with all purposes and intents and with a very serious, I mean the word serious focus on efforts from the government which has the constitutional mandate to look after the security and welfare of the people.” APC in a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, condemned “in the stron-

L-R: Chairman of the occasion, Prof. J.C. Ezigbo; former INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu and author of the book, Maureen Chigbo, at the second anniversary lecture/book presentation of Paragon of Journalism organised by Realnews in Lagos

gest terms” the attack on innocent worshippers, stating that terrorism will never prevail no matter how long it takes. The party said the attack had again confirmed what it (APC) has always believed: That terrorism is an attack on our nationhood and the way we live. The party said, “Every attack against innocent people, including women and children, or those who are performing or pursuing their commitment to their God or faith, is a cowardly and senseless victimization and exploitation of vulnerability. “The fabric and character of our people, whether in Kano or anywhere else across the nation, are stronger than this attack on our collective humanity. Our resolve as a nation will always overcome evil and any assault on how we live and practise our respective faiths. “APC stands shoulder-toshoulder with the people of Kano and all the affected families at this difficult time. We pray that God will grant repose to the soul of those who were killed in the blast, while also wishing all those who were injured in the attack a speedy recovery. We urge all citizens to demonstrate the Nigerian spirit of compassion and strength of character by providing succor and support to one another.” In a statement signed by Jen Psaki, U.S State Department spokesperson, the

United States condemned Friday’s “horrendous attack on worshippers at the Central Mosque in Kano and recent attacks on innocent civilians in northeastern Nigeria. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the individuals killed and injured. “These attacks, while as yet unclaimed, have all of the hallmarks of Boko Haram and the group’s disregard for human life as it continues in its efforts to destabilise Nigeria. The United States stands with the Nigerian people in their struggle against violent extremism and the threat of terrorism and affirms our ongoing commitment to work with all Nigerians to combat these atrocities.” Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria has

condemned last Friday’s attack, describing it as an assault on allNigerians. President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said the attack was another wake-up call on all Nigerians irrespective of religious or political affiliations to join hands with the federal government and the security agencies in the ongoing efforts at curbing terrorism in the country. Oritsejafor described the attack as a great evil and commiserated with the families of the victims especially those who lost their lives in the attack. “The entire Christian community in Nigeria received the news of the latest in the series of bomb explosions, this time around at the mosque near the emir’s palace in Kano, with shock and disbelief. This is most unfortunate given the num-

ber of people that lost their lives in their bid to offer prayers to their Almighty in the usual Friday worship at the mosque. “I appeal to all Nigerians especially residents of the areas most prone to the attacks not to give up or succumb to the antics of the insurgents, `this is the time to remain fearless in the face of terror. We cannot continue to allow the terrorists to continue to intimidate us in our land because we have no other place to call our own, we must cooperate with relevant authorities in addition to being extra vigilant, to defeat this terror. They are human beings and can be defeated, but we have to be united. Nigerians must be united both in prayers and in other practical steps, to defeat terror,” he said.

Gunmen kill APC chieftain, six others in Rivers Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

ampaging gunmen have attacked Omoku Community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government of Rivers State, killing a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and six others.

Sources said the 10 gunmen stormed the community on motorbikes around 7pm on Friday, and moved from one house to another, ordering residents to stand in front of their houses before shooting them. The killing, according to an eyewitness, took place behind Palace Road in Omoku.

The APC chieftain, Godspower Ahiadu, was killed by the gunmen the same way others were felled, sources said, adding that two policemen were among the victims. Some residents have fled the area for neighbouring communities, and Port Harcourt, citing incessant attacks and kidnapping by gunmen.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Lamido hails successful primaries Dahiru Suleiman Dutse

overnor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has charged officials of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state to work hard in ensuring the success of the party in 2015 general elections. Lamido, who stated this shortly after casting his vote at Magajin Gari Ward of the PDP in Birnin-Kudu, commended the state party officials for smooth conduct of the exercise. “I am impressed with what I have seen. If this good organisation is maintain in the forthcoming 2015 general elections, we are sure of success,” he said. The conduct of the PDP’s state House of Assembly primaries was hitch free in almost all the 27 local governments in the state, with almost all the 29 PDP members in the state House of Assembly returned un-

opposed Commenting on the conduct of the exercise, the PDP Chairman in the state, Alhaji Salisu Mamuda, said the success of the primaries was informed on consensus earlier agreed among contestants based on mutual understanding. Speaking in the same vein, the Speaker, Hon. Adamu Ahmad Sarawa, who chaired the committee of Birnin-Kudu ward defended their success with the consensus arrangement and lauded the maturity exhibited by the delegates. He commended the executive of the PDP in Jigawa for the smooth conduct of the primaries, and called upon them to maintain the tempo during 2015 general elections. During the exercise, most government officials and PDP officials were posted to each of the 27 local government areas for effective supervision and ensure rancor-free primaries.

PDP Primaries

Gunmen shoot Delta House of Assembly aspirant in Warri

ne of the aspirants contesting the Peoples Democratic Party primaries into the Delta State House of Assembly seat in Warri (Warri Constituency II), Hon. Godspower Etih, was shot by gunmen Thursday night, two days before the primaries. Fingers are being pointed at a fellow aspirant in the PDP for the dastardly act. According to eye witness account, the incident happened at about 9:00pm when he visited his family

house off Lower Erejuwa Road, in Warri metropolis. He was still critically ill at a private hospital when the primaries got underway yesterday. Meanwhile, the primaries were almost marred by non-arrival of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and election materials until late in the afternoon. At Warri, Warri South Local Government Area and Oleh, Isoko South, as at 3:15pm, materials did not arrive at the venues of the primaries. Only security

personnel and newsmen were there awaiting the arrival of the materials. At Uvwie Local Government area, the town hall slated for the primaries was under lock and key when Sunday New Telegraph visited there yesterday. The delegates were, however, assembled at the Local Government Council Headquarters at Effurrun. Chairman of the council, Henry Baro, said that the venue was changed to forestall any form of violence and that owners of the town

hall had said they did not want any political event t hold there as it could degenerate to fracas because the area was known for violence. Corroborating Baro’s stand, Chairman of PDP in the local government area, Kelly Otuedor, said they chose the council because it was more secure. A contestant on the platform of the PDP, Barr. Peter Agbaja said he was surprised to find the town hall under lock and key as no one told him the venue had been changed.

Aliyu harps on grassroots democracy Dan Atori MINNA

s the 2015 general elections draw closer, Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu has said that democracy must be taken to the local government level in order to achieve credible result in the country. Aliyu stated this after casting his vote at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State Assembly primaries (Chanchaga constituency), at the UK Bello Arts Theatre, Minna, the state capital. He said: “We will get it wrong if we don’t go to the grassroots. My opinion is that democracy starts at the local government level. If we get it right at the ward and Local government levels, believe me the state and federal levels will be normal. But where you do not take it where people are, there must be problem.” “In Niger State, we respect

our local arrangement of zoning and if we zone a particular office we may not stop others as a result of democracy; we may not stop them from contesting but we hope that our delegates will vote in accordance with the local arrangement that has been in place.” Aliyu assured members of PDP that all the security agencies were in place in all the venues, where it may be difficult for any reason to have an election or to have delegates to participate actively. Announcing the result of Chanchaga constituency of PDP House of Assembly primaries, Chairman Electoral Committee, Aminu Gwargwaje said that total vote cast was 66. Jumai Jafaru got 27 votes, Jamilu Saidu got 19, Muazu Madaki got five, Saria Kesiu got five and Fati Abubakar got seven votes. Three were invalid.

…parallel primaries in Ondo Babatope Okeowo Akure wo different lists of candidates emerged from the party primaries conducted by the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party by the factions of the party yesterday. While the candidates of the Mr. Ebenezer Alabiled executive conducted primaries to pick its candidates, the Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s faction picked its candidates by consensus. However, there were some local governments where the two factions of

the party harmonised their candidates. But in areas where there were differences, the two factions of the party conducted their primaries at different venues to avoid clashes between the party leaders and supporters. There was also argument between the Chairman of the party and the government delegates led by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, at the Independent National Electoral Commission office over which of the primaries the body should attend.

A deserted Peoples Democrstic Party Secretariat, Uvwie Local Government when our reporter called there yesterday

…Ebonyi PDP primaries peaceful Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

he Peoples Democratic Party, primary election to elect State House of Assembly candidates for the 2015 general election was peacefully conducted without hitches across the 24 seats of the state. The election which was supervised by the PDP State Electoral Panel sent from the National Secretariat of the party distributed the electoral materials to all the returning officers in each local government area of the state amidst tight security. The materials were distributed in the presence of security operatives, party delegates, newsmen, returning officers and party supporters as no act of violence was recorded throughout the exercise. Speaking with newsmen, the leader of the team and Chairman of the Panel, Senator Ben Collins Ndu, said they were in the state to conduct the election even

as he debunked the insinuations in some quarters that the election was postponed. “If the election was postponed, we wouldn’t have been here; we came from the National Secretariat of the party…We are comfortable were we are; we appreciate your presence and will be fair to all manner persons. We want them to conduct themselves peacefully; I pray God to see us through”. Other members of the team are Hon. Aliyu Bindawu secretary, Hon. Sani Aminu, Rt. Hon. Simon Dogari, and Hajiya Yelwa Sani. In his remarks, acting State PDP Chairman, Chief Onwe Joseph Onwe, stressed that no person had the right inform the public that the election was postponed when there was nothing like that He called on our party faithful, supporters and aspirants to be calm and law abiding as the conduct of the primaries was going on peacefully.

‘...Credible candidates ‘ll emerge in Ekiti’ Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Idowu Faleye, has said credible candidates will emerge from the party’s primary organised to pick its candidates for the House of Assembly election coming up next year. Speaking at the party’s state secretariat in AdoEkiti on Saturday on the exercise that took place in 26 constituencies across the state, he said there was need to pick credible candidates for the poll, since the party would slug it out with other parties in the general elections. He denied claims by some people that some leaders in the party had imposed their candidates on the party. “We have prepared well for the exercise. Materials have been sent to all the centres where the exercise will take place. The five-man team from our national headquarters is in the state from Abuja

monitoring the exercise. “Apart from today’s event, there is room for anybody not satisfied to appeal. We are not shutting out anybody. We need to have candidates who are without blemish to emerge and we are not going to compromise on that standard. He said for yesterday’s exercise, 52 aspirants contested for 26 tickets for the House of Assembly, adding that the number could have been higher, but some people stepped down. He commended security agents for providing the needed cover for the exercise. Speaking in the same vein, the Special Adviser, Political to the governor, Alhaji Ademola Bello, expressed optimism that the event would be hitch-free. He emphasised the need for patriotic and credible persons to be voted into the assembly to stave the current frosty relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government in the state.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Saraki urges support for FG on war on terror Biodun Oyeleye,

C Ilorin.

hairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Dr. Bukola Saraki has blamed President Goodluck Jona-

than’s administration for the security challenges facing the country, but urged all citizens to support the Federal Government on the war on terror. Saraki, who stated this while condemning the Friday bomb blast in

Kano Central mosque which claimed 120 lives however, asked Jonathan his to desist from passing the blames to opposition or foreign countries. The former governor of Kwara State who spoke with newsmen shortly

after he obtained the certificate of clearance from APC screening committee to contest the 2015 Senate election in the state, urged Nigerians irrespective of their political affiliations to join hands with the Federal Government

in sending away terrorists from the country. He described the rate at which people were killed in the country as alarming, saying that “such must be stopped as quick as possible,” adding that “Nigerians, irrespective of political leaning need to support the government in its bid to send away terrorism from the country, as an opposition party members we are worried over the spate of insecurity in the country”. While calling on government at all levels to ensure security of lives and property of people in every part of the country, Saraki asked members of APC

in the state to ensure they conduct themselves peacefully throughout the political activities in the state, he expressed delight that the screening of APC aspirants into the Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly was conducted peacefully and rancor free. Saraki who denied the allegation of imposition of candidates also maintained that, those interested in elective positions can buy forms and present themselves to the delegates for election. He added that, he was confident that the party will be fair to all aspirants contesting elective offices in the state.

59 escape death as plane skids off Ilorin runway Wole Shadare

A Prospective voters scrambling to collect their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) at Orile, Lagos…yesterday.

Solomon kicks against consensus candidacy Temitope Ogunbanke

enate Minority Whip and All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, yesterday ruled out the imposition of any of the gubernatorial aspirants as APC consensus candidate for February 28 governorship election, noting that the party leadership has no right to do that. Speaking at the ‘Meet the Press Forum’ organised by the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Solomon, who is representing Lagos-West Senatorial District at the National Assembly, said the aspirants have gone very far in there preparation for the party’s primaries and therefore if any consensus candidate would emerge, it has to be an agreement between the aspirants and not an imposition from the party leadership. “At this stage I believe it is only aspirants that can talk about consensus. The leadership cannot talk about consensus because we have entered into a contract. They said we can come and obtain forms and we have obtained the

forms. We filled the forms and submitted them; we are just waiting for the screening and the exercise. I think the issue of consensus is not in the hands of any leadership, particularly in our party because already had a contract. “The aspirants can come together and among themselves agree to have a consensus candidate. If they like they can have it with the leadership of the party in attendance, but it is going to be very difficult now to do that on behalf of the aspirants. I think we have passed that stage. The only thing is for the leadership to start preparing so that there will be free, fair and transparent primaries,” he said. Solomon promised that his administration will add to what is in existence in the state and focus more on youth employment and empowerment, health, housing, education, transportation, and other programmes that will provide dividends of democracy to the people of the state. He also promised to be accountable to the people of the state and run a transparent government that will not allow corruption in the state.

PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

Ibadan Poly to open N1bn auto mechatronic centre Sola Adeyemo, Ibadan

n a bid to champion technological advancement to improve the nation’s drive towards automobiles innovations, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, is about to commence training of students through its N1b mechatronics and robotics centre. This was disclosed at the weekend by the institution’s Deputy Rector, Mr. Adebisi Adeniran during his chat with Sunday New Telegraph as part of preparations for the school’s 30th Convocation ceremonies. According to Adeniran, the centre which is aimed at teaching students most current technology in auto-

mobiles and allied courses, is being funded through special intervention fund from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). Through the centre, many Nigerian youths would be able to learn the art of constructing automobiles and other technological innovations aimed at boosting the nation’s Gross Domestic Products and make her less dependent on imports. He disclosed that aside the construction of the mechatronics and robotics centre, the 43-year old institution, which has been making positive contribution to the development of Nigeria, had also benefitted from TETFund through staff development and training.

crash was averted yesterday when an Overland flight 1186, an ATR 72 aircraft with Registration number 5N-BPG from Abuja airport to Ilorin carrying 59 passengers and four crew veered off the runway at low speed after a normal landing at the Ilorin Airport. The incident was said to have occurred at 4.45pm, but with no casualty recorded. Spokesman for the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Fan Ndubuoke, in a statement said the Accident and Prevention Bureau in conjunction with the aviation regulatory body had launched an investigation into the cause of the incident. “The authority wishes to use this medium to reassure Nigerians that safety of the traveling public is still paramount and cannot be compromised,” he said. Also in a statement, Executive Director of the airline, Mrs. Aduke Atibe, in a statement made available to Sunday New Telegraph said, “Our ATR 72 aircraft with registration mark 5N-BPG and flight number OLA 1186 departed Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja to llorin Airport at 1543hrs with 59 passengers and four crew on board.”

The airline chief stated that it was a normal flight to Ilorin and standard procedures of flight were followed. The aircraft landed safely at Ilorin Airport at 1645hrs as scheduled and decelerated to a low speed. She said that in turning off the active runway, it veered off the pavement. She said that at the directive of the Pilot In Command, the cabin crew calmly evacuated all the 59 passengers safely and they were moved to the airport terminal, adding that no passengers or crew sustained any injuries whatsoever. “Our Ilorin passengers have since collected their baggage and gone home while the Ibadan Airport bound passengers will continue on Overland Airways to Ibadan Airport. Overland Airways confirms that the aircraft was fully airworthy and insured. “Overland Airways wishes to clarify that it was not a crash landing or an emergency landing. It was a smooth and normal landing and the passengers were safely and procedurally disembarked. “We wish to assure all our esteemed passengers and public that Overland Airways will continue to operate within the strictest standards of safety,” she added.

No attempted jailbreak in Yola prison, says NPS

he Nigerian Prisons service has denied a media report on an alleged attempted jailbreak by some convicted soldiers in Yola Prison in Adamawa State. The spokesperson of the NPS, Mr. Ope Fatinukun in a statement said “there

was neither pandemonium, commotion nor gunshots into air in the prison as reported by some media. “What really happened was argument among inmates around 7.30 pm after prayers last Thursday and the argument was quickly brought under control.”

Fatinukun added that the Controller of the Adamawa State Prison Command, CP AS Ekijere was in the Yola prison for his fourth quarter visit to all prisons under his command For legal and security reasons, the Prison spokesperson also urged the media

to always use appropriate nomenclatures in describing the inmates. He said “Inmates can either be addressed as Convicted Inmates (CM) or Awaiting Trial inmates (ATI) rather than the derogatory words of incarcerated soldiers or civilians.”

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

OPINION Between Tambuwal, Wamakko and Dasuki

Yusuf Goronyo

ecent political developments in my dear state of Sokoto as well as the nottoo pleasant roles of notable political figures in the revered Seat of the Caliphate call for urgent introspection and deep reflection. These intense political events if left unchecked have the propensity of not only destabilising the entire state, but could plunge it into avoidable crisis. We cannot afford to watch desperate politicians in their attempts to score cheap political points cast aspersions at others. We in Sokoto State attach immense value to the relative peace we’ve been enjoying at a time neighbouring states in the North are in enmeshed in regrettable turmoil and unrest. The Sokoto State that I have come to know is a land blessed with men and women of honour and integrity whose words are usually their bond. In my over three decades of existence in Sokoto State, I can authoritatively affirm that an average Sokoto person is not given to betrayal, cowardice or treachery. So, one really wonders when certain elements from the state are daily trying to rubbish the state’s pristine and very enviable records for mere political gains. The crux of this article is to unearth a clearly orchestrated plot by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State and their loyalists to blame the former’s political travails on the personality of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), the National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, who incidentally is an indigene of the state. In their thinking, all the political troubles that Speaker Tambuwal has been facing are clearly the making of the NSA. They went a step further to assert that Col. Dasuki is

acting a script written by the Presidency to oust the Speaker from office. While some of these allegations are mere figments of the imagination of those behind them, one thing that cannot be waved away is the attempt to malign Sambo Dasuki and further pitch him against the good people of Sokoto State and the North as a whole. Let’s task our memory with some of these developments, with a view to sieving pure facts from tissues of lies. Without fear of contradiction, the current NSA, knowing the enormity of the task before him, upon assumption of office drew a thick line between his office and politicians. The task of ending insurgency and ensuring national security are too serious to be toyed with. He knew the implications of hob-nobbing with politicians. He knows how treacherous, unreliable and desperate some of them could be, so in order not to fail in his task, he kept a distance. Sambo has not only chosen not to be partisan in the execution of his duty, but has made it clear to even President Jonathan that he should be given a free hand to do his assignment. Col. Sambo, being the NSA, knows the power and influence that he wields. But he doesn’t deploy them against those who disagree with him. He has refused to meddle in politics. Even when some had expected him to fight or muzzle the ‘enemies’ of his boss, Sambo has acted otherwise. To start with, since the political crisis involving the Presidency and Speaker Tambuwal started, Sambo has indeed kept a distance and remained neutral. Ideally, some had expected him to queue behind his boss, President Jonathan. When it was first reported that armed soldiers once harassed Speaker Tambuwal at a town hall meeting in Kaduna, the NSA rose in condemnation of the untoward act and personally wrote an apology letter to Mr.

Speaker. Sambo felt enraged by the act and equally directed that a probe panel be set up to look into the issue. In his estimation, the number four citizen doesn’t deserve such a treatment. This, I believe, the Speaker and his loyalists can attest to. Secondly, as recently as last week following the fracas that ensued at the National Assembly, spurious and very unfounded reports filtered in that the NSA had ordered the ‘immediate’ arrest of Tambuwal. While some sought to ascertain the veracity of this report by making due confirmations, others swallowed it hook, line and sinker. The report is nothing but false. It was another futile attempt to drag the personality and office of the National Security Adviser into what is clearly a political matter. Shockingly, as at the time this spurious report was released to media houses, Col. Sambo was outside the shores of Nigeria on an official engagement. So, how could someone who wasn’t in the country have promptly ordered the ‘immediate’ arrest of Speaker Tambuwal? This, to me is another lame attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Why are those around the Speaker serially scheming ways to tarnish the hard earned image of Col. Dasuki? Thirdly, this time around it was our dear Governor Magartakarda Wamakko who accused the NSA of threatening him via a text message they both exchanged. It is really curious the height people tend to go in their quest to rubbish their fellow human beings. What for goodness sake do these guys expect the NSA to do in the face-off the Speaker is having with the Peoples Democratic Party? Do they expect the NSA to order their arrest for daring to challenge his kinsman, Tambuwal? Or should he go ahead and arbitrarily sack the IGP of Police, Suleiman Abba, for locking out the Speaker

and others at the National Assembly? Let’s allow reason to prevail in all of these. I feel really sad the extent Governor Wamakko is taking this whole thing to. I don’t think the NSA threatened the governor. The question on the lips of many is that, what could have possibly made the NSA to issue a threat to his own governor? Without doubt, Nigerians and the good people of Sokoto State are not unaware of the fact that Sambo Dasuki can never take sides in the execution of his assignments. Like I stated earlier, the task of ending insurgency is too challenging a task to meddle into petty political disagreements. We in Sokoto State are quite aware of those pulling the punches. So, trying hard to go for the NSA’s throat on an issue he knows nothing about is a plan that cannot be hatched. For the simple reason that the NSA hails from Sokoto State and shares same faith with the Speaker doesn’t imply that he should rally support for him. Also, that he works under President Jonathan doesn’t imply that he should start arresting and jailing all his perceived political rivals. No. The man clearly knows what the demands of his office are. Finally, let me onbehalf of all Sokoto indigenes both at home and in the disapora plead with Tambuwal and Wamakko to in the interest of our dear state and country refrain from casting aspersion at the personality of the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. He shouldn’t be distracted from his job. Let’s leave him out of politics. The gentleman is not a politician. The idea of ganging up to frustrate the NSA’s effort at ending insurgency isn’t in the best interest of our dear country. He needs our support, cooperation and understanding. •Yusuf Goronyo wrote in from Sokoto via ygoronyo@yahoo.com

Enugu: Why pendulum is swinging to Ugwuanyi (1) JohnPaul Ezeaku

n Enugu State, as indeed in other parts of Igboland, there is a saying that the chick that will grow into a cockerel starts early in life to manifest the peculiar characteristics of the male fowl. Long before September 16 this year, when Peoples Democratic Party stakeholders from Enugu North met at the Government Lodge, Enugu and overwhelmingly voted to choose Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the consensus candidate of the party for the governorship primary slated for December 8, the Chairman of the House Committee on Maritime had started doing things that went a long way to ingrain his persona in the minds of the people and psychologically prepare them for a time like this. The Rep member began by doing what a normal politician ought to do: connect with the people by showing genuine interest in their affairs. He learnt very well from his great Catholic mother and noble woman who taught him to take delight in the good fortunes of others and show empathy over their misfortunes. So, every so often, Hon. Ugwuanyi would visit and rejoice with those who rejoiced and mourn with those who mourned. He would stop his car to greet a lonely elderly person on the road and, as much as possible, try to ease his burden, financially or otherwise. He would visit indigent families and pay their children’s school fees and beg them not to mention it. From time to time, he would buy clothes and food and budget stipends and distribute them to widows in the 30 wards that make up his Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency. A loyal party man and team player, he would regularly visit to pay respects to party stakeholders as the soul of the platform from which

he ascended to power. He would buy tricycles and motorcycles and distribute to the youths of his constituency as part of his personal effort to empower them (in fact, it is reported that the motorcycle the PDP chairman in Senator Eze’s ward uses as ‘official vehicle’ was donated by Hon. Ugwuanyi who, in order not to antagonise Eze, would not let the chairman disclose his benefactor). More importantly, since he began his political career in 2003, Ugwuanyi is reported to have given over 300 scholarships to students in his constituency at different levels of the education ladder but would never make a fanfare of it. They say that character is everything. Tutored by his mother to be kind to others and strive to do what is right at all times and the sky would be his limit, Ugwuanyi grew up a good man and kind-hearted man who, as part of the preparations for his politics of service to God and community, simply externalized his noble inner qualities through giving, friendship and demonstration of goodwill to all. Needless to say, he got the people to reciprocate with love and votes when the time came. On the other hand, Senator Ayogu Eze is considered by many as standoffish and stingy. An unsmiling, seemingly perpetually angry man with a permanent frown, Eze, a former journalist, scarcely shows emotions or empathy and often comes across as one who is completely ill-at ease with his constituency’s political elite for whom he has scant regard and with whom he perennially works at cross-purposes. To many in Enugu, Eze reminds of Chimaroke Nnamani, the lion of the Lion Building, a brutal, unemotional, self-opinionated man who ruled Enugu with iron hand and who could do anything to undermine, even destroy, his opponents in order to have his way (so, who

wants another Nnamani in Enugu?). Thus, it did not surprise many that when the time came for PDP stakeholders to choose between Ugwuanyi and Eze, they had no problem of choice: they chose the former. It is instructive that all the PDP stakeholders from Enugu-North who attended the meeting at the Government Lodge Enugu on September 16, voted for Ugwuanyi without any exception. Not a single stakeholder voted for Eze, not even one stakeholder from his immediate constituency, Igbo-Eze North (in fact, Fidel Ayogu, a former Nigerian High Commissioner to Uganda, who nominated Ugwuanyi and moved the motion for his adoption, comes from the same constituency as Eze). Besides, of the 14 governorship aspirants who participated in the pre-primary election called principally to prune down the number of aspirants before the PDP governorship primary slated for December 8, 10 stepped down for Ugwuanyi, leaving only three objectors, namely, Eze, State House of Assembly Speaker Eugene Odo and Ike Ekweremadu’s protégé, Chinedu Onu. After his emergence as the consensus candidate, more revelations came about the character and politics of the three-time member of the House of Representatives. It came to light that Ugwuanyi had not limited his

It is instructive that all the PDP stakeholders from EnuguNorth who attended the meeting at the Government Lodge Enugu on September 16, voted for Ugwuanyi without any exception

acts of kindness and goodwill to members of his immediate constituency but had actually been reaching out to stakeholders in the entire state since 2007, shortly after Governor Chime was sworn in and it became clear that the next governor after him would come from Enugu-North. That explains why the PDP did not encounter any difficulty getting the other two zones in the state to unanimously endorse his choice by Enugu-North as the state’s PDP consensus candidate to be presented for the primary election on December 8 in Enugu. A lot has been said about the process through which Hon. Ugwuanyi emerged as the consensus candidate. But one thing is certain: it was transparent and democratic. One of the stakeholders and former National Chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo described the process as democratic, transparent and in agreement with the constitution of the party, which encourages members to find ways, within the ambit of democratic practice, to reduce acrimony and waste in the process of choosing candidates for elections. It is on record that everybody at that meeting was given the opportunity to speak with a view to either agreeing or disagreeing with what had been done. Only three out of about 86 people present voiced their opposition to it. In fairness to Senator Eze, he reportedly said right there that he did not support the process and would not step down for anybody. Hon. Odo reportedly said he too would not step down for Ugwuanyi. For his part, Onu said that while he would not oppose the decision of the majority of the party elders to adopt Ugwuanyi, he would also not step down for until he had consulted with his supporters. That was what happened.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Impeachment: 171 Reps move against Jonathan •Enoh, Ubani, Ike, others disown list

Onwuka Nzeshi,

T ABUJA

he threat by members of the mainstream opposition party, All Progressives Congress, to commence impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan assumed a new dimension yesterday, with the circulation of a list of 171 lawmakers including some members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party as having endorsed the plot. The list published by an online medium, Gazelle News, had the names of prominent members of the PDP Caucus in the House and even strong supporters of President Jonathan on it. They include the House Leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola; Deputy House Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor; Chairman, House Committee on National Planning, Hon. Bethel Amadi; Chairman, House Committee of Appropriation, Hon. John Enoh; Chairman, House Com-

mittee on Climate Change, Hon. Eziuche Ubani; and Chairman House Committee on Environment, Hon. Uche Ekwunife. It also included the Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nnenna Ukeje; Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Hon. Uzo Azubuike; Chairman, House Committee on Niger Delta and Chairman House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission( NDDC), Hon. Nicholas Mutu. Other prominent members of the House on the said list are the former Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Farouk Lawan; former Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Gas Resources, Hon. Chinenye Ike; and Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Nkem Abonta. Also on the list are some lawmakers from Jona-

than’s home state of Bayelsa, including Hon. Daniel Ofongo (PDP/ Bayelsa), an ardent supporter of the President. Ofongo caused a stir that almost degenerated to a free for all when the leader of the defunct New PDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, led dissident governors who later defected to the APC to the House of Representatives last year. However, a number of the lawmakers on the list have disowned the entire plot and described it as cheap blackmail crafted by some perceived political opponents to dent the image of the lawmakers and frustrate their political ambition in 2015. Akande-Adeola, who was PDP official candidate for the position of the Speaker, could not be reached for comments. However, one of her aides who would not want his name in print, dismissed the list as a fabrication of the opposition to achieve some political goals. Enoh (PDP/ Cross River) expressed surprise when

Sunday New Telegraph contacted him to react to the development. Enoh who has been having a running battle with some political opponents over his bid to seek election to the Senate said he had never been part of any impeachment plot as he had been more at his constituency than in Abuja in the past few months. “You saw my name? That’s impossible! I take strong exception to such a thing. You can always be sure that I won’t be as reckless. I am actually at home for the primaries. I have spent more time in Cross River than even in Abuja. Even when that fracas (police invasion of parliament) took place and they said some members were signing a list in the chamber, I wasn’t there and I don’t know what took place there. “This list may be politically motivated and targeted at me and certain persons. It is mischievous, fraudulent and a smear campaign by some people who have lost touch with the people

L-R: Minister of Trade and Investments, Dr. Olusegun Aganga; Managing Director, Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Company, Nnewi, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma and former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi during the unveiling of new car brands by the company yesterday

Jonathan: Boko Haram won’t last Anule Emmanuel

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday insisted that his administration would not bow to the the ‘intimidation’ tactics of Boko Haram terrorists. Jonathan stated this in reaction to Friday’s bomb attack at the Kano Central Mosque. Speaking when he hosted a group of Igbo market and

town union leaders in Lagos, the President assured that government would continue to update the necessary security infrastructure and architecture to be able to bring insurgency to an end. The delegation met under the auspices of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria and was led by Dr Ifeanyi Ubah and Prince Arthur Eze. He urged Nigerians to see the present security sit-

uation as a passing phase which the country would overcome, just like many other countries which also faced terrorism at one time or the other also defeated it. “Talking about the the unfortunate bomb incident in Kano yesterday (Friday) which formed the reason I couldn’t attend the creative art event in Lagos, I believe some of you were there. It was when we got to the State House here in

the afternoon that we got the information. “I just want to tell Nigerians that this phase will surely pass. This intimidation will not last. We will continue to improve on the technology needed to combat terrorism. This intimidation will soon end, I can assure you. “Other countries which faced terrorism later defeated it, we shall overcome also,” the President said.

they claim to have represented for several years. They think that the only way they can win the next election is to blackmail others,” he said. Enoh stated that the impeachment move was unnecessary because Jonathan had done nothing to deserve such. According to him, Jonathan ought to be supported by all well meaning Nigerians to succeed in his bid to seek reelection. Ubani also expressed surprise that his name was on the list, describing it as the figment of the imagination of those who compiled it. Ubani who played a major role to ensure the adoption of the Doctrine of Necessity by the House during the Sixth Assembly, said he and his colleagues in the Nigeria First Forum worked hard to ensure that Jonathan stepped into Yar’Adua’s shoes at that time. “The so-called list of signatories for a purported impeachment is an absolute and wicked fabrication by authors to sow disaffection and cause mistrust in the PDP. Since my election into the House of Representatives,I have always toed the party line and supported the President. I was one of the people who fought for him to be sworn in through the doctrine of necessity. I voted for Hon. Mulikat Akande- Adeola for the post of Speaker against Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal as directed by the party. I have remained one of the fiercest defenders of the President and the present administration. “When it was unpopular to identify with the PDP due to the propaganda of the APC, I remained loyal. I fully endorsed the President for another term as agreed by the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives. “Now what will be my reason to move against the President at his time? This story is not and cannot be true. The inclusion of people like me,Rt Hon Akande and other well-known and proud loyalists underlines the mischief embedded in this story.It should be totally disregarded and dumped in the trash bin,” Ubani said. Similarly, Ike has denied being privy to any plot to impeach the President. Chinenye who spoke to Sunday New Telegraph on the phone from his constituency said it was laughable that his name would appear on such a list when he had never been part of any meeting where such a matter was discussed. Ukeje denied signing any impeachment notice just as as the Deputy Chair-

man, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Victor Afamefuna Ogene(APGA/ Anambra),said he had no knowledge of the purported impeachment notice and those who might be behind it. Ogene said that it might be a ploy by some persons to drag the names of some lawmakers into a plot they knew nothing about. Ekwunife dismissed the said plot as an idiotic idea, and denied ever appending her signature to the project. “It is an idiotic idea. It is only those who do not love this country that will be plotting to impeach Mr. President. I cannot be part of such a plot because President Goodluck Jonathan has done extremely well in the last three and half years. It is only the blind and the deaf that would not acknowledge his performance. So I cannot be on such a list. In fact we are backing Mr President’s re-election and we are waiting for his swearing in for a second term,” Ekwunife said. However, investigations by our correspondent revealed that the impeachment plot was initially conceived by aggrieved members of the APC in the House of Representatives as a ploy to ward off the perceived onslaught of the Presidency against Tambuwal. A source in the House disclosed that the public display of signing a purported impeachment notice on live television last week was done out of anger. “You know that day, Tambuwal and the lawmakers had just survived the attack on them by the police. So it’s understandable that they were angry and that signing they were doing in the chamber was an emotional reaction to what had happened but somehow, it continued after that day. “Now to worsen it, the reaction of the Senate to the action of the police has encouraged the House to continue to collect the signatures but it will be difficult to tell you how many have signed and who exactly they are,” the source said. Sunday New Telegraph gathered that the main grouse of the legislators was the perceived interference of the executive in the affairs of the National Assembly. Our source disclosed that the flames of impeachment might still be doused if the Presidency does not do anything further to infringe on the independence of the legislature particularly, on the issue of Tambuwal and his defection to the opposition party.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Moment

L-R: Managing Director, Slot Nigeria Limited, Nnamdi Ezeigbo; Country Manager, Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, Yang Fufu; Marketing Manager, Consumer Business, Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, Olaonipekun Okunowo; and Atuyota Akporobomeriere a.k.a. Ali Baba at the launch of Huawei latest smart phone- Mate 7 held at the Huawei experience center, Victoria Island...on Thursday

L-R: Managing Director, Eminent Autos Limited, Mr. Adamu Lamido; Abia State Governorship aspirant, Progressive Peoples Alliance, Chief Ndukwe Ikoh and his Special Assistant, Mr. Ogunsina Akosole, after a press conference to announce Ikoh declaration in Lagos... recently

Principal, Government Secondary School (GSS) Garki, Okoronkwo Vera; a JSS 3 student, Edo Isaac and Public Affairs Advisor, Julius Berger Nigeria (JBN), Clement Iloba, during the distribution of backpacks to students of the school in Abuja. PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI .

L-R: Mrs. Ejiro Kwakpovwe; First Lady Delta State, Mrs. Roli Sheila Uduaghan; Bishop Dr. Chris Kwakpovwe at the final burial ceremony of Pa Stephen Kasoro Kwakpovwe in Ughelli, Delta State...on Friday

Former PDP Chairman, Imo State, Mr. Innocent Nwaoga (left), with Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, during the Deputy Speaker’s Interaction with P.D.P state delegates in Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu, Ezinihitte and Ngor Okpala federal constituencies, Imo State…on Thursday

L-R: Founder, Lady Mechanic Initiative, Mrs. Sandra Aguebor-Ekperuoh; Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Zainab Maina; Chief Executive Officer, Oando Marketing Plc, Mr. Yomi Awobokun and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the initiative, Hajiya Bintu Fatimah Tinubu, at the celebration of its 10th year service to humanity in Lagos…recently. PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

L-R: Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba; Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris; Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed and a staff of the first Consultant Hospital, Obalende Lagos and survivor of the Ebola Virus Disease, Dr. Adejoro Ige Adewale, at the presentation of two million naira cheque to Adewale in Lagos…on Friday

Bauchi State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sagir Saleh (left), receiving an achiever’s award from the National President, Arewa Nationalist Movement, Mr. Abdulkadir Waziri, during a recognition award dinner in Bauchi…on Friday

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

News

Ogun: Controversy trails primaries

•Kashamu, Bankole’s groups trade words Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

he House of Assembly primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State was yesterday mired in controversy as rival groups continued to battle over the control of the party’s structure, delegates and candidates. While the party’s state executive committee loyal to a PDP chieftain, Prince Buruji Kashamu, conducted the primaries, loyalists of former Governor Gbenga Daniel and former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, boycotted the primaries, citing the directive of the party’s National Working Committee. There had been confusion Friday night over which delegates list to be used for the primaries across the 26 state constituencies of the state. The chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel for House of Assembly, Akeem Animasaun, had told journalists that the primaries were post-

poned due to the nonavailability of the delegates list and documents. But at some of the designated centres in the local governments, the exercise was conducted by the state party executive. Speaking with reporters in Abeokuta yesterday, the state PDP Chairman, Chief Adebayo Dayo, said the primaries were valid and peaceful across the state. Dayo claimed that the state executive had the backing of the national leadership of the party in going ahead to conduct the exercise. “The members of the committee sent from Abuja were five; they cannot cover the whole 20 local government areas. They will come to the party secretariat to collate the results,” he stated. However, concerned elders of the party in the state dissociated themselves from the state House of Assembly primaries conducted by the Dayo-led executive. In a statement signed on behalf of the concerned elders by a former

House of Representatives member, Dave Salako, and made available to reporters in Abeokuta, they said the exercise was in defiance to the position of the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja. According to Salako, the primaries were being put on hold till another day to enable the national leadership to address certain issues raised by party stakeholders concerning the primaries. The PDP chieftain, who belongs to the Bankole group fingered Kashamu and two members of the PDP NWC in what he described as “illegal exer-

cise in Ogun State.” He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, no state chapter of the party has the power to unilaterally conduct any congress or party’s primaries on its own. Only the National Secretariat of the party has the power under the constitution of the party and the guidelines for the primaries, it is the sole duty of the National Secretariat of the party to send down its officials and the materials to any state for such an exercise. “In line with the guidelines of party, we were fully prepared for the primaries earlier slated

for today (yesterday) before we received news from Abuja that the exercise has been put on hold. Based on this development, we have to stand down and brief our members accordingly. That is where we stand only for us to wake up today and be hearing another story that the primaries is holding. “The questions we are now asking are: who are the members of the committee from the National Secretariat in charge of the exercise? Where did they get the materials purportedly used for the exercise? At what time

did the National Secretariat directed that the exercise should hold?” Salako, therefore, called on the party’s national leadership to sanction those allegedly behind the “illegal exercise.” “The wearisome aspect of it is that the National Auditor of the party, Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju who should know better, was busy going round the state blackmailing the National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and boasting that he would go to court on Monday to legitimise the kangaroo primaries; this is rubbish,” he added.

…party promises good outing in Osun Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

he Peoples Democratic Party, chairman in Osun State, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, has commended members of the party for their peaceful conduct during state assembly primaries held across the state yesterday.

Olaoluwa, who spoke to newsmen, upon receipt of reports of the exercise, said that with more dedication, the party is poised for a successful outing in 2015 general elections. The primaries, which commenced around 11 am simultaneously across all the voting centres in the state, was largely peaceful.

At many voting centres, candidates emerged through consensus while in others, election was held.In Atakumosa East and West local government areas, primaries were held. In some of the early results, Dr. Kola Akinroye, emerged PDP candidate for Irewole/Isokan state constituency while in Ife

South State Constituency, Hon Akin Famuyide emerged after defeating Mr. Temiitope Elusogbon. Also in Obokun State Constituency, Mr. Mayowa Adejoorin was elected as the Party’s candidate. For Oriade State Constituency, Pastor Olusola Komolafe emerged the candidate of PDP.

Fashion

You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go wrong in black 22-43

Bed, Work & Life

A blast from the past 20

Body Soul SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

No place for bitterness, regret in my life -Kenny Saint Best

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

heart y m m o r f t h g Strai

, ng now’ reason for a ‘happeni h et te ur yo sing life. u are not expo the beauty of d s to smile. If yo ill make you smile. That is t, my mind flashed back an on as re s ay w al 49 w gh st ni pa of e here are th ad in de Pg. piece in the at happened is th th ng n ed hi pe rn et to tu m ts so d re ed my though the weekend an So, as I gather ile. gone home for University of Lagos. d sm a ha e in Sh d se h. ut ea e ine, R enly cr i Hall, & Din very adorable my face sudd and friend of m our room C102 in Morem Wine ama’ was her a course mate in ‘M d . . r’ re er ne nd be ht or ke ug em ‘c ee la m y w re m ud I lo in that ects: se was a very ked their ribs ght. We were ible eff(2) on a Sunday ni ” I had asked and her respon the story of how Mama crac mili aku. She was trying is v in e M to r a? h in of T ching, “How’s mam mar te tale of a rain then launched stor was prea dmother. She mme with the Drink s n the guest pa a rain of ‘miracle’. he w id sa and funny gran rned from a church progra e Sh eacher. ere was tu O dma meant th e rain’. of the guest pr Mama had re itual strength her who explained that gran how it could be ‘falling lik ir sp e th be ri /Tunde ri d ot ha re m s Bu to desc de h’ u on ut w ad R amm e had ada. It was t water and w uring the Muh s in Igboland was OtaMmili aku na hristened’. D means coconu ge ec ly ‘r lla t al vi s tu go in ac g at u th un ak and yo r word Mmili ay be. Methink d ge bered anothe among the old as the case m p orri kwa Then, I remem tration, the popular phrase ch bites the head or brain U y r inis whi isavou Idiagbon adm word for that ychiatrist... present admin thy, s He a l Otanisi is Igbo n must see a ps ’ -a fiscal policy which the . ai re br su e ea th m in si ni tten re T ho is being bi ly means ‘austerity measu e economy. man that anyone w troduce into th sure in Nigeria, the poor actual re -in re su ea to m ts t si an en ea w m m an st l ju th ca ad na fis Sadly, Otani Jo g of k enin ion, ident Goodluc this belt-tight ally a period of rationalisat tration of Pres re ary journey of as on w si is It . m er st or fir po ed more or got During the ed to be nurtur e over cher and the po ne ri t ho go w n ch ri re he ild or rel m cried -t to eat, ch rents will quar quarrels at le. will have less e ohydrates. Pa even in lifesty th poor families rb d e, ca oi ac e pl bl av la in to ai , re av su More men . se es will sire ea on With this mea feed more on more-readily cr y in ck lu ill ill . Many un violence w es di la ed ns. Many sh ia ri ic Pg. 50 on proteins w ey for upkeep. Domestic ually impove dder for tomorrow’s polit eq on of m s m te ar coholic ua e al th p fo ea in e inadeq e ch ur id ut on ts -f d fe solace ou and touts le puzz re they will be eys, hearts home, will seek n who will become thugs word er palours whe Cross the livers, kidn be e ith re tim w e ild nt th ch te ’ en By h rd . rd pitc body ‘basta l cial bu mora of the men will rget the vital organs in the hol, the finan good ta unrefined alco of d for youths e ad e lo y n drinks which av The s in the ed with the he ar! value are overwhelm increased. of fuel next ye e ic pr p is m V es pu e th se ea cr on the famili in t. pengh ent plans to ex m ou ic rn th bl ve of pu n go ce ai y, ng tr Sadl ill redu sorrow-induci Government w ery refined’ alcoholic Gags Enough of this erity measure, the Federal ‘v d an Gags ts je got e at aust s like priv , anyway, has m ho ite w As part of the ry an xu m lu ch of the ri se tariff on deposits? t the taste bud s ditures, increa m-ism that will affec st on his huge onomy. My question re ys us Mo te sa in e ho or W Famo . m y ec pa r drinks w ou r no fo of ill orner ta thinking owth rate e banks w ook C s My C ced a 6.5% gr richer becaus g economy be lay mind. ich fie un in no w om an d bo t n a en a g s nm celebratin sense to a is er Apple at op Federal Gover th pr t e en ak m n’t m a govern e things just do is, why should easures? Som m ity er st au g s! r Art ader declarin Colou , my blessed re Happy Sunday

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Juliet

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Contents 30.11.2014 COVER

My eyes see the plight of women, single parents, the aged and disabled and how women slug it out with male counterparts. It is my first nature to see how I could come in and help salvage the situation

-Kenny Saint Best

FASHION

Whether you chose a simple little black dress, a sophisticated black evening gown, or an elegant black ball gown, the black dress will never go out of fashion

T h e Te a m Juliet Bumah (Editor)

Vanessa Okwara (Correspondent) Wole Adepoju

} 22&43

Biwom Iklaki (Correspondent)

} 18-19

WINE & DINE

Ukwa porridge is made from breadfruit seeds. The fresh fruit is a very rich s o u rc e of potassium which is an important component of cell and body

fluids that help regulate heart rate and blood pressure

} 49

Ugochukwu Nnakwe (Graphics)

MY PASSION When you see a creative person, just leave him alone with his artistic nature. He is the only person that knows what he/ she has on the inside

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

Associates

} 21

GLAM DUDES Since men no longer need suspenders to hold up their pants, they have evolved from a necessity to a style accessory

} 44

BED, WORK & LIFE “Meet my cousin, James,” Dave says as he leads him to Kathryn. “Here is my sunshine, my joy, my life, Kathryn...” K a t h r y n freezes. James! One of her very loyal clients! She wishes the ground will open and

swallow her. Blood drains from James’ face

} 20

Helen Paul

Eyitayo Aloh

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

No place for bitterness, regret Gospel artiste and vice president of Kennis Music, Kenny Saint Ogungbe, has joined a host of other entertainers to vie for a position in the 2015 elections. KSB, who boasts of two Masters Degrees, spoke to VANESSA OWARA on her growing up years and interest in politics You’ve been in the entertainment industry for over 17 years. How did it all start? It started when I got back from the UK where I got the gift of music. God told me that we will be exporting music. So it was a goal I had and I didn’t know it was going to start from me. I told my brother, Keke, that I wanted to do music and he agreed. By the time we finished with my recording, I told him, it would be a good idea to float a recording company. That was how we started Kennis Music. Keke being on the radio hyped it all. God gave him music as a natural gift and he still uses it to promote people till today. It is his calling to make people superstars. We started with my music but we didn’t know that it was a revolution. It was what gave the boom to the Nigerian music industry as we know it today. Apart from music, what other role did you play in Kennis Music? I was the vice president in charge of the production of the artistes, development of talents and artistry development. I also doubled as the HR and publicist, but Baba Keke was the financier, he was the money b e -

hind the music label. Kennis Music brought to limelight great stars like Tuface and others. How does that make you feel seeing the artistes you brought up become superstars today? It gives a successful feeling, that you are part of a thing that has benefited humanity. It was not a selfish move. I kind of appreciate my spirit which teams towards the development of other people. If we have done it before successfully, then it encourages me to do it all the time. It gives me a ‘CAN DO’ spirit; that nobody else have done it before does not mean that I cannot attempt it. So it’s the area of human productivity that’s really pulling me into public service, and that’s why I need to get on a platform to get the job done. How was growing up in the Ogungbe family? I am from Ogun State. My mum is from Epe, Lagos. Now that you look at it, I could say it was all about hard work. My mum was a hard worker. My sister, Moji Dokpesi, is a hard worker as well. My mum passed on exactly a year ago. It is a taboo in my family to be caught not having anything to do. Being part of a hard working family gives that feeling that you cannot fail because you come from a family that does not believe in failure. We motivate and encourage others to achieve their dream. When we see someone, even if it is just a raw talent, we start to see a superstar. We believe all that person needs is just a little encouragement to make it in life. So what prompted you to go into politics? My eyes are opened to the area of youths and socio-economic development. I am going into politics to create a positive change as well as impact on the constituents. My eyes see the plight of women, single parents, the aged and disabled and how women slug it out with male counterparts. It is my first nature to see how I could come in and help salvage the situation. When elected, what are you hoping to achieve? I want to be a lawmaker in the Lagos State assembly. When the laws are there, it is easier for the executive arm to put them to work. If the constitution is not there to back a particular bill, to become a law, it can be overlooked. That is why I see that the youth’s ministry should stand on its own so that it can look into the problems of the Nigerian youths. Lagos is the New York of every Nigerian youth because we believe that if you can come to Lagos, then you can make it. There are a lot of success stories of how people who were nothing became something in Lagos. The youth ministry needs not be attached to the sports ministry. It needs to stand on its own to meet the challenges of what can make Nigerian youths thrive. That is the first bill I want to create. The second one is to institutionalise the entertainment industry. They are not getting the necessary attention and support from the government. The Nigerian government said we have recorded a boost in our GDP; kudos to the entertainment industry. So

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in my life -Kenny Saint Best I want to work with the state government to give the entertainment industry a ministry. It should stand on its own, get an allocation from the state. Lagos wants to build a film village, it will need somebody from the entertainment industry to back it up and push it into reality. The third one is that there are not enough women in government. Women are chairmen of boards, professionals in various fields, but not too many in government. Take for instance, in the state house of assembly, 40 constituencies, there are just seven women. So there are 33 men against seven women. So who is going to plead the cause of the women in the state? I am a single parent and I know the plight of single parenting. I know the plight of disabled women who are parents too. There are women who are bread winners in their homes today, nobody is speaking for them. Lastly my fourth agenda is transparency in government. It is time to shed off the brand of corruption in Nigeria. In fact, we can actually change it. If we started queuing at bus stops, it was someone that actually started it. We can change it and the change starts now. Some people are of the view that only ‘expired’ entertainers are going into politics for quick money. What’s your opinion on it? That is total blackmail and a cheap one at that. There are successful entertainers in politics today. Onyeka Onwenu is in politics and she has not expired in her music profession. She is holding a big position in Abuja today and doing a good job. She didn’t start politics today. She started way back when she wanted to be a local government chairman in her state and she was well dealt with then. I am talking about something like 10 years ago. If she didn’t make that move then, how would she have been able to get to the top where she is now? We are basically public servants; I see politics as public service as well. Entertainers are the best because you knew them well even before they came into politics. Unlike these ones who are there now, you didn’t know them well or their background. You don’t even know if they were broke before they went in. That is why they go there and loot the treasury. You just don’t blackmail or say we are not fit to exercise our human rights. We have the right to vote and to be voted for. It is open to everybody unless if you have a criminal record that will screen you out. We, the entertainers, have seen what is wrong in the system; we have sung about it and acted it out. Fela sang it and even floated a political party at one point in time because he was a political satirist. Allow us to do it. If we do it and fail, then that is when you can say they came to eat money. Which constituencies seat are you vying for and what do you intend to do for the area if elected? I want to go in to the House of Assembly as a legislator representing Ikeja Constituency 1 under the All Progressives Congress. I see that Ikeja is over commercialised. There are also not enough immediate health care services. Everybody goes to the teaching hospital, which is now for all Lagosians. So we need to have our own general hospital and primary health centre for each ward, a proper hospital close to the people. We need to also upgrade the primary schools. There are a lot of private schools in Ikeja but when you

see some children coming from public schools you will immediately know. Also, there are no sports facilities, theatres for the youths in Ikeja. There are no artistic things to engage the Ikeja youths; no centres they can go to for recreation. It is only privately owned places. There is still land to put things in place where talents can be discovered for young people. This will help take sex workers off the streets. There are a lots of sex workers in Ikeja. In fact, Ikeja is the hub of sex workers in Lagos. It is like Sodom and Gomorrah. So these young people need help. How does your family see you coming into politics? They were scared. Keke, said, ‘Are there money bags that have told you to come and run for office? Don’t let them fool you. Don’t go and use your money o! Don’t come to me for money, o!’ Then my sister was just shouting and asking if politics was my calling. I ran away and stayed away from them for a while. I am a kind person who, when you say do not try out a thing, that is when I want to go into it. I am alive when I take risks. So the fact that they expressed fear spurred me on. The fact is, if you are not part of the change agents now, you will never make your voice count. I want to be part of the change agents. But somehow, they just caught the spirit and they know I thrive at things that no one has done before and have made a success of it. Kennis Music was like an experiment. We started it because I was the one that said let us start it.

So they decided to support me and not discourage me. They see that people are accepting me and they have now thrown their support wholeheartedly and network for me with the help of my media friends. Also, I have my church fasting and praying for me to win. Who are your mentors in politics? My immediate mentor is the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ademorin Kuye; Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Hon. Idowu Obasa, former chairman of Onigbongbo Local Government; Chief Ebenezer Akinbolade and few others. I would rather shield their names. How has your failed marriage affected your political ambition? I would rather not talk about it. All I can say is that God made me a parent and gave me two wonderful children to be their mother. He gave me wings to fly even when I thought the wings had been clipped. Then I found out that if my wings are clipped, I was the one that clipped them and I still have the power to stretch the wings and fly high at any time. Are you open for marriage again? Yes I am. Describe your style? My style is modern, fun, edgy and flexible and it adapts to new fashion though not all anyway. My style is very vibrant. It’s youthful too, very colourful and above all fabulous. What is your pas-

sion? I have two passions. One is God. I am a pursuer of God. You know some people fear God, but for me, I love God. And whatever you love, you keep running after. The beauty about God is that the more you run after Him, the more He shows you another side of Him that is wonderful. God is my greatest passion while my second greatest passion is to inspire people. I love human beings. I love to motivate people, counsel and be the resource that they need to add to their lives for them to become the great persons they want to be. I like to cook. I have a catering company. I like happiness and joy. So even if I encounter sadness and anguish, I take it as my stance to help somebody else who may fall into the same situation. I will be there to tell them that they can fall but they can get up again. So my two passions are God and humanity. What’s your beauty routine? My one beauty routine is to live a life of forgiveness. It rejuvenates me. You frown less and there is no place for bitterness. Bitterness is what allows other bad things to come in. So I don’t have a place for bitterness and regret in my life. I eat well but I am an exercise freak. I do facials when I remember. I also have a scripture that keeps me young. I stand in front of the mirror and I speak the scripture which says that my youth is being renewed like that of an eagle and then I sing. It rejuvenates and revitalises me and I just glow. Lastly, I sing and dance. What accessories do you like the most? I am a bag freak. I have bags filling my house all the time. When I’m going out, I can have like three bags in the car and I always change them by moving things from one bag to the other. These days, I do a lot of flowing gowns that are simple and elegant. Then also I love sunglasses a lot. You have changed your name over time in the course of your career. Why the need for the re-branding? When one name is not working for me, I move to the next name. This is because I want the best to start to work. It is a re-branding of the mind and when I feel that the name is slowing me down, I simply change it. I only changed from Ogungbe to Brown because of marital status. Right now in politics, I am back to Ogungbe. I am KSB Ogungbe. I still retain Kenny Saint. So I keep changing the ‘B.’ What is constant is the Kenny Saint. So whenever I feel the last ‘B’ is not working as it should, I simply upg rade. T o n y Okoroji calls me K e n n y Saint Beautiful; it is still KSB.

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A blast from the past athryn looks at the shiny ring on her finger and then at the man that gave it to her a few minutes

ago. She sees anger in his eyes...and something else. “Baby, calm down. You are just working yourself up over nothing,” she tells him calmly. Dave stares at her. “Calm down? Calm down when you told another man that I’m your uncle? Calm down when you told me that that same man is just a friend? How could you Kathryn?” Dave asks her. “Until a while ago, I was just your girlfriend. A lady of marriageable age who was desperately searching for a husband. If no other man had been interested in me, then you should have been worried, Dave,” she replies. “So, what’s your relationship with him… I mean that Ben now?” Dave asks. “Cordial,” she says. “It’s okay my wife. You are right. Until a while ago, you thought I was married. It’s okay. But, I want you to know that you are a married woman now. I’m a very jealous man. I’ll appreciate if you remember that every time,” Dave says, adding, “Before I forget, you are moving into my house immediately. You can imagine what could have happened if I didn’t come in just in the nick of time three days ago.” He draws her into his arms, his mouth seeking hers. She goes weak at the knees. Dave has such effect on her. He divests her of her clothes, turns her around and takes a very long, hard look at his possession. It’s as if he wants to imprint her features on his mind. Then, he lays her gently on the divan and plants a kiss on every part of her body. Kathryn moans as his hands and mouth work on her. After going over every part of her body, he burrows his face in her cave of wonders. Kathryn shivers. It’s her weakness. She smiles. Few men do that to a woman. She is glad that Dave is one of those few. Those are men who understand that a woman needs to be pleasured also. Most men enjoy being given head but shy away from giving their partner the same treatment. As Dave’s tongue and fingers flitter in there, touching nerve endings and beginnings, sugar floods her system. She feels the storm gathering and to keep it at bay, she allows her mind to wander. Different thoughts flood her mind. A joke shared by a friend on BBM makes her smile. “Those of you who like girls giving you BJ should beware. Just heard that a guy had one of his balls cracked in the process of having his babe suck and chew him hard. He’s just been rushed to the hospital. These babes these days handle that stuff as if they are chewing shawarma...” Then, there’s the one that warns men to know the health status of their babes. The story is that a babe nearly chopped off a peen with her teeth when she had epileptic seizure while giving her partner head. A smile flickers across her face as she moans again.

Dave is making her delirious, he’s getting near her G. As his teeth hover playfully around her clit while his tongue prods deeper, it suddenly occurs to her that whoever invented those jokes - if they are just jokes, that is - must be chauvinistic males. Who says a woman is not in danger of having the male teeth clamp down hard on the clit? She shivers as Dave’s tongue flirts around her G-spot then settles on it. The storm breaks and then the big O. She goes into spasms and by the time it subsides, Dave, rock hard, is kneeling before her. She admires him for some seconds as she catches her breath, then she adjusts her derriere on the divan and takes him in. It’s like magic, a kind of peace settles in her heart. For the first time in her life, she takes in an unsheathed man without worry. The feeling is heavenly. Dave takes her gently.

“Honey,” he says in a voice thick with emotion, “No more sheaths for us. I will remain true and loyal to you.” Some answers are better given through action. Kathryn moves her butt ever so slightly to give him better access and Dave moans. They rock gently, slowly building up passion, mindful of the new life that’s growing in her womb. Kathryn gives her best. She has reached and accepted him as her final bus stop. Thunder clatters for them. They travelled to the clouds and back together and lie, spent afterwards. “My parents are coming back in five days time. We need to start preparing for our wedding. I need to see your people. When are you taking me to them? Today? Tomorrow? I can’t wait to have you legally handed over to me. I love you so much,” Dave says.

“I love you more, my baby. My uncles and their families are living in my father ’s house in Surulere. An aunt is also there with them. I’ll take you there whenever you want. They are old pensioners and so, do not go out,” she says. “Oh, great. We’ll go see them this evening. We need to call your brother and break the good news to him...my sister too,” he says excitedly. “My phone...it’s off” she says. “I’ll get it,” he replies. He gets their phones from the bedroom and switches them on. Few moments later, the calls come in torrents for him. Dave’s brother wants to know where he is, his business partners call to discuss business. Text messages stream into Kathryn’s phone immediately it comes on. They are mostly from Ben. He is worried. He wants to know her whereabout and in the recent ones, he is worried about her health. “Call me” is what many of them say. A particular one describes his meeting with Dave, ‘her uncle’ a few hours ago. “I now understand why you didn’t want me to meet him. He’s uncouth, unfriendly and obviously a wicked uncle. Don’t worry, once we get married, you’ll be free from him. Just let me know when he goes out so that I’ll come over.” Kathryn can hardly suppress the laughter that threatens to rock her body. But she feels sad almost at the same time. Ben is a good guy. Being married to him will be fun...if only he is well endowed. Anyway, he’ll get a woman that will love him, warts and all. Oh, her bosom friend, Vixen, has sent a message. She is excited about the pregnancy. Wait until she hears about the wedding proposal. “Honey, a cousin of mine is in your neighborhood. I’ve told him to come around here,” Dave says, throwing her clothes to her. “Get dressed. Don’t want anybody ogling my possession. Will clear the table,” he says, getting down to work. Kathryn rushes into her room and comes out later, looking bam in a bosom-baring sparkling white Tee worn over a navy bum short. “Hey girl, that’s sexy!” Dave says approvingly. “Thanks sugar,” Kathryn drawls. Few minutes later, the security man announces a visitor. Dave opens the door and lets in a dashing middle-aged man. “Meet my cousin, James,” Dave says as he leads him to Kathryn. “Here is my sunshine, my joy, my life, Kathryn...” Kathryn freezes. James! One of her very loyal clients! She wishes the ground will open and swallow her. Blood drains from James’ face. ******** Oh no! Let’s meet here next Sunday to find out what happens.

Send your observations to the email above.

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You’ve been in the music industry for a while now. How have you managed to stay relevant? The most important thing is to be happy doing what you do. Being fulfilled, seeing your seed germinating into a forest. From one line of music, one song, and you see people refer to your music, telling you how it has imparted their lives. That is what makes me feel fulfilled as a human bring. It is like a cycle of achievement, when you get it, it keeps you going. What has been the high point of your career? I don’t record high points because I know I can still go higher. What do you make of the content we see in Nigeria music today? It’s all about variety. People prefer different styles and genres of music. People just want variety. Having said that, my own point of view is that whether negative or positive content, it is all different points of view. For me, I think music is a big tool we should not misuse. It can tell a lot on a generation. So, I try my best not to misuse it. I make music everybody can listen to. I want to be able to play my music where my kids are. I don’t want them to cover their ears when my music is playing. You were a judge in the Amstel Malta Showtime. What was the experience like? It was great and really very nice. I found that Nigeria still has a lot of talented people. Not just in music but in various genres of the arts, people can still find their talent. What I feel talent is when you do something and people appreciate what you do because you just did it effortlessly. Everybody must not be a musician. All you need to do is

My mind is my greatest asset -Sound Sultan

He is known as Sound Sultan in the music industry and beyond but his parents gave him the name, Olanrewaju Fasasi. A musician with highly fertile mind, his first single, ‘Jagbajantis’, released in 2000 went viral and since then, he has released many other hits. He told VANESSA OKWARA his staying power both in career and marriage to get that your talent right and just aim at being the best at it. How did you propose to your wife? It was not like the things you see these days where a guy proposes to his girlfriend on top of a helicopter. For me and my wife, it was nothing like that. In fact it was more or less a telepathy thing. You know how you and your best friend want to go and do somet h i n g together; you wouldn’t have to beat around the bush before telling them. So before we knew what was happening, we were married. We

courted for like seven years before we got married and we have been married for five years, so I have known her for twelve years. What is it about your wife that made you propose to her? She is my best friend. She is a very natural human being and everybody that knows her can testify that she is very respectful. My wife has everything I want in a woman. She is not even a fan of my music, can you imagine? She likes Black Face and Bob Marley. She is the kind of person that really likes helping people. If you have a partner that helps you to help people, then you are a winner. How have you been able to sustain your marriage so far compared to what goes on in the industry? Five years is not much compared to how our parents were able to uphold marriage and its values. For me, I am a very conservative person and also my parents were a wonderful couple as well as good parents. So, I decided to turn a blind eye to how marriage is fashioned nowadays and just emulate the good qualities I see in their marriage. It’s just a stereotype people have about the marriage of celebrities collapsing. You will be surprised how many marriages of stars that are doing well today. If you can stay away from the paparazzi with your family, you will be good but when you want to make a star out of all of them, the more the paparazzi want to find out about them and spoil things for you because nobody is perfect. The minute you start hearing things about your partner, problems will start from there.

Not really, I started wearing hats because I was very shy in school. Everywhere I went on campus I wore my cap. Today, I have lots of hats in my wardrobe. Hat is the least expensive thing I have in my wardrobe. You like to wear lots of colours as well, any particular reason? I like being vibrant. I think creativity is ingrained in me. When you see a creative person, just leave him alone with his artistic nature. He is the only person that knows what he/she has on the inside. Sometimes, it would look as if the person has gone crazy. So sometimes when I do colours with my dressing, it just shows how colourful my mind is. What are the fashion errors you have committed? I have committed quite a lot. If you go and look at my old pictures, you will see quite a lot of fashion errors. In those days, it was what we have that we put on. It is now that we can call it fashion error. In those days, we were on top of our game with those things you call fashion errors now and people were simply admiring us. What is your greatest asset both in fashion and life? That would be my mind. It is what dictates everything I do. My mind is what dictates my music and fashion sense. My mind is the most priceless thing that I have. If you are thinking it is my watch, my mind is really where my money is stored. Apart from music and fashion designing, what other things do you do? I am also into basketball and I also lie. I mean who no de lie?

How do you cope with female fans? I think over the years, they have understood my standpoint that this person is a ‘no go area’ for flings. So they don’t really overstep the boundaries I set up. I think they have even shared the information among themselves and I don’t get harassed like that anymore. Taking a peek into your closet, what kind of clothes are we likely to see? I have lots of beautiful clothes in my wardrobe. I used to have a fashion line because I create and design clothes as well but time couldn’t help me to keep it running. In fact, I want to hand it over to someone I believe in their fashion prowess to handle it. I’ve tried a few people but nobody could handle it the way I actually wanted, so I let it rest for now and just focus on my record label. I still do my own designs and wear them but I cannot design for anybody else for now till I get the fashion label right and running. You wear hats a lot. Is that your signature fashion piece?

I committed a lot of fashion errors in the past

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Vanesa Okwara

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Features Interesting lives of bank cashiers p.24

Nigerians deserve cheaper fuel, experts say

Transport GM announces new distributor in Ghana p.25

News Extra Travel agencies face extinction over online booking p.27

News Flour Mills invests N5bn in feed plants p.28

Jonathan

Paul Ogbuokiri

Paul Ogbuokiri Head, Business paulogbuokiri@newtelegraph online.com

n 2011 during the ‘Occupy Nigeria’ protest when the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan announced the removal of fuel subsidy, the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) jumped from N65 per litre to N140. The reason the Federal Government gave was that crude oil price had risen to as high as $135 per barrel in the global crude oil market. Between then and November 2014, the crude oil price had fallen to a record low price of about $73.74 per barrel, slightly less than half the 2011 price. A senior lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwokoma, said expectedly, the drop in crude price is supposed to reflect in the pricing regime of imported refined petroleum products that are regulated in the country. These products are Premium Motor Spirit and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) otherwise known as kerosene. “If other intervening variables are held stable, what should be expected now is a downward movement of the pump price of PMS. When you calculate the price of crude oil and match it with what it costs to refine it and transport it to Nigeria, there will be a margin. But we will wait to hear from the policy makers,” he said Meanwhile, on the website of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, it was stated that prior to the June 2014 price crash of crude oil in the international market, the landing cost of petrol was N141 per litre. As the crude crashed as low as $73.74 per barrel according to OPEC basket of crude, the landing cost of PMS has come down to N128.86 per litre, and N136.86 per litre of kerosene. The breakdown of the landing cost of petrol showed that the cost and freight (C+F) per litre is N102.55 while additional charges at the Nigerian

Madueke

shores by marketers and regulators are put at N26.31 per litre. According to the PPPRA’s pricing template, the government currently subsidises a litre of petrol at N44.94. The template puts the expected price of PMS in the open market at N143.06. It could be confirmed if this template is in tandem with the current price realities crude oil in the international market. But government instead of announcing a downward review of the prices of the two subsidised petroleum products, said it plans to cut subsidies on petroleum products by half next year, a development which is generating a lot of anxiety. The government’s proposal is contained in the revised 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper submitted to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan last week. Earlier in October, the President had forwarded the MTEF document to the National Assembly, pegging the pump price of fuel at N97 per litre with the expected total subsidy payment of N971bn in 2015, same amount that was expended in 2014. The crude oil benchmark price of $78 per barrel in 2014 was also retained for 2015. However, in a bid to save the economy from collapse as a result of the dwindling oil prices, the government recently withdrew the document from the National Assembly and proposed a reduction in the oil benchmark from $78 to $73 as a result of dwindling oil prices in the international market. The N971.14bn earlier budgeted for subsidy was reduced to N458.68bn, representing a cut of N512bn or about 50 per cent reduction.

Based on the revised MTEF projections also, the government is planning a gradual cut in subsidies for fuel to N408.68bn in 2016 and N371.18bn in 2017. Renowned Economist and Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Limited, Mr. Bismark Rewane, said on Friday that it is not out of place for the pump price of petrol to nose-dive as the price of crude oil is dwindling. “The price is expected to be falling based on the law of demand and supply. There are many things that are factored in that enable each country to arrive at their pump prices, some which are subsidy, taxes etc. “Those factors will come to play when talking about the pump price of refined petroleum products in Nigeria at this period of low price of crude oil. So there will be the need to determine if government is still subsidising the products at this point,” he said. Secretary General of Nigeria Labour Congress, Dr. Peter Ozo-Ezon, said on Friday in a telephone interview that with the current international price of crude, there is very little subsidy, if any. He said that Nigerians are expecting a reduction in the pump prices of refined petroleum products and not an increase. “We stand ready to resist any increase. But like I said, given the present price of crude, there can hardly be subsidy. If anything, we expect a reduction in pump price, going forward.” President of NLC in a separate interview, stressed workers will resist any increase in the pump price of petroleum, saying government will be overheating the polity if CO NTINUED O N PAGE 28

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SundayBusiness/Features

Chijioke Iremeka or many outside the brick and mortar walls of banking halls, the job of a teller is one that most young girls and boys would do anything to get. But Sunday New Telegraph’s research has shown that it’s not as rosy as it radiates from a distance. Getting a step closer to most bank tellers, otherwise known as cashiers would change your perception about banking jobs. In the posh banking halls, the cashiers have to endure challenges to earn a living. A major challenge for bank tellers is the regular deductions from their monthly salaries as payment for missing cash during daily crediting and debiting of customers’ accounts and other bank processes. Cashiers regularly lose money in one way or the other, which puts them in perpetual debt servicing. Sometimes, it comes in form of under-debiting or over-crediting. In some other cases, it’s outright loss of cash. But the most observed challenge has to do with money lost through loaning by trust. Sunday New Telegraph learnt that cashiers usually give soft and short loans to friends and trusted customers without anybody knowing it. The transaction is initiated and concluded by them without leakage except in cases where something goes wrong, as in the cases below. “I used to be a cashier with the defunct Oceanic Bank Plc before the banking sector consolidation pushed me out of the system. I will tell you that the worst job in the banking sector is to be a cashier,” says Esther Frank. According to her, there are quite a number of dubious transactions going on within the banking halls, especially with the tellers. She noted that cashiers lose money on a regular basis, yet the sector is not a place one would plead for pardon as they would say that the missing money belongs to a customer and must be paid since it is bank liability. “I lost a lot of cash while working with the bank and I had to pay for it to the last kobo. If you have the cash, you can pay outright; else, it would be deducted from your salary. Sometimes, you would be lucky that your colleagues would like to share the liability with you so that when it happens to them, you can also help to offset the debt. It can happen to anybody. “There are some mistakes you would make that involve a huge amount of money; that means your salary would have been mortgaged for a long period of time, depending on what you earn. It’s not as if the salary is fantastic, but most people are just there, living a false life. “Do you know that sometimes, where there is no debt to offset, you would have spent your small salary on buying suits because we have to dress in different ways to suit the rules and regulations of the bank? Before the end of the month, we would have finished spending our salary, buying things on credit. “Yet, people will call you a banker and expect you to throw money around when there is none. Some people enjoy the system but not all. It’s tough but I was managing to see something better. At least, some customers usually give cashiers money,” she said. These things, according to her, result in certain unprofessional acts among cashiers, including stealing and brokering businesses with customers’ money in order to cushion the effect on their finances. Obiora Chukwunulu was a cashier with the Onitsha branch of defunct Citizens Bank, before he was promoted to a marketer and eventually left the banking sector for manufacturing. Though he wasn’t involved in many activities in the bank, but he knew a number of his colleagues that did such. “While I was in the banking sector, I discovered that cashiers usually gave out

Banking hall

Interesting lives of bank cashiers short and unrecorded loans to people. Sometimes, they would divert customers’ money to one business or the other and pay back later,” he said. How do they do it? He explains, “Sometimes, the cashiers are used to having big customers with fat accounts. Those classes of customers do not know how much they have in their accounts and in some cases, they don’t even withdraw half of the total sum in a whole year. “So, when such a customer comes to lodge cash, the cashier will collect it, and issue a slip; or might even ask the customer to go, that the system is down. The cashier might assure him or her that the account would be credited when the server is up again. Of course, such customers don’t have any business wasting their time in the bank. That money will not be posted and the cashier may have arranged with the person that wants to borrow money. “They do this, knowing that the customer will not ask of the money even in the next couple of weeks because he is confident that the money has hit his account. But you don’t do this deal with regular customers that draw money always because it would back fire and would lead to the sack.” Our correspondent learnt that a former cashier, Ese, unwittingly fell in love with a fraudster, who duped her of N1 million customers’ fund. She was arrested and sacked, after she had paid the money. According to a senior colleague of hers at a commercial bank, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ese was duped by a man who pretended to be a friend. Little did she know what she had got herself into.

I used to be a cashier with the defunct Oceanic Bank Plc before the banking sector consolidation pushed me out of the system and I will tell you that the worst job in the banking sector is to be a cashier

Narrating the former banker’s story, she said, “Ese met this guy over the counter and each time the guy came to withdraw money, he would tip her. At a point, the guy withdrew more or less an overdraft (withdrawing more than he has) and pleaded with the cashier to cover it. This she did and the man came back the next day and paid. “That was how it continued and the lady built confidence in him. She visited the guy and he bought her gifts until that dreadful day, when he came asking for N1m overdraft. The girl gave it to him in confidence on the condition that he would return it as usual. But when she didn’t see him the first and second day, she went on a visit to his place and discovered that the man had travelled abroad. “It wasn’t easy for her. The transaction was not made public, so she tried to

manage the crisis, until it could no longer be hidden. She fell ill, was arrested and relieved of her job after she had paid the money in full. “So, when you see somebody and he says that he works in a bank, if you ask him for money and he said he doesn’t have, don’t be offended. It’s not what you think. It’s a case of the more you look, the less you see.” A cashier with a first generation bank, Kunle, is currently cooling off in Kirikiri Prison for allegedly diverting N1.8m belonging to a customer. “In fact, my friend would have been an accomplice to that crime. Kunle had contacted my friend, telling him to send him his account number for a transaction,” said Annie. She demanded to know more about the transaction that Kunle couldn’t do with his own account, and sensing danger, she warned her friend not to try it. A week later, they heard that the Kunle had been arrested for diverting bank’s money. A cashier from another first generation bank said, “I just joined the bank as a cashier but I don’t see myself continuing, except they move me to another section. I work in the bulk room, counting money on a regular basis with high speed of accuracy. In the process, I inhale dust and chemicals used in minting money. “You need to see the hands of those people in the bulk rooms. There is much stress in that job, yet the pay doesn’t match the trouble that comes with the job. There is money in the banking sector but not this type.”

Transport

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014

GM announces new distributor in Ghana G

Paul Ogbuokiri eneral Motors is now represented in Ghana by a new distributor, following the official launch of MAC Ghana, the new authorised dealer for Chevrolet and Isuzu vehicles in Ghana. A statement by MAC Ghana said the company is geared to provide the Ghanaian market with the global Chevrolet and Isuzu products along with strong after sales and service support. MAC Ghana is part of the Mansour Automotive Group which was founded in 1975 and to date has almost a hundred successful operations in Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Uganda. With increased focus on growing the GM footprint and share of the industry in Ghana, the business has been trading since July 2014 under the guidance of automotive retail veteran Dave Stotter, General Manager of MAC Ghana. Stotter brings with him years of experience, having worked in automotive retail since 1993, with strong ties to General Motors. Having previously been recognised as Sales Manager of the Year and with a number of Dealer of the Year titles under his belt, Stotter also boasts strong existing relationships with the Mansour Automotive Group, which led to him accepting the offer of starting the business in Ghana, where both business and people development form the base of his commitment to the industry. Sunday New Telegraph learnt that the business is fully staffed by experienced professionals, each of whom plays a vital role in spearheading the Chevrolet and Isuzu brands to leading positions in the industry. “With six sales executives taking

Ford Ranger

care of fleet and retail sales, and tender procurement, our aim is to provide outstanding customer service whilst earning customers for life.” Continues Stotter, “Ongoing GM sales training will ensure MAC Ghana provide service in accordance with GM global sales standards.”

The dealership offers a variety of products from the Chevrolet Spark small hatchback and Captiva sport utility vehicle (SUV) to the highly capable Isuzu pick-up. These vehicles are designed and built to meet strict regulations and market demands of the Ghanaian market.

Nigeria’s hottest cars

ars sell pretty fast in Nigeria but not all car brands sell like these top four that I’m about to mention. If you are a car dealer or an intending then take note. In 2014, these will most likely be the best selling car brands in Nigeria judging by present market demand. Toyota The Toyota continues to be among the patronised cars in Nigeria. Nigerians love this car because it is relatively affordable, durable, easy to maintain and can be sold for a pretty nice price after being used. If you happen to own a Toyota then you are fortunate because if you need to replace it, finding a buyer wouldn’t be a problem; at least if you have to compare with how long it will take to dispose of other car makes. That explains why it is the best selling car in Nigeria. Honda Another car that is in hot demand in Nigeria is Honda. The most popular brands are nicknamed: ‘End of Discussion,’ ‘Discussion Continues,’ ‘Baby Boy’, ‘Bullet’ and ‘Civic.’ Young and upwardly mobile Nigerian men love these cars for strength and speed but also because it is also easy to maintain. It is slightly more expensive than the Toyota but you can be sure of better road performance with this car.

Hyundai The South Korean brand that entered the country few years ago displaced traditional models like Volkswagen. If reports that the South Korean automaker’s representative in Nigeria is about to commence assembling the brand in Nigeria are anything to go by, it is an indication that its position in the market will grow from strength to strength.

Kia Kia is another South Korean brand that has demonstrated a strong will to give a strong fight to the traditionalists like BMW, Volvo and Mitsubishi. The Picanto, Rio, Soll and others in the brand have suddenly become the darlings of many car owners, perhaps for the affordability or may be their appeal to the female folk and price conscious businesses.

Tire safety tips

ires are one of the most important -- and oft-overlooked -- components of our cars. Tires are the only thing that attaches our cars to the road, and tire problems affect your car’s ride comfort, handling and safety. Here are some simple tire safety tips to help keep you and your car’s occupants safe. Check your tire pressure regularly. Tires tend to lose air over time. Buy a digital tire gauge and check your tires once a month and before a long trip. Proper inflation pressures can be found in your owner’s manual or on a sticker on the car (usually on the driver’s doorjamb or fuel-filler lid -- see photo.) Remember to check tire pres-

sure only after the car has been sitting for several hours in order to ensure that the tires are cold -- the friction of driving heats the tires and increases pressure, which can hide an under-inflated tire. Address under-inflated tires immediately. An under-inflated tire has more rolling resistance, which increases fuel consumption. It also creates more heat, which can lead to tire failure. Don’t forget the spare. Getting a flat tire and discovering that your spare is also flat is a miserable experience. Inspect your spare as you would your other tires. Source: about autos

“We have also partnered with various banks in Ghana in order to provide our retail customers with effective finance options, where we do the hard work to ensure the process is as pleasant for the customer as possible. An in-house finance solution is also available to fleet customers.

New Ford Ranger debuts 2015 edition

ollowing the release of the Everest off-road SUV in the Asia-Pacific region, Ford is now preparing the launch of its ‘all new Ford Ranger.’ A video of the refreshed model, sent to Sunday New Telegraph from the automaker ’s plant in South Africa, shows that the new Ford Ranger is coming with a revised front end inspired by that of the Everest. Scheduled to launch in 2015 in Asia-Pacific markets, the Ranger now features similar headlights to the SUV, as well as a redesigned grille that is a larger than before. There’s also a restyled front bumper with new fog lights and more creases on the engine hood. Nothing appears to have changed behind the front fenders, although the video doesn’t show the rear end of the car. However, Ford may have prepared some enhancements in terms of equipment, but we’ll have to wait for an official release to be sure about that.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Market rebounds I

n reaction to the bold decisions by the MPC that surpassed consensus’ expectations, a 1.82% return week-to-date (WtD) in the NSEASI may be interpreted as a signal of renewed confidence in the equities market as substantial position taking ensued post MPC meeting. Market capitalization settled at NGN11.404trn, pushing index level to 34,543.05pts as against 33,926.18pts in the previous week. Volume pared by 15.10%, Turnover surged by 152.51%, and market breadth favoured advancers as 52 stocks appreciated against 21 stocks that depreciated in their respective prices. However, market capitalization for the month of November dipped by 8.30%, indicating the sell pressure the market encountered on the backdrop of free fall in global oil prices, and tacit devaluation of the domestic currency before the official pronouncement by the CBN. We envisage that the renewed investors’ confidence in the Nigerian equities market might be sustained, at least in the short term. Albeit, some uncertainties, notably political tensions and depressing oil prices, still loom on the horizon. We are of the opinion that these risk factors may result in gyrations in market returns until after the elections in 2015. However, we expect there may be a resurgence post-elections, and position taking during this period of depressed prices may present a good opportunity for alpha-seeking investors.

Economic round up: Apex Bank Move to Stabilize the Economy

In a bid to salvage the disturbing macroeconomic indicators in the system (Dwindling Reserves, FX volatility and impairing government revenue) the MPC concluded its last meeting for the year. The meeting concluded with the Committee taking a bold and decisive decision to devalue the Naira by 8%, pegging official rate at NGN168/USD vs. NGN155/USD, while expanding the band to ±5% from ±3%. The benchmark interest rate (MPR) was increased to 13% from 12%, even as liquidity was further drained from the banks as CRR on Private Sector Deposit was hiked to 20% from 15% with immediate effect. In a related development, OPEC members concluded their meeting on Thursday, 27th November with a decision not to cut supply from its current levels of 30 million barrels per day despite oversupply concerns causing sliding oil prices. In the U.S., third quarter (Q3) GDP numbers outperformed analysts’ expectations as it expanded by 3.3%, as growth estimate was raised to 3.9% by the commerce department. In China, the People’s Bank of China dropped the benchmark deposit rate to 2.75% from 3% for the first time since 2012.

Fixed Income: MPC Officially Devalue the Naira.

According to our liquidity gauge, market liquidity fluctuated during the week, starting from 42.97 when FAAC released allocations before falling to 29.10 (as at Thursday) post MPC announcement of increase in private sector CRR, thus further tightening liquidity in the banking system. In response to the liquidity squeeze, NIBOR rates trended higher, however moderated as it declined by 1.27% on the last trading day to peg the average rate at 14.34% for the week. The OBB and OVN rates also declined by 4.46% and 4.41% respectively to put their respective rates at 11.54% and 11.92%. The T-Bills market witnessed active position taking towards the end of the week, notably at the long end of the curve. Yields on benchmark and off-the-run bonds declined consistently after an early rise in their first trading for the week to peg their respective average yields for the week at 13.42% and 13.41% respectively. The local currency depreciated by 0.90% against the greenback to close at NGN178.65/ USD. We expect the measures put in place by the CBN to abate the pressure on the Naira in the medium term. Nonetheless, OPEC’s decision to maintain output in the face of declining global oil price remains a threat to the Naira. We envisage more capital flows into the bonds market especially on longer term instruments as they currently present attractive yields for astute investors.

Banking Sector: Attractive Prices Drive Resurgence

The banking sector was resurgent week-onweek despite the MPC’s decision to further increase CRR on private sector deposits to 20%

… as positive sentiments meets MPC decisions orderly and balanced oil market. In the domestic scene, the sector’s index was resurgent, with an appreciation of 8.29% as major counters gained for the week, save for SEPLAT. FO led the gainers’ chart with a price appreciation of 11.56%, followed by MOBIL, ETERNA, TOTAL and OANDO which gained 10.93%, 10.03%, 6.83% and 1.81% in that order. SEPLAT on the other hand continues its losing streak, compounding its loss by 1.41%. This is not surprising given the current happening in the global oil market which affects players in the upstream sector of the oil and gas value chain where the company operates. OANDO’s right issues opened for trading during the week, 24th November, valued at NGN22/share on the basis of 1 new share for every 4 ordinary shares held as at 25th July, 2014. Closure date is 19th December.

from 15%. This will act to reduce liquidity and limit growth potentials, which might result in tempered FY2014 performances. There were 11 price gainers as against 3 stocks which declined, while UNITYBNK stayed flat. The major gainers for the week included UBA (17.39%), DIAMONDBNK (12.73%), and FBNH (6.76%), while the losers chart included FIDELITYBK (5.88%), ACCESS (2.81%), and ZENITHBANK (2.05%). We are of the opinion that many of the stocks in the banking sector are undervalued at their current prices, and so we expect investors to continue to channel funds toward the sector’s fundamentally justified stocks. Although we note that there are headwinds for the market, and banking sector especially which might cause drag to returns.

Industrial Goods Sector: DANGCEM Drags Sector Performance

The industrial sector continued its losing momentum, shedding 4.18% week-on-week (WoW) as 3 stocks appreciated against 4 stocks that depreciated in prices. Following a loss of 2.09% recorded in the previous week, CCNN witnessed position taking which expanded its price by 4.54% WoW just as it led the gainers’ chart for the week. Other gainers for the week were WAPCO and CAP as their respective prices increased by 2.56% and 0.50%. On the converse, the most capitalized stock on the exchange (DANGCEM) dragged the sector’s performance, dipping significantly in price as it compounded its loss further by 4.54%. Other decliners for the week in descending order were PAINTCOM, CUTIX and ASHAKACEM with price depreciation of 4.38%, 1.96% and 0.83% in that order. Other counters in the sector closed flat. We opine that some counters in the sector are trading below their fundamentally justified prices just as some trade at their year low. Hence, we expect discerning investors to take

positions ahead of general market rally to enjoy first mover advantage.

Consumer Good Sector: A Bullish Outing

The sector enjoyed significant positive market sentiments for the week, closing at 4.46% up WoW. PZ appreciated by 28.38% WoW, followed by FLOURMILL with 21.20% return. They were joined on the chart by 7UP (4.03 %,), CADBURY (3.35%), DANGSUGAR (19.76%), HONYFLOUR (0.30%), NASCON (9.31%), NESTLE (0.58%), VITAFOAM (1.85%), UNILEVER (8.45%) and NB (9.28%). On the decliners’ chart, INTBREW lost 10.34% WoW, joined by DANGFLOUR, GUINNESS, INTBREW and CHAMPION with losses of 4.89%, 1.25%, 10.34% and 0.51% accordingly. PREMBREW and NNFM along with the conglomerates sector counters (UACN and AGLEVENT), traded flat for the week. Honeywell Flour released its H1:2014 result, showing a 3.54% and 3.48% reduction in revenue and cost of sales respectively even as operating expenses climbed by 12.47%. However, Profit after Tax rose by 8.96% majorly due to 11.74% decline in finance charges. We advise cautious trading in the coming week given the recent speculative trend in the market. Oil and Gas: OPEC Leaves Output Unchanged The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) concluded its 166th conference meeting on Thursday, 27th November during which there were deliberations regarding world oil and gas concerns, especially the sliding global oil price caused by supply glut. OPEC, with 40% supply of world oil output, however decided to maintain output at the current level of 30mbpd due to concerns about that its members ceding market share. With this decision, the global oil price may continue its downward trend in the near-term, nonetheless the committee reaffirmed its readiness to respond to developments which could have adverse impacts on the maintenance of an

Insurance Sector: CUSTODYINS and MANSARD Enjoy Rally

The Meri-Insurance index closed the week up, returning 5.07% WoW to peg YtD return at 18.40%. The sector’s breadth pegs at 4x as four stocks advanced against one stock that declined. MANSARD and CUSTODYINS sustained their gaining streak as investors’ sentiments continue to favour the tickers. MANSARD, CUSTODYINS, NEM and CONTINSURE appreciated in prices for the week with returns of 10.14%, 5.26%, 4.92% and 4.49% respectively. AIICO is the only stock that closed south, shedding 5.88% to close at NGN0.80. All other counters traded flat. We envisage positive trading in the coming week as bargain hunting activities persist, however we continue to preach cautious trading ahead of anticipated headwinds.

Healthcare Sector: New Distribution Channel to Curb Drug Counterfeiting

The Meri-health index followed the NSEASI gaining path for the week by advancing 0.02% to peg the YtD return at -23.25%. MAYBAKER and NEIMETH posted gains of 18.9% and 2.17% respectively. EVANSMED emerged as the only stock that dipped, losing 9.6% WoW. All other counters closed flat. The sector’s breadth stood at 2x as two stocks advanced against one that shed points. We expect the activities of speculators and bargain hunters to drive prices in the coming week. In a bid to curb drug counterfeiting, the government approved the National distribution channels which is designated with distribution of drugs to stores both at the Federal and State levels. The mega distribution channel serves the Federal arm while the State distribution channel will serve States. There are ongoing efforts by the government to get the channels running by 2015 through partnership with private sector. This reform is expected to help drive pharmaceutical company’s revenue subsequently.

Services sector: Services Sector Rebounds

The services sector closed in the green zone as MERISERV INDEX appreciated by 0.61% WoW. RT BRISCOE and CAVERTON led the gainers’ chart, gaining 4.94% apiece, while NAHCO, ABCTRANS, LEARNAFRICA, IKEJAHOTEL, and TRANSCORP followed the positive momentum with gains of 4.48%, 3.45%, and 2.94%, 0.55% and 0.52% in that order. On the flip side, ACADEMY led the decliners with a loss of 5.00%, trailed by AIRSERVE and REDSTAREX with declines of 4.82%, and 3.81% respectively. Other counters traded flat. We envisage a flurry of activities in the hospitality and logistics segments as we approach the festive season which is expected to drive topline growth of the segment in the last quarter of the year.

Agricultural Sector: Sector Index Advanced 11.10%.

Sentiments on sector’s tickers stayed largely positive for week as LIVESTOCK, OKOMUOIL and PRESCO appreciated during the week. LIVESTOCK gained the most with a 22.50% WoW return, OKOMUOIL followed with 11.94% WoW and PRESCO returned 10.34% for the week. We expect recent mood to persist in the coming week on the back of renewed investor’s interest in the market post MPC decision. Also, we expect the devaluation announcement by the CBN to augur well for companies that export their produce, hence we expect to see the impact on their scorecards in FY2014 and beyond.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SundayBusiness/NewsExtra

Chijioke Iremeka

ravel agencies in Nigeria are currently facing hard times, following free access to internet bookings by travellers. This has aided the online booking of tickets for various trips, thereby gradually pushing them into extinction. Made possible by the emergence of Information Communications and Technology (ICT) and technological know-how, however, some agencies still believe that e-booking of air tickets by travellers has little or no adverse effect on their operations. Though ICT has its laudable benefits in Nigeria, especially in the areas of improving the business profile of many companies, replacing manual work overload with an automatic system to encourage efficiency, yet it has its concomitant consequences on certain sectors of the economy. Zeroed down to travel agents and agencies, the emergence of online payment and booking of airline services, enabled by ICT, through smart phones and laptops, is fast taking away business from these agencies. Among the worst hit agencies, according to Sunday New Telegraph’s investigation, include those agencies that are in the business of buying and selling of tickets alone, while others giving expert advice to travellers and engaging in hotel reservation services, are not feeling the scorching effects of the situation. The Chief Executive Officer of a lagosbased travel agency, Bunmi Travel Services, Paul Ogunbunmi, said they are still in business and doing well. He, however, said patronage for local travels had reduced since the airlines started booking and selling their tickets online. He said, “We are trying our best but the internet has made everything easy. People do no longer come the way they used to because more people are embracing ICT literacy. What we used to do for them, they can now do for themselves. The high level of internet literacy has liberalised our business, especially in Lagos.” Of course, the use of smart phones is another challenge facing the business, he noted, saying that with smart phones, one can virtually do everything that computers can do. He said this is the reason travellers can buy travel tickets on their phones at will, even in their bedrooms. Also, during a tour of some travel agencies in Festac, it was discovered that one of them, Easy Travel Ventures, is currently experiencing poor fortunes. The company’s offices have been turned to a business centre, perhaps due to a fall in patronage. “I think what is happening now is not different from whatever is going on in the country today. Businesses are going down and not only travel agencies. Manufacturing companies are complaining too. In as much I would say, yes, people now book their tickets online, there are still other making good returns,” said Managing Director, God’s Power Travels, Dayo Johnson. “Yes, I believe it might have an input in what is happening but the economy is really not encouraging. Nobody is seeking comfort again; everybody is looking at where to get cheaper services. Of course, we rent an office space and we have to pay for it and pay our staff. So, it’s expected that we collect service fees,” he added. When asked where she gets her tickets, a Nigerian undergraduate of a Ghanaian university, Odinaka Ndukwe, said she books them online. “I book my tickets online. I have come to know that booking tickets online is more easily done in the comfort of my house. So, why do I need the services of an agent? Agents will always make the fares to go up. I used agents because of their link when I was travelling for the first time. Now I know my route, I don’t

Airport

Travel agencies face extinction over online booking need them again,” she said. According to her, airlines have direct control of their ticketing and would give certain discounts when a traveller books online and ahead of time. She added that her laptop and cell phones afford her the opportunity to book her flight tickets all the time. “It depends on the time I have. If I have enough time, I will book online but if there is no time for me, I will make use of an agent. I will pay the high fee but I will allow him to make the trouble. So, it depends. I can make use of both,” Project Manager, HHD Foundation, Mutiat Ojurongbe, said. A visit to Ikorodu, Lagos office of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, to determine the extent at which the online booking of airlines had affected the association’s members was futile as the relevant official was not available. However, for some travel agencies such as Edex Travel and Tours Ltd, Ikoyi, there is no threat to their business. One of the travel agents facilitating management travels to a bank, Victor Ike, said, “I don’t want to believe that smart phones are competing with my business. Phones have their own functions and I have mine. There is a limit to which a smart phone can go in the business. If you know what you are doing, you will control the business, if not, you

Yes, I believe it might have an input in what is happening but the economy is really not encouraging. Nobody is seeking comfort again; everybody is looking at where it would get cheaper services

will be floating and be at the mercy of technology. “For those people, who are in the business just to buy and sell tickets, it might affect them badly but I don’t think it will have any bad effect on my business. I have other things I do apart from buying and selling. I do hotel reservation. I also advise international students travelling to school. I have also added educational agency to my business. So, you can see that I will always remain in the business. All you need to do is to be smart.” Also speaking, an expatriate travel

agent in Nigeria, Joe Steve, said, “There are things people would lose by not booking from agents. Travel agents buy tickets from airlines in bulk and resell. In some cases, these seats are cheaper because the agency needs to make the business attractive for the people to come. These are known as consolidated tickets. “It’s a win-win situation for the airlines and travel agents because these seats are paid for, whether the agents resell the seats or not. In some cases, that would be the reason for its high price, especially when there is a high demand for it. Also, if you go through an agent, you would have more airlines’ options to make a choice from. “Some of them might be trans-city travel, which would afford you the opportunity of seeing one city or the other during the trip and having their visas in case of stopover trips.” The Managing Director, Ahmed Travels and Tours Ltd, Surulere, Lagos, Ahmed Abubarka, said the situation has not denied him jobs. He said the jobs are fewer now. “Well, it will not affect us. I’m sure that people must find a way of adding certain services that phones cannot do at the same time. Those who don’t have technical know-how or are not IT-compliant may find it difficult. But for us, we are still strong,” he assured.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

SundayBusiness/News

Flour Mills invests N5bn in feed plants

hairman of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Mr. John G. Coumantaros, has said that the company is investing N5 billion in its Eastern Flour Mills in order to address Nigeria’s protein deficiency and to make Cross River State the ‘Home of Chicken’ in the country. He made the pledge at the commissioning of Eastern

Premier Feed Mill Ltd, a subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. The high tech, fully automated and integrated project located in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria is one of the largest feed mills in Africa. With a total installed capacity of 370,000 metric tons per annum, the new mill brings the group’s total milling capacity to over

720,000 MTPA, providing huge support to the livestock industry in Nigeria through the provision of high quality nutritious products under the reputable TOPFEEDS brand. According to Coumantaros, Eastern Premier Feed Mill will create over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs. He said the feed mill’s products are intended to produce good chickens in

Nigeria, a positive step to confront hunger in the nation. In his speech at the event, the special Guest of Honour and Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, said, “I am excited that Flour Mills is increasing its investments in the state, and in a few years, Cross River will become the Home of Chicken.” The governor said the

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Dr. Olusegun Aganga; Governor of Cross River State, Sen. Liyel Imoke, a traditional ruler in Calabar, Chairman, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Mr John G. Coumantaros, and Group Managing Director, FMN, Mr. Paul Gbededo at the inauguration of the mills recently

Nigerians deserve cheaper fuel, experts say CONT ’D FR OM PAGE 23

it takes such anti-workers action next year. He said worker will resist any increase, but did not say what the union will do if the price does not come down “We are expecting the price of fuel to come in line with what will is going on across the world. Most countries of the world are now enjoying a gradual reduction in the price of fuel. We have said it time and again that Nigeria should not still be talking about subsidy now. If our refineries are working, we are supposed to be demanding a drastic reduction,” he said. According to a former President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr. Samuel Nzekwe, fuel subsidy is usually resorted to when the price of crude oil in the international market is higher than what the consumers can afford. He said the government then pays the difference. “That difference is usually called subsidy. The higher the international price, the more subsidies the govern-

ment pays. But when the price is lower, fewer subsidies will be paid. ”Mathematically, if the cost of buying refined petroleum products in the international market is N150, and the government decides to reduce the burden on the masses by fixing the price of, say, petrol at N100, the subsidy on petroleum to the government is N50. Now if the price has falling, as we are currently experiencing, to N120, the government may decide to reduce the price of the product for the public or reduce its subsidy payment. “When government in 2011 increased the pump price of petrol to N97, crude oil was selling at between $102 and $115 per barrel. This the government translates to about N141 per litre of petrol. The government decided to pay the difference of N44 (N141 - N97) as subsidy. Now if the price of crude at the international market has reduced to between $74 and $80 it therefore means the price per litre has also reduced,” he said. He further said that either the subsidy paid by

the government has been completely wiped out, or a massive reduction has occurred. He added that since Nigeria was passing through an economic crunch in the reduction in the price of crude oil, Nigeria’s main economic stay, “the government may not reduce the pump price of petroleum product. Neither will it increase it.” President-General, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, said he does not have any issues with the rise in the pump price of fuel. “It is just unthinkable. All the hue and cry by armchair critics about an increase in the pump price of petrol because of a reduction in the fuel subsidy payment in 2015 budget estimate is neither here nor there. The government may even reduce the pump price of fuel, as the Yar’Adua government did in 2008, when crude oil price crashed in the international market,” he said. Nigeria tried to end subsidy in 2012 in efforts to cut government spending and encourage badly needed

investment in local refining, doubling the price of a litre of petrol overnight to about 150 naira per litre from about 65 naira, Reuters reported. The move angered citizens, who see cheap petrol prices as the only benefit they derive from living in an oil-rich country. This also led to eight days of nationwide strikes. Other analysts said the subsidy scheme is a sham, insisting that no money is being paid by government. The government later reinstated part of the subsidy to end the strikes. According to Bloomberg, among the OPEC countries, Nigeria and Iran have the highest pump price for Premium Motor Spirit; Venezuela has the cheapest per gallon at $0.18 per gallon; Saudi Arabia has $0.48 per gallon; Libya, $0.54 per gallon; Turkmenistan, $0.72 per gallon; Bahrain, $0.78 per gallon; Kuwait, $0.84 per gallon; Qatar, $0.90 per gallon; Egypt, $1.14 per gallon; Oman, $1.20 per gallon; Algeria, $1.20 per gallon; Iran $2.78; Nigeria $2.33; and United Arab Emirates $1.89.

state, through its enabling policy, had created the right environment for it to become an investors’ haven and attain the status of a key destination through PPP. He stressed that it also hopes to be the next industrial hub of Nigeria. Inaugurating the modern feed mill, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, lauded Flour Mills for being one of the first investors to key in Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan, by investing in various businesses to create employment in many parts of the country. The new Eastern Premier Feed Mill plant complements the groups existing 350,000 MTPA feed mill, Premier Feed Mills Ltd., in Ibadan, Oyo State, also owned by Flour Mills of Nigeria. Group Managing Director of FMN, Mr. Paul Gbededo, stated that this strategic investment was in tandem with FMN’s business model of improving group synergy, diversifying its product base, responding to business dynamics, and creating employment and long term sustainable wealth and value for its stakeholders. He added that “it is a key feature of FMN’s strategic drive to grow its food and agro-allied value

chains in consonance with Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan and government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda.” Eastern Premier Feed Mill will service farmers in the South-South, South East and North Central regions of Nigeria and has the ability to produce and bag three different feed types simultaneously. The plant will require 150,000 MTPA of Maize and 115,000 MTPA of Soybean to be partly sourced from the group’s farms in Niger State. The soybean will be pre-processed into Soya Meal after extraction of the edible oil at the group’s new state of the art ROM Oil crushing facility at Ibadan, Oyo State, which was commissioned later in the same week. Transport of the raw material would be through Golden Transport Company, FMN Plc’s logistics operation which has over 500 trucks, while the packaging would come from BAGCO, a fellow subsidiary, which will provide over seven million bags to the plant every year. The total size of investment in the Eastern Premier Mills is over N5bn and was financed by both debt (banks and development finance institutions) and equity.

Airtel launches its first 4G service in Africa

irtel International, pa rent company of Airtel Nigeria, on Thursday evening launched Africa’s first 4G service in the Seychelles. It launched the service on a state-of-the-art network based on FD-LTE, making the Seychelles amongst the first countries in sub Saharan Africa to commercially deploy this cutting-edge technology. A statement by the company said the platform is Airtel’s first commercial LTE network in Africa. Sunday New Telegraph learnt that the infrastructure is a new, nationwide LTE (Long Term Evolution) 800 MHz network, which will meet the growing customer demand for mobile broadband services, whilst delivering superior network performance. The network is expected to cover 10,000 LTE subscribers in the first phase and would greatly enhance connectivity giving Airtel’s customers an improved smartphone experience, with faster web browsing, downloads and improved quality of service. The statement said that the network was launched by Vice President, Government

of Seychelles, Mr. Danny Fure, who was quoted as saying: “The deployment of the next generation mobile network across the Seychelles will enable enhanced mobile experience and reliable services; and will facilitate new and exciting opportunities for businesses, the society and the people in the country.” Also commenting on the launch, Airtel Africa’s CEO, Mr. Christian de Faria, said, “Today’s launch is a major milestone for Seychelles and Airtel in Africa. We already have Africa’s widest 3G footprint, being present in 17 countries. We are delighted to now provide leadership in setting the technology standard for 4G services in Africa by rolling out this cutting edge LTE network. I would like to thank the team involved in helping fulfill this achievement.” Airtel Seychelles Managing Director, Amadou Mahamat Dina, said, “Besides offering rich content, Airtel’s 4G will allow superfast access to High Definition (HD) video streaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos and much more.”

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sunday/ Business

Lessons from my biggest hit so far (2) Success Nuggets Victor Okwudiri 08037674300 (SMS only) n Risk-Taking Success has a lot to do with taking risks. In fact, a total avoidance of risk is risky itself. Venturing into the publication of The KISS Devotional was a risk because there was no guarantee whatsoever that the project was going to turn out successful; there was no guarantee that people would sponsor the publication of free copies of the devotional. The burden of funding rested on me. However, when the book was finally published, the support was overwhelming and has not stopped. In fact, a few minutes before typing this very article, someone gave me a cheque in support of the book and its vision. If I had bothered myself with the possibility of failure of the project, or whether or not people would respond positively to the book, it would not only have been existing in the realm of the immaterial, all the donations in support of the project would have been an illusion. Friend, take that risk. The worst that can happen is failure of the project, and failure does not kill. Rather, failure can be a springboard

for success. Failure is not a person, but an event. So, you cannot be a failure, even if a project you give a shot fails. In any case, who told you that you will fail? Other people who tried it and succeeded do not have two heads. n Control By ‘control’ in this context, I mean both self-control and control of the circumstances of the execution of your project. When it looked like we were running out of time on the book project, I came under severe mental stress. As the date for the book launch approached with the book not ready, ‘my mind’ knew no rest. In fact, with that experience, I can boldly say that mental stress can be more negatively impactful than bodily stress. In trying to beat targets, it is possible for you to come under pressure. In such cases, you must manage the pressure, so it does not result in mental instability. You must intentionally take your mind off the subject of the pressure, at least momentarily. One way to do that is to go off to sleep. Another way is to deliberately engage your mind with something else, especially something that excites you. Friend, no pressure is worth your life, which is your greatest treasure. Anything that can continually place you under tension is not worth your continued attention. Another aspect of control intended here is the control of the prevailing

circumstances of your project execution. The admonition here is: just be on top of your game. Give it your best. Give the relevant drive to your co-executors, if you are not the only one involved in the execution of the project. You do not have to be the leader of the team to provide the relevant drive. Leadership is basically ‘influence’. Leadership is inspiration, and you can inspire from anywhere you are in the team’s strata. That is what the concept of ‘360o leadership’ is about. n The Law of The Ripples In my words, the Law of the Ripples states that “the rest is tied to the first.” I will explain this. When an impact is made on water, it results in wave-like movements in quick successions, which we call ‘ripples.’ It is important to note that all that is required to cause quick successions of wave-like movements is one impact on the water. The impact reproduces itself. The point here is this: Sometimes, the difficulty (or seeming difficulty) is in the first attempt. Once the first attempt is made successfully, the rest, more often than not, appear and even become easy to achieve. Having published my first book successfully, I feel like I can publish 30 books before I turn 30 on May 11, 2015. My advice, therefore, is that you take that first step; even if it is a crawl, one day you will see yourself running. Have a great week ahead.

To lead is the best The Big Picture Julian Atufunwa 08032810713 (SMS only) Build your house on the rock There are great powers controlling the universe and these forces are governed by laws. It is very vital that you search out laws governing what you do and do all you can to obey them. These laws hold true everywhere. In Nigeria, Asia, Europe, it’s the same; work by the laws and they will bring you success. Work against them and you fail. Example: The law of gravity (if you throw a stone up it will come down regardless of where or who throws it). Again, the law of harvest says what you sow you reap regardless of where or who sowed it. Now to achieve success in leadership, you must build your sphere of influence (house) on these timeless laws (rocks) I’m about to unfold. We have discussed laws of success in this column. If you missed it don’t worry. Very soon, it will come in book form (hard copy). These laws work for individuals, organisations and nations. Laws (rocks) of leadership Personal Effectiveness: This law says your state of leadership ability puts a limit to what you can do, it is wise for a leader to have, seek or bring in people that are more effective than them. If you want your

level of effectiveness to increase, get people that have the skills you lack and let them work with you. They will complement you and in the end make you a successful leader. Integrity: This law says you must be honest with yourself, others and God. It is not the same thing as perfect, but be sincere about who you are, admit your weaknesses and strengths. Law of foresight: As a leader you can’t succeed beyond your ability to see the future. Base your structure on vision. Eyes that look are common but eyes that see are few. Leaders see beyond their life time and this is the reason why some don’t agree with leaders because many don’t see what they see. Law of group effectiveness: This law says the quality of a group can’t be greater than that of individuals that make up the group. It is always 20 per cent of people in a group, organisation or nation that produces 80 per cent of success in that group. You can’t argue this; it’s a law of the universe. You are then advised to sort out these 20% persons that make things happen and train them, give them books to read and spend time with them. Leaders move with movers. If it’s in an organisation, please brand them. It is better to brand people than to brand cars and buildings. Training is key. It is only in churches that work is assigned to people without training. Training is key. Law of courage: Your ability to take decisions and act boldly on them will determine your level of success in leadership. Courage is not the absence of fear, but it is acting in spite of fear. When God inspires you to

take action, please do so immediately because unseen forces will come to your aid. Afterward, your foolishness will become wisdom. If you don’t boldly take action immediately it will wane. As a leader, don’t ever show you are afraid, resolve it with prayer and come out boldly. The law of connection: This law says that leaders should be sensitive to the needs and feelings of their people. Leaders lend a hand before their subordinates ask of it. People must know you have their interest at heart. If you want to be a leader, Serve. Every measure of grace is a weight of glory. When your followers know you love them, they will do anything for you. You can’t afford to be selfish; connect with their hearts and they will give you their hands. Law of power: This law is vast and could take months to exhaust. I will just scratch it and will continue next week. This law says for you to have power, you must never try to outshine your superiors. You may be more talented or outspoken. If you don’t deliberately and honestly accord more power than they deserve to your superiors, you will fall. You must make them to be comfortably on top and powerful. Again if you want to be powerful, don’t try to win an argument by much speech. Say few words loaded with wisdom and move on, when a person with power speak, people listen. Another way to be powerful is to be an expert in your job. Another way is to win the co-operation of people in your group. When you notice a highly vocal person in your group try to win that person to your side. Continues next week God bless you!

080395121535 (SMS only)

Help your maid to help your house F

or some weeks now, a certain ugly video of a young girl said to be 22 years who was badly abusing a two year old girl, has been circulating across social media. I am not given to sadism and therefore was not able to watch the video that many who have viewed it confessed to its bestial ugliness. But I have been able to pick some of the narratives surrounding it. The video, as the narrative goes, presents the 22 year old battering the little girl in ways that suggested she was straight from hell. Most who viewed the video did not expect the little girl to survive the battering. But as we often say here, “Thank God she survived.” I have decided to dwell on this this week because as a citizen of the low and high end of society, I have often heard stories that the ladies of the house tell of the ‘evil’ people that are maids. In the markets, salons, churches and all the places housewives congregate, you hear all manner of stories of how house helps have become the vehicles through which witches and wizards and water spirits visit evil on families. Each time I hear these sordid stories, I tend to ask myself why it happens that virtually all the maids suddenly developed the same genetic trait to be evil? Two things occur to me each time I hear these stories. One, how much of those we bring to live with us do we know? What background of theirs did we not bother to check before giving them the charge of our homes and children? Two, to what extent do we contribute to making evil out of these otherwise normal children of God by the way we treat them? Are we sure that if we treat them better, they will not live well with us and even owe us a debt of gratitude if and when they eventually leave our homes, possibly for theirs? I will treat these questions briefly in the paragraphs that follow.

You see, KYC (short for Know your Customer) has become a term we often associate with banks who subject us to this seemingly unnecessary ritual each time we are opening a bank account. But we seem not to give a single thought to how important it is for us to also “know our brothers, wards, friends and even children!” I am aware that many Nigerians travel as far as Benin Republic and Togo to bring maids and drivers. Those who do not go that far bring in strangers from other parts of the country. Whichever way and whichever place, we seem never to care to do serious background checks on these people. But a few checks on the person’s background could help us discover certain traits, challenges and psychological issues that might present serious challenges to our lives, our wards and properties. Secondly, I am aware that a number of us think that the best way to draw a line between our royal families and those of the ones we bring to live with us is by treating them worse than slaves. This is rather the chief cause of a number of some of the domestic issues I have witnessed involving maids. If you have another person’s child living with you either as a house help or whatever name it is called, try as much as possible to treat the person as your own child. We may never know the hate and discrimination the maid in this case may have been subjected to. This maid may have been carrying bottled up rage for God-knowshow-long, which would be enough to push someone to even kill. Love is a seed we should strive to sow in everyone we meet. And it is so easy to love. But humans, because of the vain desire to show class, would rather treat their maids like modern day slaves. Love conquers all as we read in the Bible but fail to practise.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politics SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

The Sunday Interview

Sen Aniete Okon: Tukur is a drowning man p.32-33

Interview

Uduaghan: Why I’m going to the Senate p.35

cash crunch

States groan under poor finances Dwindling government revenue and policy issues have raised much apprehension about many state governments’ ability to break even, while others are at the precipice of bankruptcy, writes ABDULWAHAB ISA

Money, big name won’t determine Anambra 2015 elections –Obaze p.36

G Jonathan

Biyi Adegoroye biyi.fire@yahoo.com 08033024007 © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

overnor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State scored a bull’s eye recently when he predicted that many states in the country would shut down next year. His reason? They would find it extremely difficult to have sufficient funds to meet their respective obligations - payment of salaries and delivering on dividend of democracy. Putting it succinctly, he said: “The way things are going, state governments will find it difficult to cope as from next year. The dwindling fortune will impact negatively on the running of government. State governments may close shop in 2015.” Suswan, whose state is owing three months workers salary, blamed this on dwindling resources, especially from the federation account. He said while allocation from Federal Government stands at N2.5 billion, workers’ salaries gulp over N3 billion monthly. Consequently, the state is in dire straits, which informed his recent appeal to workers to bear with his administration over the financial realities. Besides the inability to meet their current finan-

Okonjo-Iweala

cial obligations, many of the states are heavily indebted to various creditors. Domestic debt of states stands at $10.97 billion or N1.71trillion. This is besides the bonds taken from the stock market. This revelation from the Debt Management Office gives credence to the fact that Benue is not the sole state struggling to break even in the face of the current economic realities. A number of others are on the fringe of bankruptcy. Governor Ayo Fayose’s administration in Ekiti State, for instance, claimed to have inherited a N86 billion debt, though his predecessor puts it at N36 billion. Whatever the actual figure the state owes, there is no doubt that like other states, it can hardly meet its obligations and provide services. Commissioner for Finance, Chief Toyin Ojo, put the state’s monthly wage bill at N1.4 billion besides N800 million that goes to government agencies and institutions as monthly subventions. When this N2.3 billion is deducted from the state’s N2.5 billion gotten from the Federation Account, Ekiti struggles with N200million and

augments it with its N200million internally generated revenue. In Plateau State, the story is already frightening as the Jonah Jang administration contends with three months of outstanding salaries. State Commissioner of Finance, Mr. Davou Mang said that besides that, it is indebted to contractors and finds it difficult to meet other obligations as a state.

Major causes

The causes of these are legion. For four consecutive months, the three tiers of governments - federal, states and the 774 local governments - have had their monthly allocations slashed tremendously. The drop in federal allocations is occasioned by the huge drop in oil price, the lone export commodity accounting for about 85 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign earnings. From a robust price of about $102 per barrel of crude oil in January, 2014, the price has fallen more than 15 per cent hovering CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

4 NEW TELEGRAPH

y Interview

owning man Those instituting those cases are straw seekers. Those who are drowning seek for straws even in the flowing ebb of the stream. Does it make sense? those states so that there is a clear, direct and unambiguous approach to the issues. You cannot claim to be a governor in a place where you have lost control over major parts of it. Who are you governing? Are you governing over a place where a swathe of the territory has been invaded and seized by the insurgents? Mind you, these political leaders were part of the intrigues that led to the occupation of these territories because if they were not they could have brought the activities of Boko Haram to the attention of the Federal Government earlier. It is the same scenario that led to the kidnap of 200 school girls in Chibok that is going to play out again. The governor is ordering schools to re-open again; he either has a secret pact with the insurgents or he is prepared for political reasons to risk another terrible situation. In their calculation, it is all to embarrass the central authority. They are not showing sufficient appreciation of the various dimensions of this crisis. You remember that the kidnap of the Chibok girls was after the Borno State Government re- opened its schools against the advice of WAEC and the security agencies.

of the deaf. The President is seeking an extension of emergency rule in the North-East but some northern senators have kicked against this latest request. What does this portend for the fight against insurgency and Nigeria as a country? Well, it defines the mindset that is fed from their complicity in the insurgency. What are they offering instead of the extension of emergency rule? The state of emergency is a management tool for containing the crisis but I don’t think it goes far enough. The President should declare a proper state of emergency, removing all the strata of governance in

In the past, Nigeria had assisted many African countries to restore peace in their own enclaves. It assisted Mali to flush out the Tuareg rebels who wanted to overrun it. Do you think Nigeria has received a commensurate level of cooperation from these African countries? I don’t think so and I think that it is partly due to their limited capacities ad resources. What has played out in the recent botched ceasefire agreement in Chad is a pointer to this fact. Sufficient support has not come from our neighbours. Again, we can also attribute their lack of cooperation to their own fears of reprisals from the terrorists and their limited capacities to deal with it. I thought you were going to ask me why Nigerian Army which has played a major role in stabilising other countries in times of crisis not only in Africa but beyond seems to be performing below expectation here. Why are we not able to contain our own crisis? Maybe it is because the crisis is home grown. Some have alleged that Nigeria is finding it difficult to tackle the insurgency because of sabotage within its security circle. Do you agree with this position? Well, there is no doubt about it; the crisis has thrown up clear evidence of sabotage. But when you look at some orders ad commands that were said to have led to situations where one could not establish a nexus with actions that could be said to be logical then that is where we have issues woven into a web of complications. In the first place, the kind of news coming out of the crisis zone do not give the desired impressions of a good response. Ideally, there should be a line between what

the press can dish out to the public and what they should not. There should be a red line between actual happenings and what is dished out. They should be streamlined for security reasons. Until the Army owns up, it is not good for us to say that there is a fifth columnist in their midst because we will be running the risk of eroding the confidence of the people on this institutions and its capacity to respond to the challenge of its duties. There are speculations that the real sabotage is coming from some of our African neighbours who do not just harbor the insurgents but engage in arms deals with them. What can Nigeria do to checkmate them? That should not bother us. We should make our own arrangements to flush out the insurgents from our territory. Whether some countries are aiding and abetting them through arms trade and all that should not bother us. These arms no matter where and how they were procured would end up in deployment to the front lines. So our duty should be to deal with those on the frontline. Our concern should be to deal with the insurgents and clearing them from our country. Why should we bother whether their arms are coming from Egypt, Libya, Chad or Sudan? Whatever arms they have and from whichever source it may come, it would end up in deployment to combat and our concern should be how to contain the insurgency. Our business is to be ready and capable to deal with the situation. Some Nigerians have suggested that due to the intensity of the crisis that the elections be suspended in the North-East, while others are asking that the entire election be put on hold across the federation. What is your view on these suggestions? I am sure that such suggestions are not coming from the Presidency. It must be coming from somewhere else. It must have come from some people in the parliament who are members of the opposition political parties. But you see, a party like the APC, as far as I am concerned, is opposed to the Nigerian state. If they were not opposed to the Nigerian state, they would have conducted themselves with greater sense of patriotism and responsibility. The APC, for instances glamorizes the activities of the insurgents and it is getting to a point where the timing of their responses to some of these heinous happenings like the bombings is beginning to raise questions of serious privy. The last episode by Lai Mohammed comes to question. This is why they will continue to get beaten by the PDP; they have not held themselves as a viable alternative to the present government. All you hear is that they are opposed to this and they are opposed to that but what are the alternatives they are offering? They are opposed to the good, the bad and the ugly because they have become benumbed to being in the opposition. They have conducted themselves in a manner that has given manifestation to the feelings in a number of quarters that the APC is opposed to the Nigerian state. In your response a while ago, you mentioned Lai Mohammed and his recent outing. Were you referring to APC’s reaction to President Jonathan’s declaration for a second term? Yes. Why did they have to link the President’s declaration to the bombing in Potiskum? Why was there no bombing when Mohammadu Buhari declared his ambition to contest? Why was there no bombing when Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso declared their intentions? There was also no bombing when the Chairman of Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda- Isaiah declared. So we are stating our case very clearly that there must be a link between some people in the APC and these bomb-

ers. Look at the scenario- the President is scheduled to declare tomorrow and they set up a bomb and he (Lai Mohammed) has a prepared text waiting to say there was insensitivity on the part of the President! Now you are talking about the possibility of the postponement of elections but who are those who have shown greater interest in running election over the rivers of blood? They are the APC. The APC has been going about as if no other thing matters. You can see the level of enthusiasm being generated even in the affected areas. The governors of Borno and Yobe are busy talking about elections even in the midst of serious security challenges. Some have even conducted their so-called local government elections and during the exercise there was no single report of insurgent activity. Can you rationalise that without drawing a linkage between these people, their party and what is happening in the North East? They do not like to be linked with the Boko Haram but certainly there is some complicity. The PDP appears to be facing a buffet of challenges on its path considering the disputes over your ward congresses and the various court cases challenging the eligibility of Jonathan to seek reelection. As one of the stalwarts of the ruling party, what is your view about these challenges? We believe that the courts are there and we have trust that they are equal to the task. We must still allow people to ventilate their grievances and the courts to do their jobs and retain their credibility. The law is clear and we believe that there will be no acts of adventurism from the courts. What about the internal wrangling in your party? Some people have gone to court to oust your Chairman and stop your forthcoming national convention. Are you not worried about these developments? Well, those instituting those cases are straw seekers. Those who are drowning, seek for straws even in the flowing ebb of the stream. Does it make sense? The appointment of Adamu Muazu is an internal arrangement of the party and there are determinations that have ousted the rights of the courts to inquire into such matters. There have been findings and positions that have ousted the jurisdiction of the courts over internal matters of the political parties. We’ve gone through these things before. What is the locus of those who want the convention stopped? Let them not be worried because soon all these subterfuge will evaporate. At the end of the day, all these litigations are aimed at stopping the President from seeking a second term and they are on a clear course of failure. They will fail because rather than face up to the challenge and be prepared to accept the verdict and will of both the party members and the nation, they are resorting to all these subterfuge. Nothing is going to deter us, we are on course. A long time ago, I said that it was the opposition that has the problem of housekeeping. We have sorted our own out long ago. As far back as July or August, I did state that the President was going to be returned and that the party had no choice but to return him based not only on convention but on account of his record of performance. He has the right of first refusal. But these litigants are members of your party or are you saying they are not? To what extent are they members of our party? The question of their membership of the party is there. We’ve had all sorts of travelers. People who may not be able to command the vote of their next door neighbors are going to court to challenge the party. What are they looking for? It’s all part of the subterfuge. Some just want to be noticed but I don’t think we have time for such things now. We will take our chances and live with the decisions of the courts.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politics

States grapple with cash crunch C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 1

at about $82 per barrel as at October 28, 2014; a scenario experts posit may last beyond 2015. For instance, the amount shared out to the tiers of government from the Federation Account dropped from N603 billion shared in September to N593.337 distributed in October. There was also a significant drop in the amount available for sharing as statutory revenue. A number of other developments at the international market are also responsible. The United States which before now was a large importer of Nigeria’s crude oil had built up enough reserves and consequently, cut back on oil importation from Nigeria. It has also emerged as a major oil exporter. The shrinking oil prices is already taking a serious toll in a form of reduction in revenue accruals to the national treasury. The unfavorable scenario has compelled managers of the economy and fiscal policies to announce some urgent belt- tightening measures.

Control measures

Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo –Iweala recently in Abuja, announced measures aimed at cushioning its impact on the economy. Among other measures, the Minister mentioned a reduction in public expenditures among others. This is to be complemented by enforcing taxes on luxury items such as private jets, champagne and sundry imported sundry items. The Federal Government and the Debt Management Office have directed banks to get clearance from them before granting loans to any state government. This has put states and their prospects of implementing key infrastructures through further credits in the quandary. A letter had been forwarded to bank’s CEOs and managing directors to halt granting further loan request by states. The directive Sunday New Telegraph was informed, was a fall-out of the meeting that the Okonjo - Iweala had with the Managing Directors/CEOs of banks, over the states’ heavy debt profile. Banks and other financial institutions were therefore mandated to first report to the Ministry of Finance any loan facility request by MDAs, state and local governments before such loans are granted. Sources privy to the meeting told our correspondent that the Minister directed that prior approval of her Ministry shall be sought and the purpose of borrowing and the tenor of such loans disclosed. Banks are also required to disclose to the DMO and state’s DMO offices periodic reports on the drawdown and utilisation of such loans by the borrower. The sources said these requirements are meant to control the current high rate of unsustainable borrowing by federal and state governments. It is also to protect banks from getting into trouble with bad loans. The banks are requested to state the type of facility requested, purpose of the facility, date of disbursement, maturity date, interest rate, total fees, amount approved, amount disbursed and amount outstanding. Sources at Finance Ministry and DMO confirmed the receipt of the directive to our correspondent. The loans restraint directive communicated to banks by the government is meant to curtail rising debt profile of state government. A source explained to our correspondent that the directive has blocked some state governors, especially those in their second term who may want to seize the opportunity of their last lap in office to incur huge debts. Figures of debt profiles obtained from the

Suswam

Fayose

Jang

DMO put Federal Government’s debt and that of the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (external debt) at $ 9.518.95 billion or N1. 482.5 trillion as at September 30, 2014. As at September 30, domestic debt of the Federal Government alone stood at $49.12billion or N7.65trillion. The domestic debt of states on the other hand stood at $10.97billion or N1.71trillion. DMO’s debt data shows that Jigawa State owes N 1. 612 billion, Plateau N52.416 billion, Yobe N1.122 billion, Borno N23.943billion and Adamawa N15.976 billion as at December 2013 while Ekiti’s debt portfolio is declared outstanding. Government’s directive to banks on fur-

ther loans procurement by state governments has put state finances on dire strait. However, states have responded to cushion their precarious finance situation by requesting that part of the monies in Excess Crude Account be shared. The state Commissioners of Finance acting on directive of their executive governors, two weeks ago said a proposal had been sent to President Goodluck Jonathan demanding $2 billion from the foreign Excess Crude Account to complete on-going projects and to fund elections. The ECA has a $ 4.1 billion balance. Ebonyi State Commissioner for Finance and Chairman of Finance Commissioners’ Forum, Mr. Timothy Odaah, said after

Federal Accounts Allocation Committee session in Abuja that security matters and the elections required large sum of money to execute and that the state governments were optimistic that President Jonathan would favourably consider the proposal. Obviously the signs are there that many states are already tottering from poor financial situations. There are fears that this will take a turn for the worse as they will encounter difficulties not only in paying their workers’ salaries and allowances but also executing capital projects. That latter might be a mirage going by the current developments as many of them are merely accumulating debts to mortgage the future of incoming administrations.

...blame it on FG, says Teriba Dr. Ayo Teriba is the Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates and had worked as an economist at Lagos Business School, Lagos Chamber of Commerce, World Bank, Senate Committee on Banking and Finance. He chairs the steering committee of the Money, Macroeconomic and Finance Research Group of the Money Market Association of Nigeria and he is a visiting scholar at the IMF Research Department in Washington DC. He spoke with CHIJIOKE IREMEKA on his worries about the Nigerian economy The news of naira devaluation is everywhere. What impact would the devaluation of naira by CBN be to its economy? Well, devaluation of naira was called for. You know that the exchange rate has been unstable and the devaluation should stabilise it. The quarter one report of the year witnessed favourable global condi-

tions and contractions and things were improving. Stock prices were rising too but the hype changed in the quarter two of 2014. The reserve too was stabilising in quarter one but in the quarter one, things began to change. The foreign reserve fell from N13 trillion to N11trn and to what it is now. Our reserve has fallen drastically too and the exchange rate has been

Teriba

under severe pressure. So, it makes sense to devalue. Devaluation will bring some stability to the foreign exchange market. In the history of the successive devaluations of Nigerian currency, naira has never appreciated to its preCONTINUED ON PAGE 37

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Politics / Interview

Uduaghan: Why I’m going to the Senate You are quick to forgive people who abuse and insult. Take for instance the case of late awards winning gospel musician, Irikefe Don Momoh (nee Obareki) better known as Kefe, she worked against you during your last campaign but you picked her hospital fees and cost of flying her corps back from America and burial? Where did you get that from? It is because God forgives me always. Really there have been a lot of things I have done, which I know He does not like, but he still forgives me and still promotes me. Really that is the foundation of that philosophy. On a serious note I do not believe that someone should be in need of help and you deny the person because you have not forgiven him. For me too, it has been a source of blessing. If you have been able to help those who have one time been against you, I believe that God will bless you. It is something that I grew up with and I picked it up also from my grandmother. My grandmother was a very strict woman but she never kept anything in mind, she will talk and shout, but it ends there. So that is where I got that.

Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, last week hosted some editors and publishers at the new Government House in Asaba. At the media parley, Uduaghan spoke on his senatorial ambition, the aborted ground breaking ceremony of the gas industrial city and Asaba as the Nollywood destination among other issues. SONY NEME was there

We are going to push to attract companies to our state. Many of these companies abroad do not want to come and invest because there is hardly any solid legislation to protect their investments

In another few months, you will be leaving your seat as governor, what will you miss most in governance as a governor? I will miss the rumours and blackmail. I will miss them. Despite the praises heaped on you in the media, there have been times when you received bad press, particularly those that are obnoxious, unpleasant, which one really touched you? I do not feel pain for any obnoxious thing that is written about me. I don’t feel pain. Each time every obnoxious thing is written about me, I feel pity for society. Really I do. I feel bad that for anybody who is in public office, people try to pull them down. I often take solace in the fact that it is not just specific to me, no matter how good you are there are people in the sidelines waiting to write bad things about you. Few days ago, I was just looking at certain things that have been written about Barak Obama, some cartoons too. These were really very bad attacks, terrible. Whenever I see those things I really say ah, ‘no bi only me sef dey for this matter’. But the ones really that I am not happy about is when people go to the extent of writing things that are not correct about my children. I take exception to those. What would you say you wanted to do but you were not able to do for your people during your tenure? That is a difficult one to answer, because there are so many things one would have loved to do. But at the same time, you cannot do everything. I cannot put my finger on one particular thing. But for me I will say I have done my best and the rest is left for posterity to judge. What would you point at as the most thrilling of all your achievements in the last eight years? Oh, the most thrilling is the fact that the pregnant woman can have all the care and deliver free of charge at the government hospital. Really that is the most thrilling. I go on the streets and I see a woman comes to me with a child shouting “your pain, your pikin.” I will ask myself like where I from get this one? She will go ahead and say ‘I born am for your hospital free’. Really for the whole day that woman has made my day. That is one policy I am proud of, women deliver free of charge, including through Caesarian section. Recently the ground breaking ceremony of the gas industrial city was aborted. How are you handling the situation as

Uduaghan

President Goodluck Jonathan could not keep the appointment? Like I said earlier on, nobody can stop the President from visiting any part of Nigeria. Even me as a governor, nobody can stop me from visiting any part of this state. We were prepared and ready to host Mr. President, but we have to put it on hold, because if he had gone ahead with it and there were some placards, foreign media will leave the event and focus on those protesters. And the foreign investors will see that as a distraction. The ground breaking event will take place on a date to be communicated because we are on top of the situation here. What is your plan after office? I really have two; the short term one and the lifetime one. The lifetime one is to see how I can develop the leadership qualities in the young ones. I intend to establish an institute on leadership training. I think that if you start grooming leaders with the right patriotic zeal, you will ultimately grow a better Nigeria. On the short term, I am in the race for the Senate , whether it will work is another matter entirely. You seem to have made Asaba the hub of the Nollywood. How did you achieve that? Yes, Asaba has become the hub for film making in Nigeria. You know I said it sometime ago that we planned to make Delta State the hub of the entertainment industry. It is paying off as the industry has fallen in love with the state and Asaba in particular. Asaba is ok for their locations. Secondly, what we tried to do is negotiate with the hotels so they can get better rates from the hotels. I also hear Asaba people are more ready to give up their homes as

locations. Unlike when you go to other towns, they are not ready but people here are ready to let them use their homes. One would have thought you will go home to rest after public service as commissioner, secretary to the State Government and now the state governor. Why are you going to the Senate? It is still in line of service to my people. Really if I had my way what is most fundamental to me is to develop young leaders. But having spent all these years in government with all the contacts both in the country and internationally, I believe one should use the contacts in the Senate to work with other people to see how we can make laws that will ensure democracy dividends to our people. First, I want to go for a legislation that will give equity shares to oil producing communities in those of companies that are coming to drill oil. Take for instance if Shell Petroleum Development Company was drilling oil in a particular community and the community has five or 10 per cent equity. It means that they will get 10 percent of the profits that SDPC has made. In five years, such a community will be heavily developed. Two, from the Delta Beyond Oil, which we are developing, we are going to push to attract companies to our state. Many of these companies abroad do not want to come and invest because there is hardly any solid legislation to protect their investments. Israel is a country that has security challenges, South Africa has security challenges, and Iraq has also. Many investors are still going to those

places. The reason is because there is legal protection for their investments which is almost non-existent in Nigeria. As a state, we tried to put up this legislation, but Nigeria as a whole, the Federal Government has a lot to do in this regard. It can only be done through the National Assembly and that is what I intend to push. And thirdly and very critical and dear to my heart is environmental issues. We do not have adequate laws to protect our environment, to protect our people to very serious environmental damage that is being done to our people. Are you satisfied with the current security arrangements in the state, and we have it on authority that several oil companies have left Warri. Any hope for their return? On the issue of security, we have done a lot. We have deployed a lot of resources into that area? But once in a while we still have flashes in some areas. You know security issues take quite some time to build. In the case of oil majors that left Warri, what has happened is that their oil wells are being bought over by others. On a long term basis these companies are better run by smaller companies. They carry the communities along better than the big ones who throw their weight around. But the truth is that the oil is still there for someone to drill. It is just left for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, to sort out the issues because when they were leaving, NNPC through their NPDC thought that they could operate like the others, but so far it has not been easy. But it will soon be sorted out.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politics / Interview

Money, big name won’t determine Anambra 2015 elections –Obaze How ready and confident are you in the senatorial race amidst these intrigues and horse-trading especially in your party? Well, I do not have any reason not to be confident. I believe my governor, Chief Willie Obiano who had pledged at all the fora that there would be free and fair primaries. And I don’t have any reason to doubt him. I think the guidelines have come out. And it calls for direct primaries. That is to say, one would know the people who are going to vote in all the 326 wards in Anambra State, not in the northern senatorial zone alone. And if that is done I am very confident that in free and fair primaries, I am going to emerge the candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). What are those reasons that are propelling you to contest for this senatorial race? Like I said, the whole idea of going to the Senate is to represent my people. And as far as I am concerned, when you know the people you are representing, you know the area, you know their needs, you know their problems. That is the only time you can represent them. You can’t represent the Anambra North Senatorial zone from Abuja. So, the number one reason why I want to go to that place is to provide that representation to our people, the people of our zone and my party because we are the ruling party in Anambra, because we keep presenting the wrong people as candidates, we have never had a senator. How come we have been winning the gubernatorial election, winning Federal House of Representatives elections, winning State House of Assembly elections and we do not win the Senate. It is because we field wrong people. So, I am going to the Senate to represent my people. I am going there because our governors have never been supported before. Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju was never supported; Dr Chris Ngige was not supported by any Senator. Chief Peter Obi was not supported and Chief Willie Obiano is currently not being supported by any of our senators. I don’t see why my governor

Obaze

Chief Dubem Obaze carried out a lot of reforms as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters under ex-governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi. Now a senatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, for Anambra North, contesting with former Aviation Minster, Senator Stella Oduah and Senator Maggery Okadigbo, he speaks with TONY OKAFOR on his mission and issues that will determine the 2015 elections in the state will come to Abuja and visit a Minister and I won’t make out time to follow up. That is the work of a senator especially if it has to do with my state, my zone in particular. Of course as a senator, you are expected to participate in law making, to make sure we have good and enabling laws to make sure that we strengthen our nation, to strengthen democracy, to strengthen Nigeria as one unit-one indivisible unit. So, for me when it comes down to our zone in particular, where we produce oil but Anambra is not a member of NDDC, I will work for Anambra State to become a member of Niger Delta Development Commission, which is our right. It is a simple thing, the fact that we are producing oil means that we are qualify to be a member. That way, we can begin to get our benefits like all the other nine states of the NDDC. So, those are the three or four major things why I want go and represent our people. Given your closeness to the former governor, Peter Obi, one had thought you would have followed him to the Peoples Democratic Party, but you stayed back in APGA. What is it that you saw in APGA that made you to stay back? I am an APGA man. I have never been in any other political party. I have been a member of APGA since 2002.And this is the only party I know. This is a party that has developed Anambra State. This is a party that developed Ogbaru, I am from Ogbaru and you are in my community. The road, you went through used to take four hours to get to my house here from Uga junction. And today it is a 20-minute drive. So, there is no reason why I should dump my party. Moreover Peter Obi never consulted me. He never asked me to go with him. He didn’t,,,, I think he was decent in the way he handled things. But I am an APGA man, inside and out. I am not going anywhere. Looking at the whole thing, it is like you are into a big battle, contesting in your party’s primaries, with Alphonsus Igbeke, considered a cat with nine lives, and an oil magnet, who has a lot of money to throw around, Stela Oduah as well as the incumbent,

Maggery Okadigbo in the election proper. Where do you get courage to face these people? I have a motto that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I don’t see them as a problem. It is the people that matter. The people will speak. The people of APGA will decide on whom the candidate will be the members of APGA and the people of Anambra North Senatorial district will decide. It is not about money. If it is about money, Ifeanyi Ubah would have been our governor not Willie Obiano. If it is money, we would have Aliko Dangote as our President. He has never even bothered to run. If it is money, Bill Gates and Warren Buffets and all those American people would be American President. We don’t talk about money, it is about people and even how to know how to deploy the money and resources. I understand this business, not how much you give; it is how effective your naira is. You can spend a million and I spend ten thousand naira and get a better result. That is what is happening. So it is the people. I don’t think there is an issue in that. As Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Matters, you introduced fourth tier of government through town unions, would you say that will be an added advantage in this race? Well, I sincerely hope it would be. What we did when I was serving as Commissioner for Local Government, all I tried to do was to build institution, build things that will last, to build things that will outlast me. And things that will not easily changed by anybody. For example when I was made Special Adviser for Local Governments before I became Commissioner, we had what we called zero allocation. I asked the Permanent Secretary, what is zero allocation, why are they owing local government salary, he said, they do not have enough money. So when the money allocated to that local government is less than their expenditure, that is their salaries, wages and all that. Maybe they are getting, for example N54million and they are spending N60 million. So they have a shortfall of N6million. That is because the local governments, mainly the urban local governments are over populated, a lot of staff, a lot of overhead, this and that. So, that was among the first things I changed because we unified the local government system, such that they can post more staff to Onitsha North not because Onitsha North needed them but because people want to stay in Onitsha North. And instead of two drivers, they needed five and all that. The fact of the matter is that they don’t have enough money to pay. If you have a unified local government system, where you can pull people from Dunukofia to Onitsha North, why don’t you transfer their money from Dunukofia to Onitsha North because you can’t transfer liability without transferring assets. So, what we did was

to change that and turn salary into first line charge. So, when we get cumulative amount of money, we remove the staff salary for everybody before we start allocating the remaining one and from then till today, that is what has been happening, it is still the standard format. So, you have never heard the staff complaining. Do you understand what I am saying? So, we have not missed one month salary in over nine years unlike other administration in the past. We used that same formula to pay up our pensioners. I think by the time we were leaving, we have paid about N67 billion. So the institutionalisation of getting people’s money to people’s hands and getting government closer to the people by recognising the town union and our traditional institutions was another aspect of what we did there and it has worked there. How do you see the recent appointment of Obaino as Chairman of BOT of APGA? Some of your party members say the appointment is against your party’s constitution which stipulates that an elected person on the platform of the party shall not hold any leadership position in the party? Well, he is a very experienced person. He was an executive director in a bank for nine years. And you just don’t become an ED just like that. He is already a leader. He understands leadership and I am sure he has done a lot in leadership studies. Yes, he is in a new terrain politically but, the governor as the highest ranking elected officer, I think automatically, the leadership falls upon him. And as a member of National Executive Committee of our party, he also doubles as the chairman of Board of Trustees (BOT). By the way I am a member of the board and without a chairman, we can really not function. So, I am sure that it is an arrangement for us to move on. He has the capacity and APGA is an institution. How do you see the emergence of new entrants scrambling to pick the party’s tickets for 2015 polls? Won’t it jeopardise the chances of the party if they are given tickets? I agree with you totally. I think it was somebody who said ‘it is height of madness doing the same activity the same way and expecting a different result,’ We had done things like that in the past where we bring in people that are not used to our ways it didn’t work, These people are not part of the party, they didn’t have any allegiance to the party. APGA is like a movement. It is little bit like a religion. You have to be in APGA for a while to get acclimatised to the APGA spirit. So, when you bring in people that don’t have the APGA spirit, they think less about the party. Most of our members are not even cards carrying members. They are mothers, they are farmers, they are the old people; they are war veterans; they are all sorts of people. They don’t necessarily carry an APGA cards but on that voting day, they will ask ‘where is the cock, the symbol of APGA’. Where is Ojukwu? Where is Peter Obi?-when he was in the party; where is Victor Umeh. I am sure they will now ask where Akpokue, Obiano is. So, the influx of people has not been good for us. As a member of BOT of this party, I understand one of our assignments is to guide the policy of party.

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Politics / Analysis

‘State governments can break even’ C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 4

devaluation status; do you see naira appreciating again after this policy? It depends on what happens to oil prices. It depends on what happened to stock market; it depends on what happens to external reserves and if the conditions we saw in the first half of the year come back, and inflation rate reduces, we can hope that naira must appreciate. But if the contractions and conditions we saw in this quarter one of this year, refused to come back and the conditions in quarter two remains the same and continues to the first half of next year. You may have a situation where these new rates will be fixed in 2015. It means we have to do more than we are doing. Governor Gabriel Suswam said many states in Nigeria will go bankrupt in 2015. Do you think that the economic parameters point to this? If we will not go bankrupt, then, we have to do what is needful. There are opportunities we have to do what we are supposed to do in all sectors by taxing non oil sector. None oil sector of the economy is bigger than the oil sector. Oil sector is about 13 per cent of the economy, while the non-oil sector constitutes 87 per cent. We are talking about services, agriculture, industries, and non-manufacturing among others. Our non-oil factory to the percentage of GDP is 3.7 per cent compared to 25 per cent in South Africa, 25 per cent in Morocco and 25 per cent in Egypt. Government should collect tax revenue that is in their possession in order for them not to be bankrupt. Tax of 3.5 per cent of GDP shows government laziness on the physical tax consumption. Government can tax beer, cigarettes, majorly alcoholic drinks, luxury items like cars. It is not going to hurt the economy. Use the money to benefit the economy. Government has to wake up and do more on tax revenue. It is not about oil. We can’t just depend on the oil that has only 13 per cent chunk on the economy and neglecting other 87 per cent of the economy. Do you foresee a situation where taxes will be increased next year? I am talking only on the non-oil revenue. You can’t be talking about state being bankrupt when Nigeria grants heavy weight waivers for things they should be taxed. People are importing limousine and bullet proof cars and enjoy waivers, for what? We need to cancel all that and let the revenue come in first. Our customs receipt is too low. There is revenue out there for the government to collect, but they don’t do that. Let them collect it and stop talking about bankruptcy. We can’t have a situation, where a state is bankrupt in a booming economy. Now, we know that the Nigerian economy is the biggest in the Africa, and if government is not bankrupt in smaller economies, how can government be bankrupt in the largest economy in the Africa? So, that one is no talk. Let’s wake up and collect the revenue that everyone knows that we have and build the economy. Doesn’t this attest to the fact that states are over depending on the oil revenue and Federal Allocations? I said that we are over dependent on oil, which is just 13 per cent of the economy, yet contributes over 70 per cent of government revenue. It’s totally unacceptable. Other sectors that constituted 87 per cent should contribute more and bulk of government revenue. See, on the allocation, you don’t tell the state to stop collecting federal allocation, when the Federal Government collects the taxes and revenue on their behalf. For instance, Lagos has a port, but they don’t collect the customs and exercise rev-

If we will not go bankrupt, then, we have to do what is needful. There are opportunities; we have to do what we are supposed to do in all sectors enue there. They also, don’t get derivation funds. Many of the states across the country do not control their power sectors, telecoms sector, solid minerals, and reserves and there are a lot of sectors that the federal controls, which the states could have been generating revenue from. Ogun State has its but does not control it. So, stop talking about states’ dependency on federal allocation, they don’t depend on FG. The FG collects their revenue on their behalf and they are entitled to it. The FG is showing laziness in collection of revenue. So, why is FG complaining when the states collect their money? Except FG wants Lagos to collect her taxes at the port and send some fraction to the federation account? So, you can’t tell the state to stop collecting from the centre, when the centre collects on their behalf. We have to show better understanding of these things. The states own the money, but FG collects on their behalf. The government is not doing enough in revenue generation guide. They need to do more on revenue generation drive to save this economy. What is your view on the FG’s planned increase of fuel pump price? I don’t think anybody is talking about increasing pump price, for what? It’s a very bad thing to think of when the price of crude has fallen, when other countries are seeing reduction in pump prices, and Nigeria is talking about increasing it. There is nobody talking about that. It’s improper. I don’t want to believe that such was mentioned because it’s most unreasonable thing to say. Many African countries have refineries, yet the biggest economy on the continent exports her crude and buys refined product. What is your take on the state of refinery in Nigeria? If we have a government that has purpose, they should privatise our refineries and encourage the creation of additional refining capacities. Those who are buying Nigerian crude don’t drink the crude. American that has been buying our crude that has stopped buying produces more crude than Nigeria. But they refine the crude they bought from us and export back to us in most cases. Nigerian should not start crying that America has stopped buying our crude. We should refine our own crude and have enough to use domestically and export the excess to neighbouring African countries. America today produces nine billion barrels per day, and it refines everything and exports some of it. Nigeria is only producing two million barrels per day. Many other Middle -East countries that produce more than Nigeria refine theirs and export. In the Middle-East, they are creating Teriba

additional capacity to refine, so that what they export will no longer be crude but refine item. Nigeria should create refining capacities that would enable it to refine all her crude output and export refine products and petrochemicals. Do you see the possibility of further downward review of Nigerian benchmark from the current $73 per barrel? Your benchmark is fraud. Nigeria should not be talking about benchmark because benchmark is not true. The last time, it was $78 per barrel but the average was $105. If truly we are doing benchmarking, where is the $27 excess? This has shown that the government is telling us that they have it but they don’t use it. The truth of the matter is that they spend all the money that comes in, if not, we should be able to cushion the effect of the fallen oil price on the economy from the previous excess. So I don’t want to get involved, discussing benchmark. It’s used in deceiving the public and that’s all. Will the prevalent epileptic supply of power in Nigeria support the desired industralisation in the country? I think necessary things have been done in the power sector by letting private sector in. We have brought in private sector to the generation end and to the distribution end, but I don’t think we are doing anything about the transmission. However, we need to give privatisation a little time to work and I hope the benefits we reaped in the telecom sector would be reaped here too. Though, the sector would be complemented by oil and gas sector. I hope we would soon privatise refineries and gas pipelines so that they can support the power reforms. We are working in the right direction and we will reap the benefits. Looking at the economic indices on the ground, what are your fears for Nigerian economy? The major source of uncertainty for Nigeria is that the economic fundamentals are sound but management of fiscal policy, monetary policy, and structural policy,

need more to be desired. We can’t have a situation in which the government is declaring austerity measures in a growing economy. If the economy is in a recession and you declare austerity, it makes sense but the economy is not in recession, rather it is growing at above six per cent. Would you now say there is no revenue for the government? If government says so, the government doesn’t know what she is doing. The CBN that raises interest rate in the face of government excessive spending does not know what it is doing. There is no need for raising interest rate by this time. Our failure to privatise refineries and looking for countries to buy our crude, when we can refine our own crude, doesn’t show that the government knows what it is doing. Again, rail transportation is the bedrock of manufacturing and industrial activities. Rail transportation of cargo is cheaper than any other means. It makes manufacturing and agricultural sectors more competitive. We should privatise Nigerian Railway Corporation the same way we have done to telecom and power. We need to do it to rail so that goods can be transported competitively within Nigeria. Governments are dilly-dallying in those areas that would boost the economy of the country. So, those are my worries. Government’s failure in cargo policy, government’s failure in fiscal policy, government failure in rail transportation, and government failure in the areas they should be strong are my major worries. If we can fix the problems, falling oil prices will not matter to Nigeria because growth in all sectors will overshadow the falling prices. The economy will boom and Nigeria will smile for it.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Politics

2015: Governorship ticket splits Delta PDP

Ahaoma Kanu

here are indications that the battle for who succeeds Governor Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan within the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State may have taken a turn for the worse as those accusing the governor of attempting an imposition may now have what they consider the smoking gun. Last Thursday, those behind the imposition of Mr Tony Obuh as the flag-bearer of the PDP in the Delta State gubernatorial race allegedly secretly invited 13 top journalists from Lagos to Asaba and advised them to assist the aspirant with favourable publicity between now and the party primaries. According to impeccable sources, the plan was to blow all competition out of the water by blanketing the media with Obuh’s stories between now and the party primaries in such a way as to demoralise all opposition against the imposition project within the state. This is a well-calculated plan following the successful screening exercise of Obuh at the PDP gubernatorial screening in Port Harcourt last Monday. The Delta PDP had been plunged into crisis the moment the recently retired civil servant indicated his interest to contest for the governorship of the state. This is because there is a strong suspicion that Obuh is the candidate of the Ibori-Uduaghan political family being imposed on the party despite the fact that Obuh himself has never been a politician. He only recently retired from the Delta State Civil Service in order to contest for the governorship ticket. However, many members of the Delta political class within the PDP fear that the recruitment of Obuh and his imposition is a slap on the face of career politicians and marks the beginning of active politicisation of the civil service. Indeed, many top officials within the civil service have expressed the fear that if Obuh is imposed as governor it would trigger a trend in the civil service where all top civil servants would begin to breach the divide between the political and the professional office in a mad rush to transmute to political leaders clearly against civil service rules. Many theories have been put forward for this alleged imposition. One of such theories is that Obuh, whose last two positions within the state civil service were specially created for him by Governor Uduaghan, is being sponsored to the position by the Ibori-Uduaghan family to cover up for huge financial dealings they have committed in the last 15 years, despite the arrest and imprisonment of James Ibori in the United Kingdom. The position of Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government was created for him by Uduaghan when the latter served as Secretary of State Government under Governor James Ibori. This promotion of Obuh to this newly created position was to ensure that Obuh answers to no one, but him alone. Upon becoming governor, Uduaghan took Obuh along and created another position for him as the Permanent Secretary Government House, even though he still had Dr. Festus Okubor as Chief of Staff. In these positions, Obuh acted as the clearing house of all major state projects and transactions over and above even the commissioners. This theory of imposition further believes that the charges of money laundering for which Ibori, his sister, Christine Ibori-Ebie, his wife Nkoyo, his mistress, Udoamaka Okonkwo-Onuigbo, his lawyer and associates were jailed are tips of the iceberg. With the successful installation of Uduaghan, his cousin as governor before going to prison and his guilty plea upon trial, Ibori has succeeded in stymying the scandal by avoiding more revelations while still firmly having the political family’s hands tightly on the

Obuh

coffers of state finances. The Obuh project is therefore a continuation of the family’s attempt to continue the cover up. While Uduaghan had consistently denied that he favoured any of the candidates contesting for the governorship, including ‘harmonising’ delegates list through a consensus process that includes all contestants, those accusing him of imposition believe that this is a token attempt at fairness as the best this does is to give each governorship aspirant control of only the delegates from their own areas. Thus, outside a direct delegates election, even the most popular aspirant cannot win as the huge influence of state and national party authorities on the delegates almost certainly gives the vote to anyone chosen by the governor, especially where he and the party state and federal authorities and the presidency agree on such a candidate. A clear indication that Obuh is the candidate chosen by Uduaghan was said to have began to emerge at a function in Obuh’s hometown of Agbor when Uduaghan, some members of his cabinet and some who were to later emerge as gubernatorial aspirants on the platform of the PDP were hosted at Obuh’s home. In the midst of the dinning and wining, the governor was said to have seemingly playfully said Obuh would be a loyal person if given power. This was said to have immediately changed the mood of a lot of the prospective aspirants who were there, because they read this as the governor deliberately making them know that Obuh is his choice as successor. At the time, speculations were that the governor did that to destabilise some of his long-term rivals within the Ibori-Uduaghan political family from the Ika area of the state. For instance, amongst those present when the governor said this were Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the Senator representing Delta North and Uduaghan’s main challenger for the PDP governorship ticket in 2006 and Dr Festus Okubor, his Chief of Staff, who also was preparing strongly to contest for the governorship. Most political analysts thought this was a way of signaling to Okowa not to show any interest in the governorship position, but even then, under the zoning arrangements within Delta North, this threatened Okowa’s position as a senator as the governor and senator cannot come from the same area. This was further complicated when

Cairo Ojuigo

the party Chairman, Peter Nwaoboshi resigned his party position to contest for the Senate seat presently held by Okowa with strong rumours that he is being backed by the governor. Though, Obuh is a deeply unpopular candidate within the party and the state, the governor has been using such well-known Ibori boys as Ayiri Emami, Fred Majemite, Ighoyota Amori and such Uduaghan boys as Funkekeme Solomon, the Commissioner for Works for the legwork. Huge part of the funding of the project is being funneled through chairman of an insurance company and a close relation of Uduaghan. All this is to send the message subliminally that the Obuh project is the Ibori-Uduaghan political family project, even as the governor continues to deny that he has a hand in it. In fact, Ayiri Emami has since publicly stated that he was sent to come out and support the project by Ibori and Uduaghan. If there was any doubt that the Obuh project has the backing of Uduaghan, this was seemingly put to rest on Friday, November 7, 2014 when Obuh made his formal declaration. Almost all members of the Uduagahan cabinet were there at the Cenotaph, Asaba, with such men as Funkekeme Solomon and Comrade Samuel Ovuozorie Macaulay, the Secretary to the Delta State Government playing pivotal roles in the campaign. Again, the declaration was made to intimidate other aspirants as the who is who within the party and the government were there. The programme was fully covered by Channels Television as a sponsored programme and in what appeared to be a slip of tongue, Funkekeme Solomon in front of the television cameras actually said Obuh was “chosen.” His attempt to withdraw the comment only increased the strong suspicion of imposition. This was why a couple of weeks ago, other candidates for the gubernatorial primaries of the PDP met in Effurun and Warri and later at the home of Chief Edwin Clark in Abuja and issued a strongly worded communiqué denouncing what they termed the attempt to impose Obuh on the party. The communiqué issued on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 had a nine-point resolution: 1. That we congratulate Mr. President for a successful declaration of his intention to seek re-election for a second term. 2. That the unfolding events in our great party (the PDP) in Delta State, in the run-

up to the 2015 elections are not satisfactory. 3. That we reject in its entirety, moves by the governor of Delta State to single handedly pick his successor by manipulating the process. 4. We further reject attempts by the governor to use state machinery and resources to intimidate and harass public officials and political leaders who have refused to support his preferred candidate. 5. That we also reject moves by an outgoing governor to single handedly pick candidates for State and National Assemblies in Delta State. 6. That an out-going governor who won with less than 10,000 votes cannot alone, deliver Delta State for Mr. President’s reelection bid without the support of all stakeholders in the Party. In fact, PDP will loose Delta State because of the governor’s conduct and behaviour, unless the National Working Committee intervenes urgently to arrest the drift in the party. 7. That the raging battle between Governor Uduaghan and his cousin, Chief James Ibori for the control of the soul of our great party in Delta State, is weakening our electoral chances. 8. That the affairs of our party, the PDP, in Delta State, must not be reduced to a family patrimony. Delta State is too big and critical a state for this to happen. 9. We therefore, call on the National Working Committee of our party to act decisively in order to avert serious electoral crises. Those present at the Abuja meeting and who were actual signatories to the communiqué were Obaisi (Barr.) Ovie OmoAgege, Olorogun (Barr.) Kenneth Gbagi, Rt. Hon Victor Ochei, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, Prof. Sylvester Monye, Chief David Edevbie, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Rt. Hon. Prince Sam Obi, Dame Dr. Esther Uduehi, Chief Clement Ofuani, Chief Johnson Opone and Chief (Dr.) Amb. Gabriel Chukwuma Oyibode. The names of Chief Godswill Obielum and Chief Peter Okocha appeared in the communiqué, but they were not indicated as signatories. While Obielum has never spoken publicly about his name being in the document, Peter Okocha has clarified that while he agrees with the sentiment expressed in the communiqué, he was not a signatory to it, because he was not present at the meeting as he was not given any prior notice nor was he invited.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Life

Why male infertility is on the rise –Kayode Bobo Kayode is the first female embryologist in West Africa and the Secretary-General, Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH). She is also the Laboratory Director, Omni Medical Centre and Advance Fertility Clinic, Lagos. She spoke with CHIJIOKE IREMEKA There is an allegation by a group of doctors that Biotech and Bill Gates Foundation have contracted some IVF clinics in Nigeria to harvest and export human organs for monetary rewards. Which clinics are these? That’s not true because with my position in the society, I would have heard. I want to categorically say that we are not aware of organ trafficking by any IVF centre in Nigeria. I take it as my duty to know what happens in the fertility clinics in Nigeria, because in each of the new clinics opened in the country, I try to find out who owns it and what do they do and work with. They don’t know that I’m doing that though but that is part of my duties as the Secretary General of the Society. Also, my president does the same and if there was such a case, we would have heard and conducted an investigation. Even, as we don’t have government legal backing yet, we would have taken some necessary actions to that effect. We encourage anyone working in the sector to work with us on how to move the country and profession forward. So, I categorically say, it’s not true. We have not heard such and nobody has made such a complaint to us. The only thing we heard, though not in this line, we have investigated that and cautioned the practitioner involved. How many cases of ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS) have you encountered in recent time? Well, in our clinic, only one case in 10 patients, which is like, one per cent. It’s not rampant. Also, based on the feedback I got from the conference that just ended, the incidence is not really high per say, unless the people are not reporting the actual figures or not focusing on reporting OHSS in that particular area. What are the causes of OHSS? It means that the patient’s ovary has received doses of stimulation drugs more than they can tolerate. Then, they come up with symptoms showing the patients are reacting to a high dose of ovarian stimulating drugs and she presented with various symptoms that would indicate that. Now, doctors say that the cases of OHSS have increased due to over-stimulation of young female Nigerians at IVF clinics to harvest and export gametes for money. Do you still maintain your position on this? We are not aware that Gates Foundation and Biotech have contracted some clinics in Nigeria to harvest and export human eggs from Nigerian females or embark on organ trafficking. Two, OHSS is not really as frequent as people claim it is. I can share from the experience of the conference we had. It’s quite obvious that is not as bad as people claim. We know that any clinic that stimulates patients to produce a high number of eggs would be headed by qualified clinician. Invariably, they will ensure that they give them the required dosage. And if by any reason the patient experiences any form of OHSS, there are various treatments to be administered to prevent it from going into a dangerous state. And if it’s going to happen, it will be on the makeup of the patient and the clinician applying the medication. Just like people will react to a mosquito-infected environment differently. As the DG of AFRH and Fertility Society of Nigeria, what are the urgent issues that need to be addressed in this profession? The issues on my mind are legislation, guidelines and ethics. It’s very important that a profession like this that deals with human gametes, should meet with the society and government to work out modalities to control the profession and streamline certain rules on who runs an IVF clinic. Who can set up an IVF clinic and what are the limits of the practitioners’ operations, record-keeping and scope of work? There must be a background of the golden rules to

Bobo Kayode

know which practices would not be allowed in the profession. This is a very intricate aspect of medicine and the Nigerian Fertility Society (NFS) should ensure that people don’t come into the profession to do as they like. We need government participation in this segment so that we do what is right and maintain a high standard that would boost our image. You once mentioned that male infertility is on the increase. What are causes of male infertility? There are a lot of factors causing that. Something as little as wearing tight underwear could hinder male fertility. Environmental factors can cause that too. There are heavy metals like mercury in the food we eat, which are very dangerous. It could be taken from water or food that has been processed, using unauthorised fertilisers or spread with chemicals that shouldn’t be. It could be obtained from environmental pollution. Sounds from generators everywhere tell you more about toxic fumes that come with that. Even, working close to where abandoned and dilapidated vehicles are increase it. While close to them, your tissues absorb them and the target organs are reproductive tissues. Lifestyle in general, too much drinking, smoking, nicotine and alcohol influence male fertility. Also, emotional pressures and stress are encouraging factors. There is much stress on men, trying to meet up with their responsibilities. Emotional imbalance leads to hormonal imbalance and eventually increases male infertility. Genetically modified foods are there too; when the food has been tampered with in its original state. I’m a seekler

‘There are heavy metals like mercury in the food we eat, which are very dangerous. It could be taken from water or food that has been processed, using unauthorised fertilisers or spread with chemicals’

of natural foods. If I have my way, I will eat only organic foods, that is, naturally grown foods. Sometimes, we eat foods that have been modified a bit to stand the test of time and preservation. I give you an example. I like English pears and apples. One day, I bought them and put them in the fridge for too long. As a food scientist, I put two things together and I discovered that the fruits had been genetically modified to elongate their short shelf life. Even in the fridge, that was very scary. These heavy metals are easily absorbed and they stay in the body for too long. They break down gradually and begin to affect the reproductive organs. What have been your most challenging cases in this profession? There was a case where we admitted a couple for IVF. We counselled them, and we had an agreement to embark on the procedure. The couple had a baby and everybody was happy for them. To my greatest surprise, a day came when the man came saying that he wasn’t in the support of the procedure that brought about the child, saying that he didn’t give his consent. I felt both of them had a disagreement but that wasn’t my business. It was quite shocking but thank God that we have high level standards that we follow. Before we start any procedure, there must be written consent. So, while he was denying, we pulled out his written concept and he was shocked. He said he didn’t sign it and we showed him his signature. That was a big lesson for us, that anything one does, one must do it well with proper documentation. First, the patient must be enlightened as to what to expect. And you must assess the emotional state of the couple. Thank God we took them for counselling, which was a requirement before going into the programme and the counsellor confirmed that she spoke to them and qualified them for the procedure. That would have led to a legal matter and it would have been terrible if I didn’t cover myself with the appropriate thing I needed to do in documentation. The couple was counselled by a government recognised and registered government counsellor.

Abuja Beats SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Man, 40 needs N7.5m for kidney transplant

Yekeen Nurudeen

xcept an urgent kidney transplant is carried out on him, the hope of a 40-year old technician, Chika Igwilo, to fulfil his dreams in life may soon be cut short. Chika who hails from Ihiala on Anambra State and resident of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja was diagnosed of chronic kidney failure three months ago at the National Hospital. He hangs on to life through a weekly dialysis which requires a payment of N100,000 at a private specialist clinic in Abuja. According to Ada Blessing Igwilo, his younger sister who has been taking the responsibility of taking him around hospitals for treatment as well as footing the hospital bills, Chika’s ill health started with malaria symptoms. “The kidney failure started about three months ago when he complained of malaria symptoms. He was having constant malaria, itching, frequent urination, dizziness and later swollen legs,” Ada Blessing added. She stated that her brother was admitted to Kubwa General Hospital where he was treated for two weeks before he was referred to a specialist hospital. The strike by medical

...Says don’t let me die please

Chika on dialysis bed

staff of National Hospital however forced her to take him away to a private facility, Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre, where he currently undergoes dialysis twice or thrice a week. While speaking to Sunday New Telegraph on the dialysis bed, Chika who coughs intermittently pleaded with well meaning Nigerians to save his life. His words: “What I need now is to reach out to fellow Nigerians to help raise money for me to undergo kidney transplant in India

or in this country. I need N7.5 million to be able to undergo the transplant and I plead with Nigerians to help me. God will not leave all of you alone. They should please save my life.” Lamenting the health status of her brother, Ada Blessing, said that Chika’s case wouldn’t have required kidney transplant. She said, “Doctors told us that mere dialysis would have been enough for the kidney to pick up and function well again if it is acute kidney failure”

She noted that his present condition is preventing him from consuming more liquid; as the more he drinks, the more fluids his body possesses which would also have to be removed with dialysis. “Otherwise he would be in more pains. Now I have exhausted all our savings and I can’t even attend to my own business because I can’t leave him alone. We want Nigerians to come to our aid and save my brother. I don’t want him to die,” she cried.

Church elder docked for defrauding member

Caleb Onwe he police in Abuja have arraigned Joshua Sunday Okeke, a 41 year old man and an elder in a new generation church at the Upper Area Court, Karu for allegedly swindling another member of the same church, Mrs. Josephine Ayia Adorshiyurum, of the sum of N600,000. The police described Okeke’s action as a criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation and cheating which contravened sections 312,309 and 322 of the Penal Code Laws. The prosecutor, DSP Adams Peter, told the court that the accused presented himself as the Chief Executive Officer of Hillsboro Technologies Limited, an automobile sales company, operating in Abuja. The complainant, who testified amidst tears in court, narrated her

ordeal which began around August 6, 2012, when she was deceived to obtain a bank loan for a business dream which never saw the light of the day. She said the accused who is an elder in their church got to know about her plans to buy a car for transportation business and presented himself as a car dealer who was willing to help her achieve her dreams of becoming a transporter. She said she applied for and obtained a bank loan, after which she paid the sum of N600, 000 in two installments into the account of the accused to purchase the car for her. According to her, the accused did not fulfill his own side of the agreement, as he disappeared from the church shortly after receiving the money. Josephine informed the court that her ordeal was further compounded

as she was involved in an autocrash while she was desperately searching for the accused and her money. She told the court that the accident left her bedridden and on crutches for almost two years at the National Hospital, Abuja. Following her difficulty in retrieving her money or the car despite the intervention of their pastor, she forwarded a petition to the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command; which prompted an immediate investigation and the subsequent arrest of the accused. During investigation, the sum of N250,000 was recovered from the accused. Justice Hassan Ishaq granted the accused bail in the sum of N300,000 and one reasonable surety who must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction, even as the matter was adjourned till January 12, 2015.

Man, 42 impregnates 13 year old step daughter Caleb Onwe

he police in Abuja have charged a 42 year-old man, Richard Benjamin, to the Upper Area Court, Gudu District Abuja for having canal knowledge of his 13-year-old step-daughter. The police said the offence was against section 275 of the Penal Code Laws. According to the Police Prosecutor, Corporal Silas, the complainant, Mr. Azaatge Chembui, who is an uncle to the victim, came to Nyanya Police Station on November 13 and reported that the accused who lives at Angwadadi, Nyanya on November 12 raped his stepdaughter(name withheld). He further alleged that during police investigation, the victim was taken to Nyanya General Hospital where a medical doctor after a thorough medical examination confirmed she was pregnant. The mother of the victim, who declined to mention her name, told Abuja Beats that her romance with the accused started four years ago in the FCT. She said the marriage had produced a four-year-old boy.

She said the accused also accepted the daughter whom she bore for her late husband. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the incident of November 12, 2014. According to her, the victim who was afraid to reveal what her step-father had been doing to her, nevertheless, summoned courage and told her that while she was away on that fateful day, Benjamin covered her mouth and slept with her. She said her daughter accused her husband of threatening to kill her with a knife if she dared tell anybody. She narrated further that her daughter confessed that her step-father had slept with her thrice before the fateful day. The accused was not disposed to speak to the press. However, his defence counsel prayed the court to consider sections 36(4) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and grant him bail. The court denied the accused bail and ordered that he be remanded in prison custody until January 6, 2015 when the matter will come up for hearing.

Horror in Abuja

•Woman burns daughter’s cheeks with iron rod

•Slices toes, palms with razor blad Yekeen Nurudeen

single mother, Ms. Patience Stephen, is currently being detained by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command for inflicting severe wounds on her five-year-old daughter, Abigail, with razor blade. Stephen, who resides in Karimo, one of the sprawling slums in the FCT, said she wanted to punish her daughter who was fond of roaming around the neighbourhood despite repeated warnings to her to always stay indoors. However, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, who paraded the woman, stated that Abigail was saved from her mother’s hands by kind neighbours. He said they rushed her to Karimo Police Station after she was found locked inside her mother’s one-room apartment by a neighbour’s child of her age. According to the police,

Abigail had on Tuesday November 11 gone out of her mother’s room against her mother’s warning. To teach her ‘a lesson,’ her mother got hold of her and cut the soles of her feet with a razor blade. She also made deep incisions between her toes as well as on both palms after which she proceeded to burn her cheeks with a hot iron rod she took from a stove. After cutting and branding the girl with the rod, she left her writhing in pains locked inside the room and headed for the local market. Abigail was, however, lucky when a neighbour’s daughter who sensed that she was missing from the venue where they usually play, peeped through their apartment’s window. Abigail responded and narrated the ordeal she had gone through in her mother’s hands and pleaded for help. Her friend then swiftly rushed home to tell her parents what she heard.

Education on Sunday SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014

As a young man, I never visited a corporate office until I was in 400 Level in a university and that one-hour visit alone made a significant impact in my life

Cross section of organisers and participants at the event

I am in Lagos at last, says 18-year-old student F

n No fewer than 25 students underwent career paths mentorship under the SAP-AYECI career training beneficiaries’

Mojeed Alabi

mentorship initiative.

or 18-year-old Akinrinade Olayiwola Sodiq, a young school leaver from Ilobu, the Headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State, the age-long dream of visiting Lagos has remained a tall dream. But, his dream finally came to reality penultimate week, when Akinrinade with 25 others were brought to Lagos for a one-week intensive career mentorship training organised by one of Nigeria’s leading providers of enterprise software - SAP Nigeria, in partnership with AYECI-Africa, a non-governmental organisation focused on youth development. Akinrinade, not only visited Lagos, but he was able to interact with captains of industry, business executives, who have not only guided his career aspiration, but also shaped his career choice. The graduate of School of Science, Ile-Ife, of semiliterate parents, plans to study Architecture at one of the nation’s reputable universities, a decision which according to him is being influenced by the architectural designs of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) campus. To him, all he knew about Architecture career is building houses and nothing more. However, these two impressions were corrected when Akinrinade took part in the week-long career mentorship training. Akinrinade was one of the 25 secondary school leavers from disadvantaged back-

ground, who were selected to participate in the maiden edition of the initiative tagged: SAP-AYECI Career Mentorship Programme. The programme, according to the organisers, is mainly to mentor the young ones in their career lines, with a view to developing and equipping their skills and knowledge. Under the week-long programme, the students were exposed to various departmental operations in office environment, acquired IT knowledge and received personal computer tablets to aid their education and constant interaction and feedback with their mentors. During the grand finale of the programme held last week, where the beneficiaries across diverse background and social classes gathered at the Conference Room of the SAP-Nigeria’s Office on Victoria Island, representatives of the different teams with projector, displayed new skills in business management, information technology, accounting and sales services. For qualifying for the programme, each member of the teams was accommodated by various companies including C2G Consulting, Serve Consulting, Accenture and Hartford Green Consulting, which trained and guided them in their career lines for that one week. Narrating his experience, Daramola Olagoke on behalf his team, commended the organisers for the new knowledge acquired about debenture, shares, journal entry and financial statement. He said as a

science student, he never believed he could ever need any knowledge of finance and accounting in his chosen career, but the new experience has suddenly changed his perception. Akinrinade, while recounting his experience said: “My participation has really opened my eyes to so many things about my dream career that I never knew before. Apart from finding myself among experts in various fields who listen to me like one of them, they have also taught me about my dream career and how to attain my life goals. I have realised that to be a successful architect, IT knowledge is very important.” In a similar development, 15-year-old son of a technician, Isiah Abiodun, who finished from Eko Akete Senior Grammar School, said he was surprised that he was selected to be one of the beneficiaries, having just stumbled on the programme on a social media while surfing the web for relevant education programmes. According to the boy, his dream had been to study Medicine, but meeting a medical doctor-turned IT expert at the event, and having realised the power of IT to transform the world; his new dream has shifted to be a computer scientist, with the sole aim of providing solutions to societal challenges. Meanwhile, for Mariam Bakenne, one of the beneficiaries of the programme who finished from the Government Senior College, Agege, Lagos and had just been of-

fered admission to study Marketing at the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo, her eyes are now open to what operates in the corporate world, and the tablet offered her would enable her keep touch with her mentors. According to the Channel Development Manager, West Africa of SAP Nigeria, the company believes that young boys and girls, regarded as the nation’s future, often lack access to the exposure required to make informed career choices, “simply because they do not have the opportunities to interact with mentors who can guide and provide them hands-on information as they navigate the process of transiting from high school to tertiary institutions.” In his farewell message to the mentees, the company’s West Africa Managing Director, Mr. Richard Edet, said the initiative was to keep monitoring the participants by linking them to their mentors till they finish their high school education and secure good jobs. He said the company funded the initiative because “as a young man, I never visited a corporate office until I was in 400 Level in a university and that one-hour visit alone made a significant impact in my life.” Also speaking, the Executive Director of AYECI-Africa, Mrs. Ifeoma ChukwukaAdibe, said the target was to train about 300 school leavers annually, urging other corporate organisations and individuals to emulate SAP to sponsor such initiative and mentor the young ones.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Education

Don harps on investment strategies at inaugural lecture Buhari Bello,

A UNIJOS

lecturer at the Department of Business Administration Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Jos (UNIJOS), Professor Seddi Sebastian Maimako, has explained in line with the theory of irrational exuberance that investment outcome may be different from the expectation of the investor due to what he described as unfriendly business environment in the country presently. This was one of the main thrust of his lecture of the 66th inaugural lecture of the university, which is entitled: “Risk and Return: investment choices

and irrational Exuberance.“ “There are certain parameters to be considered in making any investment decision,” he said, stressing that “you don’t just jumped into it because somebody has told you that you are likely going to get 100 per cent return.“ He said: “In any business venture, there must be risk taking and calculated one for that matter, because you don’t just take a risk on the long term basis” The lecturer noted that investment normally takes time to mature, “but if you are overwhelmed with irrational exuberance, you will find out that shortly you will be out of bread“. Maimako noted that why some organisations are out to

defraud citizens especially in developing countries like Nigeria was because of weak regulatory enforcement authority. His words: “Such things happened in a transition economy where regulations are weak. In a developed countries, one cannot just set up a place and be collecting people’s money. The authority will get that person. If he or she escaped the first day, they will apprehend such person the following day. “But our regulations are weak due the high level of poverty and level of ignorance in the country because we see how people run away with investors’ money and nothing happens to them.“ According to him, the government particularly the enforce-

ment agencies should adopt and enforce financial laws where they were violated by fraudulent people in the country. Towards this end, he insisted that such individuals should be arrested and taken to court for prosecution to serve as deterrent to others who engages on such sharp practices. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, who chaired the lecture, charged other Professors to ensure that they deliver their inaugural lecture as required by the university law. According him, a situation where some professors in the university are yet to deliver their inaugural lecture is unacceptable.

Artist, DJ-Zeez performing Live at Coke Studio Music Concert, Unilorin

WAAPP-Nigeria scores UNN high in projects implementation Oladele Oge, UNN

he West African Agriculture Productivity Programme (WAAP) Nigeria has scored the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), a partner in WAAP programmers above average. This was disclosed by Mr. Hassan Isah from the Monitoring and Evolutions Office, WAAP Abuja Head Office of the project in Nsukka last week shortly after inspection of WAAP sponsored fish ponds at Obimo, Imelike-Ulo, Okpuje and UNN fingerlings, as well as cassava stems multiplication centres. According to him, there is great improvement in performance when compared to what they saw on ground in August during the WAAP last inspection.

He expressed happiness that about 60 per cent of the money disbursed to the university’s Faculty of Agriculture had been put into proper use, saying: “There is great improvement going by what I saw in Imilike-Ulo, Obimo, Okupuje fish ponds and UNN fingerling and cassava stem multiplication centers.” Isah added: “At least 60 per cent of over N20 million allocated to UNN by WAAPP-Nigeria has been put into good use. Though, there still room for improvement in order to achieve overall aim of WAAP-Nigeria.” The WAAP monitoring officer said the major aim of WAAPNigeria, among others is to develop and release top-match technologies and aqua-culture for adoption in the country and ECOWAS countries in order to increase productivity as well as ensure food security. “We assist

communities by providing job for them through agriculture so that they will help in achieving food security in their area,” Isah noted, stressing that under the programme, some people are selected form their cooperative societies and are provided with funds to enable them start their agriculture businesses. He, however, restated that the aim of monitoring WAAPP-Nigeria projects in collaborating institutions was to ensure that the guidelines were followed and money released is judiciously utilized. In his remarks, Prof. Simon Ugwu, the Coordinator of UNN-WAAPP and former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture said the fingerlings at the UNN multiplication centre would hit 250,000 by the end of this month. Ugwu expressed appreciation to WAAP-Nigeria for selecting

university’s Agriculture Faculty as one of the collaborating institutions, saying: “We have 15 hectares of cassava stems on our cassava multiplication farm and by November this year the fingerlings in our multiplication ponds would have hit 250,000.” His words: “It is from our multiplication centre we distribute improved fingerlings and cassava stems to benefiting communities. WAAP intervention is a wonderful rescue to the faculty as it has provided the faculty’s added advantages that will fast track its re-accreditation. I am proud to say that we have done our best in carry out the WAAPP guidelines WAAP in this collaboration.” He thanked UNN-WAPP team and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba for their supportive role in carrying out WAAP guidelines.

Okpara varsity has fulfilled its mandate, says President Igbeaku Orji, UMUAHIA

bout 4,021 graduating students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State for 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 academic sessions have received their scrolls for the award of first degrees, diplomas and postgraduate certificates. It was at the sixth graduation ceremony of the institution, where the breakdown of the graduates announced indictaed that there was a slight increase in the 2013/2014 session with 1,948 over the 1,878 graduates produced in 2012/2013 session, with 198 postgraduates. However, no fewer than 14 of the graduating students obtained First Class in the two sessions. Speaking at the ceremony, the Visitor to the university and President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, noted that the MOUAU is one of the three specialized universities of Agriculture in the country established in the1990s that has fulfilled its mandate. President Jonathan, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Mac-John Nwobiala, assured that “agriculture must always be placed on the front burner of our national strategic plan in order to become one of the world’s largest 20 economies by 2020.” According to him, the government would continue to work hard to provide opportunities for economic management, infrastructural development, power and agricultural sector reforms and economic diversification towards meeting the employment generation objectives of the government. He commended the infrastructural development in the university, which he said would not have been possible without the prudent management of resources and urged the private sector to collaborate with universities in funding research and scholarships in order to improve the education sector and economy of the country.

Excitement as Coke Studio trills UNILORIN students Odeyemi Afis Olawale, UNILORIN

t was an excitement galore last week, when Coke Studio stormed the main campus of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Kwara State to trill the students with performance from a list of Nigerian hiphop artistes. The students, who defied the scorching sun and turned out in their large number, were said to have throng the main bowl of the University Stadium, venue of the musical fiesta, to be part of the exciting moment and catch a glimpse of the artistes. The event, which kicked off with a dance contest, had five undergraduates contesting for the dazzling prizes. At the end of the contest, Omoniyi Aisha, a 400-Level Library Science undergraduate emerged the overall winner. Omoniyi, in line with the rule of the competition, performed alongside one of the guest artistes of the show that featured series of electrifying musical performances with budding campus artistes showcasing their musical talent. “The show was, indeed a talent quest for young artistes on campus,” one of the students said.

Yo I t’s almost the festive season once again and it’s time to stock your wardrobe with clothes fit for those glamorous end of year events. It’s best to buy them now before the mad rush of holiday shoppers hit fever pitch. One of the clothes that can easily fit into any occasion is a beautiful black dress. Black dresses are chic and timeless. Whether you chose a simple little black dress, a sophisticated black evening gown, or an elegant black ball gown, the concept of the black dress is that it will never go out of fashion. You may think that head-totoe black outfit is a snooze, but the look can actually be pretty; it’s just a matter of styling. Choose from several designs of black dresses including sleeveless, formal and casual to add some variety to your wardrobe. There are endless fab styles of black dresses to choose from. For instance, the classic little black dress can go a very long way. It can move you seamlessly from the office to a party - with the right accessories and complementary clothing. Then, you can turn heads at any party with a beautiful long black evening dress. Elegance and refined are just two words to describe a black dress in a longer length. They are the perfect choice for that special Christmas or New Year eve party. Rock this dress with some platform sandals and add some matching jewelry to complete the outfit. The sophisticated black colour makes any dress an excellent choice for an evening out with friends or a special date. Chose black dresses made of luxurious fabrics such as chiffon, velvet, satin, organza for extra sophisticated look. It also makes for the perfect dress for family barbeques and picnics. Pair this comfortable dress with some gladiator sandals and some bright jewelry for a fun look. In all, black is the perfect colour when you are not sure of the colour code for a particular event. You can never go wrong in black. All you need to do is to spruce it up with glamorous and trendy accessories and you are good to go; looking radiant in black!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

Vanessa Okwara

ack in the days, especially before the 1960s, suspenders were a practical fashion item. Men go about their business with their trousers perfectly ‘suspended,’ rather than cinched by a belt. Now, suspenders are back in fashion after being out for so long. They are one fashion accessory for men that have stood the test of time and have never quite gone out of

style. Suspenders are a fashion accessory for men that offer both function and style. Their primary function is to keep your trousers up but their placement and contrast with your shirt take things up a sartorial notch. It prepares you to transit from fitting in to standing out. The suspenders look is bold yet sophisticated, classic and undeniably suave. Since men no longer need suspenders to hold up their pants, they have evolved from a necessity to a style accessory. Suspenders travel over the shoulders and attach in the front and back of trousers. One type of suspenders is made to button onto the waistline of

n i g a Sw

the pants; the other type is made to clip onto the waistband. Suspenders can be made from leather, elastic or cloth and are normally adjustable. The great thing about suspenders is that they go with almost every type of outfit. They are perfect for a casual everyday outfit, but also look great on a business one. Wearing a pair of suspenders under your suit jacket will make people take notice of you every time you take it off. If you wear a formal shirt, a tie and dress trousers, the suspenders will become the accessory that will add a lot of personality to your outfit. For a smart casual look, attach suspenders to jeans.

If you wear them with Chino pants and an informal shirt with its sleeves rolled up, you will definitely get an amazing casual look. Casual looks can be accessorised with skinny ties or bow ties. With just a little expertise depending on what look or style is desired, by pairing the perfect set of suspenders with the right shirt and pants, or t-shirt and jeans, a man can go out in style and with confidence. It’s the overall vibe that sets the tone of your ensemble. The golden rule when embracing this style is that whatever you do, don’t wear suspenders with a belt. Wear them any time you desire to bring a sharp edge to your ensemble.

s r e d n e p s u s r e dapp

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Body&Soul

Men are also victims of abuse

here is always societal uproar when a man abuses a woman. The evidence is always there for all to see: the swollen red eyes, bruises all over her body and the occasional broken bones. When such physical abuse is meted on a woman, society angrily calls for the head of that man on a platter and they justifiably have a right to do so. Inflicting physical injuries on a woman is a breach of her fundamental human right. No woman deserves to be treated like an animal. After driving the nail hard on the men in last week’s article, ‘Sleeping with the enemy’, where I described a husband who physically abuses his wife as her ‘enemy’, I got a lot of frowns from the men via emails. They are of the opinion that I was grossly unfair in the treatment of that topic. Someone asked me ‘what happens in the case where a man is abused by his wife, who bails him out?’ I laughed because it’s amusing that a woman can physically abuse a man. Where has the man’s single bone disappeared to? Even if it is so, that woman has to be a descendant of Dick Tiger or Samuel Peter, ‘the Nigerian Nightmare” boxing champion to have the power to beat up her man singlehandedly without getting a double dose of her own medicine. It is indeed a rarity to see a woman physically abuse a man. (Although I’ve been told it actually happens.) All the same, men bemoan the fact that

CONNECT NG vanessaonsunday@yahoo.com they are also abused by their women but in a more subtle and deadlier way -verbal abuse. This kind of abuse does not have any physical evidence to show as damage but it targets the emotional psyche of a man, eats up his self esteem and virtually destroys his overall self confidence as the head of the home. They usually come down in torrents of harsh words filled with so much venom, even more deadlier than that of a cobra. You hear such hurtful words like: you are a useless, good for nothing man! You cannot even provide for your family; your mates are making it out there but you are such a lazy, jobless man! Terrible words like these can break even the strongest man. Verbal abuse attacks the inert abilities and worth of a man. Do you know verbal abuse can sometimes be more lethal than physical abuse? Physical wounds can heal given the right medical treatment, but there’s no medicine that can heal the man who has been verbally abused by his wife or girlfriend. Those harsh words are like

tape recorder he carries around with him on a daily basis. They will keep playing in his head destroying his will power and sense of self-belief. I met a man recently who said living with his wife is like walking through a landmine in which the explosives shift location. He does not know what he will do next that will bring down the rain of abuses on his head and his generation. His wife uses hurtful words on him at the slightest provocation. He dreads coming home early because that will mean giving space for confrontation. He cannot have a meaningful conversation with his wife without it degenerating to verbal war where hate words are thrown at him like missiles, piercing his very soul. To avoid such wars, he resorts to staying away from home most times. He deliberately leaves the office late or stops over at a bar to drink with his friends before heading home and straight to his bedroom in the wee hours of the morning. That way, he avoids his wife’s incessant naggings.

A verbally abusive woman always comes out as manipulative and controlling. She wants everything done her own way, else she starts spitting fire and brimstone. She enjoys criticizing, screaming, swearing, full of sarcasm, exaggerating your flaws, and making fun of you in front of others, including the children. A verbally abusive woman wearies her lover and most times castrates the male ego; reducing him to a mere vegetable. A lot of women have driven their husbands from the house into strange women’s arms by reason of their caustic tongue. Such women should be careful not to be the architect of their own divorce. If you are a man reading this and you are not yet married and have noticed these signs in the woman you want to get married to, it is wise you take a step back and look more critically at that relationship and ask yourself if you can live with such a woman for the rest of your life. If you are already married and find yourself entangled with a verbally abusive woman, it is advisable to seek counsel probably from your local church, Imam or an elderly person in her family she respects and listens to. Maybe they can talk some sense into her. Life is too short to spend it living with someone who verbally makes you feel like a worthless person.

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Making sense of mindless opposition to immigration

ow did we get to this point when caring for strangers has become an inconvenience or a hindrance? How did we get to this point when we view our neighbours as scroungers and free loaders rather than empathize with them over the circumstances that drove them our way? How did we get so individualistic that we read political meaning into a simple action that is meant to restore human dignity? How, oh how I ask? When American president, Barack Obama, stood in front of the nation to announce sweeping immigration reforms to the American system, the flood of protest and selfish condemnation that followed is perplexing. What he has announced is to allow a number of immigrants who have been in the shadows, without proper documentation, come out and be registered in order to regularize their stay in the USA. That reformation is supposed to cover mostly people who are illegal, but have been able to give birth to American citizens in the last 5 years. It was not even as if Obama was giving a blind amnesty to anyone in the country illegally; he specified that this reform will cover those in the country for at least five years, have children who are American citizens and they must have no criminal record. Put in another way, Obama is keeping the family together and making an honest man come out of hiding to earn a decent wage. I see no problem with that. I see it as a step to restore human dignity and help children grow up not fearing that mummy or daddy will be deported any time soon. If the family is the foundation of a stable and healthy society that we all believe in, then this reform is a no-brainer.

I am not a politician because I do not believe any man has the solution to my problems. However, it also seem that politics cloud people’s mind and judgments. Why the opposition party see this as a bad policy is beyond me. My best guess is, now they have to pay full and fair wage to their illegal immigrant cleaner, gardener and maid. Now, their kids have to go to school to be able to compete for the top jobs with the children of the immigrants who have always cherished the priviledge of education that the American society provides. This sad trend of hating the immigrant for political purpose is not new or entirely American; it is something that Africans in the Diaspora have had to deal with for as long as anyone can

remember. While in Britain, the buzz word was “they have come to take our jobs.” What jobs, I ask? I worked in a middle management job in Manchester and yet, the 12 indigenes employed after me left because the job was too hard for them. Certainly, I was not taking anyone’s job, was I? Yet, the political class perpetrates this kind of sentiment for political gains and that is why racial tensions abound in all parts of the world. Sadly, I see my fellow Africans fall over themselves to gain the attention of any white man they see on the street. Yes, the same people who chose not to care for genuine refugees, fleeing persecution and war; the same people who are now making it possible for their economy to gain valuable input from

I see my fellow Africans fall over themselves to gain the attention of any white man they see on the street. Yes, the same people who chose not to care for genuine refugees, fleeing persecution and war; the same people who are now making it possible for their economy to gain valuable input from the tax of the immigrants and the brains produced

the tax of the immigrants and the brains produced. It is time to put politics aside and begin to treat each other with dignity and respect; to stop seeing colour, but rather to see individuals and judge them on their worth. I am sure the US congress has got bigger issues and so they should just let this simple one pass. In the words of Martin Luther King (Jr.), I look forward to “the time when my children will be judged, not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of my character.” That is not for man to achieve. Re: Social media, leaked photos and rise of celebrity culture Nice article. I will like to pick on the African unity aspect which, in my opinion, is just a big ruse. Recently when Nigeria played Congo in the AFC qualifiers, they welcomed the team with chants of ‘Nigeria Ebola’, momentarily forgetting that the Ebola Virus originated from a town near the Ebola River in Congo, and that they are also victims of the same epidemic. However, this ignoble incidents clearly highlights the foolishness that resides in the heart of the African man. I know Louis Farrakhan is not exactly the man a lot of people want to hear me quote, but he recently called Ebola a race targeting bio weapon created by the white man. Although this might be incendiary and extreme, but the only reason the white man has succeeded and continue to succeed in his sinister plots is that it is very easy to turn a black man on a black man. I’m not so proud of the people I’m black with. Ayodele Christian Owopetu, (University of Maiduguri).

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

with

Wole Adepoju 07037763410

Halima Dangote mingles

Aig Imokhuede, others celebrate

nlike some wards of the rich, the children of Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, who are all girls, have been able to keep such a low profile that they are neither seen nor known. However, one of the four girls appears to be popular but even at that, she’s not a regular face at high octane or any other public engagements. According to those who are in the know, Halima is very much occupied with what earns her a living. It was a rare experience therefore when she recently put everything aside to identify with her friend, Folake Folarin–Coker of Tiffany Amber fame. Folake was celebrating 15 years of holding her own in the fashion world. Though unusual of her, but those who were there revealed that Halima mingled well with every other person who came to felicitate with Folake. Halima, who is married with two kids, is not a sit at home type. She’s actively involved as the Group Executive Director, Sales & Marketing at Sublime Group, where her husband, Sulaimon Sanni Bello, holds sway. She also functions as an active director in her father’s conglomerate, Dangote Group. Halima is a marketing graduate of America Intercontinental University, London. She raised the bar at Webster Business School, London immediately after her first degree where she obtained a Masters of Business Administration degree.

Omorede Osifo in the lull ormer Edo State commissioner, Lady Omorede

Osifo, belongs in the league of influential and visible politicians in Edo State. Dark skinned Omorede was part of Governor Lucky Igbinedion’s administration and she was able to swim with the tide, which made her relevant when Comrade Adams Oshiomhole became governor. She was, however, relieved of her job unceremoniously. She is currently said to be targeting a seat in the House of Representatives though she has not made a categorical statement on this. She isa said to be still consulting on her next move.

woleadepoju@yahoo.com

do State-born trained lawyer, Aigboje AigImokhude, is a force to reckon with in the Nigerian economy. Since he veered into banking during his national youth service in the late 80s, he has not looked back. He has recorded successes, even as he rose to become the man at the helm of affairs of one of Africa’s fastest growing financial institutions, Access Bank, before he moved on to bigger things. Just as his experience and vast knowledge have made him serve on various boards, he’s also being saddled with national assignments. Currently the president of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, Aig-Imokhuede recently stepped down as the board chairman of the Financial Marketing Dealer Quotation (FMDQ) OTC Plc. To appreciate the outgoing chairman and other members of the board, an award dinner was organised and it did took place few days ago at Civic Centre, Victoria Island. Imokuede, Akinsowun Dawodu, Emeka Onwuka and others got awards for their contributions to the company. Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Central Bank, Mrs. Sarah Alade, has taken over as the new chairman of the board. Among those who are going to work with her on the board are managing directors, First bank, Olabisi Onasanya; Philip Oduoza of UBA and Peter Amangbo of Zenith Bank, to mention a few.

Lukmon Olumo’s aspiration gathers momentum

t is no longer news to the people of Ajeromi/ Ifelodun Constituency 1 and beyond that amiable politician, Lukmon Olumo, is interested in dislodging the deputy speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Taiwo Kolawole, from the seat he has occupied for 16 years. Olumo, who is fondly referred to as Face of Change, recently formally declared his intention. Youths and elders of the constituency trooped out in large numbers to identify with Lukmon. They testified to how the tax expert has been contributing to the community even as a private individual. Among things credited to his name is the employment of youths in his company and sourcing jobs for them elsewhere, a free computer engineering training scheme and the distribution of gifts to Christians and Muslims during their respective festive periods.

Alex Onabanjo in the news

t over 60, Otunba A l e x Onabanjo is not showing any sign of ageing because his handsome looks and agile posture are still intact. Fortunately for him as well, he’s got all that money can buy at his beck and call as an industrious billionaire. However, Alex O, as the illustrious Ijebu son is called, keeps a low profile and is hardly mentioned in the news. Otunba Onabanjo, according to those who are familiar with him, is said to be a very shrewd business man and this has paid off, having become a billionaire through his business acumen. However, his shrewd business nature is allegedly taking a toll on his radio station, Rainbow FM. The station was being managed by his nephew, Kenny Ogungbe of Kennis Music, before they parted ways. Onabanjo then took over the running of the radio station. Information is that workers and independent presenters are said to be complaining about how advert proceeds are shared. This said to have affected members of staff, some of whom are said to be leaving the radio station.

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Body&Soul

Star actress, Liz Anjorin stages London show

opular nollywood actress, Liz Anjorin, is up to something new. The Badagry born thespian, it was authoritatively gathered, has concluded plans to stage the U.K version of the premiere of her block buster movie, Kofo the 1st Lady. T h e event, which is being put together by BNS promotion, Bily Q Entertainment and Liz Anjonrin, is billed to hold on December 5, atBNS Lounge main hall, Dangeham. Information further has it that the event is presently the talk of the town in Nigeria community and her teeming fans. The slim built, light-skinned award winning actress in a chat revealed she’s staging the London show to give her fans who are in that part of the world a sense of belonging and appreciate their support. She said her fans from all over are expected to grace the event.

Bibitayo Mimiko excites parents

ot many people are familiar with the children of the number one man in Ondo State, Governor Olusegun Rahman Mimiko. They have only been sighted with their parents at few public engagements. Medical doctor-turned-politician, Mimiko is blessed with four children. They are Bibitayo, Kikiayo, Pipelayo and the only male, Bayonle. The one who has been enjoying a bit of

the limelight in recent times is no other but the first child. Bibitayo became noticed recently when she accompanied her father to Abuja, where he formally declared his defection from Labour Party to the ruling party, Peoples Demo-

cratic Party. Bibitayo has been a source of excitement to her parents, even as she is making them proud. Having passed through law school, the beautiful young lady made her parents proud when she was recently called to the Bar.

Bisola Dejonwo missing in action

hat Bisola, daughter of Wosilat, the only sister of billionaire industrialist, Alhaji Razak Okoya, is relevant in high society is not strange to those in tune with happenings in high society. As beautiful as her mother, Bisola at a time was the toast of many, even as tales of her alleged romance with Kenedy Alogaga was once the talk of the town. Kenedy, boss of defunct fashion outfit, L’uomo, was at a time one of the dudes to beat in Lagos due to his deep pockets. The alleged relationship which was touted to be altarbound eventually hit the rocks and became history. Also, the presence of beautiful Biola on the social radar her reduced as she now dedicates time to her marriage. Bisola a little over a year ago got married to a handsome dude, Jide Tokan, in a classy wedding in Lagos. The crème de la crème of the society, including Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, were in attendance at the wedding which took place at Razak Okoya’s home, Olorunisola in Lekki, Lagos.

Bola Shagaya courts crisis

wara State-born multi-billionaire business woman, Bola Shagaya, sure knows the strings to pull to be relevant in every successive government. That explain why she shares a bond with Nigeria’s current first family. What is of significance in her relationship with the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is that the tie has deepened and guarantees her so much influence in the political matters of her state. Shagaya is the power broker of the Peoples Democratic Party in her home state and

is much sought after by politicians in the state. However, the woman may be on her way to courting crisis that may reduce her influence in the state with her decision to back former Action Congress of Nigeria governorship aspirant, Dele Belgore (SAN), as the PDP’s governorship flagbearer for the 2015 elections. Party leaders and aspirants are said to be unhappy about her decision to back the respected lawyer and have vowed to frustrate the plan.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

Miscellany Alley

Life is rich sometimes and painful at other times, but it is mostly full. Let’s share our experiences on this page, after all, everyday is an opportunity to learn...send yours to julietbumah@gmail.com

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DIY on the GO

Decorate your kids’ bedroom yourself Esther Odili

he key to a beautiful room design is in its details. The main decorative elements of a space are integral to its design success. For kids, the bedroom is more than just a place to sleep, but a room to do homework, play games, study and stockpile toys. In designing your child’s bedroom, you will need a space that serves all these functions, and the best man for the job is kids themselves, ask them what they like and incorporate some of their favorite themes and colours into the room. Get them involved in the design process and make use of accessories, colours and items that can be replaced easily. When decorating kids’ rooms, safety has to be your top consideration when shopping for any element. Kid’s rooms should be fun as well as comforting and relaxing. Try these affordable decorating ideas and incorporate your creativity to transform your child’s room completely. 2. Use colorful curtains and accents. Show your child some curtain selections and ask them what they would like to see on the windows. Try to stick to bright colored window treatments as these will help the room to look sharper and cleaner. 3. Adding a valance can help define the opening of the window and lessen bright overhead light from coming in at the top of the

windows. It also opens up the window so the room can be lit evenly during the day. Add a colorful or themed shade for privacy at night. 4. Consider using your

child’s toys as wall décor. This can serve two purposes - as decoration and to save on storage space. You can create hooks to hang larger toys and add shelves to dis-

play the smaller ones. Now if you can only get your kids to put them away! 5. You can always add paintings and prints in strategic places, but make sure they are appropriate to the room. If you can afford it, consider having a wall or room painted on the walls in your child’s favorite theme such as a magical forest, sports or race cars. 6. Don’t forget the lampshades when decorating a kid’s room. Lamps and their shades can be purchased to accent any type of theme. You can also try making your own shades by buying plain ones and embellishing them with accents that compliment the room’s theme. Make it into a project that you can do with your child and they will really feel a sense of accomplish-

ment every time they go into their room and see the lampshade. 7. Select your bedding to match the theme of the room as well as for comfort. Be sure to buy sheets, pillows and comforters that can be mixed and matched and don’t forget to add some extra accent pillows. You can even buy curtains that match the bedding, or if the curtains are not available for the bedding you have chosen, buy an extra set of sheets and make your own curtains. An extra bed in the room will be more comfortable for everyone when you’re on the parental night shift, and a rocking chair can save your back as well as soothe a fretful youngster. If a conventional twin bed won’t work well, consider a futon-type couch, a daybed

with a pullout trundle bed, or an armchair that converts to a twin sleeper. 8. Turn your child’s ceiling into a magical night sky with glow in the dark decorations. These can be fun and even comforting for your child to be able to lie in bed and gaze up at the night stars. Don’t forget to put educational and informative things into your kid’s bedroom. Include books, charts and toys that add to the child’s education. Then your children can be learning and having fun. Decorating your kid’s bedroom is a great way to give them a place they can call their own inside your home. You might even find your kid spending more time in there. A room designed to make a child feel more secure can make a difference.

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Wine & Dine

Body&Soul

The invisible effects: Drink smarter (2) Ibukunoluwa Kayode

n the outside alcohol makes you feel fine after a night of over indulgence which doesn’t mean everything is fine on the inside. People who drink regularly develop a tolerance to alcohol but the show of tolerance doesn’t protect us from harm. This often indicates the person is already drinking too much and causing damages to the internal vital organs. According to studies it states that high tolerance can lead to yet more drinking and obviously the more damage it will cause; associating with different kinds of disease that may reduce life span. Excess alcohol intake take more from the health than what it gives, so it is advisable to keep it minimal in order to stay healthy. If you think this might apply to you, perhaps now is a good time to carefully check your drinking habits and see what changes you can make. The following are diseases associated with excessive alcohol intake. • Heart Disease Taking more than sensible drinking guidelines can have harmful effects on the heart. It can cause abnormal heart rhythms and damage to the heart muscle. The high calories also cause weight gain especially across the tummy area.

Biwom Iklaki

he world has a way of making you want to live healthier. When you hear all the statistics of different illnesses that come from non-healthy eating, the advices from your doctors and nutritionists, your dream clothes coming exclusively in a smaller size, it tends to put you on the road to eating healthy. Ukwa porridge is made from breadfruit seeds.

• Stroke When you exceed more than 1 to 2units a day then you are at a higher risk of having stroke. Though small amount if alcohol is beneficial, no level of alcohol is risk free. • Immune system Too much of alcohol deprives the body of valuable immune-boosting nutrients like Vitamin A which defends the body against diseases. The damage to immune system increases with the level of alcohol consumed. • Fertility Alcohol reduces the chances of women getting pregnant and lowers the sperm count in men when over indulged. • Cancer Alcohol can be linked to seven types of cancer including mouth, throat, liver, bowel, and breast. This is another biggest risk factor after smoking, drinking too much increases the chance of cancer. • Pancreatitis This is an inflammation of pancreas, an organ that makes enzymes for digestion and causes pain just below the ribs. This is a life threatening illness that can develop overtime when you take too much alcohol.

Healthy, savoury Ukwa porridge They are very healthy with an upside of being tasty too. The fresh fruit is a very rich source of potassium which is an important component of cell and body fluids that help regulate heart rate and blood pressure. The pulp of this fruit contains copper, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus. The seeds can be eaten when prepared as jollof or

plain with only salt added. While the water that comes from either cooking the seeds or soaking them overnight can be drunk as a rich soup. INGREDIENTS • 3 cups breadfruit (ukwa) • 3 medium dryfish • 2 stock cubes • 3tbs palm oil •Salt and

pepper(pounded) to taste • Onions • Bitter leaf • A pinch of potash (akaun) PREPARATION If using dry ukwa, you may need to soak it overnight in cold water (fresh ukwa doesnt require overnight soaking). The next day, wash thoroughly to remove dirt, chaff, and stones.

Cook in pressure pot for 30 minutes before adding other ingredients. This is to allow the ukwa soften first. If using regular pot, you may add akaun to help speed up tenderising. When it is tender, strain and set aside. Let the oil simmer till colour changes from red to yellow. Remember to regulate the heat so as to avoid a fire incident. Add

the onions, stock cubes and dry fish. Stir and add some water, salt and pepper. Add ukwa and leave on for about 5 minutes for the ingredients to infuse with the ukwa. Add the bitter leaf, cover the pot and turn off the heat. The heat will cook the bitter leaf just right. Your healthy, diabeticfriendly ukwa porridge is ready.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

The need for good moral values in the youths

alues are the desirable principles in someone’s character that society considers worthwhile. Friendliness and courage are values. Morals work with the judgment of values as they emerge in actions. Promptness is a value; therefore, it is morally wrong to be late to work. Our values are the ideas we hold about what is important and what is not, what is wrong and what is right. Generally, we don’t stop to think about our values, but they are behind all of our beliefs, interests and goals. They affect what friends we choose, what we do with our free time, how we spend our money – in other words, values are what drive all of our actions. For example, is it more important that the 15-yearold gets an ‘A’ in his biol-

ogy test or is it more important that he values what an education will do for him? You might argue the point that grades are incredibly important, but the key is that we work hard at whatever we value. If the teen truly values his education, he will automatically strive for the ‘A’. Teens need the adults in their lives to teach them values so they can create their own strong moral fiber. Values grow out of our experiences with others, including the culture in which we live, our friends and our family. Parents’ values have the greatest effect on children. Therefore, parents must be sure to know what their own values are and make sure they feel proud to pass on those beliefs to their children. Parents should talk to their teens about what they believe and about other’s

values – it’s important to give a teen confidence in their own values while at the same time respecting the values of others. Your teen needs you to teach him/her values so they can create their own strong moral fiber. People who have good moral fiber are successful in their relationships with other people. They know how to treat another person with respect and know how to earn respect from other people. Success in life is picked up in bits and pieces along our journey. When you give your teenager values and help him/her build a strong moral fiber, you are giving him/her the ability to pick and choose which bits and pieces are a worthy part of their journey to success. Ononuju Tripp, Glisten International Academy

Famous Mom-isms •I am not your maid! •Eat your vegetables, they are good for you •Pick that up before somebody trips on it and breaks their neck! •Say that again and I will wash your mouth with soap •Someday, you will thank me for this. SMACK!!! •No child of mine would do something like that •I will always love you – no matter what!

(Does your mom say any of these? Send something your mom says often to editor@ body-soul@newtelegraphonline.com)

Cross word puzzle

Gags

What do you get if you cross a chicken with a cement mixer? Ans: A brick layer!

What can you hold without ever touching it? Ans: A conversation. What has a lot of keys but cannot open any doors? Ans: A piano. What did one elevator say to the other?

Ans: I think I’m coming down with something! What did one magnet say to the other? Ans: I find you very attractive. What do you get if you cross an insect with the Easter rabbit? Ans: Bugs Bunny. What do you get when you cross a parrot and a centipede? Ans: A walkie-talkie

My Cook Corner

Apple sandwich fiesta

Colour Art

ost days, your lunch box consists of too much empty sugar. Few parents include fruits and vegetables in their kids’ snack boxes. Guess what, we can fix your sugar needs and obey the doctor ’s orders (an apple a day keeps the doctors away) all in one, and still manage to have fun doing it all by yourself. Here is how: INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium apple • 3 tbs peanut butter • 3 tbs honey • ½ cup dried fruits (you can use fresh too) • Coconut shavings PREPARATION In a bowl, mix peanut butter with honey, slice apple into 6 slices of about one inch thick. Using a de-corer or a cookie cutter, de-core the apple slices. Spread the peanutbutter-honey paste over

3 slices. Arrange the dried/fresh fruits on the slices. Sprinkle the coconut shavings over the arrangement. Stack the remaining slices on each of the 3 slices. And voila! You have 3 deliciously tasty sandwiches. Now, you need to be careful when putting them in your lunch box. You may need a Ziploc bag to avoid making a mess.

Faith 51

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Okotie dedicates 2014 GRACE to Chibok girls

News Kumuyi: Only God knows my successor p.52

Interview Why I combine evangelism with herbal medicine -Pastor Oloruntimilehin

p.53

Sermon The way of a true Prophet

p.55

Sermon Wonders of favour

p.58

Okotie

Tai Anyanwu

Tai Anyanwu Head, religous Desk titus.anyanwu@newtelegraph online.com

n anticipation of its GRACE programme, the Household of God Church, Oregun Lagos, is already shimmering with decorative lights. Adebiyi God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense, simply Christened GRACE, is the church’s annual goodwill activities which incorporates the famous Karis Awards. It honours Nigerians whose services to the nation have gone uncelebrated. Characteristically, Rev. Kris Okotie will play host to the crème de la crème of the society at the occasion slated for December 14. A statement by the church’s spokesperson, Ladi Ayodeji, said this year’s GRACE programme would be dedicated to the Chibok girls who have spent over 220 day in Boko Haram’s captivity. “The connotation of the dedication of this year’s event to the missing girls was to keep the fire of their remembrance and Bring Back Our Girls Alive, as all efforts to secure their imminent release and return to their families continues to be uppermost in our minds,” Okotie asserted in the statement. Okotie urged guests to dress in black to the event and attend with rechargeable or bat-

tery powered table lanterns for the significant ‘lights-out.’ During this segment, church members and guests will be expected to switch on their lamps to imply that the search for the girls is still on. Incidentally, this year’s Karis Award, goes posthumously to late Mrs. Beatrice Ibeneme (nee Okebugwu), the first woman to be enlisted in the Nigeria Police with serial number 001. This will bring the number of female recipients of the award to four. In 2013, Air Commodore Habibat Ruth Garba (retd), who was also the first female one-star General in the Nigerian Air Force, bagged the Karis Award. Okotie instituted GRACE 24 years ago as the church’s benevolent outreach programme. Currently the church’s only national programme, GRACE supports four charitable organisations namely, the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Blinded, the Sunshine Foundation, the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria and Strong Tower Mission with a cash award of N250, 000 annually each. Sunday New Telegraph learnt that the cash award has been increased to N1 million. The Household of God also supports the Gideon’s Bible Ministry, producers of Gideon’s Bible. In 1990, Okotie co-opted the Karis Award into the GRACE programme to fulfil the vision of recognition of service and fidelity. According to the statement, the award criteria and ceremony is now seen as a standard

for assessment of character, “as several Nigerians from all strata and works of life with unblemished reputation have been recipients. “The list, which cuts across religious inclinations, gender, age, includes late Gen. Murtala Muhammed; late Prof. Chike Obi; Hajia Sawaba Gambo; late Chief (Mrs.) Margaret Ekpo; late Isaac Boro; late Mallam Aminu Kano; Pa Michael Imoudu; Mr. Emmanuel Okala; Mr. Taiwo Akinkunmi (who designed the Nigerian flag); late Oba Funso Adeolu; Mr. Odiase (who wrote the national anthem), late Sir Akanu Ibiam; late Dr. Tai Solarin; DIG Chris Omeben; and late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN). “The 2014 award recipient, late Mrs. Ibeneme, is considered to be an appropriate recognition, in the light of growing violent and war crimes perpetrated against women in different parts of the world,” the statement said. A member of her family will receive the posthumous award on her behalf on the occasion slated for 5pm at the church

Bring Back Our Girls Alive, as all efforts to secure their imminent release and return to their families continues to be uppermost in our minds

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Faith

Kumuyi: Only God knows my successor Biodun Oyeleye,

F Ilorin

ounder and General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi, has downplayed fears over his possible successor in the ministry. He also asked Nigerians to leave ministers of God who divorce their wives “in the hands of God,” pointing out that divorce is just one of many issues challenging the church and family life in general. The 73-year old cleric told Sunday

New Telegraph in Ilorin, Kwara State that though many may be interested in knowing who will take over the leadership of the popular church after his demise, they should trust God enough to know he will give them a worthy person. He made references to both historical and Biblical examples to prove that his successor may be an unknown person. According to him, historically Winston Churchill who later became a celebrated historical figure was almost a nobody in the British parliament of his days until the outbreak of the Second World War.

His words: “When that time comes, God knows what you don’t know. The church is not Pastor Kumuyi’s project. God owns the church and because He owns it, He knows what to do. When that time comes, He will tell us like He told Moses. “God has whoever is going to take over from me in mind. The succession plan is in the hands of God and He cannot fail.” Asked for comments on recent cases of divorce involving pastors in the country, Kumuyi asked each man to face his own divine task once it is discovered and leave such ministers for God.

“Let’s leave such people in the hands of God,” he said, adding that divorce is not the only issue confronting family life. He stated that there are also several challenges in various homes that are in need of divine intervention. He also dismissed the impression that he is a partisan religious leader, pointing out that some of the current actors in Nigerian politics have passed through him at one point or the other in his work as teacher and pastor. He said they relate with him conveniently without religion becoming an issue. He said, “Both Muslim and Christian leaders listen to me.”

Female pastor backs TB Joshua Stanley Ihedigbo

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eneral Overseer of Prophetic Healing Ministry of Pool of Bethesda, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Prophetess Gift Nwokocha, has urged Christians in Nigeria to rally support for the embattled General Overseer of Synagogue Church of All Nations, Pastor T.B Joshua. Nwokocha made the call during an interview with Sunday New Telegraph recently. She noted that it was unfortunate that many lives were lost during the September 12 building collapse at SCOAN headquarters, which turned the heat on Joshua. The prophetess, however said: “What Christians should do now is to support the minister with our prayers, because I know very well that it is not easy for him.” She frowned on the attitude of some people to the incident, saying, “People are asking, ‘Why didn’t God reveal the ugly incident to Joshua?’ But we forgot that even in the Bible book of 2 Kings 4: 27, Elisha the man of God, speaking about the woman who lost her only son, a miracle child she got through Elisha’s prophecy, had acknowledged that the Lord had hidden the boy’s death from him and didn’t tell him why.” The prophetess cautioned against such reactions, adding, “All I know is that there is a reason for everything in this world. Any child of God in this country, who doesn’t pray for the man of God, is not sincere in his or her ministry,” she insisted. She added that she had great respect for Joshua because he epitomises giving. “I have watched him on television and God confirmed that this is my child. He is a blessing to this country and world at large,” she declared.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Faith

Why I combine evangelism with herbal medicine -Pastor Oloruntimilehin Until his call into ministry work, founder of Omnipotence Mission of God, Pastor Joshua Oloruntimilehin, was a traditional ruler in Ireleland, Ondo State. He speaks on his life before the call, his ministry and related national issues. TAI ANYANWU reports Could you tell us a bit about your ministry? The name of my church is the Omnipotence Mission of God. It came into being in January 1996. We now have branches in different parts of Nigerian and in foreign nations including Alabama in USA and Ghana. For that, we remain grateful to God. Can you tell us what you were doing before you got your call? I was a chief. When I was 26, the Ifa iroko chose me for the crown among my family members. As a young man, I appreciated it and I became the Irele of Ilu Irele (chief). It is a strong title in my town. I reigned for seven years. One day, I had a dream and in that dream, my chieftaincy bead cut from my neck. I was supposed to attend a New Yam festival in my town the next morning. While my aides were washing my car, and I was dressing up for the occasion, the beads which were already dangling down my neck cut in the same way it did in that dream. I did not go to the festival again because I realised that it was a sign for me. Next, I saw myself physically on a beach where a pulpit appeared before me out of the beach. Prior to my call, I used to dream a lot as a young man; and the dreams would happen. What happened after the beach experience? It became clear to me that preaching is my calling. Everybody has his or her own calling from God. Some are called to be interpreters in the church but they want to be pastors. Others may be called as cleaners but they may try to be pastors. Many pastors encounter problems in ministry because they fail to follow the specific call of God on their lives. As a pastor you need to know your own call. I am a preacher, healer and I heal with herbal medicine, which God showed me. I am also a farmer. I am a contractor who can design and build houses. I have no formal education. You can ask or make enquiries about me. This means that God can give you all the knowledge you need to function very well in any thing in life. How did you acquire the knowledge of the Word of God? God gave me full knowledge because I didn’t go to school; and I founded the church by myself and it started growing. God showed me everything I am doing for Him in the church. Just like Jesus Christ didn’t go to school but He knows more than the teachers of the world. How did you come about your herbal concoctions? I told you that I began my healing activities from my youth. They come to me in my dreams about it. I see herbal recipes in the dream, and I am shown their works. I carefully take note of the formulas; and when I try them in real life, they work. I have a range of four medicines that have been found to be effective cures for different ailments. The fourth product is on the way; and they all have National Agency for Food and Drug Administration seals. My herbal remedies, Dunkun Care, comes in the form of capsule and syrup; they are really working well, for diabetes, stroke, blood purifier, and tonic for stamina. People are buying them as a result of their curative potency. The products are also doing well in South Africa and they are registered with the country’s regulatory body. Lots of people have expressed concern about the possible outcome of 2015 elections. What are your thoughts about it? People have been saying different things but we need to do the right thing. President Goodluck Jonathan was appointed as the Acting President, before he was elected properly. What God showed me when Jonathan was elected was that He made Jonathan President primarily to give Nigeria light; just like former President Obasanjo brought the GSM that we are using now. Obasanjo was able to overcome his enemies because of that GSM he brought into the country. If Jonathan gives stable power supply to every part of the Nigeria, people will be shocked that the fighting going on here and there will stop. It

is just like the appropriate injection to a sick person. When there is stable power supply, Nigeria will make progress; new things will begin to happen in Nigeria. People will love the President and support his bid to be in power for more four years. Even when the opposition tries hard to shake him, it will be without success. But if he fails to provide stable electricity, something will go wrong. Whether we like it or not, it is God that chooses leaders, not human beings. If God does not want President Jonathan, he would remove him within a second. When Saul became king of Israel and he disobeyed God and God took him away from the throne and the same God brought an ordinary person called David to lead the children of Israel. When you talk of light, are you are talking about spiritual or physical light? We are talking of physical light for development in the country which will bring eternal light and also bring spiritual light. Let there be light everywhere in the country. Don’t forget that the first thing God created was light. When He saw the earth was in darkness, God said let there be light because He cannot work without light. When President Jonathan does this, forces against him will become his friends. Christmas is around the corner. Should people celebrate the festivity? We should have at the back of our minds that Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of the son of God, Jesus Christ. It is a month or season of happiness, joy and goodness in Nigeria; and indeed all over the world. We spend Christmas with our families, friends and relations. I want to advise that people should not misuse the holiday. Transporters should

Oloruntimilehin

not engage in a mad rush to make more money this period. Drunkenness should not be associated with this time. Rather, the period should be used for sober reflection on our lives, and to thank God that we are alive to see the end of another year. How do you relax when you are not reading Bible, counselling people or preaching? Sometimes, I take my wife out of Lagos to relax in my hometown. My wife is my friend and we spend time together a lot.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Faith

Dairy

Apostolic Faith hosts music night

Redemption Choir of Christ Methodist Church (Lagos North Diocese) Oshodi at their annual choir anniversary last Sunday held at the Dominion Centre .

District Superintendent of the Apostolic Faith Church, West and Central Africa, Rev. Emmanuel Adebayo Adeniran, has invited members of the public to the church’s music night slated for Sunday (today). A statement by the church’s Media Relations Officer, Layi Olajumoke, explained that the event being hosted at the Mafoluku Downtown Church in Oshodi, Lagos, would be the final event marking its 20th anniversary. “It will attract musicians from other branch churches and the Anthony Village Headquarters church,” he said. Planned to commence at 6pm, the programme promises to be a soul-lifting event that will bring together a lot of people in Mafoluku community, Olajumoke added.There shall be showers of blessing Overcomes’ convention The Over-comers Faith Church says that there shall be abundance of rain at its forth coming annual convention, which comes up on December 4 through 6. According to the Presiding minister of the church, Bishop N E Moses, “God will surely shower blessings on his people during the programme because His faithfulness is wonderful.” The convention to be celebrated with the theme: ‘Abundance of rain,’ would hold at the church ground, Harvest Land Bus stop, Ago- Palace Way, Okota, Lagos. Rev. Simeon Okeke, Bishop Mike Laju, Bishop Tom Samson, Bishop David King and Rev. (Mrs.) N E Moses are expected to minister at the event.

Faith Revival Church holds convention

The 2014 annual convention of the Faith Revival Apostolic Church has been scheduled for December 4 - 7. The spokesperson for the church, Pastor Omolade Olufemi, told Sunday New Telegraph that the three-day revival and thanksgiving event would hold at the church’s headquarters at Idimu, Lagos. He explained that the programme, with the theme: ‘God of Wonders,’ would feature sermons, healing, praises and worship. “The event is also an opportunity for us to appreciate God for what He has done for the ministry in the years past, and a time to map out strategies for next year,” Olufemi added. The Chief Host and General Overseer of the church, Apostle Paul Taiwo Adenuga, as well as Evangelist Niyi Adedokun and Evangelist Dupe Olulana will be guests at the event.

Overcomers celebrate

Mammoth crowd of Holy Cross Cathedral Church, at the Corpus Christi in Lagos…recently.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

The Overcomers Faith Church says that there shall be abundance of rain at its forthcoming annual convention, from December 4 – 6. In a statement, the church’s Presiding Minister, Bishop N.E. Moses, said, “God will surely shower blessings on His people during the programme because His faithfulness is wonderful.” The convention to be celebrated with the theme: ‘Abundance of rain,’ will hold at the church ground at Harvest Land Bus stop, Ago- Palace Way in Okota, Lagos State. Rev. Simeon Okeke, Bishop Mike Laju, Bishop Tom Samson, Bishop David King and Rev. (Mrs.) N.E. Moses are expected to minister at the event.

Season of change

All is set for the hosting of Seasons of Change programme of the Rock of Safety Prophetic/Deliverances Ministry. The event slated for December 15 - 19, 2014 will hold at the church auditorium at Custom Bus Stop in Ikotun area of Lagos State. The host minister, Prophet Arinze (Onye Ntope), said in a statement that the programme would be beneficial to those who attend. Season of change

Powerline holds Xmas concert

General Overseer, Celestial Church of Christ, Babalelo Parish, Charles Jerry (left) and Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), South West Zone, Archbishop Magnus Adeyemi Atilade , at an interactive section between all the Political aspirants in Lagos and CAN, in Lagos

The Christmas Carol Concert of the Powerline Bible Church scheduled for December 21 promises to be a session of special rendition of glorious songs by different groups. The church’s General Overseer, Bishop Lawrence Osagie, who unveiled the programme to Sunday New Telegraph, said, “Usually, the carol comes with the singing of Xmas songs, special renditions with our church choir, and other invited artists. “Beyond songs, the event would feature various activities as the church characteristically uses the occasion to do charity work and minister to the needy within its host community. There are widows that we normally give them Xmas gifts.” He explained other attractions planned as part of the festivity: “There will be prizes and awards to those who will attend the programme as well as a raffle draw. We will also appreciate all those who have helped us to attain some success during the year,” he added.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Faith

Love and forgiveness Mystery ofAnxiety John Ogbansiegbe

0803 341 6327

his wicked servant pleaded for delay with a promise, and said, “Have patience with me.” But the whole debt was rather cancelled. He was given an opportunity to show mercy, forgiveness and compassion to another but he could not. This man truly did a horrible thing. As you are reading this book, compare yourself with this man. God forgives you daily many of the sins and crimes you are committing against Him; even those sins that are abominable which the ears should not hear. But you find it very difficult to forgive many that have offended you. Because of this attitude, many people are out of Divine Favour and have remained out of favour till today. Because of this unforgiving spirit, many people are not where they are supposed to be. They are suffering hardship, dying minute disappointments, promise and fail. Because of this attitude, their heaven is closed till when they forgive those who offended them. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “So

likewise shall my heavenly father do to you.” When you do not forgive, you shall not be forgiven. When our Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples how to pray, He said, “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” The preceding verse says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It naturally follows that if you do not forgive, God will not forgive you. You will also lose the special favour of your daily bread which may be a particular miracle which you have been praying and waiting for. The Holy Spirit through St. Paul charges us thus, “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any bowels of mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love being in one accord, of one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (Philippians 2:1-5) In the book of Luke 12vs 3, our Lord Jesus Christ firmly instructs His disciples: “Take heed, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him.” Our Lord Jesus Christ again in Luke 18vs.15-17, explained and enunciated the standard format for the amicable settlement of any dispute among believers in the church of Christ, thus: “Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. It he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that

I have forgiven him, but I don’t want to have anything to do with him or her again”,. It all still means that you have not forgiven him in the first instance, because partial forgiveness is equals to no forgiveness at all

in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church, but if he neglects to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.” Do not be among those that will say, “I have forgiven him, but I don’t want to have anything to do with him or her again.” It all still means that you have not forgiven him in the first instance, because partial forgiveness equals no forgiveness at all. Again, the word of God declares, “Brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.” (Galatians 6vs 1). Do not judge them or separate from them but correct them in love and restore them back. If a brother offends you personally and pleads for

forgiveness, forgive such a brother with all your heart. Do not despise his pleas by saying such words as: “It is not from your heart” or “I don’t think you are humble enough.” Remember, love covereth a multitude of sins. When there is love, forgiveness is easy. Men easily forgive those whom they love. When you love someone, you don’t suspect him or count wrongs for him. But, if you hate someone, everything about the person from the outset shall be misunderstood and misinterpreted. If he greets you, you will say, “He managed to greet me. It is not from his heart.” Nothing can justify an unforgiving spirit. To this end, our Lord Jesus Christ emphatically said in His words and declared thus, ”But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6 vs 15). This scriptural law was corroborated by the provisions of Matthew 5 vs 7, which says: “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” The act of forgiveness or forgiving one another must be a constant and continuous one. From the provisions of our Lord’s teachings on the accepted format for prayers, verse 12 of Matthew 6 shows that our forgiveness from God is not just because we forgave someone but because we have continued to forgive on a daily basis. It says, “As we forgive those who trespass against us;” it must be present and continuous practice. To this end, the word of God also said in Matthew 7:2: “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

The way of a true Prophet the of

Oracles God

Frank Oboden Olomukoro frankolomukoro@yahoo.com

0703 362 1866

rom the very beginning, God had a plan with humanity which He has been carrying out in the course of time and which He will ultimately bring to a close. Time and Time again, He has intervened in the history of mankind by selecting individuals to be His Prophets through whom He speaks and acts. (Amos 3:7) Without exception, a divine calling and commission always has an end result. The true believers recognise the message at all times and have a part in what God is doing in their day. A true prophet of God is not a local assembly or denomination person. He appears at certain junctions of time in human history with the word of God. When God sends a prophet to the people, it’s usually the sign of judgment. Did you know that? God sent Noah, God sent Moses, at another time he sent Jonah. Noah received a commission and he carried it out. “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he”. (Gen. 6:22) Who ever believed what Noah the prophet said, (let us note that Noah was not a local assembly pastor or evangelist etc) namely that God would destroy the world with flood entered into the ark. The ones who did not believe it (because they stayed with their church G.O or pastor and stuck

to their creeds and dogmas) remained outside the ark. Ultimately, the rain fell as predicted; the flood rose, and all the people who did not believe Noah`s message perished. But for those who believed the prophet Noah went into the ark, his message, the word of God sent was their salvation. What happened back then shall serve as a warning for us because the Lord said, “And as it was in the days of Noah….even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26-30). The Lord said another prophet like Noah would be revealed again before the Judgment of God on the world in this end time. It is only those who respond to the Word as interpreted by the Prophet that will be saved, these are those who, as in the days of Noah will enter the ark; that is, they will be bold enough to leave the enclaves of their religious nests and traditions and believe the word of God. I trust you know we are again in the days of Noah? Have you asked the pertinent question: Has God sent a Prophet to us like Noah? Remember God will not send G.Os or pastors, not even evangelists but only prophets. A Prophet is a sign of an oncoming judgment; we are at the threshold of another impending Judgment. Noah, Elijah, Daniel, Jonah, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and Moses were all signs of judgment from God. Prophets are not made but are born; they have the Word of the Lord. The word of God comes to the Prophet and he expresses exactly what the word is. It happens just the way he said it. Example is Moses the prophet, the Word came to him that is, the commandments, the statues, the ordinances or the laws came only to Moses and not to Aaron the high priest or

the pastor of the church in the wilderness. Aaron took the Word that came to Moses and blessed the people by instructing them on it. ”All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Our subject is the way of a true prophet. Many professing Christians including leaders of churches are indeed confused about the ministry of a prophet. For this ignorance, most leaders have erroneously impressed on their members that they are the alpha and omega and their God-given mouthpiece and without them they are lost. That is not true. The ministry of a prophet is pivotal to God’s programme for the church and Christians must be on the lookout for prophetic scriptural fulfilment as we see exemplified by Phillip. ”Phillip findeth Nathaniel, and saith unto him. We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and in the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” This is not withstanding the positions of the prevailing Sadducees and Pharisees sects. While the pastors have their role to feed the flock with the revealed truth by the prophet of their day, they in no way substitute the role of the prophet. The priesthood is different from the prophetic ministry. We know that Moses was a vindicated Prophet while Aaron was an ordained priest. A Prophet does not just jump up overnight. Prophets are born. Moses was a prophet from childhood. Prophets are not schooled or trained. They are not a product of any school of theology, seminary or school of prophets. All of his messages and doctrines are given to him by God because God vindi-

cates him as his servant-prophet. A man who has the spiritual gift of the word of knowledge, or words of wisdom or speaking in tongues or interpretation or even a gift of prophecy in the local assembly does not equate to a man in the office of the prophet. One is a mere spiritual gift that only operates by inspiration when God has a message for the church but the prophet is commissioned with the THUS SAITH THE LORD to a given nation or an era. Jonah was a prophet with a commission to go to Nineveh to avert an impending judgment. The people repented and they escaped the Judgment of God. Now, there is a gift of prophecy that comes into the local assembly, the people give a prophecy, like Deborah the prophetess and the daughters of Phillip and Agabus in the books of Judges and the Acts of the apostles respectively. Many members of the body of Christ could do that under inspiration while prophesying. But a prophet is sent in the office of a prophet. Therefore, the prophet and the gift of prophecy are two different things. How many now know that? A prophet is not a prophet by the laying of hands. He is born from his mother’s womb. See? That is why he’s always a Prophet like Moses, Jeremiah, John the Baptist with a calling and commission. A prophet or an evangelist that says you should be baptized in the titles of father, son and Holy Ghost, is a false prophet. If you say there is a prophet among you that says there is three gods, an holy trinity, he’s a false prophet. There is no scripture for any of these creeds. That is right. But in the way of a true prophet of God, he stays with the Word and not with church traditions or creeds.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Faith

Our King and Our Citizenship the higher a monkey climbs, the more you can see of his backside.

Firm Faith:

Right Reason Most Rev.

Emmanuel A. Badejo fradebadejo@yahoo.

0803 949 4219 (SMS only)

Kings with feet of clay “Money and power impress man, and dominance impresses animals. Neither does much for God.” How I agree with that impressive quote from Joshua Dubois, former White House director of faith-based and neighbourhood partnerships! As for wealth I am one of those who believe that few rich people own their property really. Generally, it is their property which owns them. That is why a certain John Jowett has said: “The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money.” But kings with feet of clay believe very much in their wealth and that they actually own what they possess. Just review your images of kings and rulers in this world; elaborate escorts, glittering thrones, extravagant regalia and precious paraphernalia. These, most often, do not translate to a reign of peace, harmony progress and love. Too many powerful people in this world have simply proven that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They characteristically forget that great power comes with great responsibility. Gen. Joe Stillwell nailed it when he said

Glimpses of the king of kings What impresses the God has been differently defined in the Bible; the faith of Abraham, the trust of Noah, the goodness of Joseph, the nobility of Moses, the perseverance of Job, etc. Each of them teaches us a valuable lesson about what makes God to exalt those whom he chooses. Jesus Christ gave instances of God’s perspective. He commended selfless generosity. He once looked up in the temple and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury of the Temple. He also saw a poor widow putting two copper coins and commented: “Truly, I tell you this poor widow has put in more than all of them.” (Lk. 21:3). Jesus personally demonstrated the supreme requirement of his reign by submitting to death on the cross for love of sinners. “There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn. 15: 13). His submission and humility was not only verified when commanded. When he gathered his disciples unto himself a day before he died, while they were at supper he took off his cloak and washed their feet in an uncommon demonstration of humble service. In fact his voluntary willingness to be a different kind of King was evident even before he came down to earth. “Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in his appearance found as a man. He humbled himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the Name which

We find those models thankfully right here even in our world today for it is only in this way that we can hope to heal the world

outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead. And all tongues proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2: 6-11). That is the simple formula for the kingship of Jesus and the prescription for all those who would reign with him. The kingdom of the King of Kings The kings of this world do not easily accommodate the King of kings and his allies. David denounced that situation in the psalms. “Why do the nations rage, among peoples this useless murmurings? They arise the kings of the earth. Princes plot against the Lord and his anointed. Come let us break their fetters, come let us cast off their yoke.” (Ps. 2:1-3). According to the psalm, the Lord merely laughs them to scorn for he will crush them. “You shall rule them with iron sceptre, and shatter them like a potter’s jar.” (Ps. 2:9) That is the promise of the God of gods to his anointed. Jesus Christ’s kingdom is not a kingdom for the proud but for the humble because God resists the proud (Jas 4:6). It is a kingdom for

those who have learnt to forgive the most grievous crimes committed against them even when they are innocent (Matt 6:15). Jesus himself cried out on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23: 34). We find those models thankfully right here even in our world today for it is only in this way that we can hope to heal the world. In the United States of America, the parents of Peter Kassig, one of the latest American victims of the brutal ISIS terrorist group operating in parts of the Arab World, after the murder of their son said: “We will forgive the killers. The world is broken but it will be healed in the end”. We need such people who would have the power to call down “twelve legions of angels” to destroy and yet choose to forgive? The Bible instructed us best when Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians. “Your attitude should be the same as Jesus Christ had”. This is the commandment and character of the King of Kings and his true disciples. We are citizens of heaven It is quite easy today to consign all this to the world of fantasy. Excuses abound for that. How can selfless service, humility, generosity and forgiveness make sense in the present circumstances? That exactly is what the Solemnity of Christ the king celebrated annually is meant to establish. it is a celebration of optimism that no matter what our current trials may be, Jesus remains our king in every way and his reign, our destination. His kingdom beckons us now, let us all make a fresh vow and enter in.

Where is my venison (2)? Insight Rev.

Femi Akinola

www.thehebrewsng.com

01-790 3163; 0808 584 5864

n the last edition, I was talking about what venison means and the mystery behind it. That in every family, there is a vacant seat waiting to be occupied by the smart child who can pay the price for it. What does your father love? If you want generations unborn to celebrate you, then it is necessary for you to offer him the venison; to give him that which his heart desires. I once served under the ministry of a very prominent man of God; I soon observed that the impact of this ministry of his was far-reaching yet none of his children amounted to anything. This became a thing of worry for this man and so he called on his first son to get him some snacks to eat, perhaps so as to bless him. This spiritual exercise plunged this young man into his glorious destiny. You have a fleet of cars while your parents are still going about on commercial motorcycles. If you are in this category, or you are living large and you have refused to put a smile on

the faces of your parents by caring for them and giving them that which their hearts desire, then know it that suffering and hardship will soon catch up with you. “My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true.” Hos 4:6 (MSG)

I once counselled one of my sisters to buy a car for her mother. This she did and almost immediately, things began to change for her. Her financial destiny encountered a massive turnaround. If I may ask, what have your parents eaten from you? Some years back I asked a man what he gives his parents on a monthly basis but was embarrassed when he told me; it was mere peanuts that could hardly make them (his parents) to release prayers from their souls to bless him, no matter how much they tried. Whatever you do to your parents, the same is what your children will do to you even in your old age. It is my prayer for you that where you have missed it in life, you will gather again and shine in Jesus name. It is the child that gets this parental blessing that will rule over the rest in that family. In other words, it is this child that will occupy the financial throne of the family; irrespective of his or her status, income status or qualification. It is only a matter of time. “May people serve you, and nations bow down to you; be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you,

May people serve you, and nations bow down to you; be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.” Gen 27:29 (NASU)

and blessed be those who bless you.” Gen 27:29 (NASU)

In the timetable of destiny, Esau was late and his brother Jacob, who by nature was smart in the issues of destiny, went on the fast lane and he obtained the destiny throne in the Isaac dynasty. Today, many people are being affected by the ‘Esau mentality’ and what ought to be theirs has been taken by another. If you are late with your venison, this could also be your story. “He cooked the tasty food, brought it to his father, and said, ‘Father, please sit up and eat the meat I have brought you, so you can give me your blessing.’ ‘Who are you?’ Isaac asked. ‘I am Esau, your first-born son.’ Isaac started trembling and said, ‘Then who brought me some wild meat

right before you came in? I ate it and gave him a blessing that cannot be taken back.’ Esau cried loudly and begged, ‘Father, give me a blessing too!’” Gen 27:31-34 (CEV) May you not be late when destiny beckons on you. Esau arrived moments after Isaac had pronounced the blessings upon Jacob. Once you fail to give your father what he desires (the venison), your relevance in the calendar of destiny diminishes with time. Two people cannot sit on the financial throne of a family; it is one person per season. If you do not want weeping and regret to be your lot in life, it will then be wise to locate and give to your parents what they like while they are still alive. This is not an issue of choice. It does not matter even if they are unbelievers. What matters is that you care for your parents just as the Bible commands. “But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.’” Gen 27:35 (NLT)

When Esau learnt that he had been swindled, he cried and asked his father (Isaac) to bless him too, but it was too late. The father said “…I already gave him a blessing that cannot be taken back…” All the blessings had been released to the brother, Jacob. I don’t know if your blessings have been taken by another. By the mercies of the Living God, what has been wrongly and forcefully taken from you shall be restored in Jesus name. Please join me for the concluding part of this message next week.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

God shall restore your lost glory Destiny Assembly Rev.

Emmanuel Silas

xxxxx

08033096987, 080375799696.

rom creation, man having been made in the image and likeness of God possessed and shared the glory of God while in the Garden of Eden. It is a known fact that the glory of man in his holy estate consists of divine intelligence, creative abilities, holiness and truth. Of course man was the universal field commander in control of physical and material creation. But as we know the story that man sinned against God and the glory departed, the commander became subjugated, depraved and condemned. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Gen 3:6-7 The plan and purpose of God towards man was temporarily thwarted by Satan. And God in his infinite mercy and wisdom made a prophetical declaration that: And I will put enmity between you and the woman; and between your seed and her seed: he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his feet. Gen 3:15 The prophetic declaration gave a long term process to redeem and restore man to his lost glory. There must be atonement for man’s sin; there is need for a substitution. And such substitution must be something that is pure, sacred, without spot or wrinkle. For God to maintain a relationship with man there must be a sacred platform covered with blood because His eye is too holy to behold the iniquity of man in His presence. Sacrifice becomes the only bridge to connect man back to God. In the Old Testament, when sacrifices were made to God, the glory usually appeared! (1kings 8:1-11, 2chron 7:1ould) There is no glory without sacrifice. Jesus on His part had to leave His position in Heaven, came down and died for sinners before God could exalt Him. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name…” Philippians 2:5-9. Let’s take a look at men in the Bible that attained the glory through sacrifice; MOSES: The Bible tells us that Moses was trained as a prince in the house of Pharaoh, but when he grew up; he abandoned the exalted position of a prince in Egypt and decided to suffer affliction with God’s people instead of enjoying the pleasures of Egypt. “by faith Moses, when he was come to

So Jesus said to them, assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the son of man sits on his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of isreal” matt 19:28

years, refused to be called the son of pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches, than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” Heb 11:24-26. ABRAHAM: Abraham was a man of a sacrificial heart; no wonder among all his people, God chose only him because of the state of his heart. He was a man who could let go of anything because of God; even to the extent of sacrificing his only son Isaac! This he did, in order to obey and please God. In return, God so glorified him, that the whole children of God are named after him and he was called the friend of God. DANIEL: In order to keep God’s commandment, Daniel risked his life by refusing to keep the law which said that nobody must make a request of any other being except the king, for 30 days! The result of his action was his being thrown into the lions’ den!

Faith

At the end, God who can never look down on any sacrifice made for his sake rewarded him by promoting him in a foreign land. THE APOSTLES: All the apostles of old were men of great sacrifice. Peter abandoned his fishing profession to follow Jesus. Apostle Paul was ready to die for the sake of the gospel that’s why God did so many mighty miracles through their hands, even honouring them to the extent that they got a special promise from Jesus. “so Jesus said to them, assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the son of man sits on his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of isreal” matt 19:28 The glory is in levels The Bible recorded that Apostle Peter as he entered the temple through the beautiful gate, saw a man that was crippled and commanded the legs to be healed. Instantly the legs were restored. On another occasion, it was no longer the words of his mouth but his shadow cast on the sick that got them healed! Don’t remain at your present level; make your own dangerous sacrifice so that the God of Heaven will move you to your next level. Acts 3:1-8 Moses graduated from the level of signs and wonders to the level of eating the same food with the angels of God and also he started speaking to God face to face. “And he said, I beseech the thy glory” Ex 33:18 The level of glory attained by one depends on one’s sacrifice. Solomon sacrificed to the extent that God gave him wisdom that no man on earth has ever manifested. 1kings 3:4-12.

This time around Christian

Relationship Pastor

Taiwo Odubiyi

0802 300 0773 (SMS only)

isan’s mother couldn’t believe it. “You didn’t know him before then and you allowed this to happen ...after all I’ve been telling you, warning you not to make the kind of mistakes I made? Is your sister’s case not enough to learn from? Do you want to be like her - a single mother?” “It was a mistake.” “You turned yourself to a whore on the ship, with a white man, just like that? Do you have brain in your head at all? Oh my God!” She sat down and held her head for what seemed like a long time. She eventually spoke again. “Have you told him?” “No.” “What are you waiting for?” “I don’t want to. He won’t be interested. As I said, it was a mistake.” “So, what do you plan to do since you don’t want to tell him?” Her mother asked, looking at her in a way that suggested that she believed Misan had gone out of her mind. Misan was quiet. “Why did you allow this to happen?

You were to get properly married. I don’t want you to make the kind of mistake I made with your father.” She was quiet for some time again before she blurted out. “Well, you have to get rid of the pregnancy.” “What did you say, Mum?” “I said get rid of it!” Mrs. Ikomi said without mincing words. “I will not have another bastard to love. Your sister has enough in the family.” “Kill the baby?” “Whatever word you choose to use. You are not going to be a single parent like your sister. I won’t have your father and his family blaming me. You will get rid of it and marry properly.” “I don’t want to get rid of it.” Misan said. “You will have to.” “No, I plan to have the baby.” Misan insisted. “That’s very good but if you won’t do what I ask you to do, you will have to move out. You won’t have the baby under my roof. You may go back to live with your father or move in with your sister and be like her. The choice is yours.” Misan knew that her mother had a strong will which was one of the causes of her broken marriage. Determined not to give in to her mother’s wish, Misan went to see her father in his office, and by the time she left, she had a cheque for the rent of a selfcontained apartment. She moved from her mother’s house and didn’t see much of her for some months during her pregnancy but her mother eventually came round and was very happy when Misan gave birth to Weyin Antonia.

Some days after Misan moved out of her mother’s house, she seemed to be coping well until she began to have bad dreams. She couldn’t cope with this one. She was seeing a huge black man in her dreams and she became terrified. She wasn’t going to church and didn’t know how to pray. She bought a small bible and put it under her pillow every night for two weeks but the dreams did not stop. She told someone who advised her to read a portion of the book of psalms into a glass of water and drink every night. Misan did this for almost a month but didn’t see any improvement. She thought of going to her mother but pride stopped her. Her mother would have taken her to a native doctor. Misan told one of the women who came to her shop who she knew always talked about God. The woman, a member of The Worship Centre, prayed with her and asked her to see her pastor, assuring her that the bad dreams would definitely stop. Misan hoped so as she went to the pastor who asked her series of questions before praying for her. He also encouraged her to give her life to Christ which she did that day. The dreams stopped for about a month. Then Misan had another one. But this time, she was a different person. The pastor had told her to use her authority as a Christian and cancel every dream that wasn’t good. She did and the bad dreams stopped completely …Thinking about the whole ugly episode of her involvement with Antonio made the corner of Misan’s mouth twist in a sad smile. **********

In the evening, Misan pushed thoughts of Antonio aside. She had to stop worrying, she lectured herself. She knew she worried a lot and her friends had told her that she liked to worry; it was like a second nature to her, although it had reduced since she became a Christian, four months into her pregnancy. She left at 6.45PM for the fellowship that would start at 7PM in a hall upstairs. As she walked to the 6th floor, she wondered if she would see Antonio. She hoped she would see him. At the same time, she hoped she would not see him. She was confused about her feelings. Antonio had thrown her emotions into turmoil, she didn’t know what she wanted anymore. At the venue of the fellowship, about one hundred and eighty people were already there. Misan didn’t recognise most of them as they were from different churches. She moved around to greet some known faces before going to sit down. She met the lady who had invited her to her first cruise and they greeted briefly. The lady had been annoyed at Misan’s behaviour at the first cruise. After that cruise, she didn’t get in touch with Misan and when she heard that Misan was pregnant, she cut off completely. Misan put her Bible on the seat beside her to keep the space for Ruth and some minutes after, Ruth came in. Misan waved at her and when Ruth saw her, she came to sit beside her. At 7PM, the meeting started with prayer, and then praise and worship. Afterward, one of the pastors came up to deliver a sermon titled ‘The fourth man.’ The powerful message lasted till 9pm.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Faith

The pursuit of vision (3) The Voice of Dominion by

Bishop David Oyedepo E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

7747546-8 (SMS only)

vision from God always has a time element. Correct timing is very important in God’s programme. All visions have their appointed time for execution, which is determined by God alone. These are what we learnt last week. As I conclude this teaching this week, we shall be discussing ‘Vision Boosters.’ There are certain things that help you to stay focused, in the pursuit of vision. I call them Vision Boosters. These are forces that boost vision or provoke the realisation of vision. They help you to fulfill your Heaven-given vision, so you end up in distinction. Let us examine some of them: Be Joyful: Joy boosts vision, because only excited people excel in the race of life. Jesus was ever joyful; no wonder He ran His race to a successful end. He couldn’t be distracted from His purpose for coming to the world – to die on the cross for the redemption of mankind from their sins (Hebrews 12:2). Joy and enthusiasm are forces that guarantee outstanding results. Until you are depressed and downcast, you can’t

see failure. Only excited people excel in life. True greatness is channelled through enthusiastic individuals. True successes are smiling people. No wonder Apostle Paul commanded us: Rejoice in the Lord always; and again, I say, Rejoice (Philippians 4:4). Testimonies: Testimonies are not mere stories, but evidences of the faithfulness and integrity of God, the infallibility of scriptures and the immutability of His counsel. They boost vision as they help you to overcome your next obstacle. They are triggers for victory in spiritual conflicts, as they energise the inner man for exploits. That is why those who don’t mind testimonies keep struggling with trials. When David confronted Goliath, testimony was what gave him the victory. He said to himself: “God who delivered me from the paws of the lion and the bear will also deliver me from this uncircumcised Philistine, and the little boy ran towards Goliath and brought down his head (1 Sam. 17:37-51). He was empowered by testimony. Testimonies are faith boosters, and faith is the principal booster of vision. As a matter of fact, faith is the life of every vision. If faith is boosted by testimonies, then testimony is the substance of every vision. Decision: Decision is fundamental to the success of any vision. Indecision is a plague; its effects are frustration, depression and devastation. Somebody said indecision is the graveyard of good intentions. No matter how lofty and promising a vision is, without a strong decision to

Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. From today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I know I am a child of God pursue it, it will fail. No indecisive man can ever be distinguished. Reuben had to pay the price for his indecisiveness (Gen. 49:3-4). God has shown you where you’re going; make a decision to press on to its accomplishment. Information: It is one thing to know where you are going and another to know how to get there. Every vision rides on the wheels of information. No matter the quality of your vision, if you lack information to match, you will end up in frustration. Information, whether spiritual or secular, is the hub of every outstanding accomplishment. When a vision is starved of information, it begins to suffer disintegration. Information is the cheapest way to eradicate regrets (Hosea 4:6). When you invest your time in acquiring relevant information that will help drive your vision, the result will prove that your time was not wasted (Proverbs 13:15). Association: A wise man once said, “You are going to be the same person

you are today in five years’ time except for two things – the books you read and the people you walk with.” Your relationships in life will either make or break you; they never leave you at the same spot (Prov. 13:20). Abraham’s vision was delayed because of the presence of Lot and Terah with him. Until Terah died and Lot was separated from him, Abraham did not enjoy speed in the pursuit of his purpose. There are certain people you have to separate from, if you must see the fulfilment of your vision. The Bible says: Be not deceived: evil communication corrupt good manners (1 Corinthians 15:33). Friend, the power to access vision boosters is for those saved. Are you saved? You get saved by confessing your sins, forsaking them and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. If you are set to be saved, please say this prayer with all your heart: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. From today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I know I am a child of God.” Remain blessed, in Jesus’ name! Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books —Understanding Divine Direction and In Pursuit Of Vision. I am glad to inform you that from December 9-13, 2014 at Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Idiroko Road, Ota, many destinies will be transformed to higher levels of greatness at SHILOH 2014, tagged, Heaven On Earth! SHILOH is the annual prophetic gathering of the Winners’ family worldwide. Be there!

Wonders of favour Taming your Emotions Bishop

Lawrence Osagie 0806 325 0667 www.powerlineministriesinc.org mail:powerlineministries@mail.com

he favour of God is that distinguishing aroma that compels people to do you good. It is the extraordinary finger of God that marks you out for signs and wonders, with the glory of God radiating upon your life. It came upon Joseph and everything he did in the house of Portiphar prospered. Even while he was in prison he was distinguished among other inmates and selected for a leadership role. When Boaz noticed Ruth in the farm gleaning among his maids, he instructed them to be kind and fair to her and to purposely leave a handful of harvest for her to take home because the favour of God was upon her. At the end of the genealogical call, Ruth, the Moabite wife that followed Naomi home, became the mother of Obed, the father of Jesse that begat David, the root of Jesus, our Saviour. Joseph did not need to win any election to mount the throne of Egypt. Esther did not need any additional makeup kit to win the heart of the king and be crowned the most preferred queen. Virgin Mary did not need to know any man before she conceived and brought forth the Saviour of the whole world – Our Lord Jesus Christ.

They were all personalities who at one time of life encountered the favour of God. Or what could you say of Daniel who was thrown into the den of lions and was not hurt till day break? Or the three Hebrew men who were thrown into the burning furnace and they were not consumed because the Son of Man, the symbol of the favour of God, showed up in the midst of the fire? Of Nehemiah, we read how his countenance fell because of the ruins of the walls of Jerusalem and the returned captives of Israel and how the king gave him not just the freedom to travel home but provided necessary materials for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. The wonders of favour! The favour of God takes away human efforts and reveals the glory of God. When you are walking in favour, everything turns around for your good. People turn at your beckoning and while you are yet praying, answers are hitting frequently. This is what I am inspired to share with you in this wonderful episode. My joy is that God gives you the lead through the overriding influence of the Holy Spirit. And that is why I feel so certain that the favour that came upon Mary, a virgin that knew no man, yet conceived to bring forth a holy child for God’s divine mission is about to come mightily upon you. Beloved, it is not by accident that this message is coming your way. God designed it to meet with you; only be faithful to enjoy the message and flow in the amazing grace of God. I will hear your testimony before you finish the study. Shalom! It is not by power: We are all living on this planet called

My joy is that God gives you the lead through the overriding influence of the Holy Spirit. And that is why I feel so certain that the favour that came upon Mary, a virgin that knew no man, yet conceived to bring forth a holy child for God’s divine mission is about to come mightily upon you Earth by the grace of God. No one individual can boast of how he or she determined his or her sex, colour, beauty or race before birth. We are all choices made from the origin of creation by God. It is the favour and grace of God that made you what you are. The spirit you possess, the life you breathe, intellectual power, administrative acumen, oratory prowess and all about the beauty of your physiognomy are traits and attributes determined by God before you were born. And that is why in this study I am determined according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to expose you to the efficacy of the grace that will make your existence in this earth worthwhile and blissful. For with strong conviction, I feel convinced by the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit to inform you that the time to favour Zion has come – even the set time for your much awaited manifestation is now.

The Psalmist making bold the wonders of favour wrote: “With favour will thou compass him as with a shield. We have heard with our ears, O God, our father have told us, what work thou did in their days, in the time of old. How thou did drive out the heathen with thy hand and planted them. How thou did afflict the people and cast them out for they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them but thy right hand and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.” (Psalm 5:12 and Psalm 44: 1-3). From historical records, Israel did not come to Canaan, the Promised Land, by the arm of flesh. It was God who delivered from slavery in Egypt and took them through the encounters of the wilderness till Joshua divided the inheritance for them in the land flowing with milk and honey. When the favour of God is upon a man, he ceases from struggle to get, attain or achieve anything that is of remarkable envy. Joseph did not need to win any election to mount the throne of Egypt. Esther did not need any additional make-up kit to win the heart of the king and be crowned the most preferred Queen. Virgin Mary did not need to know any man before she conceived and brought forth the Saviour of the whole world – Our Lord Jesus Christ. They were all personalities who at one time of life encountered the favour of God. You need to come off your struggles and allow God to be God. Join me at the cross-over night on Wednesday, December 31st, tocross over into 2015; time is 10 pm -3am. Venue power Bible Church,Odolowu Bus Stop, Ijesha Tedo, Lagos.

Advertise your church events, special programmes, conventions and other church activities on these pages. Contact: Tai on 07064380029

Sport 59

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Boxing

Obisia, Skoro delighted with boxing revival p.61

Rugby

African Rugby 7’s: Fom proud of Black Stallions’ feat p.61

Golf

Tiger Woods: Five Years Later p.61

Football

Welbeck hails Arsenal’s ‘vital’ victory over West Brom p.60

Sunday Team

Deputy Sports Editor Dapo Sotuminu Golf Reporter Ifeanyi Ibeh

Odegbami: Nigeria must stop cheating in football •Sacking Keshi not the solution

Former national team captain, Chief Segun Odgbami, is not happy that Nigerian football is enmeshed in multiple crises which he said were results of the insincerity in the running of the game in the country. He told DAPO SOTUMINU in this interview that the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, will not make any meaningful progress in years to come if they do not stop cheating in age-grade football which according to him brought undeserved glory to the country The Super Eagles are out of the 2015 African Nations Cup, what is the implication of this? There is no implication at all; it has none as far as I am concerned. Nigeria does not deserve to be at the 2015 Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea and we are not there, it is okay. There are so many crises within Nigerian football and this has been so for about six months now, and things have not been too good for the country’s football in number of years. I will say we are reaping what we sowed, so I don’t understand what you mean by implications. As long as you are not doing things rightly, you will surely not get the desired results. Of course, those of us who are in business of sports are going to suffer, the economy is also going to suffer because it appears that government does not appreciate the economic contributions of football to the economy of this country, and how it socially engage our people and our youths, so all of us will suffer somehow. What do you think should be the way forward for the NFF? The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, had to start again from the scratch; they have to go back and be authentic and must add integrity to everything they are doing. They should stop all the cheating and manipulations, follow the Statutes administratively so that the right people can get into the right positions, to be able to do things correctly. Let us do things correctly. Until the NFF stop cheating in age-grade soccer competitions, they won’t make any progress in all their activities. In the past, the glories we got from agegrade com-

petitions were achieved using over-aged players who bullied their way to victory. Those victories came through the backdoor and that is why the products from these competitions have not been able to help Nigerian football at the highest level. We have been static due to insincerity and cheating, this must stop before the country’s football can move forward. And if those in-charge refuse to change from this retrogressive act of cheating, then we continue to sink the way we are doing at the moment. What about the area of coaching for the Eagles? When you fix everything

The solution is for the NFF to put the right kind of administration in place and let government just give them the support from a distance

else in the country’s football coaching will now work appropriately. I don’t believe that until the Nigeria Football Federation sack the Super Eagles chief coach, Stephen Keshi, everything would change for the better for the team or the national team would improve. It won’t work, things would surely be static. I have a strong feeling that nothing would change if the NFF should ask Keshi to go and they employ a foreign coach. The fact is that, coaching is not the problem of Nigerian football and the problem really has to do with the structure of the game in our country, the administration in particular. The solution is for the NFF to put the right kind of administration in place and let government just give them the support from a distance. They should let this administration go out to involve the private sector. Let them use all the opportunity they have to make progress in football through the private sector and all of these things would come together. It is then that we can boast of a football culture in the country. So far, you can not take away football from the rest of the polity. The Eagles will not get active until 2017 at the next edition of the Nations Cup and 2018 at the FIFA World Cup that is if we qualify. What do you think they should be doing from now until that time? We don’t have a choice, we have many talents in this country, and we are blessed in so many ways. Our population is massive and we can do so much with our football, so we don’t have a choice than to go back and look at the structure of football and get the right people to start to guide us because if the leadership is wrong the rest of won’t have a firm footing. In the first instance, Nigeria would only get it right in sports administration when a Minister of Sports who is from the sports industry is appointed. This has never been so since independence in 1960. We must also get people who have the sensibility of what they are doing into top positions in sports and let them guide us. We can’t continue with half measure of believing that when everything has been taken care of, when in actual sense it has not. We can’t continue like this, it can’t just work like that.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sport

Di Maria injured as Man United’s casualty list swells

Di Maria

anchester United’s injury struggles continue, after Angel Di Maria came off just 14 minutes into their Premier League clash with Hull City on Saturday. The £59.7million Argentine star was pulled off before the quarter-hour mark by manager Louis van Gaal, after appearing

to pick up a hamstring injury. The former Real Madrid man, who has been a key component for Van Gaal in his midfield since arriving in August, was promptly replaced by Spaniard Ander Herrera. The injury to Di Maria came just as the Red Devils looked to be coming through the other side of their injury crisis. Defender Marcos Rojo was passed fit to start against the Tigers, while Ashley Young and Michael Carrick are also only recently back. Additionally, Colombian hitman Radamel Falcao also made the bench following a calf problem. However Di Maria is now a major doubt for United’s midweek clash with Stoke, while a serious hamstring problem could cause havoc to the side’s upcoming Christmas programme.

Beckham in car accident

orld football legend, David Beckham, was involved in a car accident Saturday morning after picking up his son Brooklyn from Arsenal’s training ground. The former England captain walked away from the incident, which involved one other vehicle. Arsenal staff ushered onlookers away from the scene and Beckham was driven away in another car, with his original vehicle unable to be used. Sources close to Beckham revealed that both the ex-midfielder and Brooklyn were shaken but are now fine. Beckham, 39, had been at the Arsenal training centre at London Colney, Hertfordshire, watching his eldest son Brooklyn play for the club’s Under-16 side against Brighton. One Brighton youngster, Archie Davies, tweeted: ‘Just seen David Beckham looks like he got in a car crash and hurt his shoulder.’ The teenager then added: ‘Star struck by seeing David Beckham.’ Brooklyn was signed by Arse-

WEEKEND RESULTS

Barclays Premier League WBA 0 - 1 Arsenal Burnley 1 - 1 Aston Villa Liverpool 1 - 0 Stoke City Man. United 3 - 0 Hull City QPR 3 - 2 Leicester Swansea 1 - 1 Crystal Palace West Ham 1 - 0 Newcastle Germany - Bundesliga Freiburg 1 - 4 Stuttgart Augsburg 3 - 1 Hamburger Leverkusen 5 - 1 Cologne Hertha Berlin 0 - 1 Bayern Schalke 4 - 1 Mainz Bremen 4 - 0 Paderborn Italy - Serie A Sassuolo 2 - 1 Verona Spain - Liga BBVA Real Sociedad 3 - 0 Elche Getafe 1 - 2 Athletic Bilbao Espanyol 2 - 1 Levante France - Ligue 1 PSG 1 - 0 Nice

nal on a short-term contract earlier this month after impressing coaches at The Emirates. Beckham’s former club Manchester United and Chelsea had also been pursuing the talented teenager. Brooklyn’s brother Romeo, 12, has also been playing for the club’s under-13s, while youngest son Cruz, nine, has been representing the club’s Under-10s.

Arsenal strikers Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud celebrate in front of the away fans after Arsenal’s opener at the Hawthorns

Welbeck hails Arsenal’s ‘vital’ victory over West Brom

he former Manchester United man fired the Gunners ahead in the second half after heading Santi Cazorla’s cross beyond Ben Foster into the back of the net. Following Arsenal’s 2-0 midweek Champions League win against Borussia Dortmund which came after back-to-back Premier League defeats - Wel-

beck feels confidence is high among his team-mates. “I think the clean sheet’s very important and we always believed in ourselves to score goals so it was a vital three points for us today,” said Welbeck. “It’s only one game and the most important thing is to take it one game at a time and we have to prepare well for every single match.

“When we go into games we really want to get the three points.” Despite Arsenal’s win, Gunners fans are still unhappy with manager Arsene Wenger and fans unveiled a banner calling for the Frenchman to leave the club. Wenger, however, has rejected calls for him to leave the Emirates.

Pele improves after kidney stone surgery

razil legend, Pele, was still receiving intensive kidney treatment on Saturday but his condition is improving, said the Sao Paulo hospital that is treating him. “The condition of patient Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) is improving, he remains in the intensive care unit receiving kidney treatment,” read a statement from the Albert Einstein Hospital. The statement added that Pele was continuing to undergo hemodialysis, a procedure that involves filtering a patient’s blood through an artificial kidney that cleans it before returning it to the body. The 74-year-old “is lucid and talking” and is “stable”, the statement said, adding that he was continuing to receive treatment with antibiotics and that “all tests (of his blood and urine) are negative”. Certain local media had been

Pelle

reporting since Thursday night that ‘O Rei’ (The King) was suffering from septicaemia after not responding to the antibiotics and described his condition as “delicate”. Pele, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. He was admitted to hospital on Monday, diagnosed with a urinary infection and given intravenous antibiotics. On Thursday, the hospital said he had been placed in intensive care after his condition became “clinically unstable,” causing widespread alarm. But Pele insisted on social media that he was fine and had simply been moved to another room for more privacy. “I want to take this opportunity to let you know that I am doing fine,” he said in posts to his Facebook and Twitter accounts. “I am blessed to receive your love and support, and thank God this is nothing serious. “I was simply relocated to a special room within the hospital for privacy purposes only. While I appreciate all the visitors that came to see me, I really need to continue my treatment and recovery in peace.” Pele initially underwent surgery for kidney stones at the same hospital on November 13.

Arsenal fans hold up a banner aimed at Arsene Wenger at The Hawthorns

Wenger ignores Arsenal fans’ banner Arsene Wenger vowed to continue to ignore his critics after seeing Arsenal win 1-0 at West Brom in the Premier League. The Frenchman came under fire from a section of Gunners fans at The Hawthorns on Saturday as they unveiled a banner reading ‘Arsene, thanks for the memories but it’s time to say goodbye’. Victory, earned by Danny Welbeck’s second-half header, saw Arsenal seal successive wins after their 2-0 Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night. Arsenal fans remain frustrated with the Gunners’ failure to compete for the title, though, with some calling for Wenger to leave after 18 years in charge. “Every person has responsibility to prepare for the future, always.” However, the Gunners boss,

who refused to answer questions about the banner, was unmoved. Wenger said: “I don’t comment on that. Do I need to say it again? I don’t comment on your question.” He added: “Every person has responsibility to prepare for the future, always.” And Wenger insisted he had also ignored any criticism after last Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United. “The only thing we can do is let people talk. We live in a society of total opinion but we live off not what we say but what we do, and what we do is on the pitch,” he said. Welbeck’s winner was his 11th goal of the season for club and country to leave Wenger grateful after Nacho Monreal, Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up injuries.

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Golf Weekly Tiger Woods:

Former African Footballer of the Year, Victor Ikpeba, teaching the kids ball control in Urualla during the Supersports Let’s Play

Ikpeba teaches kid footballers in Urualla at SuperSport Let’s Play

ormer African Footballer of the Year, Nigeria’s Victor Ikpeba, was the cynosure of all eyes in the quiet town of Urualla in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, when he was used as the pivot in the SuperSport Let’s Play initiative programme. The programme hosted in conjunction with the Dan Ngerem Sports Foundation, had over 1,400 children between the ages of 7 and 14 years from 30 schools in the locality in attendance. The event took place at the St. Michaels Primary school grounds. 25 coaches, including Victor Ikpeba Let’s Play Ambassador -, Henry Nwosu MON and Mike Onyemachara all former Nigerian Internationals, taught the kids

basic football skills like trapping the ball, heading the ball and passing the ball. At the end of the skills session, footballs were handed to all participating kids. “I hope this event has touched a few of the kids in a way to inspire them to take this further” stated Dan Ngerem a former President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria. While the general manager of SuperSport, Felix Awogu expressed his joy at the continued support Let’s Play is getting from communities. “It is amazing the level of encouragement and support each Let’s Play event receives from our hosts”. Let’s Play Initiative is SuperSport’s way of inspiring the kids to start playing again, thereby keeping them healthy both physically and mentally.

African Rugby 7’s: Fom proud of Black Stallions’ feat Matthew Oboh

he president of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation, Sir Edward Pam Fom, has expressed optimism that the Nigerian national Rugby team, the Black Stallions would do the country proud at this year’s edition of the African Rugby 7’s in Harare, Zimbabwe. Update at the end of day one at the championship, Nigeria played four games in the group of death. Fom said it was encouraging to see the home-based players compete well against top African nations. “There is hope for rugby in Nigeria as the home-based players proved that if well groomed and nurtured they can be a force to reckon with in Africa and beyond, despite the limited time to train and limited experience, the Black Stallions exhibited true courage and understanding of the game. “The competition continues today. Nigeria will play against Uganda in the last match

of pool A, the outcome of the match would determine if the Stallions will compete for the Plate or Bowl. In matches played in day one, Nigeria lost 26-19 to Zimbabwe, beat Ivory Coast 28-0, and lost to Kenya 38-0. In the last game Namibia beat Nigeria 49-0 Sir Edward Pam Fom noted that the boys are mentally, physically and psychologically prepared to make an impression at the rugby tournament which started yesterday. In the same vein, captain of the side Azeez Ladipo, while addressing journalists at the main bowl of the National Stadium said: “We just finished working on our playing pattern and strategies and we are 100 per cent ready. Our goal basically is to be among the top three nations and I think it is realistic,” he added. He was quick to point out that the group is quite tough, but the guys are aware of the challenge ahead and looking forward to the tournament.

Obisia, Skoro delighted with boxing revival F ormer African Commonwealth lightweight boxing champion, Obisia Nwankpa, together with the current national featherweight champion, Waidi ‘Skoro’ Usman, have expressed their delight in the vital role played by GOtv last weekend in the real revival of the obviously moribund sport of boxing in Nigeria. Obisia, a retired national boxing team chief coach said with what the satellite television company did to the sport, Nigerians were reawakened that the fistic sport that is dear to their hearts has staged a positive comeback.

He added: “It is a good thing that GOtv has intervened in boxing in Nigeria. It is also heartwarming that for the first time, boxers were insured before a major competition.” He stressed that this would drive the boxers to put in their best and make the country proud. He however called on other corporate bodies to team up with GOtv to accelerate the revival of boxing in Nigeria. On his own, 22 year-old ‘Skoro’ who won the national featherweight title at the GOtv event last weekend after knocking out Dare Oyewole in the fifth round

of their title fight, said without the opportunity provided by GOtv and the other sponsors, he would not have been a champion. He predicted a bright and rewarding future for boxers and boxing fans in Nigeria with the advent of the sponsored Boxing Night which debuted last Sunday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Lagos. He said: “We can now confidently declare that boxing has returned to Nigeria because we have seen live boxing for real here and I see exciting time for boxing in the country again.”

Five years later Ifeanyi Ibeh

t was five years ago during the week when Tiger Woods’ private life began to unravel. It still seems surreal to recall the breaking news scrolling along the bottom of the television that Woods had been “seriously injured” in a car accident outside his home. The injury wasn’t that serious. He was treated and released. And while the tree his SUV struck did far more damage, it was the fire hydrant he first ran over that became a symbol of the before-and-after nature of his career. There is a fascination with anniversaries. Is five years any more meaningful than four or six? Still, it seems appropriate to raise one question as Woods prepares to return to competition this week after another long layoff. He has gone through two swing coaches. He has changed caddies. He has gone from married with children to being a single dad. He still has 14 majors. And this week at the Hero World Challenge will be his fifth comeback from injury. So much has changed, except for the expectations. They’re just as high. And that’s why the last five years -particularly the last one -- would seem to be a lost cause. About this time a year ago, Woods was on the cusp of winning his World Challenge until Zach Johnson holed out from the drop zone for par on the 18th hole and went on to beat him in a playoff. That stuff used to only happen to Greg Norman. No problem. Woods was coming off another five-win season on the PGA Tour that only he can make look routine. He was PGA Tour player of the year for the 11th time, won the money title for the 10th time and captured the Vardon Trophy for the ninth time. But when he began this year as the defending champion at Torrey Pines, no one could have imagined what would follow. Woods has started only eight tournaments this year and finished only three of them. For the first time in his career, he did not register a top 10. There were two WDs (withdraws), two MCs (missed cuts) and one MDF (54-hole cut). Recurring back pain led to surgery in March, which forced him to sit out three months and miss two majors. When he

returned, he looked more like an old Woods than the Woods of old. And then he shut it down after the PGA Championship to get stronger. Is he as good as 25-year-old Rory McIlroy? No. For starters, Woods turns 39 next month. Can he challenge him? Considering the last five years as a whole, it might be too early to rule him out. McIlroy with 13 wins worldwide is the only player to have won more than Woods (nine) over the last five years. Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood also have nine wins around the world. Woods still has the highest winning percentage (12 percent) of anyone in the last five years. In the last five years, Woods has been at No. 1 in the world longer (60 weeks) than the other five players who have taken turns at the top of the ranking, and he is the only player to be No. 1 for a continuous year. It’s not all that dire. Far more difficult to measure is how much Woods has been affected physically and emotionally since the crisis in his personal life unfolded Thanksgiving weekend in 2009. He doesn’t seem to make as many big putts. But that started before he hit the fire hydrant. Otherwise, he would have won the PGA Championship at Hazeltine. He has lost precious time because of his Achilles tendon and his left knee, and more recently his back. Those injuries were a matter of time. His performance in the majors is the most glaring difference, mainly because that always has been his ultimate measure. In the 16 majors he has played since 2010, Woods has only five top-five finishes, and he has not been a serious factor in the final hour of any of them. He has not broken 70 in the final round of a major since the Masters in 2011. He remains stuck on 14 majors dating to the 2008 U.S. Open. He is still four short of catching Jack Nicklaus. This week Woods gets back to work. And that leads to another relevant question. Where will he be five years from now?

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 30 NOVEMBER, 2014

Sanctimonious Obasanjo!

e saw it coming. Indeed, we knew it was going to come some day; the only problem was that we didn’t know how soon or how late. Long ago, many had predicted that the failure of the ignoble Third Term project and the subsequent imposition on the nation of an unhealthy President and a seemingly weak deputy who was to become president, would become Obasanjo’s battle axe against us, his weird way of paying us back for our impertinence in denying him life presidency. You may even dub his reluctant political transition morbid political engineering if you will, but it was also another one of Obasanjo’s famed (military) ‘strategies’ to prepare our mindsets for a time of national crises (like this, obviously) when we would all wring our hands in despair and wish we had allowed him to hang on. Yes, we knew that someday soon, the illtempered old man, the one and only President Olusegun Obasanjo, the most Nigerian of all of us, the all-knowing scion of Owu kingdom, would take the centre stage to beat his chest and, comparing his administration with that of President Goodluck Jonathan and every other one before it, deliver the all too familiar verdict: I, Obasanjo am the greatest. Every other person who was and who is, and certainly this Jonathan who is a belowaverage performer, is incomparable to me. In the megalomaniacal world of Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria never really had a leader until he became one--witness his perennial deprecatory reference to Zik, Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello and regional leaders. He hardly ever mentions Tafawa Balewa or Shagari among his count of leaders as that would destroy his personal Nigerian leadership construct in which he and he alone has been a national leader worthy of that name. So, he blames the nation’s woes on those ‘sectional’ founding fathers who never thought as national leaders. So, on May 29, 1999, the God of man finally gave us that leader and the day became our Democracy Day, no longer October 1st, the Independence Anniversary day, the day Nigeria’s first and only prime minster was sworn in way back in 1960! 1999 heralded a new era of national leadership and we were well on the way to achieving true nationhood (which had hitherto eluded us) under the able guidance of patriotic Obasanjo until in our foolishness we rejected this rebranding that could only be achieved during a life presidency and sent its architect back whence he came. Now, aren’t we the worse for it! We do not begrudge Chief Olusegun Obasanjo his perennial self-glorification (some would say self-delusion)—that is his stock-in-trade anyway. But, even though he takes delight in his self-confessed indifference to how others feel about him, about what he says or does, the pushy old man should for once, and for the sake of all that is still left of his human decency, spare us this sanctimonious posturing he so often brings to bear on his public communications. We do not know of any other country in the world where a retired president constantly takes centre stage to disparage a sitting one. We have never heard George Bush, a Republican, criticize Obama, a Democrat, so viciously, not to say abuse him, as Obasanjo does Jonathan, a PDP man like Obasanjo. We have never heard Tony Blair throw a sucker punch at David Cameron or Francois Hollande of France mount the rostrum to unleash vicious attacks on former President Nicolas Sarkozy. Or, has anyone heard Thabo Mbeki criticize Jacob Zuma since Mbeki’s ouster from power by the polygamous Zuma? No, it is not a usual practice. It is not the right thing to do—Bush once said, in an answer to a question, that having done his part as President, it would be highly out of tradition for him, a former president to come out charging at a sitting president, no matter the temptation; that what was expected of him was to allow the new President to play his own part without his predecessor breathing down his neck for whatever reasons. So, the decent thing

Sunday

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

abugufex@gmail.com 08076290498 (sms only)

Obasanjo

Jonathan

Boko Haram members

for the former President, who has access to the sitting president, to do is to act as the statesman that he should be and give his advice in camera to the sitting president. But, not Obasanjo who must rubbish every other person who has been president so only he can be the last man standing, the only good and incorruptible leader Nigeria has ever had. According to Saturday New Telegraph, Obasanjo who spoke at a book chat in the recent Ake Arts and Book Festival in his native Abeokuta, said that Jonathan had performed below average, especially in the area of security. How? Because the President allegedly failed to act according to Obasanjo’s directive on Boko Haram! In his usual egoistic manner, he spoke about how he had succeeded in getting the insurgents to lay down their arms “after giving them assurances that grievances would be addressed” but agonized that nothing was done to build on that momentum. Well, thank you Mr. former President, no thanks. Obasanjo is right in decrying the security situation in the country. We can do without the bombings, the mass slaughter of innocent compatriots, the purposeless destruction of property and the fear and tension this whole thing breeds in the land, especially in the North East part of the country. But, the point must also be made that comparatively, the security situation in the country under Obasanjo was as bad, if not worse than

The late Yusuf

what we have now. Under Obasanjo, we had more political assassinations than was hitherto thought possible in Nigeria. And most of them have remained unsolved till date. And while the current security challenge could be said to be largely limited to a part of the country, citizens in practically every part of the country lived in mortal of the unknown during the Obasanjo years.

Political assignations in Enugu, Rivers, Delta, Lagos, Oyo, Osun; the mayhem in Plateau, the destructions inflicted on Odi and Zaki Ibiam, the violent militant activities in the Niger Delta in spite of Odi, the failed abduction of Governor Chris Ngige and the resultant burning of Anambra Government House by people suspected to be agents of Obasanjo’s federal government, among many others, all created permanent fear of the unknown in the minds of citizens all through the Obasanjo presidency. Now, to Boko Haram…Let’s even assume that Obasanjo “successfully” negotiated end of terror with the insurgents. The question is, under whose auspices did he do that? Was his mission carried out at the request of the federal government? Was the government properly informed? Did Obasanjo discuss strategies with the government? Did Obasanjo properly brief the government on the outcome of his negotiation with the insurgents and ways to respond to their demands? Or did he, as usual, go on a selfglorification mission, which the government like the rest of us, got to hear about on television and or read in the papers? The Obasanjo we all know would be loathe to sit down with the Jonathan Presidency to quietly share knowledge and intelligence and leave the President to take credit for cessation of hostilities by the insurgents. He would rather push it in our face that he did it and would not even take the President into confidence because the idea is not to end the insurgency but to take credit for any positive development that might result from whatever contacts he may have made. So, I wager that Obasanjo did not “successfully” negotiate any cessation of hostilities with Boko Haram. If he did, we would have known. The insurgents themselves would have said it. The many critics of the Jonathan Administration would have said it loud and clear, if only to portray the government as incapable of recognizing genuine efforts by well-meaning citizens to end the Boko Haram insurgency. I believe that what happened was that the former President simply went on a self-appointed mission, which would have ended in agony for all who might have taken his pronouncement seriously just like his ill-advised trip to Borno to visit with the in-laws of the late Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf was to lead to the killing of the man by the insurgents, who feared the man might disclose their identity to the self-seeking president and his fellow travelers. I do not believe that a government that risked its reputation to go to Chad to negotiate with Boko Haram leaders would refuse to accept a rather cheaper and more-grown version of the terms they were seeking from Boko Haram to end the insurgency. The truth is that even Olusegun Obasanjo himself knows that the insurgents are implacable foes of the government and people of Nigeria and are not interested in any negotiation with anybody. Their agenda is to establish Islamic republic in Africa’s populous country, perhaps to rival Indonesia as the most populous Muslim country in the world, starting from the north east where they currently operate from, obviously with intent to gradually spread to the rest of the country until they have achieved their age-long objective: dipping the Quran into the sea. The group, which has been tagged the second largest and most vicious terrorist organisation in the world after ISIS, from which Boko Haram derives its moral and spiritual strength, isn’t about to de-escalate its attacks and put a halt to its ambition to occupy more territories just because a self-important former President (for whom they have disdain) wants them to lay down their arms and come out to be compensated for aggression against the state. I believe that the only way to deal with the Boko Haram menance is to take the war to them and defeat them. And the Nigeria Military can do it very well, if only they would remove the saboteurs in their midst and enthrone discipline and unanimity of purpose in waging the raging anti-insurgency war against Islamists.

SPORT Odegbami: Nigeria must stop cheating in football

FELIX O. ABUGU

Sanctity of Truth

Sanctimonious Obasanjo!

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Let the security debate begin (3) The Nigerian B Project Continued from last Sunday

uhari’s fiscal discipline however won him accolades, as he rejected IMF’s prescription for devaluation of the Naira, and instead opted to curtail massive oil theft, by using a Counter trade Policy to barter bunkered Crude Oil. His economic policy was popularly called ‘Buharism.’ He was later appointed Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), and was believed to have been quite effective and achievement oriented, even as he was criticised for allocating up to 20% of its revenue to the Military, which critics maintained, were unaccounted for. Buhari was defeated by Obasanjo in the 2003 Presidential election; by his fellow Katsina-born Yar’adua in 2007, scoring 18% of the total votes to Yar’adua’s 70% votes. In 2010, he left the ANPP and founded the CPC under whose platform he lost the election to President Jonathan. He won 12.2 million of votes to Jonathan’s 22.4 million votes. Though considered very disciplined and incorruptible, his critics believe that as a military dictator, he cannot fully democratise his political genes. He is also criticised by many as a religious fundamentalist, an accusation he has denied again and again. With this enviably strong military background, but with little claim to democratic credentials, is General Buhari at 72, the Messiah Nigerians are waiting for, to confront our serious Security Challenges? Only time, inexorable time, will soon tell. PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE AZIKIWE JONATHAN Ever smiling, many a time to the annoyance and irritation of his critics who believe he should be more stern and formal, Goodluck was born in Otuoke Village, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on 20th November, 1957. He was formerly Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State from 29th May, 1999, when his boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was Governor. With a B.Sc in Zoology, M.Sc in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology, and a Ph.D in Zoology from University of Port Harcourt, GEJ as the President is fondly called by his admirers, is believed to be the most educated President to have ever ruled Nigeria. But many believe he has not translated his academic laurels into strong Governance. When Alamieyeseigha was impeached on 9th December, 2005, Jonathan became Governor. He was later made a running mate by late President Umaru Yar’Adua and became Vice President on May 29, 2007. GEJ is widely credited to have negotiated a ceasefire and amnesty agreement with major militant groups in the Niger Delta. His loyalty and low profile endeared him to many. On the 9th of February, 2010, Jonathan was pronounced Acting President under the ‘Doctrine of Necessity,’ when his boss, President Yar’Adua, was sick in a faraway Saudi Arabian hospital and could not perform the functions of his office. When Yar’Adua died on 6th May, 2010, Jonathan who had pledged to continue with Yar’Adua’s 7 (seven) point agenda, became the 14th Head of State of Nigeria. On 18th May, 2010, he picked Architect Namadi Sambo as his Vice President. In the 2011 Presidential election, after defeating Atiku and Mrs. Sarah Jubril in the PDP Primaries, Jonathan won 59% of the total votes. He later launched his Trans-

MIKE OZEKHOME san, ofr mike.ozekhome@yahoo.com 08128444555 (sms only)

Buhari

Jonathan

formation Agenda, driven by the National Planning Commission, geared towards delivering on projects with timelines between 2011 and 2015. With a foreign policy of ‘Citizens First,’ Jonathan is rated high in the area of transportation (railways and roads), agriculture, aviation (with renovated and rehabilitated and new airports donning Nigerian Cities), sports development (Nigeria winning at many International Competitions) and Civil liberties, with the signing into law of the Freedom of Information Act, and permitting untrammeled freedom of speech. His greatest source of vulnerability which his opponents hammer on mercilessly is the insecurity situation in Nigeria. With the UN bomb blast on 26th August, 2011, the abduction of over 200 Chibok Secondary School girls for over six months now, the annexation of some towns and villages by Boko Haram insurgents, especially in Adamawa and Borno states, the Declaration of a state of emergency does not appear to have solved

the menace. By June, 2013, he ordered a 20year jail term for Boko Haramites and their supporters. With this scenario, can Jonathan win the war against Boko Haram? Should he rather proclaim a full declaration of war against the insurgents, as against the Declaration of a State of Emergency, or should he negotiate with them?

MAMA LASISI

SETTING AN AGENDA FOR THE DEBATE Notwithstanding Jonathan’s much trumpeted shortcomings in handling the Boko Haram insurgency, can any of the above Aspirants match his cognate experience, having seen it all at close quarters? Do they have any special talisman to turn around the fortunes of our soldiers? Aspirants, please answer the following questions. How do you hope to halt the Boko Haram insurgency? Are you going to employ sheer force, using bombs, grenades, artillery, armoured tanks, and missiles? Where will you procure the equipment and hard ware from, with major countries

like America and Europe shunning Nigeria? With what money? How much does Nigeria actually require to successfully prosecute the Boko Haram war? Where will the money come from? Will you negotiate and dialogue with the faceless group? How, when, where and why? If you do not negotiate with them, what are the available options? How do you maintain an intricate balance between a full blown war and the freedoms and civil liberties of the citizens of those states? What do you make of the renaming of some Cities by the Haramites? How would you deal with collaborators? What are your engagement strategies with friendly and unfriendly Nations? How do you deal with neighbouring Countries whose space is being used to foment much of the trouble? How, when and from where, do you bring back our abducted girls? What steps will you take to protect those vulnerable areas from further attack? How and with what means, do you hope to rehabilitate the displaced, homeless, wounded and refugees? What of the families of deceased persons? Will you compensate them? How do you boost the morale of our fighting soldiers, to prevent piecemeal, or mass desertion? How do you prevent a possible spread of the insurgency to other cities in Nigeria? How, how, how? AND NOW THIS Security and freedom are so essential to our human existence that Benjamin Franklin once declared that “those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” Although “there is no such thing as perfect security, only varying levels of insecurity” (Salman Rushdie), it is however true that “true security is based on people’s welfare, on a thriving economy, on strong public health and education programmes, and on fundamental respect for our common humanity. Development, peace, disarmament, reconciliation and justice are not separate from security, they help underpin it.” (Ban Ki-Moon). AND THIS Aspirants, are you reading this Sunday Sermon from the ‘Nigerian Project’ by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR? If you are, then tell eager Nigerians what panacea you have for the Boko Haram menace. Enough of cheap blame game, finger pointing, fence sitting, verbal expletives and vacuous criticisms, devoid of solution. Talk is cheap. Now, begin to walk the talk. Let Nigerians hear from you. We are all waiting. Today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next month. Today. Yes, today. Concluded • Follow me on twitter @ MikeozekhomeSAN

By Aliu Eroje

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